Need Approval

rp @refinedtherapy: Pathologizing Black peoples attempts to be free dates to slavery. “Fugitive Slaves” were considered to be mentally ill. Yep! Drapetomania was a mental illness that a white physician, Samuel A. Cartwright theorized as the cause of enslaved Africans fleeing captivity.⠀

⠀

This still shows up today. When Black people flee toxic/oppressive work environments, when we demand equitable pay, when we increase our boundaries and restrict white people’s access to us, when we advocate for basic HUMAN rights, we are viewed as being “abnormal, difficult, rageful, unsettled, ungrateful, the symptoms go on and on…..⠀

⠀

The fact that someone seeking what is inalienably theirs leads to pathologizing should make us all really question who has been historically mentally ill.⠀

⠀

Keep fighting for what’s yours despite how long you haven’t had access to it. Freedom is yours! ⠀

.

.

.

#diversityandinclusion #nashvilleteacher #antiracism #highereducation #blackhistory #ally #teachershare #blackintheivory #whitefragility #changingthenarrative #ushistory #socialstudies #historyteacher #teacherproblems

Done