White Matrix, Black Mind
When seeing is believing, those who control what we see can control what we believe.
My first viewing of the Matrix (a motion picture with an eastern philosophical theme) was life-altering. No other movie impacted me in the same way that it did. If you haven’t seen it, I recommend you check it out. I was blown away by the message. Three or more viewings later and I began to detect an allegorical, almost subliminal, message embedded within of a personal nature.
What is the moral lesson in the film?
I had been Neo all my life and Morpheus represents the voice speaking to me from my subconscious mind. More specifically, The Matrix is a metaphorical depiction of the fragmented consciousness plaguing most of the 42 million African Americans.
“It is a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at one's self through the eyes of others, of measuring one's soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity."
W.E.B Dubois asserted that since American blacks have lived in a society that has historically repressed and devalued them that it has become difficult for them to unify their black identity with their American identity. Double consciousness forces blacks to not only view themselves from their own unique perspective, but to also view themselves as they might be perceived by the outside (white) world.
This is what Dubois spoke of in the above passage when he talked about “the sense of looking at one’s self through the eyes of others”
I’m certain that many of you (brothers and sisters) have felt the same powerful urge to delve deeper into the scene playing out between Neo and Morpheus. For me the dialogue was an existential answer to an epistemological (what we believe) question. One that is invaluable as I struggle to free myself of the all-encompassing prison of the mind to which I was born into.
Perhaps, some of you have already labeled me as a racist; if not a racist than one obsessed with race. Nothing could be further from the truth. I am obsessed with obtaining freedom for myself. And, that is not possible unless all of my people are free.
And, such freedom requires a willingness to try and transcend the superficial boundaries formulated by Euro-centric model (or matrix) or try to think outside their box. This limited clearing that I’m referring to (narrow and self-defeating paradigm) is carved out of the cultural and psychological forest of someone else’s notion of truth. But, before you judge me or dismiss my assertions, I ask only that you read with an open mind.
The Rabbit Hole
For those who have not yet seen the movie, this is how it begins. Neo is a run of the mill computer programmer by day and a self-serving hacker by night. He is surreptitiously contacted by those representing Morpheus, the leader of an underground anti-establishment organization. Morpheus’ appeal to Neo is made all the more powerful and compelling by Neo’s own instinct-driven obsession with a persistent hunch.
Soon after being contacted by Morpheus, Neo is arrested and detained by the agents, extraordinarily powerful guardians of the matrix. These agents serve the machine (‘a neural interactive simulator or giant computer program in which humans live their lives virtually while in actuality existing in a comatose-like state’) in human form.
The machines are aware of his duo identify and Morpheus’ interest in him and hands Neo an ultimatum. Help us to ensnarl Morpheus or suffer the consequences. When Neo refuses to cooperate, the machines tag him with an implant hoping to capture Morpheus. In other words, they’ve constructed a rattrap with Neo as the bait.
While I am not asserting that any part of the film was directed at victims of the largest ideological subversive program in human history. However, it does present some revealing parallels between the neural net holding captive the fictional human race in the film and the current psychological harness helping to direct the behavior of victims of the white supremacy matrix.
In order to better fame my analysis, I am forced to present segments of the film’s dialogue out of sequence. And, while many comparisons can be made; I have only selected a few of the most glaring cases in point.
Morpheus: You're here because you know something. What you know you can't explain, but you feel it. You've felt it your entire life, that there's something wrong with the world. You don't know what it is, but it’s there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad. It is this feeling that has brought you to me.
Analysis: Ever since I could remember, I’ve felt out of place in America. Even among my own people, something has always felt wrong but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.
As I grew older and began exploring the world on my own, this indecipherable sensation grew more pronounced. Perhaps, because I was born in the north (Harlem), the impact of racism was more subtle than in other parts of the country. That is not to say that our north brand of racism was no less socially and psychologically crippling.
But I’m not really referring to individual acts of prejudice, bigotry, and racial intolerance against black people. Not at all. What I am asserting; however, is the existence of a unified mosaic of seeming unrelated malicious acts played out across the current social, political and economic spectrum.
That is to say the lethal and ubiquitous attacks are woven into the very fabric of white society, which over time seeps into the subconscious of black people. And, no matter where they encounter this behavior modifying virus (school, work, or while watching tell-a-lie-through-vision), unless they are on guard against it (employing a firewall of awareness), they can’t help but download it into their mental mainframe and in turn become a carrier.
It is strangely ironic that the previous system’s blatant intimidation and naked violence were almost more humane. Simply because its acts of cruelty were overt, and thus easy to detect. The present control mechanism, to which I was born into, is a stealthier and a highly disguised method of subjugation and domination. At the heart of it is a massive propaganda campaign designed by skilled propagandist and executed by the governing elite.
Gone (for the most part) are the days of unmistakably visceral and barbaric acts of racism like public lynching’s and gross acts of racial segregation. Responding to black resistance, changing federal laws, and a worldwide audience via technology, white supremacy was forced to mutate and ‘evolve’. All of which exposes the hypocrisy of a racist system who’s most damaging rhetoric begins with: “all men are created equal”.
Like the Transformers toy, the system method of operation has transmuted into a more viable strategy, maintainable because of its highly duplicitous nature. And, you can’t defeat what you can’t see. Instead of using torture and other coercive techniques, the supremacy system applies mass media and other forms of communication to launch a daily mental assault which marginalizes the black brand and exemplifies the white brand.
It was W. E. B. Du Bois who said: "but in propaganda against the Negro since emancipation in this land, we face one of the most stupendous efforts the world ever saw to discredit human beings, an effort involving universities, history, science, social life, and religion."
This racist system is not easily recognized nor comprehended by most of its Black victims. It is often so well disguised that although many of its Black victims may instinctively feel that there is something wrong, they are however unable to sufficiently conceptualize it. leaving them defenseless against it.
Their strategy is to employ words and images in a way that alters the thinking of otherwise rational and intelligent people. For example, I am a resident of Baltimore. Most people are aware of the single day of rioting following the Freddy Gray lynching.
Months after the incident local TV channels were still replaying clips of black youths destroying property. Obviously, the images insinuate that black youths are a growing menace and need to be jailed or put down.
WBAL-TV wins the contest for displaying the most negative image of black youth. After showing lawless black youths rampaging through eviscerated parts of the city, the thirty second promo cuts to white families enjoying a carefree day at the beautiful Inner Harbor. This contrast is blatantly racist. More than a tale of two cities, it’s a tale of two races. This seemingly innocuous branding of the races (in this cast for ratings) was aired at least a dozen times a day for the about four months.
It is this kind of constant and relentless graphic bombardment using deplorable images to which black victims are so inundated with that it may starts to become for them a self-fulfilling prophesy.
Over time these daily attacks mold a character of self-hatred, self-doubt, and self-loathing, curling their rage back against themselves and one another. The result is a toxic blend of white superiority and black inferiority. Furthermore, it is the mainstreaming of such negative images that set the stage for blacks being disproportionately incarcerated, and given stiffer sentences. And, worse still, such hostile depictions make blacks more likely that any other racial group to be, humiliated, beaten and shot down in cold blood by agents of the system.
Moreover, the enduring racist mass media campaign is designed to make the black mind question what is real. To become skeptical of our own imprisonment, and to doubt what we see, hear, and feel. So, it goes without saying that white supremacy matrix trains and conditions its victims to avoid asking questions about the massive psychological warfare program directed against them.
But, fortunate for us, there is always this feeling lurking just beneath the surface of our black consciousness. Having stripped us of our language, our culture, our customs, and our religion; they were confident that they had purged us of our natural warning system. By their calculation, we would have no choice but to surrender to our conditioning.
But, the voice of the ancestors remained spiritually embedded inside us and out of reach of those who would cast us into bondage. As it was locked deep within our collective soul, we used it to erect new cultural models from the remnants of the old.
Morpheus: Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself.
Analysis: While all victims of the white supremacy matrix have their individual stories of having been vilified and degraded (at the job or by the police), most remain blind to the workings of the full apparatus. Furthermore, most won’t believe that a synchronized and wide-ranging system of mind control actually exists.
Having been subjected to dehumanizing propaganda by way of miseducation by public schools and the spread of misinformation through movies, TV, and literature, victims of the matrix are unable to accept the reality of white systemic culpability.
“The oppressed will always believe the worse about themselves”, says Franz Fanon.
Combine that with the historical talking points that convinced the world that black people have always been uncivilized, childlike, and content with bondage. A more refined post-modern version of the age-old stereotypes includes low income blacks are drug addicted, criminal, oversexed, dependent on government assistance, and generally irresponsible.
Thus, it isn’t until black people gain the knowledge of their history; as well as, that of their Euro-centric overlords that we will begin to gain a proper perspective. But, each victim must see it for himself. According to Marcus Garvey: "A people without the knowledge of their history, is like a tree without roots."
But, the agents of the white supremacy matrix will do everything (knowingly or unknowingly) to prevent this. In fact, to maintain its social dominance over its suppressed group, it must condition its suppressed group from a very early age, before they have an opportunity to question the propriety of the matter.
How many predominately black public-school systems make Black History a requirement? Some may offer it as an elective, but most point to their recognition of black achievement during Black History Month. Yet, someone needs to remind nearly all of them that Black History didn’t start with slavery.
According to the late, great Dr. Henrik Clark, “Powerful people cannot afford to educate the people they oppress... because once you are truly educated, you will not ask for power you will take it.”
So, it should have come as no surprise that my indoctrination intensified when I attended college. Instead of developing a broad and critical intellect, under the watchful eyes of my instructors, I cultivated a narrow and pedantic Euro-centric mindset. By the time my brainwashing was complete, I was more estranged from my African self than at any time in my short life.
It was William Yeats who said: “Education is not the filling of a mind, but the lighting of a fire.”
What little passion I had for wanting to make a difference in my own community was soon extinguished, doused by cleverly constructed lies, crafty distortions, and deliberate omissions. The thought police had done a thorough job in training me to think what I was told to think. What they called education was simply the deification of white culture, and the condemnation of my own.
Had I received a single grain of education, I would have graduated a devoted warrior, prepared to do battle with the white supremacy matrix and its plans to bring about the gradual annihilation of the black race. Their diabolical plans for our demise is driven by the fact that their economy no longer needs us, accept perhaps as consumers.
Had I been in my right mind, I would have instantly engage the enemy in an effort to prevent the institutional extermination of black babies, the assault on the black family by the legions of social services bureaucrats, the genocidal spread of infectious diseases within the black community, the economic underdevelopment of the black Diaspora, the manipulation of black minds by the white media, the flooding of the black community with drugs by the CIA, the mass incarceration of black men disguised as a war on drugs, the erasing of black achievement from the pages of history, the commercial plundering of black culture ( for its music, its dress, its style and its ideas), and the endless rape of Mother Africa.
But, being the well programmed robot that I was, after college I sought only to serve my enemy in hopes of becoming the recipient of a white-collar gig. According to Tony Brown, award winning journalist: “it’s impossible to send a black man to a white university and get a black man back”. At least in my case, he was right.
Morpheus: The Matrix is a system, Neo. That system is our enemy. But when you're inside, you look around, what do you see? Businessmen, teachers, lawyers, carpenters. The very minds of the people we are trying to save. But until we do, these people are still a part of that system and that makes them our enemy. You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so injured, so hopelessly dependent on the system that they will fight to protect it.
Analysis: Most black people don’t want change. Like the Last Poets said: “Niggers are scared of revolution”. Most will not entertain thoughts of rebellion; instead aspire to a more a comfortable life of enslavement.
Thus, those of us who are serious about meaningful change must avoid the “house niggers” at all cost. Those victims (mostly middle-class blacks) who are still plugged into the white supremacy matrix won’t believe you if you told them and will think you’re a fool. Others, that know the truth of their bondage, will see you as a threat. Sadly, they fear those who would cut their umbilical cord more than they fear their white malevolent mother.
Morpheus: Do you want to know what it is?
Analysis: Do blacks living under the tyranny of the white supremacy matrix really want to understand the nature of their imprisonment? Hell, no! Such an endeavor would require them to put down their remote controls or cease making it rain at the club and pick up a book. “Like the saying goes: the old slaves were killed for reading, while the new slave won’t read to save their lives”.
Morpheus: The Matrix is everywhere. It is all around us. Even now, in this very room. You can see it when you look out your window or when you turn on your television. You can feel it when you go to work... when you go to church... when you pay your taxes. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.
Analysis: The black man or woman, who searches with all their all of their capabilities for an answer, is labeled a racist. Other labels like paranoid, sociopath, and or delusional come to mind.
When I look out my window, I see stores and properties owned by outsiders. When I picked up a history in school, I was exposed to a past told from the perspective of my oppressors. When, I turn on the tube, I’m subjected to a litany of stereotypical images or glossier versions of Jim Crow caricatures. Even the Savior of my faith is portrayed as someone unlike myself in appearance while the facts suggest otherwise.
Malcolm said it best: you’ve been misled, you been had, you been took.
Morpheus: That you are a slave, Neo. Like everyone else you were born into bondage. Into a prison that you cannot taste or see or touch. A prison for your mind.
Analysis: Once the chains and shackles of our bondage were removed with the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, a new brand of captivity was employed. This new instrument of control was psychological in nature and tasked with seeing that niggers knew their place. It was the birth of Jim Crow.
While the unjust laws of the era and hellish retributions doled out for breaking those laws were very tangible, the psychological damage (the fear, shame, trauma, anxiety and insurmountable stress) to the minds of the black victims were immeasurable.
Because, it was the only world they ever knew. The only reminder of the wretched existence was the privileged lifestyle of some whites. Without any hope of better days, it must have all seemed so dreadfully normal. And, a mind that cannot dream beyond its torment is a mind possessed (occupied by a force beyond its control).
Morpheus: I'm trying to free your mind, Neo. But I can only show you the door. You're the one that has to walk through it.
Analysis: Give me liberty or give me a Lexus. Every victim of the white supremacy matrix must decide whether to choose self-determination or servitude. Once they are unplugged, they are faced with the most important decision of their black lives. Some, like the traitorous character Cypher in the film, will find life too difficult to manage without their former master and beg to be given a second chance. They are the most dangerous of all, because they’ll sell out their own mother to prove their loyalty.
Morpheus: Neo, sooner or later you're going to realize just as I did that there's a difference between knowing the path and walking the path.
Analysis: Remember the black power movement of the sixties. Here is what killed it; crumbs from the banquet table of the establishment. Given the choice of purchasing a house in the suburbs and driving a shiny new convertible, some of the most “down” brothers chose to denounce the movement. The slow exodus of talented and educated blacks over the years further destabilized the black community. In time, black communal priorities and values were replaced with an every-man-for-himself outlook.
Morpheus: Have you ever had a dream, Neo, that you were so sure was real? What if you were unable to wake from that dream? How would you know the difference between the dream world and the real world?
Analysis: “He who control the present controls the past, and he who controls the past controlled the future.” Here George Orwell is implying that knowledge of a people past plays a major role in influencing their future actions.
The dream world for black victims of white supremacy is the current image they have of themselves spun by master propagandist (referred to as public relations experts) for the purpose of maintaining and perpetuating their domination. We fell to sleep with the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation and have yet to wake up. Our grand mistake was and is allowing the enemy to sprinkle fairy dust over us with their talk of equality and acts of tokenism, showcasing wealthy blacks as the only barometer of racial progress.
Consequently, when you allow a stranger to tell you who or what you are, you become a stranger to yourself. Keep in mind that in addition to colonizing most of the world, they have colonized information. Thus, self-education is the only means of waking from the aforementioned dream state.
When I was a child and refused to get up for school, my mother often shock me awake with the use of a cold, wet facecloth. For we victims of the largest ideological subversive program in history, rediscovering who we were before foreign contact can be our cold, wet facecloth.
Morpheus: This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill - the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill - you stay in wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes.
Analysis: Be satisfied with the current trajectory of the black community as we move into the 21st century. Buy into the media’s explanation for black poverty, black crime rates, and failing schools. Excuse yourself from the dialogue on racism in America because it makes you sad. In other words, take the blue pill. As a reward for your apathy, you will receive a marginal degree of contentment. Because it’s no secret that ignorance is bliss.
Join the fight by taking the red pile and discover how deep the rabbit hole goes. But, be warned that you risk suffering retribution from agents (guardians) of the system. Your job, your so-called freedom, even your life may be at risk.
But, know this; any marginal degree of comfort that you may gain is paid for with the blood, sweat, and tears of those who came before you.
Perhaps, if our forebears knew that you would sit in the shade of the tree that they planted and eat its precious fruit without planting the seeds for future generations, they would not have planted the tree in the first place. Remember, our North American predecessors may have been helpless at times against the onslaught of white supremacy, but they never stopped resisting their victimization.
Morpheus: Welcome to the desert of the real.
Analysis: The white supremacy created the matrix (perception management program) to control black minds by the use of misdirection. For, the enemy understands that all wars are based on deception. Real is another word for truth. That being the case, our enemy has seen to it that the truth has become a lie and the lie has become the truth. I recall the night President Obama was elected. It was then that I was first heard the phrase post-racial society.
Those blacks who believed the hype celebrated more than a black man being elected to the most important political office in the western world. They celebrated the end of racism in America. The messaged to us from the white supremacy controlled media was that your struggle for equality was over, you have reached the mountaintop.
Morpheus You have to let it all go, Neo. Fear, doubt, and disbelief. Free your mind.
Analysis: Fear and intimidation are still two of white supremacy’s most effective weapons of mass subjugation. Just consider the disproportionate number of black people being murdered and brutalized by police.
But, it is their psychological (mind control) campaign that is most effective at nurturing doubt within the victim’s own psychic about their true worth as human beings.
Consequently, it is nearly impossible for victims of white supremacy’s thought control devices to believe in themselves. That is, to see each other as the solution to the myriad of social ills plaguing their community. Instead, they wait for the very government whose policies have done nothing but stifle our progress to lead the way.
If we are to free out minds, we must first throw off the shackles of their mis-education and misinformation and rediscover the truth of who we really are. It is only then that we can begin to rebuild. The blueprint is a close has your nearest black book store. In the words of the R&B group, the Ojays: “How can you call me brother—when you ain’t even searchin’ for the truth?”
Conclusion:
In closing, no one is saying that black people shouldn’t make as much money as possible, climb the corporate ladder to the top, or live anywhere their hearts so desires. What I am saying is this. Before taking action, employ an Afrocentric point of view. Ask yourself not only whether the desired outcome is good for you (personally), but how does that outcome impact the lives of other black people (the collective).
To feel one another’s pain and to rejoice in each other’s success is the only way to bridge our cultural chasm. In sum, we owe it to ourselves, our ancestors, and to future generations to place the welfare of our race at the center of our thoughts and actions.
It is important that I add that I don’t hate white people. Most are subject to the very thought control process which molds and shapes the consensus of public opinion. Like most black people, the vast majority of white people believe only what they are told, making black people the scapegoat for their own inadequacies, and their feelings of helplessness as pawns of the white power elite.
Their marching orders are to protect white privilege and entitlement, as they long nostalgically for that time when they had everything and we had nothing. And, as a result, they (teachers, bankers, politicians, etc.) are all too willing to act as accomplices in the ongoing systemic oppression of black people.
However, others are well read and quite intelligent. They know the truth (and see the white supremacy matrix for what it truly is), but are too frightened and intimidated to openly resist it. They dare not expose the lies and hypocrisy or risk having their privileges revoked.
Theirs is a crisis of conscious, cognitive dissonance eroding away the core of their self-respect (white guilt). Then there are those courageous white souls who line up on the side of righteousness. Them I simply call friends.
By James A. Hall, Author of American Messiah
