The society I live in now is the furthest thing from perfect, but I would be stifling my conscience if I did not say that the one from which I migrated is deeply toxic. Sometimes it is not until you extract yourself from an environment that you can reflect on it, compare it, and interrogate it. The way we unconsciously marinate our souls in the chaos has become a symptom of the scourge of our unchecked racial trauma.
I, like many people, felt rage, disgust and sadness when I saw Courtney Douglas’s painting which displayed obscene racial stereotypes. It played into the black single mother trope, the brokenness of the black family and classism (the ungrateful poor). The hurt actually compounded itself with a distressing race related incident I had experienced almost a year ago and I had a complete day where I emotionally spiralled.
Courtney subsequently changed the painting and apologised for the first version of it. I have personally chosen to accept Courtney’s apology because Courtney like me and many of us has absorbed and internalized the stereotypes that have been hammered into our psyche. Has my rage disappeared even though I have accepted it? Absolutely not, and it will take a while before it simmers down.
