Is Jesse Jackson Jr doing a disservice to his constituents?
OPINION - Looking at this on a purely political level, Rep. Jackson’s absence generated a great deal of speculation, even theories that he was in hiding due to an addiction problem or entanglements with the law...
The Office of Minority Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has reported on the higher levels of psychological distress among blacks as compared to whites. For example, African Americans living in poverty are three times more likely to experience psychological distress than those who are not poor. Blacks are 20 percent more likely to have serious psychological distress than non-Hispanics whites. Further, black men in 2008 committed suicide at a rate six times that of black women.
And ironically, last month was National Minority Health Month, which was established in 2008 and is meant to “increase awareness of mental illness, prevention, treatment, and research in diverse communities” according to the White House website.
Bassey Ikpi, who was diagnosed with Bipolar II disorder nine years ago, is speaking out about mental illness in the black community. Following the suicide of a friend, Bassey formed a nonprofit organization called The Siwe Project to raise awareness on mental health in the worldwide black community. She believes too many people with mental illness are afraid of the social stigma and the judgment of others.
“You think mental health and you conjure up images of men and women on the street muttering to themselves. That is a reality, but it’s a reality for those who don’t have access to treatment and medication,” Ikpi wrote last year in Essence magazine.
“The rest of us look like me — the girl in the coffee shop in her designer jeans and fabulous shoes who manages her mental health every day. It’s time to change the face of mental illness. There’s no shame in what I and millions more like me have been through. And I hope to encourage others to speak up, hold their heads high – to let go of the stigmas and get help.”
Congressman Jackson can now count himself among the millions who, like Bassey, live with Bipolar Disorder, and he is getting the treatment he needs. While leaving his constituents in the dark about his whereabouts may have been a disservice, perhaps the stigma of mental illness among black folks kept him from breaking his silence in the first place. And for that, we should all seek his forgiveness. But if this prominent black lawmaker can help to raise awareness and change the social perception of mental illness, he will perform a great service to us all.
Follow David A. Love on Twitter at @davidalove
