Slavery in Miami: A Call for Freedom

4 Pages Posted: 28 Aug 2009 Last revised: 6 Dec 2010

Date Written: May 26, 2008

Abstract

The problem I just described is an adverse effect of what psychology terms as a “free will” model. This model denies that many psychological illnesses are actually social pathologies and invites the individual to change either his/her frame of reference in the therapeutic setting or the chemical composition of their nervous system in the emergency clinic setting; yet attention is not placed on social implications of the alleged illness. In other words, the existence of the young black man who called me ‘black monkey’ is ignored. In the “free will” model, individuals are asked to go through therapy to change their way of thinking and of living - to change themselves. The questions that would arise would be like ‘Why do I feel upset about a black man calling me black monkey?’ perhaps, “why not take this as a way of seeing myself in the comical mirror that most black Americans have chosen to view themselves in, and deem the comment as funny?’, and ‘why do I feel uncomfortable around fellow black people who ignore me?’ or better yet, ‘am I sure that they are ignoring me? Maybe it’s my distorted perception that makes me feel that way - my low self esteem…why not see that the problem is with me and not with them?’ Meanwhile, no intervention is made to ameliorate the oppressive social surrounding, if not to cure the social pathology all together.

Keywords: A Call For Freedom, Modern day Slavery, American Zombie

Suggested Citation

Etienne, Claudine, Slavery in Miami: A Call for Freedom (May 26, 2008). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1462481 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1462481

Claudine Etienne (Contact Author)

affiliation not provided to SSRN ( email )

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