by Jay Thomas Willis
Guest Columnist

The American system does everything possible to drive Blacks mad, and then insinuates that they�re unfit for living in a civilized, industrial society. It makes monsters out of them and then wonders what to do with its creations.

On the one hand, it�s difficult for Blacks to adjust to life in America without going mad, and on the other hand, life in America will surely drive them mad.

Blacks are handicapped by their historical family, economic, political and educational situation. They�re brought up in too many instances in one-parent households, and miseducated or provided with an inadequate education. Even their diet is often insufficient for adequate development and functioning.

When I grew up in a little rural community years ago, we had a standard joke. If a person acted a little strange, others would say, "I�m going to take you to the local psychiatric hospital and collect my twenty-five dollars." Even then most people recognized at a very superficial level that madness was an issue in the Black community.

An atmosphere of madness is created in the Black community by the system. Madmen don�t have to be disenfranchised because they do this themselves. At least the illusion is created that they�re disenfranchising themselves. In reality the system is at least partially responsible.

There�s discrimination, racism, and prejudice from outside the community. From within the community there�s self-hatred, disorganization, confusion, tension, psychological and physical violence. The community is conditioned to demonstrate self-hatred and this self-hatred leads to hate for one another. Individuals become so confused that they take out their aggression on one another rather than seek the true source of their frustrations. In some cases, those Blacks who�re not mad are considered different or weird. Often, to fit in you must be mad and you must be mad to simply exist.

Many Blacks end up on drugs, in prisons, mental institutions, or dead because of their confusion and internalized self-hatred. They become angry without legitimate ways to vent their hostility, causing them to be highly frustrated. There is so much pressure, confusion, tension and disorganization that this frustration develops and eventually leads to violence and other forms of rage. It becomes such an unconscious and conditioned process that most people aren�t aware of the dynamics of their behavior.

The only way Blacks can live in a country that espouses democratic principals everywhere�freedom, equality, liberty, yet they�re denied opportunities on every hand, is to live a schizophrenic existence. Blacks are told they are free with every available opportunity, yet unable to function except within defined limits. This is true educationally, socially, and politically. If you don�t believe this, try being at the wrong place at the wrong time and you�ll quickly be brought in tune with reality.

Blacks are still discriminated against in most aspects of society. We fight for freedom abroad but get little freedom at home. We have limited participation in the American society: there�s discrimination in housing, employment, and education. Segregation has been outlawed but continues to exist in many areas.

Blacks must be mad to live in this society because they must live with such internal and external contradictions. In some cases they�ve bought into the illusion of being equal and these individuals will insist that there are no problems with equality in America. They say the only thing holding Blacks back is themselves because some Blacks are so confused that they harm each other by the distribution of drugs, murders, rapes, robberies, or drive-bys; some Blacks believe the problems in this society are caused by other Blacks rather than those outside their communities.

Our problems have become complicated. Our families suffer from historical conditioning but they also suffer from the current realities in our communities. Some of us have difficulties seeing that our history is the cause of many of our present problems. The way we function today is related to our difficult past, and every day this history creates new problems that we must face.

One philosopher said you couldn�t continuously live in a mad situation without becoming mad yourself. This is part of the reason why so many Black children drop out of school and why so many become dysfunctional. They are responding to what to them are mad environments. Madness is contagious. Some Black environments can be so pathological with such deeply ingrained negative cultural patterns that one must be mad to live in the situation.

For all those who actually become destructive and violate the laws of society, they�re locked up and the key is thrown away, with little chance of rehabilitation. They�re then relegated to a more permanent form of madness.

We must do more than give lip service to a better society; we must create a saner society if we expect our brothers to function better.

(Thomas Willis is the author of several books. Information about these books can be obtained at www.geocities.com/willisjt. He can also be contacted at P. O. Box 371, Richton Park, Illinois 60471. E-mail: [email protected]).