Psychology of the Mask

Posted by5thgenerationgirlPosted inUncategorized

Unfortunately during the last year, the world has been forced to literally wear a mask as a safety precaution during the pandemic. However when it comes to the history of my ancestors, the concept of wearing a mask meant something much different. Paul Laurence Dunbar is known for being one of the most influential African American literary scholars of his time. His passion for language and music, along with personal life tragedies have been the motivation behind much of his work. With regards to his poem “We Wear the Mask” (revised here by Maya Angelou), the style as well as the content provides a vivid reflection of the hardships people of color endured as well as how they dealt with restrictions that were placed upon them. The basis of the poem is the immense suffering of blacks and the necessity of painting on a happy face as a survival tactic.

Dunbar “challenges the plantation tradition”. These were slave states that heavily focused on the antebellum times, like Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama and Arkansas. Whenever African Americans began to rebel, others became afraid and would resort to using psychological methods of power (such as seperating a slave woman from her children). There is reason to believe that the wearing of the mask is a sign of both physical and mental strength. The reality is that psychic strength is a key factor in what blacks; especially woman, developed years before to survive slavery.

“We wear the mask that grins and lies”, is a statement that can be depicted as: why not give those who are different what they want for the sake of keeping the peace. When examining the word “mask” some may view it in the sense of a horse that is blinded; wandering aimlessly as did slaves while working on the plantations. However; in refference to the spirit of African American’s, it seems more reasonable that the intent leans more towards being in disguise, hiding their true character. Although it is not advertised, people of all backgrounds only reveal about themselves what they choose and have various reason for doing so.

Another line from the poem; “the debt we pay with human guile” can be perceived as insidious cunning, deceit or treachery. An alternative perspective is that to be cunning, does not necessarily mean that one is being deceitful. Cunning intellect can be a skill for survival, staying mindful that the goal of slave owners was to break the psyches of their slaves. The language in Dunbar’s poem reflects the bestial way of how blacks were seperated from the common run of humanity. “A mouth with myriad subtleties”, an unfamiliar usage of the word “mouth” is how it relates to facial expression while speaking. Without sound much can still be implied by expression alone. The statement also clearly implies a large amount such as military or Greek soldiers, but more specifically the scenario is based on the tens of thousands of slaves or race as a whole. This behavoir became a way of life. To not show any sign of emotion was for the sake of culture and love for family, which ultimately for many became a form of Black Fictive Kinship.

“We sing, but oh the clay is vile!” Music throughtout the generations in black culture has been a key element psychologically in lifting our spirits. During the days of slavery they would sing in faith as a way of providing hope. “Clay” refers to a stiff vicious earth found in other deposits near the surface of the ground at various depths below, forming a tenacious paste. In turn, through the singing people of color were aslo determined to firmly stand their ground, mainly in faith because that was all they had to cling to. One can also argue that to atleast some extent this may have had a psychological impact on slave masters as well. Imagine doing everything in your power to break someones spirit and tear them down, yet with all the odds against them, they still refused to loose hope or give up. The relevance of the “mask” concept is not limited solely to African Americans, especially in this day and age. People from around the globe at some point, have or will experience wearing the mask. Some because they choose to and others may feel as if they are forced to do so. Be it with-in our work enviorments, social meeting places like church or common peers such as family for one reason or another, we all are simply trying to survive and that experience in itself varies for everyone.

Published by 5thgenerationgirl

Tammy Wynette is a mother of three and a “G-MA” (grandma). Born in Warren, Arkansas, she currently resides in Sacramento, CA and is pursuing an AA degree in English at American River College, with plans to transfer to California State University, Sacramento (Sac State). She is an active leader and role model in her community, she works with teens sharing and teaching poetry, as well as providing insight for young parents to prosper. She has certificate from NAMI (The National Alliance on Mental Illness) and is a trailblazer & Griot, keeper of stories/traditions passed down from her ancestors. As an Author and motivational speaker it’d be an honor to present at your events to inspire, encourage & let our VOICES be heard! She has short stories and poems published in Our Black Mothers Brave, Bold and Beautiful!

25 thoughts on “Psychology of the Mask”

  2. The study of Professor Dunbar’s poem returns me to my own graduate study in Psychology, and the many conversations I had with classmates about the masks each of us wears. There are, as you say, masks that are chosen and masks that are foisted on us by society. This is a most timely subject for serious thought.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

    2. Alicia, for some reason it’s not allowing me to visit your site. It says “site not registered”. I noticed you “liked” my post before & I believe I attempted then to look at yours. ????

      Like

      Reply

      1. Oh no that’s unfortunate, no idea what’s wrong because I can click on the link I sent in the message above.
        Could you try clicking one of these instead? They’re all pages from my website
        http://www.mindmarvels123.wordpress.com
        https://mindmarvels123.wordpress.com/articles/
        https://mindmarvels123.wordpress.com/2021/05/07/the-fascinating-theory-behind-adopting-personalities-2/
        If this doesn’t work could you manually type “www . mind marvels 123 . wordpress .com” on your browser? No spaces, no capitals. Thank you so much for taking the time to try out, I feel a lot more encouraged to write more when people like you are so encouraging. Sending all my love and prayers.

        Like

  7. Wow, deep. This reminds me of some of what my great grandma told me of how she survived working for ‘Nyakeru’ (it’s what they called white people in my community) during colonialism. May be it helped that she didn’t know English, however at the time they had began to organize for what is now called Mau Mau rebellion. So the thought that they would win their sovereignty back helped her withstand the humiliation she had to endure. So glad to find your blog. Looks like there is a lot to learn from you ❤️

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. Thank you. My great grandma (Big Momma) lived to be 101. My inspiration for this blog is many due to what I’ve learned from my talks with her. I hope you continue to post, I’ll be learning much from you as well.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

Leave a Reply to 5thgenerationgirl Cancel reply

Please log in using one of these methods to post your comment:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

%d bloggers like this: