Debra Dickerson's got a new book, and Prometheus is pretty happy about it. The title is pretty provacative... The End of Blackness: Returning the Souls of Black Folk to their Rightful Owners. Dickerson's got skills...and as she is a native St. Louisan she's got a lot to teach me about the mores of the STL.
I'm going to pick this up. Hopefully I can get a copy for free and review it for the Post-Dispatch for February or something.
On one level I can appreciate her willingness to fight for an individualized notion of blackness. Such a move is on one level a decentralized democratic one. It is dangerous for a number of reasons to rely on hustlers for our communal conceptions of blackness. A couple of critiques.
Take the following quote:
" The assumption has always been that those martyrs died to change America but do blacks require no attitude check, no modification, no critique? If not then, they certainly do now, so the question is whether blacks repay that debt by being the best Americans and human beings possible, or by being the best African-Americans?"
I didn't pay for the West/Dyson/Smiley love fest. But I'm willing to bet that at least half of that event was devoted to listing all the random and trifling ways of black folk. My wife tells me often how she's often harder on herself than anyone else is. I find that the same dynamic holds true for most black people. Listen carefully to any speech given by Farrakhan...or even Sharpton if you think I'm lying. How many times have we compared ourselves to other ethnic groups. "You know the Koreans or Jews would NEVER do something like this." "Why is it that the Chaldeans have all TYPES of businesses and we don't?" These comparisons are often ignorant and wrong...but they reveal a deeeeep seated willingness to question, to critique, to excoriate black people for not being perfect.
Here's another one:
"Blacks must accept that they are a numerical and political minority and must master the dominant bodies of knowledge even as they fight for the inclusion of worthy multicultural knowledge. As rational adults, they should concede that, forced to choose, it should be Churchill over Patrice Lumumba, the Inchon Landing over the Zulus' David vs Goliath victory over the British."
I get what Dickerson is saying here. What she's saying is that in order to embrace our American-ness, we have to embrace American culture. We can't continue to say we aren't Americans we just happen to live here. And I agree with that. But I also don't think we have to constrain our choices about what is and is not a valued part of our heritage. WE have a much greater existential range than DIckerson is giving us credit for. BUT if we do have to choose...I am not sure what choosing Churchill over Lumumba actually gives us. ON the other hand though it is clear what we lose. The key to code-switching is having something to actually SWITCH TO.
I remember reading an interview with Albert Murray. He talked about how he longed for a time in which whenever black people were wronged they wouldn't go to the media, they wouldn't boycott or protest...they would just TAKE CARE OF IT. No histrionics. I think this is what Dickerson is getting at here. The Art of War is considered part of the basics for a reason.
I didn't want to say so when I blasted her on Kwanzaa, but as P6 says, we'd probably be cozy in the same room. The question is whether or not her attitude is proper.
I've been disappointed with the lack of entries in her blog, and I think like Glenn Loury, she is more born again than shooting from the hip. So while she may be right, I'm not sure how righteous she will appear.
The opportunity will arise, if she hits the media mark, for a goodly amount of speculation about our generation's conservatism and patriotism, especially in light of McWhorter's celebrity.
Other than that, 'The End of My Blackness' is a personal essay I've been writing every four years since 1982.
Posted by: Cobb at December 30, 2003 09:30 AMIt never ceases to amaze me how often conservative crackpots are always advocating The End of ..... (fill in the blanks)
Daniel Bell: The End of Ideology
Francis Fukuyama: The End of History
Dinesh D'souza: The End of Racism
Frum and Perle: The End of Evil
Looking at these titles- Are any of these goals realistic or even practical?
Now along comes another conservative nincompoop advocating the End of Blackness. If she wants to end her blackness she can (1) follow Michael Jackson's lead, straighten her nose and bleach her skin, or (2) put a gun to her own empty head and pull the trigger. This is the better option. Lastly, thank God that I am black and NOT American.
It never ceases to amaze me how often conservative crackpots are always advocating The End of ..... (fill in the blanks)
Daniel Bell: The End of Ideology
Francis Fukuyama: The End of History
Dinesh D'souza: The End of Racism
Frum and Perle: The End of Evil
Looking at these titles- Are any of these goals realistic or even practical?
Now along comes another conservative nincompoop advocating the End of Blackness. If she wants to end her blackness she can (1) follow Michael Jackson's lead, straighten her nose and bleach her skin, or (2) put a gun to her own empty head and pull the trigger. This is the better option. Lastly, thank God that I am black and NOT American.
From the vitriol of this last uninformed poster I would assume that he didn't get past the book's title before making a decision on the validity of Ms. Dickerson's concisely written study on the issues affecting blacks IN America.
It is further obvious that he is either an aging member of the Politburo or an unrepentant black (lower caps "b" to indicate that you are not representative of all Blacks) Marxist left-leaning nincompoop angered by his lack of forward thinking and entrenched in his Whitey-hating ideology. You advance nothing, you do nothing. You only prove Ms. Dickerson's point.
Anyone who took her book as an advocacy to end "Blackness" can either not read and comprehend at a 6th grade level or...well, why pull a punch...is a complete idiot.
The goals are not only increasingly realistic and practical but necessary for to continue in the path of self loathing and self destruction can only result in self imposed prophecy.
Michael Jackson? Gun to the head? A better alternative yet? Check yourself. You better get exorcized of your demonic hate before it consumes your soul...Brother.
Empty head? This wonderfully talented and forward thinking woman has made me, a Native American, come to the realization that not only am I a member of the "American" family, whose history couldn't have been written without you nor I (yes, if you are from here you ARE an American and entitled to all that it offers...take it), and not only should I sit at the table but take my turn at the head of it.
And, finally, perhaps you are right in that she should have titled her book, "The End of...(fill in the blanks)" because her voice speaks to people of all color. I "choose" to rise above the hate for YOUR complicity in the destruction of my people, never forgetting but looking for a time when we all are driven by a sense of morality and equal justice. My suggestion is that we both start within ourselves and let it pay itself forward. Good day!
Wow, I just happened upon this web site while researching the new book. What a joy to find such erudite black people. I don't have to agree with you, I'm just happy to hear you talking. As for the book, I look forward to reading it a.s.a.p. As for the commentary of H2, while you're railing about black complicity for the demise of the indian people, remember that we are you as well. Ours is such a history that we are all. In my case, I am desceded from West Texas Cherokees, they are Cherokees that stopped in Texas on their journey on the trail of tears. I do not celebrate the buffalo soldiers and as for the other transgressions against native peoples by black people, whom i count as my people. I do apologize, I am sorry for the decimation of the indian nations by all, and by black people in particular. I once met a Navajo man who was very angry that so many americans have native american kin and say so. I believe that he was angry at the appropriation of native american women and the rape of his ancestors. As a black woman in america, I am angry about similar issues as well. In america, we must always remember that we, is us. We have trod a perilous path to arrive at the place where we find ourselves today.
Posted by: android annie at September 23, 2004 11:48 PM
I agree with the cetral viewpoint Dickerson is setting forth:
I want the book to see if she puts it forth soundly. A good idea badly explained usually gets ignored at best.
I'd also like to see who her target audience is.
Posted by: P6 at December 29, 2003 11:27 AM