Internalised racism: the racism that dare not speak its name
The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed Steve Biko Following the recent vote by The Royal College of Psychiatrists, the result of which was denying affiliates (notably SAS doctors) from having voting rights in the College, I had a discussion with a BME colleague. They expressed the view that SAS doctors ( 66% of whom are BME versus 44% of all doctors being BME ) are less capable even when they are more experienced. Racism comes in many flavours. There’s the interpersonal (e.g. name-calling, security officers selectively checking a Black person); there’s the institutional (discriminatory policies that privilege certain racial groups); but a form that is relatively less discussed is the racism that operates at the internalised level. The term internalised racism (IR) originates from WEB Du Bois in 1903 describing the ‘double consciousness’ of being both Black and American. Since America was founded on an ideology that diminished Blac