WARNING: Today’s topic is what I believe to be number TWO on the list of forbidden topics of discussion in “our” culture: RACISM . . . I believe ADDICTION to be the number ONE edgy societal-issue.
I’ve marinated this topic of RACISM for over a month.
The media is constantly feeding us (listeners and viewers) the classic “divide & conquer” messages via racially-related incidents/traumas; Trump (as of this writing, a leading candidate for the 2016 United States Presidential election) is consistently making insensitive statements while getting more media coverage than I’ve ever witnessed in my lifetime; and major music industries are designed to profit from the corruption of our youth with subtle brainwashing-racial-messages strategized by marketing to reach individual’s lowest senses (raging hormones, defiant nature and a need for instant gratification).
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) has various clever ways of helping those in recovery remember the meaning of words.
One of my favorite teachings of AA is how one is WARNED about words ending in –ism (i.e. alcoholism, sexism, absenteeism, egotism, ageism, RACISM, etc.)
AA’s varied Acronyms for ISM follows 🙂 :
Alcohol-ISM: I, Self, Me – I Sponsor Myself – Internal Spiritual Malady (or Maladjustment) – Incredibly Short Memory – InSide Me – I Sabotage Myself – I Separate Me
Um? . . . Something to think about 🙂
“we all have got to come to grips with our isms”— Joycelyn Elders
Now, because I’m “Old School”, I still like to check-in with good ole Merriam-Webster to define words.
RACISM is defined by Merriam-Webster’s dictionary as an oppressive and especially discriminatory attitude or belief.
By now, you may be asking, what does RACISM have to do with addiction and recovery? (the goal of Counseling On A Shoestring). The answer is, A LOT!
In fact, I believe that the failure to address RACISM, directly contributes to relapse and the onset of addiction.
Now, you gonna tell me that we expect our communities to have condoned this behavior (please read signs above) on a daily basis (not to mention ALL that we could not see), and once removed, forget about them?!
And I am NOT just talking about “the victim”, what about the perpetrator?
I would think that if I had grown up with such OPENLY-exposed evils, WHILE being taught from school text-books (in both white and segregated institutions) that “all men are created equal”, 
then I would be confused, angry, sad, hurt, distrustful, afraid, helpless, hypocritical, unsupported, misguided, etc.—you know, the SAME feelings that feed addiction.
Let’s see now, so I am now to look to the same society, and culture, that created and promoted such hatred, to teach me to “cope” with it?
And as I look around (be I the victim or perpetrator), I would notice something that is consistent–where hatred and injustice is promoted and practiced: ALL self-medicate (within the home, the community, companies, societies, industries, institutions, countries, etc).
I then notice that the evilness is accepted, denied, not addressed—and boy does the alcohol, and other mood-altering chemicals and behaviors, work to . . .
NUMB THE PAIN.
Now since Counseling On A Shoestring is about educating, I did my “Ms. Google-Queen” activity, and well, I was saddened, while “informed”, to discover SO MANY hits on the topic of RACISM. Therefore, . . .
PART 2 will follow with a few articles (to link to) about RACISM that I think you will find interesting.
Meanwhile, please visit the TIDBITs Section of this website (middle-menu tab above to the far right), and read the thoughts about RACISM shared by some of my friends/readers:
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Traprock Misfit aka K’bana Blaq
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Richard Reese
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Rita Mason
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Calvin Dobson, Jr.
THE ROY-BLOG BITE:
“In this country, we proclaim to have GOD in our heart, but racism in our DNA”.
Thanks for stopping by, thanks for letting me share—let’s keep in touch!
(let’s tie together! . . . souls need support!)
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