The Isis Papers: The Keys to the Colors

The Isis Papers
Black Children
themselves, and they are developing extensive social policies based solely
upon such a pattern of reasoning and logic.
Instead of developing behavior patterns for further useless protest,
Black people should be cultivating patterns of self-help for self-development.
Since the Black family setting is the first social institution under the
racist system in which the Black child begins to experience inferiorization,
it is of key importance that all Black people begin to understand I) the
true function of family life, 2) how some of the most important aspects of
inferiorization can occur there and 3) that the Black family is the one social
institution over which we as Black people can begin to exercise some
control. Control of the Black family will be evident once we gain some
mastery over our individual lives. We will learn that dysfunctional
behaviors can be changed through theexerciseofwillpower. Thus, within
the family setting, Black people can begin to alter the inferiorization
dynamic and create a process for the maximal development of Black
children.
The functional family unit is composed of the father, mother and
offspring. The ultimate role of this vital social unit is to instruct the
children as to how adult males and females function, usually and harmoniously
together for the maximal development of a people. Individual
family units are but cellular units of a whole organism called a people or
a nation. All of the units must function efficiently and effectively if the
whole organism is to live a healthy existence. If a family unit cannot
instruct the young in harmonious patterns of relating between adult males
and females, then ultimately the people will perish because adult male and
female alienation eventually leads to the end of the procreative process.
Without the young, the people will have no future.
The process of instructing the young in harmonious, mutually respect~ .
ful patterns of relating as well as in appropriate and constructive patterns
of functioning is called socialization- the molding of their behavior for
maximal development and functioning in a given environmental setting ..
The father's major task in relationship to the children is to teach adult
male role-functioning through daily example, with love and kindness
expressed towards the children - love and kindness being essential to
efficient learning. The adult male's major responsibility is "breadwinning"
and protection of the family unit and the total people. The mother's
major task in relationship to the children is to teach adult female rolefunctioning
through daily example, love and kindness. The adult female's
major responsibility is child socialization and care of the home. These
divisions of labor are fundamental and necessary for efficient and effective
family functioning under hostile social/environmental conditions,
and racism is a hostile and aggressive social environment.
Today there is much yelling and screaming about such role-functioning
priorities, mostly by white women. However, we as Black people cannot
allow whites to continue to set our priorities. If we ignore these necessities
as Blacks, we will do so at our peril. And it serves well to remember that
the intellectual performance of white children is directly proportional to
the time their mothers have spent with them in socialization during the
frrst five years of life, while white fathers play the role of primary family
"breadwinners" and family and group protectors. White power has been
predicated upon white male aggression and "breadwinning" activity,
while white females take care of fundamental home and family-life
responsibilities.
Nature has endowed men with the greater muscle mass, which makes
maJes more efficient and effective aggressors and protectors of people,
just as females are more effective and efficient at giving birth and nursing
the young. In the framework of any hostile and aggressive external
environment, such as oppression, the most important family unit member
is the one to whom nature has given the greatest muscle mass to ward off
external physical attack, should that ever be necessary. The racist social
system has understood that the most potent method for oppressing and
inferiorizing a people is to attack the family unit structure, thereby
decreasing its ability to function as a fundamental unit for developing and
socializing the young. If there is deficient socialization, the behavior of
the young will be chaotic and disorganized with dependent, weak and
immature personality structure. This can be accomplished best through
attacking and weakening the family unit's primary support and ultimate
defense - the adult male. Females can be controlled by male oppressors
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