Plenary  Session IV

Jacqueline Fortes de Leff

The Distinguished Lecturer for the Plenary session was Beverly Daniel Tatum, who, with her soft yet poignant discourse, helped us break the silence of racism in AFTA, making us think critically on the ways racism is socially internalized and transmitted. Focusing on her interest in the development of racial identity, she analyzed some ways children of color are raised, distinguishing between "race conscious" and "race avoidant" families. In her studies, children raised in race-conscious families showed an internalized positive view of Blackness that influenced their abilities to adapt to society with respect to their racial identities. The ability to talk about race and connect to same-race networks organized around such common foci as friends, extended family, church, and culture, helped these children build a sense of belonging and gave them space for thinking about self and reflecting on the problems that arise when interacting with the larger White society. Adolescents raised in "race avoidant" families experienced feelings of confusion and isolation. Dr. Tatum gave us two case examples, each involving an adolescent girl of color. She outlined the ways in which each girl's family value system differed in it's race-consciousness, and described the problems they had to face.

Dr. Tatum reflected on her work as an educator, stressing the importance of opening spaces in the school curriculum to teach and learn about racism. Analysis of racism needs to be stimulated among both Black and White individuals. She pointed out that "many Whites have been encouraged by a culture of silence about racism to disconnect from their racial experiences." The negative consequences of race-avoidance are also evident among white families, for whom she stresses the importance of working on race-consciousness, which she describes as the "willingness to talk about the social meaning of race and the detrimental effects of racism," among white children and children of color.

Paulette Hines concentrated her discussion on the anger that racism generates in its overt and covert expressions of discrimination. Analyzing the problem from the point-of-view of a Psychologist as well as that of a Mother, she brought to light the discriminatory and persecutory behaviors perpetrated against people of color  in the US. The personal case she presented as an example involved a teenager—her son—and the dilemma their family faced when forced to choose between acceptance of and rebellion against the social and legal systems. She related her experience as her son was unjustly arrested by the police, mistreated and physically hurt. She described how she felt compelled to protect her child from an aggressive and intolerant police system, her frustration at the narrow range of responses that she could offer to protect her child without worsening the situation, and she described her son's experience of being imprisoned for several days for a behavior that was not clearly unlawful. She related how, in the course of his discourse, the judge had displayed a discriminatory attitude and had assumed a superior racial position toward Paulete's Family—a position shared not only by the police, but by teachers at the boy's high school as well. If they were to free Paulette's son and return him to his family and school milieu, Paulette and her family realized early on that they had to accept these positions without questioning them. Paulette described the different behaviors exhibited by the judge in his position of superiority and privilege, then she described the anger generated in her and in her family—an anger that they had to contain. Paulette's anger resonated among all of us in the audience, who could feel the dilemma between a controlled silence and the need to cry in protest, the realizations of the different power positions among this family and the social system. The pain generated by oppressive messages and attitudes against Black people was also transmitted to us through a video showing a White man expressing himself with an ideology that concealed his privileged position, through a discourse of pretended equity, searching the justification of his position while ignoring the position of the other, the man of color.

The audience responded with a long warm round of applause that reflected an acknowledgement of the problem of racism. Each and every one of us, whether white or of color, North, Central or South American, felt and realized the oppression of racism and the way it perpetuates itself through social discourse and action. At the close of Paulette's presentation, I reflected that Beverly Tatum's concept of "race consciousness" is a basic contribution that we, as therapists, mothers and fathers, couples, and educators, need to construct by being aware of the oppressive "isms" internalized in ourselves and in our cultures.

After these two interventions on racism in the USA, I spoke about the problem of racism in Mexico, analyzing its symbolic and affective roots. Racism is an overt attitude against the indigenous peoples that segregates them from medical attention, economic and educational development. There is also covert racism among the majority of the Mexican population that is "Mestiza," an hybridization between Indian and Spanish origins. I call it an "invisible racism" where we can identify two underlying forces: (a) the reinforcement of a system of social and economic advantage and privilege, and (b) cultural racism.

Spanish colonization started a process of domination that became a symbolic organizer for feelings and beliefs of racism and power that have been internalized in the minds of Mexicans for generations, up to the present day.

I shared a clinical case where internalized racism can be observed, how it is enacted by the family and transmitted through generations. Skin color, as well as any other trait that connects the individual to an Indian origin, is denied or rejected. Being White or "blonde" means power and privilege.

I stressed the importance of acknowledging racism among us therapists We can do this by fostering an attitude of self-consciousness among ourselves, our clinical activities, as well as in our training programs and supervision. We need to critically analyze our racial self-images. We need to recognize oppressive messages coming from us, from our culture, and from our social institutions. Our roles as clinicians and trainers give us a privileged position to change racism and work for social justice.

The audience was very warm and responsive to this emotionally intense Plenary. It stimulated an array of reflections on self and others. People commented that they were very gratified to see these topics being opened in AFTA. Discussion followed in the Dialogue Groups, where self-reflection and critical analysis of the individual, social, political and historical context related to racism, took place.

Acknowledging racism is a precondition for avoiding discrimination. Racism is expressed not only in open behavior, but also in subtle, sometimes invisible, ways.

Jacqueline Fortes de Leff, MSc. Clinical and Social Psychogist, Master Degree Suma Cum Laude, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM, where she teaches Family Therapy. For ten years, she was a Researcher in Social Psychology at the Instituto de Investigaciones en Matemáticas Aplicadas y en Sistemas, UNAM. AFTA member since 1988. Member of the Asociación Mexicana de Terapia Familiar since 1985. Member of the International Family Therapy Association since 1988. Past President (1993-1995) of the Instituto de la Familia, IFAC, and Past Secretary (1998-1999) Of the Asociación Mexicana de Terapia Familiar. Certified by the Consejo Mexicano de Terapia Familiar. Author, with anthropologist Larissa Lomnitz of La formación del científico en México: Adquiriendo una Nueva Identidad, México: Siglo XXI Editores, 1991, published in English, Becoming a Scientist in México: Pennsylvania: Penn State Press, 1994. She has collaborated in several books and journals on topics of Supervision, Identity and Culture.