Greece was a “classical” civilization compared to Mali. Therefore, Rome was a better civilization than Ancient Egypt. They’ve embraced the insulting terminology, “History from below,” which is often applied to history that is written from the perspective of Black people.
This person knows black history but thinks its a lesser history in comparison to European history or European civilization. Such a person would say things like, “We (Black people) must have done something wicked to have been enslaved.” And if you were to ask such a person, Did Europeans do something wicked that the bubonic plague in the mid-1300s killed more than 20 million of them? Or, Did Jewish people do something wicked to experience the holocaust? Or, Did the Amer-Indians do something wicked why they experienced genocide and the theft of their lands?, they would look at you with confusion and hostility because only Black people suffer the wrath of a vengeful “God”. Hence, a person can know black history inside and out and still be anti-black. Recognizing what his-story has done to our psyche and why we are still psychologically enslaved is another. Knowing our history is just one move on the planetary game of chess between African and European peoples. Cultural identity requires that we not only know our history but also have a psychologically healthy Afrikan-centered mindset. Therefore, historical consciousness or having historical knowledge of self is not enough. In his book, Civilization or Barbarism, Cheikh Anta Diop outlines the three factors of cultural identity: a historical factor a linguistic factor and a psychological factor. When I read The Isis Papers, I realize that it did not matter how many history books I had read if I did not have a psychological understanding of the system that destroyed black history, my education would have been incomplete. Welsing states, “Any neurotic drive for supremacy is founded upon a deep and pervading sense of inadequacy and inferiority.” Welsing makes clear is that what all non-European people are dealing with is the neurosis of European people, particularly the projection of their false consciousness. Hence, the dynamics of racism also operate below our conscious awareness, unless of course we are awakened to its subtleties. It is interesting to note that symbols do not arise from conscious levels of thought. Welsing analyses racism and its horrific effects by decoding the symbolism of European domination.
However, The Isis Papers shows how and why racism functions. Fuller demonstrated what racism is, and where it functions. It is a collection of essays written over 18 years inspired by Neely Fuller’s book, The United Independent Compensatory Code. France’s Cress Welsing is my favorite book. The Isis Papers: The Keys to Colors by Dr. “There is no mental health for Black people without understanding racism and supremacy it is the major origin of stress that impacts us… There will never be peace as long as there is supremacy.” ~Dr.