- [Narrator] A production of South Carolina ETV.

- Good evening and welcome to "For the People."

And the fourth part of our conversation with psychiatrist Dr. Frances Cress Welsing on white racism.

We begin by asking the nationally known psychiatrist, how is white supremacy behavior impacting on African-American families?

- The white supremacy dynamic, as I have posited, is a white genetic survival dynamic.

And white genetic survival depends on checkmating the black king, putting the black man in check.

When the black man is placed in check, you see, through unemployment, underemployment, then the black family goes into collapse.

You see, families have to have mothers and fathers.

If you take, you know, if you take one father out of a neighborhood, you see, then the child who doesn't have a father can make up the difference with the other fathers.

But when you take 90% of the fathers out by a dynamic, you see, you have really crippled the entire people so that when the father is removed and he cannot play the role as breadwinner and the mother play the role as, you know, the support giver of the emotional wellbeing of the children, then you're going to produce certain kinds of behavioral aberrations.

If the mother is forced to be the breadwinner as well as the giver of emotional supports, do you see, then the emotional supports go wanting.

You can produce depression, do you see, if a mother, you know, if that balance is not there, the father is the breadwinner, the mother as the primary emotional support of the developing child.

If that's not in place, then you can produce symptoms of depression in children.

Now, if children are depressed, these are some of the things that they will do.

If children are suffering depression and dependency deprivation, they will become preoccupied with sex prematurely, and so therefore we get teenage pregnancy.

They will not have the necessary emotional supports to tackle academic work, so we get school dropouts.

A sufficient degree of depression.

Somebody says, "Well, here, if you drink this, you won't feel so bad, little boy."

Or, "If you take this drug, you won't feel so bad.

You'll feel real cool."

Do you see, and so that's the way I say that we get teenage pregnancy, we get school dropping out, and we get use of drugs.

If you take large numbers of fathers out of a community and male children do not have fathers to model their behavior after and to lean against so that they gain strength and confidence in themselves as male children, then you will have children forming together in gangs.

Do you see, engaging in destructive activity.

So I see that all of these plays are, do you see, coming about because the white king is, you know, in our analogy, do you see, put the black king in check.

And black people have not understood these dynamics, do you see, or they knew something was happening and they were begging for it to stop, do you see, but it can't stop.

And so I say that now, once we make this analysis of what the dynamic of white supremacy is really all about, then we have to go into certain kinds of behavior formation.

And one of the kinds of behavior formations, because see now we have an epidemic of teen pregnancy, and there's no way in the world that a teenager can rear a child to emotional maturity.

Do you see, that's not possible.

Okay, so I say that we have to understand that this dynamic, white genetic survival dynamic that has checkmated the black king or put the black man in check, do you see, this is going on.

But if we begin to understand that that is happening and then consciously codify our behavior, this is on the black side of chessboard now.

So that I have a rule, no black woman under the conditions of white supremacy should have a child before she's 30.

No black male should become a father until he's 35.

No more than two children, no closer together than three years apart.

Do you see, now what am I doing?

See, the white supremacy dynamic is not only putting the black male in check, but it is to inferiorize the behavioral functioning in order to hold an oppression, in order to have that sense of, look at them, and I'm superior to them, I really feel genetically inadequate, but I get a psychological kick by seeing them in a very degraded state.

Do you see, and so the counter move is to understand what this dynamic is all about.

I mean, it's just like if you were in a sailboat and you wanna get to a particular point on the other side of the river, you have to know the current of the wind and the current of the river, and you attack against that force to get to the point where you want to go.

And so I'm saying that as political, like at this point in time, black people say, well, politics is going to the polls in voting.

That is, you know, politics is the power relations between people, do you see, but everything you do is an aspect of expression of power or powerlessness.

And so black people need to understand that it is a very critical and important part of black politics to bring to a screeching halt the inferiorization of black people brought on by white supremacy, but carried out through the dynamic of teen pregnancy.

- Now, do you think this can be accomplished through your, quote, Democratic Republican parties?

- Well, we're not- - How do you see these, as these, go ahead.

- I mean, well no, because you see these party, you know, Republican Party, Democratic Party.

I say that these are parties, you know, that are under the white supremacy dynamic and they are fundamentally about white genetic survival.

- But Dr. Welsing, someone just said that you have Ron Brown who's chairman of the Democratic Party.

How do you- - Well, do you see, but it's like in psychiatry, I have to look for the bottom line.

You have to make algebraic sums.

You don't just look at one number, do you see?

You have to look at the pluses and you have to look at the minuses and you have to come up with an algebraic sum.

And so the fact of, you know, one Ron Brown does not make, do you see, just like, you know, one Abraham Lincoln doesn't, you know, nullify the use of Willie Horton.

Do you follow what I'm saying?

In other words, those parties, and I'm not, you know, I believe that black people should enter the so-called Democratic Party and the Republican Party to teach justice, not to ask for anything, do you see, because asking, give me something when the persons that you are functioning with say, "Well, wait a minute, I've gotta survive genetically.

If I give you something, that might empower you to cause my genetic annihilation, so I can't," do you see, so I say that black people should enter Republican Party and the Democratic Party and enter anything else that they want in order to talk about justice and to educate.

Do you see, but you don't count on, do you see, you don't depend on that, that you depend on, do you see, just like, you know, just like basketball, football, or you know, war, you have to have tactics and strategy for, do you see, your survival.

And ultimately what I'm talking about is bring justice to the planet earth.

Do you see, the vast majority of the people on the planet are non-white people, and it's an abomination that all of those people should be in a state of poverty and uneducated and not highly developed.

And so it's about bringing justice to the planet so we can have peace.

For example, you have, you know, people who classify themselves as white and they talk about the arms race and all the armaments and all the billions and trillions of dollars that are being spent for weapons.

Do you see, but it's, you know, if you just talked about the white elderly struggling to, you know, make ends meet, do you see?

Or the white children that need to be educated.

"Well, we can't, you know, educate you because we've got to spend this money on armaments."

Those armaments are to maintain white supremacy.

All those weapons surround all the non-white people on the planet, do you see, and that old game about it's a capitalist versus a communist, everybody sees, well that's, you know, obviously that's not real.

- Well, and where do black soldiers in the military fit in on the chess board here?

- Well, they are, you know, call them pawns, you know, being used by the other side.

I mean, the non-white people are used to, you know, to the extent that they are, you know, my father fought in a war and I could say the second World War was about, you know, which white brother is gonna have the control of what.

But the bottom line was that all those black soldiers did not, you know, achieve equality as a result of fighting in that war.

And so we just have to understand.

- [Listervelt] What about the notion of the world war when the whole world was not involved in the war, either war?

- Wait a minute- - The notion that, well, they call it the World War.

World War I, World War II, but everybody in the world wasn't fighting.

- Well, large numbers of people in the world, you see, were brought into the war.

You see, World War I and World War II and who's gonna have control of what group of non-white people, large numbers of the world is divided up.

- Well, I want you to take me into your office though, for, without- - Go right ahead.

- But not charge me anything.

This question again about the impact that white supremacy, power, is having on black children, because you are in the area of child psychiatry and adults.

What are you seeing in your office?

What are some of the problems that you see originating out of?

- Well, I talked, I was talking about the destruction of a positive image of self that is developed in black children simply by looking at television or reading books, do you see, where they don't see their image and the enhancement of their image.

And that's critical for brain computer functioning.

Do you see, if I'm trained not to love and deeply regard myself, then my functioning is being cut in half.

The attack on the black male under white supremacy, I say, is a major reason for the destructive relationships that very often go on between black male and female.

You see, skin is like divide and conquer.

You see, you can make a man not get along with his wife by refusing to promote him on a job.

I mean, that can happen with a white male.

Do you see, if he isn't advancing on a job and he starts feeling bad about himself, and so he goes home and kicks a dog and argues with his wife, do you see?

Because his sense of self.

- [Listervelt] But most of us will just look at that particular microcosm of this woman and this man, and say that, you know, what's wrong with him, or what's wrong with her, and not be able to look.

- Well, we're trained in that way, do you see?

I mean, white supremacy, I mean, you know, does the white side of the chessboard tell the black side, "Now this is a strategy that I'm gonna use to defeat you."

No.

Do you see, if the black side doesn't, you know, perceive it or decode it, then tough luck.

So white supremacy never talks about it.

I mean, white supremacy says this is a democracy, everybody is equal, da da da da da.

Do you see, but that's not the dynamic that is actually being carried out.

Whereas if you taught children in the first grade, this is a white supremacy state.

This is the way that white supremacy functions.

White supremacy has a goal objective to interiorize non-white people.

We want you to understand this, boys and girls.

Do you see, if that was taught, then, "Wait a minute, I'm not gonna be inferiorized.

I'm gonna stay in school 10 hours a day."

Do you see?

So that's, you know, that's not taught.

So people are not taught that, I could tell people in my office very often, a male and a female, black people, 90% of what happens in your marital relationship is determined by white supremacy.

To the degree that you increase your knowledge and understanding of what white supremacy is about, you improve the relationship between the two of you.

Do you see?

- [Listervelt] Briefly, once again, how does white supremacy power reach into that home, that African-American home?

- Well, I keep, you know, again, by attacking, do you see, by attacking the father, the primary breadwinner, do you see, you control the housing that is available, you control the healthcare that is available.

Do you see, by paying a person a substantially low wage or by comparison, do you see?

You could raise all kinds of havoc.

You can raise havoc by having the black female able to advance on a job at a faster rate than her male counterpart.

Do you see, that raises all kinds of havoc in a system that says, well, the male is supposed to be the head of the household.

- And when you look at the African situation where the family is concerned, you have to say that this is something that has been imposed on us because the family was not like it is.

- Exactly.

Do you see, we would do well to say we don't have families.

I say we have survival units under white supremacy.

The family has been destroyed by the dynamic of white supremacy.

And at the same time I'm saying it, I'm saying that it is, you know, it is our responsibility as black people to decode in detail how white supremacy carries out it's destructive dynamic and then you counter play against it, and I mean very seriously.

No children until 30 and 35, married, no more than two, no closer together than three years apart.

- In your opinion, when is the African-American child an adult in a state of good mental health?

- Well, one can say that as long as we are under major attack by white supremacy and we don't understand that attack, we're not in a good state of mental health.

And I think if we look at our condition, if we look at the number of children who are dropping out of school, the number of young people who are in the juvenile justice system, the number of people that are incarcerated, that these are signs that there's not maximal development of the black, genetic, and constitutional potential.

We're under attack and we have not worked out how to defend and develop ourselves.

And we will not be in a state of optimal mental health until white supremacy is no longer here.

But in the meantime, as we are helping to eliminate white supremacy and taking responsibility for our own maximal development, it is incumbent on parents to, number one, be mature parents.

Do you see, meaning be old.

No children having children.

No overwhelming yourself with large numbers of children, do you see, which is a continuation of the slavery phase of white supremacy where people are breeding and studying.

And I say that breeding and studying means to bring people in the world to be inferiorized, do you see?

And so we have to become consciously aware of that.

At the same time that I say that the breeding and studying comes about when the white supremacy system is giving welfare payments.

Do you see, I don't give you a good job.

I don't let you advance on a job, but I keep giving you increments and a welfare check.

Do you see, I say that that is a, you know, it's like the slave master.

"Hattie, if you produce another baby, I'm gonna give you another little piece of fat back, do you see, to work on my plantation."

So we have to take control over that.

Then we have to, as parents, as older black people, have to show models of positive self-image and self-concept even though we don't see it on the television, even though we don't see it in magazines and newspapers and the movies, et cetera.

And we have to learn those behaviors.

For example, there are behaviors that I call exercises in black mental health and black self-respect.

And some of these exercises came from the textbook for victims of racism by Neely Fuller.

But stop name calling one another, stop cursing one another, stop gossiping about one another, stop squabbling with one another, stop being discourteous and disrespectful to one another, stop fighting one another, stop killing one another, stop using and selling drugs to one another, stop throwing down trash where black people have to live, work, and play.

Did I say stop stealing, stop robbing.

Now as I said, the pressure of the white supremacy dynamic that forces black people to think negatively about themselves and set up negative environmental conditions will produce these negative behaviors.

Do you see, but that's just like somebody putting you in check from the other side of the board.

So you have to learn the tactics and strategies, the behavioral tactic and strategies, do you see, that will stop that from happening.

So you are constantly on the offensive and the defense about preserving or evolving and developing a very positive image and concept of self.

That's key.

The second thing is for black people in this state of siege of racism, white supremacy, do you see, to continue to put a major emphasis on education.

And I have been critical, I don't wanna talk about another television program, but I don't like the program Sesame Street.

I'll tell you why.

I think that it was a program developed for so-called inner city black Hispanic children.

And so you have the background is garbage cans, and then you have this big silly goose.

Now, if a program is supposed to be about education, I think it should be presented in a very serious manner.

For example, if you look at, I don't know if South Carolina gets Mr. Rogers.

- [Listervelt] Oh yeah, we did.

- Do you see, and Mr. Rogers says, "Good morning, boys and girls.

Today we're going to go to a ice cream factory."

Not a silly goose, do you see, and a dumb big bird and a whole lot of noise and creatures coming out of garbage cans.

Do you see, we're going to go to ice cream factory and we're going to see how ice cream is made.

Now that's education for children, do you see, who are going to have a responsible role in the society.

And so I say consciously or subconsciously that the Sesame Street is like ban to education.

Now somebody will say, well, they disagree.

That happens to be my opinion.

And I see it as conscious or subconscious thinking coming from the other side of the chess board.

But I think that to the extent that black people are able, that they should teach their children that education is very, very important, that you cannot ask anybody else to do and make perfect for you.

That you must do it and develop it yourself and you're not gonna do it without an education.

And I think that black children need to know, need to learn about African, the African past.

Do you see you have done a splendid job with your series, "For My People," do you see, and in the episodes that you have talking about ancient African history, that black people are deprived of.

Do you see, that is not taught any place that I know of.

And it should be taught just like I think that white children, if they are taught the history of their ancestors in Europe, fine.

Do you see, but then the ancestry and the ancient history of all other peoples should also be taught, not just, well, you were enslaved, and in 1863, do you see, Abraham Lincoln emancipated you.

That's not the history, do you see, of African people who happened to be living here in America.

We have the oldest history and people in Europe went to Africa to learn years and years ago.

Do you see, and that should be taught.

If it's not taught in the school system, then black people have to teach it, whether they teach it in school, in churches, or whether they teach it in homes, but this must be taught.

And also you have to understand the game that's on the table.

Do you see, you don't take somebody to the football field and stand them up and say play without telling them what the game is all about.

You don't go to the chess board without being taught.

Do you see, what is the object of this game?

- Which gets to my next question.

You will hear many black parents complain and adults complain that the younger people don't know what racism is because it is more subtle than- - [Dr. Welsing] More refined.

- Yeah, all right, 20 years ago.

What should black children be told about white supremacy power?

- Everything.

Absolutely everything.

Do you see, but I think that the relationship between black and white people, Neely Fuller, I keep referring to him.

I consider that he has done some very important work, you know, in terms of understanding white supremacy.

But he talks about the relationship between black and white people being tacky.

Do you see, because there's not a lot of truth shared.

A tacky relationship is 90% lies and 10% truth.

Do you see, and at best, the relationships between black and white people are more tacky.

- [Listervelt] More specifically, when you say tacky, what do you mean?

- Meaning that there's no discussion about white supremacy, do you see, that's lied about.

And so, I mean it's like a married couple, do you see, where they're lying to each other as opposed to sharing truth that a lot of lies go on, lot of deceit goes on in the system of white supremacy.

And so I think that black parents should tell their children everything, do you see, but instead of, "Well, I don't want to tell the child because it really is so horrible and I don't wanna think about it."

Do you see, that's incorrect because- - [Listervelt] What does that produce in the child?

- Well, it's just a lack of understanding.

Do you see, you have the child standing at the chess board and you don't tell them what the game is all about.

You don't tell them the plays that are gonna come from the other side of the board.

So the child is in a state of, you know, being checkmated or the other side keeps saying check.

And so the child just stands there.

"I can't play this game.

I don't really know what's happening."

As a matter of fact, I say that black people greet each other by saying, "What's happening?"

'cause we don't know what's going on.

You see, now is the time before we enter the 21st century for us to fully understand exactly and specifically what white supremacy is all about.

And people at all ages should know.

- What should black children be told about white supremacy?

- Exactly what we're talking about here.

Do you see?

And more, that white supremacy is a system of behavior evolved by a tiny minority of people on the planet who are genetic recessive to the majority.

And these behaviors that oppress and hold non-white people down are for the purpose of white genetic survival.

These are very unjust behavior, boys and girls, or children, you see.

And we have been asking that these behaviors stop, but because they consider these behaviors to be survival necessity, they continue.

So therefore this is what we must do, do you see?

We must learn how to take ourselves very, very seriously.

Do you see, we must learn how to respect ourselves.

We must learn how to respect one another.

You see, I say even respect white people.

Do you see, but be aware that's like if you are on opposite teams, baseball, basketball, football, you can respect the team that's playing against you, but know that that team is playing against you, you see?

And that ultimately what we're talking about is establishing justice and peace on the planet.

But this is like a war that's going on now, do you see?

And our responsibility is to bring justice to the planet earth.

Do you see, but it's going to be a very difficult struggle because the people on the other side are very, very much afraid.

And so therefore they are doing some very, very destructive and negative things.

We must be aware of that.

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