Why I don't accept your whitewashed apology for your whitewashed Black history...
- Alfred Heath
- Jan 18, 2023
- 4 min read
Updated: May 21, 2023
Apology, when genuine, honest, heartfelt; when accompanied by full disclosure and atonement, is powerful in its vulnerability. It's full acknowledgement of the sacred humanity of the other that has been violated through thought, word, or deed. It is the only way a relationship can completely heal, even when the one(s) transgressed against have genuinely forgiven the person(s) involved for the act(s) committed against them.
When it comes institutional apologies for the stain of Racism on the soul of the United States of America and other European countries, there is a major problem. From the modern perspective of many white people, it seems hard to know what is being apologized for: "I've never done anything bad to a black person in my life... I don't even see color..." When, by assumption and design, an institution holds your group higher than any other groups in your society in ways impossible for you to fully appreciate; ways you have great difficulty even perceiving, and yet your recognition is the one that "matters" most in your society, it is very easy to feel detached from any sense of responsibility or ownership for "the way things are," and even more so how they got that way.
And yet, from the perspective of many Black people, it's hard to know how apology can go far enough, and it is very easy for representatives of institutions of this Western American/European society who attempt to offer apology and proffer recompense to seem not only inauthentic, but insulting. I want to examine two recent institutional apologies that seem like a watershed from one perspective, and a whitewash from another. You can take a guess at whose perspectives these are. That was a rhetorical comment, by the way...
First, an apology from the Bangor Daily News for its MLK Day editorial's neutered-with-select-editing transcript of Rev. Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" oratory at the Mall in Washington DC, the pinnacle moment of the March on Washington in the Civil Rights movement. They owned up to printing and re-printing a strategically redacted version of the speech that leaves out all of the most radical and controversial statements in it. You know, the ones that made it so powerful and indicting of White American Society. And their excuse for doing so rings defensive and hollow: "Because newspaper readership is low on holidays, we have multiple editorials that we use for certain holidays, like Thanksgiving and Christmas, year after year. Several years ago, a former BDN editorial writer put together a piece we have used on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. It was composed of excerpts from King’s 'I Have a Dream' speech. At over 1,600 words, the entire speech is too long to print in full as a newspaper editorial. The thinking has been that an abridged version was a way to honor (read 'whitewash' -WSN) King’s legacy."
Uh huh... But they did apologize, although even with a deluge of criticisms and complaints on social media,
it had to be a certain (other) well-spoken Negro who was respected locally who --undoubtedly very skillfully-- got them to actually become conscious enough of what that editorial did and was to offer the apology, as tepid as it was. You can decide for your selves whether this was authentic or another whitewash.
The watershed: They owned up to the problems with the decade-long regurgitated redacted transcript apologized publicly, and stopped.
The insult: They failed to acknowledge the passive agenda to avoid ruffling white feathers with radical and powerful indictments that still have currency (and white sensitivity) in America.
As for me, I don't accept the apology.
It's still a dream, but now it's less of a pipedream; more of a daydream, although accompanied by frequent and persistent nightmares:
Case Two: a much longer and more detailed, specific, complex, nuanced, and deliberately collaborative apology from the American Psychological Association (APA), published on its main website. This one came out almost two years ago, and I've been sitting on it almost that long before writing about it. I needed to mull it over; figure out why, as detailed and authentic as it appeared to be, I felt hopeful but also jaded and more than a little skeptical while reading it. Was there a chip on my shoulder? Well, THAT wouldn't be surprising, right? So I stayed pretty mum.
I am a member of a psychology organization and serve on its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee. When I learned of the apology, I brought it up in a group email to the other members and our organization's executive director. It was met with a mix of reactions, overall positive, and my ED wanted me to post about it in the organization's blog. I offered an article post, but he felt it was longer and more process-oriented (for people of color) than what he'd initially had in mind as a brief news highlight, and I didn't feel I wanted to just report it, so he wrote the blogpost himself and encouraged me to blog about it here (he reads my blog too). That was over 18 months ago. So here it finally is, Bob.
The theme here is rejecting whitewashed apologies, but I do want to acknowledge this was a far, far better effort. The (very necessary) length, breadth and scope of it was impressive, and the pledge to follow up with action hopeful. But here's the thing...
I had trouble finding any frank acknowledgement of the outright, deliberate physical and psychological harm psychology as an institution actively participated in perpetrating against Black people throughout its history. More on this later. The link to the apology is below. Strap in: it's long, but please do read it in its entirety.
In fact, I'll end here and pick up with Part II to give those those of you willing to indulge me a chance to read it. Ciao for now... https://www.apa.org/about/policy/racism-apology
And here' some supplementary "homework."
When making waves meant there was something wrong with your brainwaves (if you are Black)
There was a psychiatric diagnosis for slaves who attempt to escape.
Psychology's participation in promoting Eugenics in the United States primarily targeting Black people
The comparatively callused perceptions of black peoples pain tolerance in pain treatment professions:
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