[T]he black nationalist in me gets pissed at the implicit message of the hard-core black left--that the only change worth discussing is changes in the law. Given that we live in a majority white country, which never has shown any great willingness to do the right thing in regards to race, except when utterly embarrassed, given the response to Katrina,I find that outlook as unacceptable and irresponsible as people who say go to school, get married and everything will be fine.
This idea that the only real change comes from convincing a majority of white voters is poison, and ultimately fraudulent. The cultural transformation Malcolm X initiated in the way black people think about themselves--being unashamed of our skin color, our hair, our culture, who we are--was just as important as desegregation. We didn't need government for that. I'm sorry folks, I'm on that Marcus Garvey "Up ye mighty race" shit when it comes to this. I see nothing wrong with creating in environment in which black fathers are embarrassed when they don't perform [their] basic parental duties.
This is not trusting White people. But is it really a sentiment my conservative friends want to undermine?
2 comments:
As a gay man, I have a similar attitude. I would like to see positive change in the laws, but that's not my main focus. As time goes by, I'm thinking more in terms of Gandhi's "Be the change you want to see in the world."
The cultural transformation Malcolm X initiated in the way black people think about themselves--being unashamed of our skin color, our hair, our culture, who we are--was just as important as desegregation.
It may have been equally important (it depends of course on how one measures importance), but I'm not sure which has been less effective in actually penetrating this country.
Are black people unashamed of their hair? Look at the percentage of adult black women who are middle or upper class who straighten their hair. I'm not going to claim that straightening one's hair = being ashamed of one's hair, any more than Jindal's changing his first name to "Bobby" = Jindal's wanting to accommodate himself to Americans' difficulty in saying "Piyush." I can't read people's minds or motivations.
But I am skeptical that there really has been a cultural transformation in how black people think about themselves. The apparent continued preference even among black people for lighter skin and straighter hair, and the battle raging among blacks over what their culture should be, points to a great deal of work left undone.
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