The Belief Factor and the White Superiority Syndrome

by Christopher C. Bell, Jr., Ed. D.


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Softcover
£5.95
Softcover
£5.95

Book Details

Language : English
Publication Date : 19/07/2000

Format : Softcover
Dimensions : 5x8
Page Count : 120
ISBN : 9781585002504

About the Book

How do we learn to believe that White people are "smarter," "better," and "more beautiful" than Black people? This book, The Belief Factor and the White Superiority Syndrome, explains how both Blacks and Whites acquire the White Superiority Syndrome: a belief or sense that White people are superior to Black people. This book explains how the White Superiority Syndrome is a direct fall-out of the religious icons and teachings of Christianity that place one aspect of the Deity, the God-force of life, in the form of a white male humanoid. This book explains that, absent some intervening agent or action, the picturing of God as a White Male humanoid is the root catalyst leading to a sense of superiority, and racism on the part of many White people, and to a sense of inadequacy and inferiority on the part of many Black people. The book makes it clear that the racial discriminations that are learned are not necessarily directly taught but are acquired subliminally from the belief system, its props, and the societal milieu.

This book details a process that will neutralize the subliminal learning that now leads to the White Superiority Syndrome. This book notes it is the Black man's burden to change certain aspects of his adopted Christian belief system and of his way of "seeing" God, if he ever wishes to free himself of the inevitable sense of inferiority that he now experiences and to eliminate the roots of racism.

The Belief Factor and the White Superiority Syndrome is a "must read" for students and teachers of race relations, social stratification, student achievement, and urban education; and for all Christians, both Black and White, who want to understand why their religion has not yet freed them from racism. Readers will gain insight into and a better appreciation for the everyday power and politics of the mind.


About the Author

Christopher C. Bell, Jr., Ed.D., was born and raised in Campostella, a small suburb of Norfolk, Virginia. He attended Virginia State University and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the army upon graduation. He served twenty years in the army and retired as a Major. While in the army, he completed a Masters of Education (Ed. M.) degree in Education Administration from Fitchburg State College in Massachusetts.

After his retirement from the military, Dr. Bell resumed his graduate education. He completed a Certificate of Advance Graduate Studies (CAGS) in Administration, Supervision, and Social Policy from Harvard University's Graduate School of Education and a Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) degree in Organizational Development from Boston University's Graduate School of Education. His employment history includes managing and supervising job training programs in the U.S. Department of Labor, mid-level management positions in the District of Columbia Public Schools, and serving as a management analyst in the U.S. Department of Education.

Dr. Bell's study of the works of scholars and his own observations into the workings of the societal structures that surround human beings have kept him constantly involved in searching for the root causes of what he defines as the White Superiority Syndrome. His search of the relevant literature and his own experiences have compelled him to tell the truth as he views it. And his view includes the scenario that the roots of racism are deeper than social prompts and direct suggestions. Dr. Bell concludes that the roots of racism are part and parcel of America's dominant belief system. Without malice and with some regret, he concludes that many Black people must change their religious beliefs and their God-consciousness, if they are ever going to see themselves as "beautiful, competent, and deserving of life's treasures" as they imagine White people to be. Some researchers have dared to write tangentially about this truth, but they have been ignored. Dr. Bell dares to write "right on." He hopes his small contribution in this book will help the "new" theological "Change-makers" of the Twenty-first Century to begin their tasks in earnest.