Created Equal: America’s ‘racial ghosts’ and how they influence society

The concept of racial ghosts is a counterargument to the claim that America is a post-racial, color-blind society. It refers to how African Americans’ present day outlooks are influenced by racial traumas experienced at other points in history. 

Racial ghosts are passed down generationally through mothers and caretakers. They’re considered “ghosts” because children develop these views through unintentional, non-verbal communication. Children learn to absorb past traumas to better survive the racialized environment around them. 

Dr. Dionne Powell, a psychoanalyst from New York City, stresses how interactions between a mother and her child teaches the child who they are and how society perceives them. This causes the development of an embedded definition of otherness the child carries with them and passes down to their children. 

Powell joined Created Equal on Wednesday to discuss how racial ghosts apply to psychological wellness and treatments for African Americans. 

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Guest

Dr. Dionne Powell works at the Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research, The Psychoanalytic Association of New York, and the Cornell Medical Center in New York City. She says that structuralized and internalized racism holds back society.

“Our society’s superpower is within our diversity. But we have a hard time holding onto that because we have to get to that point,” She continues to say “People are sort of programmed to feel less than, and other people are considered more privileged.” 

Listen to Created Equal with host Stephen Henderson weekdays from 9-10 a.m. ET on 101.9 WDET and streaming on-demand.