Is Extreme Racism a Mental Illness?

Question

Is Extreme Racism a Mental Illness?

Answer 1

This is a great question, but one that is going to be extremely difficult to have a correct answer since extreme racism obviously *can* be a manifestation of mental illness, I do not think that is the case in many instances. I think that it should definitely be listed as symptomatic of mental illnesses that were listed.



The more I study of history, the more I’m convinced that the average person, with average intellect, average on a scale of ethical and moral precepts according to the culture/society in which they live…can, under many circumstances be convinced of really horrid racist ideation and not even recognize it as such.



The millions of Europeans who actively aided and abetted the Nazi regime and turned a blind eye to horrific behaviors in their very midst were not unlike your neighbors and mine. They saw themselves and their neighbors saw them as sane, functional, ethical people. That’s a fact that many people still refuse to acknowledge.



I also found this question to be yet another case of the synchronicity I’ve been experiencing both off and online lately. I come to this question after reading a list of inflammatory bigoted projections from a Y/A user who had been notorious for bigotry to Catholics, Jehovah’s Witnesses and homosexuals before turning their targets to Jews about 3 years ago, and in particular stalking and harassing any Jew or Jewish answer with some really nasty insults, then leaving a string of comments that the straightforward and plainspoken data given by any Jewish user was “hate” and whose comments perfectly describe their own outrageously irrational behavior …but they’re given as insults to the person the user is attacking. Your article talks about the projection of their own behaviors they engage in and their apparent inability to recognize that despite it being so glaringly obvious to any who witness it. I’m accused of bigotry and hate by this person in an obsessive manner, but of course I've never displayed any evidence of that. I’ve long recognized this person is mentally ill and projecting.

There are actually a few such individuals that have been behaving this way in Y/A as the Jewish users of R&S can attest and escalated these behaviors in recent months. Some of them pose AS Jews to do it, others do not. I’ve begun to wonder just how dangerous some of these people could be. They often definitely exhibit a break with reality sometimes repeating hate claims in the very presence of objective evidence that will disprove claims they've made.



I think that online we are often more of a witness to this type of behavior because we interact more intimately in communication with a larger group of people who also hide their identities behind a cloak of anonymity. The internet is a place where that kind of behavior thrives and feeds upon itself and the likeminded dysfunctional racist finds validation from others, thus escalating it in both those who are genuinely mentally ill and those who with other upbringing would not be so willing to embrace or exhibit such behaviors.



This is not a clear matter of nature or nurture, but a combination of both. I have known people who were bigots who did indeed change their world views and their behaviors. I’ve known other people who became racists when they became mentally ill. And I’ve known people who were raised by racist parents and who are now abusing their own children’s minds. I think that teaching bigotry IS child abuse and we know that child abuse can cause mental illness. So, these things can affect one another, too.



A good book that tells a true life story of a rabid racist who reformed is “Not by the Sword” by Kathryn Watterson, it tells the real story of a former Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan and as immersed in hate and violence as I can imagine, who was transformed into a man who subsequently went on to try to redeem his past life by apologizing to his victims and speaking out publicly against racism and bigotry.



This is such a great question and I hope that this discussion may lead to people thinking much deeper about bigotry, it’s causes, what promotes it and what can heal it. Education alone doesn’t work, but education to dispel stereotypes and hate propaganda is still essential.



I wrote a copyrighted essay somewhat related to this topic more than a decade ago linked below

Answer 2

Yes, that word "extreme" is EXTREMELY important ;-) LOL. It is that extreme quality that makes a reasonable fear into a phobia, for example. An irrational, and extreme reaction to something that does have some element of danger to it. Airplanes, heights, snakes, spiders, and other human beings can

be dangerous. And racism seems to be heavily fear-based.

Answer 3

lots of phobias are classified as mental illness, so how is it not possible that racism as a phobia could be a mental illness?

Answer 4

To put racism in the mentally ill category would only put the rest of society into question. Would we stop there, or would we target Religion as well. Mental illness isn't taught, and these people are doing it by choice.

Answer 5

No, it's not a mental illness, it's a learned value that is assisted by several cognitive social biases that are inherent in all humans. To say that racism is a mental illness is is undermining the struggle of people who actually do suffer from real illnesses like schizophrenia who truly do not choose the way they are. The psychiatric industry wants to medicalise every cultural and social condition to make a few bucks...common sense.

Answer 6

In my eyes, racists are not ill, they are illiterate, uninformed and full of inferiority feelings and by devaluating their counterpart, they themselves get the feeling of revaluation, but they're only poor people who can't bear the truth. To say racists are mentally ill is a bit too simple I think and sounds more like an excuse.

Answer 7

No, I don´t think it´s mental illness. It´s choice, not illness. "All evil-doers are crazy" is fallacy. There is lot of racists who are not schizophrenics or bipolar. Thank you for spreading stigma.

Atheist.

Answer 8

Pay no attention to the people on here who are being rude and defensive.



Your question clearly states Extreme and anything in the extreme can be categorized as a mental illness, including extreme racism. We all know this, so I am not sure why that is being ignored.



Anyway, yes they are totally mental and like all mental illnesses, will take the person to realize it and get help (or to be forced to be helped) in order to see any improvement.



In fact, I think the extreme racist has many mental conditions---it stems from fear--so it is a phobia. Also there is unfounded extreme hatred. There's a over defensiveness, possessiveness, unbelievable insecurities, irrationalism, paranoia, etc. etc.



To say that extreme racism is not a mental condition (or many mental conditions) is to ignore all facts and reasoning.



Thanks for the article and the question :)

Answer 9

I was going to say yes, based just on the top line question...



...but I'll add one very strong caveat. In legality, a label of illness could be used by some to enable their freedoms & rights. Our culture can be just sappy enough to miss the reality & severity of the situation. Can you picture trying to get the US to go to war against those "poor Nazis who have this unfortunate mental illness?"



You've pointed out one great benefit - it would allow monitoring & protecting the public from people with this disconnect from reality. We need a better system than we have now.



One other hesitation, is that mental illness rarely leads to endangering others in the way people picture (schizphrenics with delusions usually don't result in danger to others). Lumping these people in, could set back an already difficult fight on image.



Absolutely I would agree that beyond prejudice, when people vilify others & project awful images onto them, there is an evident disconnect going on in their brains. Where is the line drawn though? How do you identify it? ALL humans have ablity to hate, so what distinguishes this type? Chances are there is something unique happening in their limbic systems, around danger & fight & flight that is off. This type of hate is primal. It isn't based on facts or lies but self-perpetuates regardless of the info available & reshapes any dissenting info, so it can continue. It self-justifies it's actions as well, so morality about how to treat others is no longer clear even when the person could verbalize & use it in other areas of their own lives.



It reminds me of Eichmann. He could completely disconnect during the day & murder Jew after Jew, yet go home & play lovingly with his grandchildren. Once caught, he expressed no regrets & really very little emotion as though disconnected from the happenings even then to him. There is room to find a mental illness in there somewhere.



There is one great thing about labeling it. It shifts the entire discussion about hate. Extreme leaders doing it - could now be seen in a different light. Could it, reduce humans following such a leader? In the past delusions were sometimes seen as from God, & gathered followers. Now it's seen as a bad thing, mental illness. Could the same shift happen from, "following an ego boost", into "look at that not well guy"? While hate would still exist, reducing the following of charasmic leaders that whip it up in humans would change the peak levels it reaches, & therefore one would assume it could change the baseline levels to a lower point.



One other question too, as it is now, it is known that many serial killers, & horrid leaders have a mental issues of emotional disconnect, narassism. They are charming because they have no sense of needing to be true to their own emotions & can lie as needed. How does this relate to the type of illness you are describing? Which does have different features it seems? Or does it? Both are very deluded.





PS While I agree that a lot of extreme racism can be a symptom of otherwise identifable illness.... some extreme racists are completely functional. Most of the Nazi leaders had what appeared to be good functional family lives, & careers to that point.

Answer 10

To an extent I would agree research in that area might be in order.



It goes back to the question of Nature vs Nurture and the reasons for HATE. I feel that as long as the Religions claim the domains of love, hate, and forgiveness, there is little hope of the little pill to cure all the ills.



Rage almost looks for any trigger for those who fill themselves with anger.



There is a counter arguement on the same site: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1071635/



Is Extreme Racism a Mental Illness?

No

It is dangerous to ask psychiatrists to enforce social policy





ME!







Perhaps I should have also shared that the little pill is almost allways STRONG POISON in my Spiritual belief system. Food is the first best medicine, followed by herbs in addition to those for cooking...





See what I ment about everyone argueing the Nature vs Nurture... Now concider it against this: Mind Control Cults http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnNSe5XYp6E&feature=player_embedded#





Extreme Racism is the product of cult brainwashing in every case I have been around, from SKIN-HEADS, to KKK, to BLACK PANTHERS. While I have spent time with all of these groups, and a few gangs as well, the Religions are the ones that scare me the most.







.

Answer 11

There's at least three things to consider first: I rank Robert Bilder's theory of rating Mental Illnesses on a "continuum" more practical than rating them categorically. Why? Because the body is like a vessel of water, and some people are more pure, and others are contaminated. This is an example of Masaru Emoto's water theory. If you are nurtured (tortured?) in a negative environment that's what you will reflect. The medical community, and CDC also needs to recognize and address the serious mental impairments and side effects of various toxins that many people have been exposed to. . Our society needs to adapt to these three concepts before a wise strategy can be developed to efficiently and fairly treat mental illnesses. The real answer and solution to your question is far greater than classifying the specific case you mention. The whole system needs an overhaul, as the latest science and natural medical therapies understand what causes mental illnesses better now.

Answer 12

It's not the disease itself, but it's a symptom of it. That is, people who have problems with anger, or paranoia, or not knowing the difference between reality and fantasy, will have certain thoughts congealing on them. That's why so many crazy people think they're the messiah--it's a common, appealing fantasy of power and importance. It has nothing to do with the rightness or wrongness of the religion itself. Likewise, people who are angry and/or paranoid will select easy targets for their anger and paranoia. Racial minorities are an easy target--these crazy folks have been hearing for their whole lives that [fill in minority of choice here] have been out to get them/are taking over the world/are evil etc. A rational person will see it's bullshit. A crazy person will grab onto it as an easy explanation for those persistant feelings that someone is out to get them, or that the whole world is against them. So they're not crazy BECAUSE they're racist--they're extreme racists because they're crazy. Of course, then there's enormous ground in between the rational and the irrational, where you've got the plain old normal racists.

Answer 13

There is plenty of evidence to show that racial prejudice exists today because those who have it seem to lack the ability to light their brain neurons and the intelligence pathways completely die. Modern examples include the Klan in the U.S. and the Nazi's who spread their dead neurons

across the European Continent and beyond. Treating those they target as inferior provides tormentors the will to kill them and they did. Prejudice may be classified as anti-social personality disorder. Saddam,

Bin Laden, Stalin, Hitler, and terrorists all fit in to the category One time I like to pin labels.

Answer 14

Race in general is as made up as religion or F-cup t*ts. But, like anything in this world, it's all squeezed inside your head when you're a dumb kid and don't know any better, so technically it's not a mental illness, it's the fact that kids are too f*cking retarded for words.

Answer 15

No. But it might be a Mental Illness to NOT be Racist.? well, if you can think the one, I can think the other, otherwise YOU are being Racist towards me so YOU are Mentally Ill ! What sort of warped & twisted brain thought up THAT question?? I bet it wasn't a White person!

Answer 16

Define "Racism", to me it is just using past experiences, if that is racism, I got it bad.

Answer 17

it can be



as a rational person, you need to figure it out

Answer 18

I have to say at the outset that this is one of the most difficult questions I have ever approached and I have no hope of answering it - only contributing ideas to the debate. It brings to mind a New Zealand publication I can't remember off hand on the dangers of pathologising racism - if any one knows of it - could you please point out the reference.



"After several racist killings in the civil rights era, a group of black psychiatrists sought to have extreme bigotry classified as a mental disorder. The association's officials rejected the recommendation, arguing that because so many Americans are racist, even extreme racism in this country is normative—a cultural problem rather than an indication of psychopathology."



The issue here is that we know most racism is learnt behaviour developed in part in the current age to legitimate 'white' genocide and continuing control of much of the planet - or reactions against this. Racism therefore is a cultural phenomenon and even extreme racism references this. People like Jane Elliott have proven that such prejudices are learned and need to be unlearned and treated as cultural phenomenon. Treating them pathologically is merely offering an excuse and therefore not treating them at all in this case.



"To continue perceiving extreme racism as normative and not pathologic is to lend it legitimacy. Clearly, anyone who scapegoats a whole group of people and seeks to eliminate them to resolve his or her internal conflicts meets criteria for a delusional disorder, a major psychiatric illness."



I'm not certain I agree with the opening premise of the above quote. Doesn't treating any form of prejudice as mental illness effectively ignore input of cultural factors into the issue and put the treatment of it into the 'too hard basket'? On the other hand singling out extreme racism as mental illness may highlight the unacceptability of such traits to others who support such ideas. Something I have noted in my long observation of racism is that whilst people can be extremely racist, they rarely like to be identified as such, and often point to instances of more extreme racism such as those involving violence to highlight how their views are not racist. Isn't treating extreme racism, and only extreme racism (where on Earth does the dividing line go?), as pathological contributing to the ability of institutionalized racism to absolve itself by scapegoating such extremes?



Part of the 'benefit' of classifying such racism as mental illness here appears to be the ability to flag individuals who are capable of extreme violence, massacres and the like in the hope of preventing such outcomes. I don't disagree. It would probably aid in identifying potential victims and purportrators alike. But where is the option for treatment? The magic bullet, "the little white pill"? My skepticism for the medicalisation of behavioural problems, and over medicating of people generally, and the mentally ill in particular leads me to cringe at the very suggestion of this as a possible answer. (I do get that Kanien is playing Devil's Advocate here!) Also, as examples of holocausts, past and ongoing throughout the world would indicate, even the most extreme mental illnesses can be coopted, ignored and 'normalised' by racist agendas and most times the most racist agendas can be accepted a 'normal' according to what the majority of people, or powerful people, support.



Here are some references on pathologising racism, and also homophobia and paedophilia:



http://majorityrights.com/index.php/weblog/comments/psychiatrists_debate_pathologogizing_racism_depathologizing_pedophilia/



http://www.newnation.vg/forums/archive/index.php/t-26205.html



Forum responses to these articles seem have dragged into the debate questions of liberalism vs conservatism (Are we surprised?):



http://turnabout.ath.cx:8000/node/77#comment-7155



What it does make me consider in this era of hyperdiagnosis - where every behavioural 'abnormality' seems to need to be explained and neatly boxed in by, one disorder / condition / illness etc or another, is where human responsibility ends and mental incapacity really begins? Clearly there is a cultural component in most, if not all, cases or the racist patterns expressed wouldn't so clearly follow long established racist discourse, or reactions against this, as they do.



I also wanted to draw your attention to Rob Schmidt's discussion of this article here:



http://www.bluecorncomics.com/2010/02/extreme-racism-mental-illness.htm



RE Lemon's answer: I agree whole heartedly with Lemon's assessment of FEAR. I have always thought of fear as the core human emotion and the 'root of all evil' so to speak. Greed, for example, is really based on the emotion of FEAR - fear that you won't have enough at a future time, that other people will have power over you etc. Racism is of course largely based on FEAR also - fear of 'the other', fear of the unknown etc. Whilst this has a large psychological component it is largely a cultural learning. If this were not the case most racism would not take the form it does in following 'Social Darwinist' styled categorizations of race, or reactions against this, as dictated by myths of white supremacy propogated during the last milenia.



RE Mama Pijama's Answer: I simply think is brilliant.



NB Following on from what Pamela has said. In thinking about this question I have considered my own racism, and my working my way through and out of it, and the racism of people around me and found that most of it is learned behaviour. When I think of people I know with significant observable mental illnesses I have observed a great variety of behaviours. I have seen some people with serious mental illnesses show no regard to issues of race or ethnicity whatsoever. I have observed individuals of persecuted minorities go into delusional rants against other minorities seemingly to align themselves with the mythologies of dominant culture in it's most extreme form, and I have observed individuals with extreme psychoses advocate strong support and pride for their associations with Aboriginal people on some occassions and then go into extreme racist rants against 'c___s' on others, comment on how much respect they have for African Americans as opposed to many white Americans literally one minute and then say that it would be no big deal if a few stray bullets hit some people of other minority groups the next - seemingly on the basis that what they were saying was impressive in some way. I'm still trying to work out whether the following is an example of the above:



https://answersrip.com/question/index?qid=20100208173313AALTPrU&show=7#profile-info-eb38abe11698b46fde324034db87a709aa



I honestly don't know what to make of this but clearly it is completely incorrect to assume that racism would be seen with all mental illness or that all racism is pathological in nature.

Answer 19

No it's just common sense