Rashard Zanders: The African-American community suffers from Stockholm Syndrome

"Stockholm syndrome, or capture-bonding, is a psychological phenomenon in

which hostages express empathy and sympathy and have positive feelings toward their captors, sometimes to the point of defending and identifying with the captors. These feelings are generally considered irrational in light of the danger or risk endured by the victims, who essentially mistake a lack of abuse from their captors for an act of kindness. "de Fabrique, Nathalie; Romano, Stephen J.; Vecchi, Gregory M.; van Hasselt, Vincent B. (July 2007). FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin (Law Enforcement Communication Unit) 76 (7): 10–15. ISSN 0014-5688."

Rashard Zanders --Twin Cities, MN -- Is capture bonding, or as it is better known, Stockholm Syndrome, is it a pandemic among African Americans?  Do Blacks in the United States give a damn about their own liberation or do they consider themselves already full stakeholders in the American Dream, which is less about home-ownership than empire? In light of the plethora of American police brutality and torture on our nation's behalf, why do so many of us damn everyone else (everyone else in this case being folks who still demand justice and equal rights, human rights and a strengthening of the bonds in the African Diaspora)?

Is it something worse?  Can a greedy, homicidal and racist enterprise make it's subjects fall in love with it?

Unfortunately, yes.  We are proof of that. I'd even say 40-80 percent of Black people hate Blacks who are about Black empowerment.  Those are people who suffer from  Stockholm Syndrome. Nicely played whitey (the condition, not the person!), nicely played.

"Stockholm syndrome, or capture-bonding, is a psychological phenomenon in which hostages express empathy and sympathy and have positive feelings toward their captors, sometimes to the point of defending and identifying with the captors. These feelings are generally considered irrational in light of the danger or risk endured by the victims, who essentially mistake a lack of abuse from their captors for an act of kindness. "de Fabrique, Nathalie; Romano, Stephen J.; Vecchi, Gregory M.; van Hasselt, Vincent B. (July 2007). FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin (Law Enforcement Communication Unit) 76 (7): 10–15. ISSN 0014-5688."

http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/2784572?sid=21105725681303&uid=2&uid=4&uid=3739256&uid=3739736

Urbanintellectuals.com:

http://urbanintellectuals.com/2013/04/01/does-the-african-american-community-suffer-from-stockholm-syndrome/

From thyblackman.com:

http://thyblackman.com/2014/05/23/most-black-folks-suffer-from-stockholm-syndrome-like-missing-california-woman%E2%80%8F/

From diaryofanegress:

http://diaryofanegress.com/2012/11/15/stockholm-syndrome-the-negro-madness-disease/#

The Final Call's reporting on the subject:

http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/sisterspace/article_100779.shtml

Islandmix.com offers:

http://www.islandmix.com/backchat/f6/stockholm-syndrome-slavery-244590/

There really is a lot of research on this subject, which kinda popped into my head last night, but had been percolating for a while.  I have had Black friends and family tell me that I am angry because of my own lack of material success,  personal failures in work and relationships, etc.  And indeed I can honestly say that yes, I have lost most of the great battles for love and wealth an happiness,career and fame.  But I have gained some modicum of WISDOM, or as the our ancient ancestors in Egypt referred to it, SBA, the divine wisdom that is the gift of M'AAT.

As social media continues to become more and more of a "necessary" evil in our lives I became aware of my friends' responses, or lack thereof, to my posts.  They range from deafening silence to out and out hostility from 4/5ths of my approximately 200 Facebook friends.

Sometimes they won't even comment or respond to my posts directly, but on their own page offer a rebuttal  without mentioning my name.  If I post something critical of the president, because presidents should be criticized for their mistakes, I get replies such as "I stand with the president!" or "unfriend me" if I don't think like they do.   But the worst is the silence, the abject numbness to current events.  If I were posting pictures of my current deep-friend meal, Chicago stuffed-crust pizzas, or posts of my favorite childhood tooth-rot candy, or anything else "ratchet", I would get dozens-maybe-hundreds of hits, likes, comments and laughs.  Post something about 340 plus inmates dying of unnatural causes in Florida's penal system in the span of one year...nothing...crickets.....5 minutes later some idiot or idiotess will post something akin to "I choose to be happy," essentially transmitting that denying the light of truth is a form of happiness.

As much as I hate the scourge of White supremacy, racism, favoritism, the myriad deceptions built into all of their institutions and their attendant obfuscations,  I fear those sickened with this form of Stockholm Syndrome even more. Election 2016 has born this out, not that anyone should ever vote for Donald Trump, but the Clintons and the modern Democratic Party should not have a monopoly on the Black vote.Neither the Republicans. We should be birthing new parties and/or joining forces with our Green and Independent allies.  At a time when we should be boycotting their parties and businesses,  our votes will put either one of their worst two choices for POTUS at the theoretical head of this nation.

How does one try to educate or otherwise communicate with a population where 53 percent of them think God has favorite football teams and players?

Rashard Zanders' articles have appeared in the MN Spokesman-Recorder, The Madison-Times, The Capital Times, City Pages, DNAInfo and others spanning 25  years as a journalist. Rashard and his cat, Thrilla, may be reached via email at rashard.zanders@gmail.com