For Millennials. By Millennials.
This year has had its share of crazy news but the one about the black girl claiming to be white tops the chart. Treasure Richards, the 16-year-old thought she was genuinely white and spewed hatred against her own African-American race on Dr. Phil. But later on, her sister Nina exposed the whole scam. Nina stated that Treasure Richards and her mother were just doing it get some fame. Though, Treasure Richards still denied these allegations of Nina and stuck by what she said. Dr. Phil, however, had a proper therapist on the show with him. The African-American therapist Spirit recently enlightened everyone on what she really thinks about the whole issue.
Spirit Thinks Treasure Richards Needs Help
Therapist Spirit genuinely believes that Treasure Richards was suffering from self-hatred and not an actual hatred against African-Americans. She even gave this theory to Treasure on the show. But the young teenager completely dismissed it and was quite rude to her. Obviously, the therapist didn’t approve of this behavior but she still thinks there are underlying mental illness problems that Treasure is denying. Even if the story was a hoax and all just to get attention, the therapist is certain there was a reason for it.
“If you get caught up in the outrageous things she says, then you miss the actual story. I never believed for a second that she actually believed she was transracial and I never believed that she hated Black people. As I said on the show, I believe she hates herself, and I believe there’s some hatred and some frustration with her mother as well. This is more about humiliation, embarrassment, control, manipulation and all these other things.”
Difficult Childhood of Treasure Richards
Treasure’s mom told her and her siblings that their father was a white man who was living with them. It would obviously mess with anyone’s head to accept that your father is of a different race than you. Treasure Richards’ real father died early on and she never got to meet him. It’s quite clear that she and her mother have a strained relationship as well. So, Treasure Richards, the black girl claiming to be white, was never in the company of loving and nurturing guardians that would give her the attention and love she needed. The counselor believes that Treasure was doing this whole stunt in order to just get the attention that she never got.
“It’s really about empathy and supportive encouragement. People are talking about what they would do to her if she were their child and giving her the type of attention that feeds her disease.”
Changing How We Treat People Like Treasure Richards
The therapist wants everyone to not think of how crazy the young teenager is being but look at it from a different point of view. She wants us to view the story from a lens that has empathy and kindness. Spirit believes that sister Nina should have been more loving towards her younger sister.
“Instead of feeding her illness in an unhealthy way and enabling her behavior, respond by saying, ‘Sister, I love you, and I hope you get some help. Sister, here’s a link to a clinic near you.’
Further on, Spirit adds that in her African American community, people often dismiss the idea of taking care of one’s own mental health. People just deny there is a thing called mental illness. Due to the misunderstanding of our issues, we just find it annoying and offensive and outright ignore it. The therapist thinks that this method isn’t what allows healing.
So, the black girl claiming to be white definitely has some serious mental health issues that we shouldn’t label as crazy or funny. Treasure Richards has underlying problems that she and her family need to acknowledge and possibly fix.