The Tenacity of Hate
Disowning the helpless self
I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain. ~James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time
Hate is a strong word. It connotes an all encompassing polarization in violent disdain. It is a painful emotion to carry and is taboo to affirm. Instead of confessing to harboring hate we might say we’re disappointed or feel betrayed. Perhaps we concede to being angry, but to hate is to admit to something else completely. To acknowledge hate is to profess a venomous rage so profound and passionate, that only perpetrating actual or imagined harm can temporarily assuage its intensity.
Yet as much as we denounce hatred, its potential resides in all of us. Indeed, hate brings out the most base and frightening aspects of our humanity. If not responsibly managed it can ignite sundry forms of oppression, child abuse, the destruction of property, domestic violence, murder and even war.
Although the range of hatred is vast, being a survivor of complex trauma and a seasoned trauma therapist inspires me to focus on the form of hate that is borne out of the sort of chronic victimization that results in complex trauma, as opposed to the form of hatred that emanates from perceived global injustice. Since hate that is…
