I still remember the following quote from Greg Tate circa 1991:
"Perhaps the supreme irony of black American existence is how broadly black people debate the question of cultural identity among themselves while getting branded as a cultural monolith by those who would deny us the complexity and complexion of a community, let alone a nation. If Afro Americans have never settled for the racist reductions imposed upon them -- from chattel slaves to cinematic stereotype to sociological myth -- it's because the black collective conscious not only knew better but also knew more than enough ethnic diversity to subsume those fictions.
-- Greg Tate"
Once again we are stuck in neutral when we make efforts to deal with black diversity. That's because of a determined refusal to disambiguate race from culture from citizenship when it is more convenient to make something of a 'racial' statement. American politics remains entirely too racial, and this becomes abundantly clear when black Republicans clash with black Democrats, or on those occasions when we deal with those damned Baptists or those damned West Coast rappers. Black America remains cripplingly dependent on myths of racial unity. Consequently black elites who can nationally or internationally code switch with ease are always tempted to take advantage of those myths. I struggle myself sometimes. But what I don't do is feel compelled to second guess whatever it is that self-identified blackfolk do as blacks.
The irony thus is that I know, like Greg Tate knew, that all black Americans are perfectly free to do whatever they want, as blacks. Nobody ever stops blackfolks from being exactly the kind of black they want to be. Its the moment one black person steps over the line to tell what another black person ought to do where all the trouble starts. That doubles down on the irony because it implies a kind of ownership of blackness. So who owns blackness? This is the core of today's debate. Who is authentic, and given that, what are they owed?
I can't tell you how tired I get of the sort of statistical representations of black populations no other people seem to suffer. But I must admit these Pew numbers catch my eye. Put me in the 'not so [self-] important' category of black identification. It is rightly what we should expect two mountaintops past MLK's. What statistical representation can you put on a love of bebop? What bar chart best describes a second-line funeral? We abandon our inheritance of cultural edification when we submit to the racial boxes. Race always has and always will define a manner of control. You cannot truly desire freedom and also truly desire racial categories.
Ultimately this is about fear. The fear of "If I am not black, then what am I?" Remember Akeela? Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. There's that special black American fear that maybe I've held my own self back. The special fear that one cannot stand to hear somebody who is not black tell us truthfully so.
Another *great* one, Sir! Below all In My (somewhat) Humble Opinion. Your quotes preceded by ">".
> "There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you."
True that.
> "You cannot truly desire freedom and also truly desire racial categories."
Truer that.
> "So who owns blackness? This is the core of today's debate. Who is authentic, and given that, what are they owed?"
First question: You do, M Bowen. People like You. Liberal/Conservative. Not sure if that's useful or not. But no debate needed.
Second question: You guys/gals are owed respect. Respect for elders. (In spirit, if not in age.) I dunno young people are familiar with term, but that may be too broad a brush.
> "Ultimately this is about fear."
IMO, truest yet. But I dunno:
> "The fear of 'If I am not black, then what am I?'"
Got me thinking. Fear all people have, AFAIK, is "If I'm not alive, then what am I?" ICBW, 'course.
I still remember the following quote from Greg Tate circa 1991:
"Perhaps the supreme irony of black American existence is how broadly black people debate the question of cultural identity among themselves while getting branded as a cultural monolith by those who would deny us the complexity and complexion of a community, let alone a nation. If Afro Americans have never settled for the racist reductions imposed upon them -- from chattel slaves to cinematic stereotype to sociological myth -- it's because the black collective conscious not only knew better but also knew more than enough ethnic diversity to subsume those fictions.
-- Greg Tate"
Once again we are stuck in neutral when we make efforts to deal with black diversity. That's because of a determined refusal to disambiguate race from culture from citizenship when it is more convenient to make something of a 'racial' statement. American politics remains entirely too racial, and this becomes abundantly clear when black Republicans clash with black Democrats, or on those occasions when we deal with those damned Baptists or those damned West Coast rappers. Black America remains cripplingly dependent on myths of racial unity. Consequently black elites who can nationally or internationally code switch with ease are always tempted to take advantage of those myths. I struggle myself sometimes. But what I don't do is feel compelled to second guess whatever it is that self-identified blackfolk do as blacks.
The irony thus is that I know, like Greg Tate knew, that all black Americans are perfectly free to do whatever they want, as blacks. Nobody ever stops blackfolks from being exactly the kind of black they want to be. Its the moment one black person steps over the line to tell what another black person ought to do where all the trouble starts. That doubles down on the irony because it implies a kind of ownership of blackness. So who owns blackness? This is the core of today's debate. Who is authentic, and given that, what are they owed?
I can't tell you how tired I get of the sort of statistical representations of black populations no other people seem to suffer. But I must admit these Pew numbers catch my eye. Put me in the 'not so [self-] important' category of black identification. It is rightly what we should expect two mountaintops past MLK's. What statistical representation can you put on a love of bebop? What bar chart best describes a second-line funeral? We abandon our inheritance of cultural edification when we submit to the racial boxes. Race always has and always will define a manner of control. You cannot truly desire freedom and also truly desire racial categories.
Ultimately this is about fear. The fear of "If I am not black, then what am I?" Remember Akeela? Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. There's that special black American fear that maybe I've held my own self back. The special fear that one cannot stand to hear somebody who is not black tell us truthfully so.
Another *great* one, Sir! Below all In My (somewhat) Humble Opinion. Your quotes preceded by ">".
> "There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you."
True that.
> "You cannot truly desire freedom and also truly desire racial categories."
Truer that.
> "So who owns blackness? This is the core of today's debate. Who is authentic, and given that, what are they owed?"
First question: You do, M Bowen. People like You. Liberal/Conservative. Not sure if that's useful or not. But no debate needed.
Second question: You guys/gals are owed respect. Respect for elders. (In spirit, if not in age.) I dunno young people are familiar with term, but that may be too broad a brush.
> "Ultimately this is about fear."
IMO, truest yet. But I dunno:
> "The fear of 'If I am not black, then what am I?'"
Got me thinking. Fear all people have, AFAIK, is "If I'm not alive, then what am I?" ICBW, 'course.