Reclaiming Anger from White Supremacy
Jessica Chang, MHC-LP.
Anger is an elemental human emotion tied to basic survival much like happiness, sadness, and fear and can be defined as “an emotional response to an external or internal event perceived as a threat, violation, or injustice” (Berkeley UHS). This emotion often comes up when something feels wrong or someone feels like they have been wronged by someone or something. It can be characterized by a wide range of feelings including frustration, irritation, and betrayal - anger can be further dissected into underlying feelings as seen through the feelings wheel.
Evolutionary purpose
It has been widely theorized that anger has evolutionary origins and is an adaptive response. Anger has served as a form of protection, to defend against threats, compete for resources, and enforce social norms. It is associated with the fight or flight response of the sympathetic nervous system. In this primitive response, the adrenal glands flood the body with stress hormones (i.e. adrenaline, testosterone), preparing humans to fight. Meanwhile in another region of the brain, the prefrontal cortex (PFC) is responsible for decision-making and reasoning, inputting context and keeping one’s primal instincts in check such that one does not respond to anger every time with confrontation or combat.
Anger, race, and white supremacy
Anger is often depicted as a negative emotion and has historically been denounced as worthless and a source of evil. For BIPOC, anger has been criminalized. Black bodies have been systemically targeted and disproportionately subjected to police brutality and violence within the carceral system and by the general population at large, as highlighted by the Black Lives Matter movement. Society has been taught to fear dark skin, imperialist and colonialist powers continuing to fund and enforce these narratives which weaponize black and brown peoples’ anger. Meanwhile, Asian communities have been pitted against other people of color, used as the image of how minority individuals should behave, an act of white supremacy manifested through harmful stereotypes and the model minority myth. In this gendered and racial discrimination, the Asian diaspora has been reduced to stereotypes, invisibilized and silenced, women seen as docile and submissive, men seen as immasculine, and all deemed hard-working and compliant (never angry) with little representation or room for movement outside of these boxes. These white supremacist narratives intentionally create resentment amongst Black and Asian folk, both inwardly and outwardly, fueling anger and punishing them for their anger simultaneously.
These racist representations have additive consequences and further show the collective struggle against white supremacy. Limiting peoples’ range of emotional expression is an act of dehumanization and racism, and it often leads to violence against BIPOC communities and attempt to further silence these communities who protest in anger and solidarity. White supremacy is the name behind BIPOC being turned against each other and put in danger, being seen as physical threats, animals, and inconsequential objects.
Consequences of continual or unmanaged anger
Prolonged anger can lead to adverse physical and mental health outcomes. Physiological and biological changes occur to people’s bodies when they are angry. Heart rate and blood pressure become elevated and hormones such as adrenaline and noradrenaline are released. Tensing of muscles also occurs within the body. Frequently putting one’s body through these changes, i.e. by experiencing anger often, can lead to long-term medical conditions and complications such as: high blood pressure, depression, anxiety, insomnia, substance abuse, gastric ulcers, bowel disease, and diabetes (Ohwovoriole, 2023).
Displaced anger
Depending on an individual’s tolerance for expressing and holding space for certain emotions, anger can mask less tolerable emotions or be masked over by more tolerable emotions. Anger may displace uncomfortable emotions such as fear, sadness, helplessness, or despair. It is well-supported in literature that, especially in men, depression may be concealed and masked as anger (Berkeley UHS). Anger may also be a result of other psychological or physiological conditions such as unresolved trauma, substance abuse, or injury to the brain. Alternatively, when anger feels less tolerable, a person’s anger may manifest as chronic fatigue, sadness, helplessness, rationalization, blame, or cynicism. The displacement of emotions involving anger often occurs subconsciously and can go unnoticed without intentionally tuning in to one’s emotions.
Beneficial Purposes of Anger
Protection: Anger allows us to recognize threats and protect ourselves against aggression.
A source of energy: Anger gives us strength and activates our bodies to fight. This energy can serve to propel movements, create change, further goals, and spark creative solutions.
Motivation: Anger can serve as an indicator of injustice. It often arises when we are denied rights, disrespected, and exploited. Anger motivates us to find solutions to problems and focus on putting an end to injustices.
A source of empowerment: Anger, as opposed to desensitization, helplessness, or despair, allows us to continue focusing on our ability to change the situation. It empowers us to work towards a desirable future and take action.
Increases cooperation/solidarity: A common theme which stirs people to feel angry often brings people together in solidarity to fight for the common good. Collective anger indicates to others that it is important to listen to us and also signals that something is not right and we need to come together to find a better way.
Final Thoughts
Anger, although primitive in nature, has turned into a complex emotion intertwined with racial, social, and cultural implications. It has many beneficial usages, and it can be quite harmful. It can be motivating and freeing and also stifling and destructive. It is important to tune into how one’s relationship with anger may be manifesting in and influencing various aspects of life, including but not limited to interpersonal relationships, career, mental and physical health, and connection to self.
In understanding one’s own anger, it becomes possible to harness anger in community and in solidarity and has the potential to empower and sustain movements towards collective liberation.
Sources:
Anger. Psychology Today.
Deconstructing the Dehumanizing Force in Racial Bias: Embracing Emotional Complexity to Overturn Oppression. Six Seconds.
Ohwovoriole, T. (2023). Understanding Anger. Very Well Mind.
Ratson, M. (2017). The Value of Anger: 16 Reasons It’s Good to Get Angry. GoodTherapy.
Understanding Anger. UC Berkeley University Health Services.