Political Teaching & Learning

"The Black Student can learn SKINNERIAN psychology better than a white student and still as a result of having learned it be made DUMB by it. Because, it is taught on a " race neutral", nonpolitical level. Why not look at it politically? This RAT is CONDITIONED; i.e., it reflects the conditions under which it is forced to survive as a result of POWER RELATIONS.

SO why not analyze this experiment in terms of POWER RELATIONS? Based on these terms we may reach the conclusion that the conditioned rat is SOCIALLY CREATED - ITS PERSONALITY IS A SOCIAL CREATION. What it learns is the result of a POWER DIFFERENTIAL between the rat and the experimenter, because the experimenter has power over the rat and uses power to TRANSFORM and CREATE something NEW in the rat. As a result of the CONDITIONING EXPERIMENT, the rat is different from other UNCONDITIONED RATS. It shows the effects of its conditioning.

The experimenter is able to do this because the experimenter has CONTROL over the rat's circumstances. If we will go further and IDENTIFY with the rat we then begin to learn something about OURSELVES - something of value. We will then have grasped something that can lay the foundation for REVOLUTION and CHANGE - not a sterile bit of knowledge and information we can't use."

Dr. Amos N. Wilson