Black people’s perceptions of racial inequalities, systemic oppression, and Black liberatory advancement in the United States: A critical phenomenological study
Date
2021-05
Authors
Dazzell, Lisa N.
Major Professor
Advisor
Vogel, David L.
Wei, Meifen
Jordan, Tera R.
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Abstract
Black people in the United States are systematically oppressed under a system of white supremacist capitalist patriarchy. Under this system, Black Americans are subjected to several racial inequalities such as employment, income, healthcare, and police violence disparities, which infringe upon their ability to advance within society. While previous researchers have examined these racial inequalities, little research exists on Black people’s perceptions of racial inequalities, systemic oppression, and how perceptions may impact Black ideological views on Black liberatory advancement. The present study is the first of its kind to use a critical phenomenological approach to examine a) Black people’s perceptions of racial inequalities (employment, income, healthcare, and police violence) during a global pandemic, b) how Black people make sense of systemic oppression, c) how these perceptions may influence Black liberatory imagination, during an upcoming presidential election.
Participants’ findings reflect a mixed approach. Generally, participants used a systems lens and an internalized racially oppressive framework to explain inequities. Ideas of Black liberatory advancement involved multi-sectoral reparations, self-determination, addressing issues in the Black community, and healing. This study’s results may allow educators and psychologists to address damaging internalizations and perceptions in the Black community, which lead to detrimental impacts at the inner and interpersonal level. With this understanding, we may use education as a tool to promote critical consciousness and psychology as a means for healing to facilitate Black liberatory advancement. Additional contributions and implications are discussed.
Keywords: Black liberation, racial inequalities, Black advancement, systemic oppression
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thesis