Citation

Powdermaker H. Am. J. Sociol. 1943; 48(6): 750-758.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1943, University of Chicago Press)

DOI

10.1086/219272

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The Negro's resentment caused by the deprivations imposed on him by our society may be channeled in different ways, the particular form depending largely on cultural factors. The hypothesis is that over-aggression represents only a small part of the Negro's hostility. Behind the loyalty of the faithful slave and behind the meekness of the deferential, humble, freed Negro may lie concealed aggression and hostility. This hypothesis is arrived at through a functional comparison of the psychoanalytical analysis of the dependency situation of the child with that of the slave, and the psychoanalytical analysis is of the problem of masochism with that of the meek, free Negro. There is no structural similarity in either comparison, but the functional comparison offers a clue to understanding the strength of the concealed hostility behind these two roles and the compensations they offer. The second role, which has persisted through today is diminishing in frequency because the cultural and psychological compensations are gradually disappearing.