Dear Helga,
What are your thoughts on self-hate? Is it enough to simply acknowledge that one possesses it? Or ought there be some form of action taken against that manifestation of hatred? And if an action were to be taken, then in what direction would the action be carried out? That is, ought one act in a way that denies the flawed ideologies and stereotypes that fuel this self-hate, or should one go about disrupting these stereotypes by actively living the way you want?
Your encounter with "the grotesque ebony figure" who cried out to God for the "pore los' Jezebel" women struck me as a sentiment in need of some analysis. Language as a tactical tool of negativity has some cogency to me: if you insult someone, naturally they will be offended or foster some negative emotion, at least temporarily. To manipulate language into an entire system of oppressing a people has been one of the more insidious creations of man which still perplexes me. The Jezebel caricature, which has so much history that must be contextualized, to be adopted and adapted in such a way as to make it subtly acceptable though inherently demeaning, is one of those mechanisms of language that serve as strategic means of subjugation.
Additionally, the recognition or denial of the existence of a language further perpetuates racial hierarchy. As you recall the words "pore los' Jezebel," you force us to acknowledge AAVE as an aspect of Black presence, Black existence. White folks, who have consistently denied this as an independent language by reducing it to a deviation of "Standard" American English has been one such way in which white people dominate the self by dominating the aspects of the self. With no language, no verbal expression, no claim to an identity that is objectively yours, white people have managed to put a lock on yet another facet of agency and selfhood.
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