What is the real perversity of racism?

Abstract

AbstractRacism is inscribed onto the mind of the racialized subject. This essay represents my attempt at making sense of the psychological costs levied by the racism that materializes from living in a culture of hegemonic whiteness. My analysis is informed by Frantz Fanon's writings and, particularly, his concept of corporeal malediction. Corporeal malediction captures the unique reality of the racialized subject—one that is different from the systemic discrimination and violence encountered by other socially disenfranchised groups. Theoretically framed by Fanon's “postcolonial” thought, and anecdotally informed by my own experiences as well as my past research on race and racism in organizations, I pose the question: What is the real perversity of racism? I argue that the real perversity of racism is to be found in the psychological damage that it poses on the ontology of the racialized subject. This psychological damage on the racialized subject unfolds through myriad trajectories, three of which I identify in this essay: (1) the (dis)coloring of social reality, (2) the impossibility of assimilation, and (3) the hybrid identity problematic. While management and organization studies researchers have expended much energy in unraveling the institutional and the organizational paths through which racism is enacted, there has been a dearth of scholarly research on its devastating impact on the psychology of the individual. This essay aims to flesh out this corporeal phenomenon.