Back in the '90s after the Gulf War, many veterans started coming down with weird symptoms, eventually termed "Gulf War Syndrome." Some of these were quite real, but studies found the Gulf War veterans were, on the whole, healthier than the general population. But the guys who served there were convinced of it, and it made them pretty miserable to think they were sick and the government was covering it up.
When you tell someone they're sick, or unwelcome, or subject to bias, and especially if you're a neutral source, they're liable to believe you. The mind is incredibly suggestible.
So how much of these feelings are because we keep telling people that racism and other issues are a problem? I understand the impulse to not dismiss the problem, but it seems like feeling like you're surrounded by racists has to be almost as bad as the real thing.
When you tell someone they're sick, or unwelcome, or subject to bias, and especially if you're a neutral source, they're liable to believe you. The mind is incredibly suggestible.
So how much of these feelings are because we keep telling people that racism and other issues are a problem? I understand the impulse to not dismiss the problem, but it seems like feeling like you're surrounded by racists has to be almost as bad as the real thing.