Black America’s “gaslight” nightmare: The psychological warfare being waged against Black Lives Matt

[applegrove]

Black America’s “gaslight” nightmare: The psychological warfare being waged against Black Lives Matter

by Brittney Cooper at Salon

http://www.salon.com/2015/09/02/black_americas_gaslight_nightmare_the_psychological_warfare_being_waged_against_black_lives_matter/

"SNIP............

To be clear, the Black Lives Matter Movement is not an anti-cop movement. It is a movement that vigorously and voraciously opposes the overpolicing of Black communities and the state-sanctioned killing of unarmed Black people (and, yes, all people) by the police. It is a movement that insists on holding police accountable for their violence and that will hold police to a higher standard precisely because the state gives police the right to use lethal force. With more power comes more responsibility.

But here’s the thing: White people know this. Conservative Black people who insist on speaking about the rule of law and the issue of Black-on-Black crime know this. This is basic. They know that these young people don’t want to kill cops. They want the cops to stop killing them. That was as true in 1988 when NWA released their hit song, “Fuck Tha Police,” and it remains true today, as protestors blast rapper Boosie’s similarly titled song at protests. Yet, the release of “Straight Outta Compton” this summer has led to increased police presence in movie theaters, even as we have watched the trial of white male Aurora movie shooter James Holmes.

How deeply emotional must one be to hear a group sing a song that is a critique of the police terrorizing communities and hear the song to be saying that these same communities want to terrorize police? How deeply emotional must one be to deliberately disregard the unspoken “too” at the end of every proclamation that “Black lives matter”? We are all entitled to our feelings, no matter how fucked up and misguided they are. But white people’s feelings become facts in a system of white supremacy and these “facts” are used to guide social policy.

Recently, I have come to understand more about the term “gaslighting.” I had heard the term used for years, but never knew what it meant. This particular post explains gaslighting as an attempt to override another’s experience. One key marker of gaslighting is the moment when you name a problem or offense to another person, and somehow they end up the victim. Frequently in these encounters, this person may have said or done something patently offensive, but when you point this out, they accuse you of having lost it, having misrepresented the facts. After repeated interactions of this sort, you start to mistrust your own mind, your own memory, your impressions and interpretations of facts and events. You feel like you must be a horrible person who is causing injury. Yet the emotional bruises you bare tell a different story.




..............SNIP"

[99th_Monkey]

1. Which is exactly what the bully-killer-cop police "unions" are spouting

Never-mind that the police shootings have absolutely N-O-T-H-I-N-G to do
with Black Lives Matter, suddenly the cops are the "victims" of BLM

[1StrongBlackMan]

2. Posted to for later

[brer cat]

13. Somewhat OT...

I read the linked article on the meaning of gaslighting and it made me think of you. One form of gaslighting is described as "the gaslighter is always transformed into the victim."

We have had a number of threads discussing the obvious stalking and abusive alerts on you, and there was one particular DUer (I'm not calling out) who always seemed to show up to tell you it was no big deal because he was stalked too (which I don't believe for a minute). I always felt that he was making himself a "victim" to trivialize your situation and also demonstrate that he was a "bigger man" than you by taking it in stride. You are too controlled to take his bait, but he always left me seething.

I may be stretching the term to apply in that context, but it immediately came to mind when I read the article.

[1StrongBlackMan]

14. LOL ...

So many DUers use me to make themselves the victim that I no longer notice.

[betsuni]

3. K&R

[Lint Head]

4. The movie 'Gaslight' with Ingrid Bergman and Charles Borey demonstrates a form of "gaslighting".

A rich and power man wants to drive his wife crazy so he could grab wealth, in the form of jewels, by convincing her she was crazy. He stole them. She thinks they mysteriously disappeared.
It takes place right before electricity became widely available. When gas was the normal form of lighting, heating and cooking.
The husband would turn the gaslight down just enough so his wife would think she was seeing things or losing her sight. Then he would turn it back up when he came home. It made her manic and reclusive. Comes Joseph Cotton to save the day.

Powerful people wanting to control people subliminally and even overtly is common where greed is involved.

[Person 2713]

5. Yes the term comes from that play . It was a good play,movie too

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaslighting

[freshwest]

6. Will be posting on a friendly website. Thanks for sharing. n/t

[Skwmom]

7. Thanks for the post.

People speaking out against the wrongful killing of Black Americans shouldn't be used to turn them into the aggressor rather than the victim.

However, watching the corporate owned MMM (Manipulate the Masses Media) I think the end goal is to keep us divided rather than to have people unite to stop these injustices.

[Mbrow]

8. k&R

needs to be said over and over

[jtuck004]

9. Good description. So what is the defense or offense? n/t

[applegrove]

11. Say "ouch - you are gaslighting me". When Jesus said "Blessed be the poor

for they shall inherit the earth" nobody says "but the rich should inherit the earth too" to give them an example. Say you are being baited. Cause it is black baiting. Meant to provoke a reaction. "Do you know that you are black baiting like a cult follower?"

[oasis]

10. Fox's Bill O'reilly called BLM a "hate group" and HE would shut them down.

The ignorance and arrogance of that idiot.

[eridani]

12. Remember--it's a movement, not an organization. Much like Occupy.

Their business is changing the national conversation, which they are doing. Many also belong to more formal organizations with lists of policy proposals and the like.

[Admiral Loinpresser]

15. KnR! n/t