The following is an excerpt from The Isis Papers. The Keys to the Colors. By Frances Cress Welsing, M.D. Washington, D.C. 1989. Available [HERE] and [HERE] 

The Concept and the Color of God and Black Mental Health

by Dr. Frances Cress Welsing

Agnostics question the existence of God. Atheists deny the existence of God. These two groups combined constitute a very, fery tiny minority of the world's peoples. The over­whelming majority of the peoples on the planet Earth have a conceptualization of—and a belief in—the existence of God (no matter how named or defined) as the supreme force of the supreme being responsible for the creation of the universe. This conceptualization constitutes the highest and ultimate focus of a peple's worship, devotion, and obedience.

In all but the agnostic and athefstic groups, the orientation of the person to the concept of God in a given culture begins at the earliest possible age of comprehension. Thus, long before there is true cognitive understanding, there is for even the very, very young child a participation in the prac­tice of God recognition. This participation and practice becomes a part, then, of the child's—and ultimately the adult's—concept and image of self. It is from this self image and self concept that evolve all patterns of behavior, that the determination of mental health or mental illness is made.

As a practicing general and child psychiatrist, my definition of mental health is: patterns of perception, logic, thought, speech, action, and emotional response in all areas of people activity (Economics, Education, Entertainment, Labor, Law, Politics, Religion, Sex and War) that reflect self and group respect, and respect for harmony in the Universe: The critical question that now arises is what does the "concept and color of God" have to do with "self and group respect, and respect for harmony in the universe"?

Let us begin with the recognition of the fact that Black people in the United States of America are an oppressed people. Indeed, all black, brown, red, and yellow peoples on the planet Earth are oppressed.

The existence of oppression means that there is no self determination on the part of the oppressed. The existence of Black and other non-white oppression also means most fun­damentally that there can be no functional self respect, or the existing levels of self respect are extremely low, and for the most part, negative. All nine areas of people activity are used in the system of non-white oppression. Religion is no exception. The global system of white supremacy, oppres­sion, and domination developed a religion called "Christianity."

Most fundamental and absolutely critical to the white supremacy system of religious throught was the formation of the Image of a white man as the "son" of God. This white male Image was then referred to as "Christ"; It doesn't matter that the prophet Jesus was a Black man.

Because of the nature of the human brain that functions on logic circuits, once a white male Image is established in the brain computer logic as the son of God, then the brain com­puter at deep unconscious levels automatically concludes that God the Father is also a white male, since Black or other non-white males would have produced a non-white son.

Thus, any person accepting the Christian religion—whether conscious of it or not—has the image and concept of God as a white man. With this unconscious "God-is-a-white-man" logic circuit securely implanted, the message becomes very clear: the white man (as God the Father) is supreme, perfect in power...and goodness...from whom all blessings flow.

Therefore, it can be said that all Black and other non-white "Christians" worship the white man as God—not as a God but as the God. So the white man is perfect, good, supreme and the only source of blessings, according to this logic circuit.

It is noteworthy that Christianity was based upon the life of African (Black) prophet named Jesus. That the white Romans recognized this fact is reflected in early portrayals of Jesus and his mother (the Black Madonna and Black Child). To this day, a picture of the Black Madonna and Black Child is secretly cherished as one of the most revered Icons of the original Christian church, the Catholic church.

What, then, necessitated changing the Image of Black Jesus and Black Mary to white Christ and white Mary? It is necessary to return to the most fundamental fact in the existence of the global white collective.

White-skinned peoples were initially spawned as albino mutants from Black peoples in Africa. Albinism is the genetic inability to produce the enzyme Tyrosinase, which is necessary for pigmentation.

These albinos were rejected by the normal, pigmented majority. They were chased out and isolated from the normal Black genetic groupings, and eventually migrated northward to escape the intense African sun. Migrating northward from Africa, the albino populations eventually settled in what is now Europe. There they increased in number and returned to conquer the peoples of color throughout Africa, Asia, and the rest of the world. They would no longer think of themselves as the rejected and "diseased" population. Instead, they would think of themselves, in compensation, as superior, supreme, the superman, and look upon all skin-pigmented peoples as the "genetic inferiors."

With the necessity for such a compensatory ideology and image of self as superior, the white psyche could tolerate no concept of anything higher than the white self—not even God. When the concept of the son of God was formulated, the image that the "son" of God took was that of a white man, which would mean that God himself had to be a white man. The white collective in reality is not in worship of any force beyond itself.

Further, it is apparent that the white psyche felt anger toward God, having been born with a genetic defect, hence, the development of thoughts which doubt and deny the existence of God. It is no accident that within the language system of the most highly evolved white supremacy unit the word "God" is the exact mirror image of the word "dog"; and within that same language system it is the dog that is said to be man's best friend—not God.

Many whites perceive themselves as being at war with nature, the reflection of God; they function as though they are in a contest with God and must try to "out-create" God. Presently there is a quest to produce genes and life itself. This behavior is effecting the desbruction of the universe.

I am now proposing that Blacks and all non-white peoples who have had for hundreds of years this brain computer logic implant—that God is a white man—begin an immediate return to the fundamental concept of God as originally understood in Africa and Asia before the influnece of the albino (white) collective. The African understanding of God was: the one, the all in one force that created all energy in the universe.

It was the African understanding of and respect for this source of all energy that is manifested in all things, and is responsible for all things that is known as African Spirituali­ty. Spirit is energy. Spirituality is the ability to tune in to, to get in touch with the ultimate source of all energy. It is from this understanding of all energy / spirit that the Africans understood that all power (energy use) was derived. This, for the African, was the essential cosmic connection—the power connection.

Since the black pigment melanin is a superior absorber of all    ' energy, in my view, melanin is essential to establish this depth of understanding of God and all energy. Because whites lack the melanin sensory system, they cannot experience or know that all is one; perhaps that is why they cannot establish harmony with nature and the universe.

However, at some unconscious level, there must be within the collective white psyche the awareness that the color black is essential to be in touch with the God (all energy) force, justice, and wisdom. Why do they clothe their men of justice in black? Why do they also clothe their scholars at the point of scholastic achievement (wisdom) in black academic robes? Of course, one might cite a few exceptions, but black attire for ministers, priests, judges, and scholars is the norm in the white supremacy system and culture throughout the globe.

First, Blacks and other non-white peoples should begin to consciously practice the removal of this white image of the "son" of God from their brain computers.

Blacks and other non-whites must practice utiliz­er energy crystallzations (bodies) as direct connec­tions with the cosmic/God force (source of all energy). This means that we must learn to use our personal antennae to connect up with the true source from which all energy power flows. By so learning to tune inot the cosmic energy source, it is possible to find the purpose of one's particular energy configuration—of one's body—to tap into, and use that source of cosmic energy for constructive purposes.

All too often, we are not connecting our own personal energy configurations directly into the cosmic energy source, and consequently the results have been catastrophic. An ex­emplary case was recorded on November 18, 1978, when almost one-thousand (1000) Black men, women, and children taken from the United States were murdered at "Jonestown" in the jungel of Guyana, South America.

The establishment of this concentration/extermination center was no secret to the American government. Black people on welfare, Black children in foster care and possibly Black people on prison release were among those told that they were going to a paradise void of white supremacy. All of the decision makers, mind you, in the Jonestown concentra­tion/extermination center were white people; the leader was called Jim Jones, a white man.

These Blacks must have had a God-is-a-white-man image in their brain computers to have followed any white man anywhere, let alone into an unknown jungle to their ultimate murders—especially considering a history of pain and destruction in which 50 million Black ancestors were forcefully dragged by whites out of Africa to become an enslaved and oppressed people for the next four hundred years.

The Jonestown concentration/extermination experience is the most profound known example of the mental illness which Blacks and other non-whites can suffer under white supremacy in the name of religion. Black people should refer to this specific form of insane behavior under the conditions of white supremacy as the "Jonestown Syndrome," in which nonwhite victims of white supremacy—having very, very low levels of self respect—follow a white person anywhere he suggests (in the name of religion), even to death and destruction.

There remain vast numbers of Blacks and other non-whites who suffer from this same form of insanity. This syndrome of mental illness has at its base the logic circuit that the son of God is a white man, hence God has to also be a white man.

My definition of mental illness is: patterns of perception, logic, thought, speech, action, and emotional response in one or more areas of people activity (Economics, Education, Entertainment, Labor, Law, Politics, Religion, Sex, and War)—whether consciously or unconsciously deter¬mined—which are reflective of a lack of self and group respect, and also reflective of self and group negation, caus¬ing disharmony in the universe.

To be Black and to accept the image of the white man as God is the highest possible form of a lack of self respect. Such perception and emotional response is therefore insani¬ty. It ensures that Black people will always look up to white people and therefore will always look down upon themselves.

Only through obliteration of this brain computer logic circuit that "God is a white man" can the reality of Black and other non-white liberation come into being. It is in this direc¬tion that we must propel ourselves in the final decades of the Twentieth Century.

Frances Cress Welsing was on the faculty of Howard University as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics in the College of Medicine. Dr. Welsing is presently the Clinical Director of the Hillcrest Children's Center in Washington D.C. She has been published ex­tensively in professional journals and in consumer magazines and is well known for her "Cress Theory of Color Confrontation."