Just read a nice essay in the December issue of Esquire. Entitled "The Manifesto of Ascendancy for the Modern American Nigger," John Ridley reexamines the roles of Condoleeza Rice and Colin Powell to bring a resolution to the Hainan incident early in the presidency of George W. Bush, when an American surveillance plane made an emergency landing in China after colliding with a Chinese fighter jet. In contrast, riots in Cincinnatti occuring at the same time overshadowed the accomplishments of these two Black Americans who had been dismissed as "Uncle Toms," with much of the African-American community focusing on the fatal shooting of a black teenager by the police.
It's an interesting insight into what may be hindering African-Americans from seeing themselves as victims, and more as an ascendant group with no limit to the accomplishments they can achieve for themselves and the country as a whole. Doesn't hurt that the author, himself, is black.
Sunday, December 10, 2006
But I'm not allowed to use the n-word...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Interesting article, although I'm confused about liberal racism (unless the author is refering to the "kill whitey and the jews" racism of the Black Panthers and Nation of Islam). Granted, the Dixie-crats of decades past were racist to the core, but it appears to me that in word and deed the conservative Republicans seemed to corner the market on non-white, non-fundamentalist Christian bigotry.
As for the article's secondary message, yeah, I agree. There is a culture of victimhood and lack of accountability in poor, black, America. When I watched the news coverage of Katrina, I saw a ton of people - mostly black - with a look of disgust on their faces and an attitude (as I interpreted it) of [i]"Why aren't you taking care of me?"[/i] This is learned helplessness, instituted by the earlier racism of the Jim Crow laws, and perpetuated by a welfare system in serious need of reform (not abolishment).
As for the article's more primary message of [i]leave the niggers behind[/i], well yeah I agree with that as well - in a sense. Poor black Americans, in fact any poor Americans, looking to rise to a higher economic class need to do so for themselves, as oppossed to efforts to bring a whole class of people up together through legislating higher minimum wage and such. What the more affluent could do if they wanted less crime, is put energy into seeing opportunities for advancement are available, and that people know about them.
So, I agree somewhat, but just like Ayn Rand (mentioned in the article as "Sister" Rand) had some good ideas initially, the idea that everyone should be left to fend for themselves is taking the idea of personal responisibility too far, in my opinion. That being said, the ultra-liberal idea that the poor and down-trodden have no options for advancement, and at the mercy of the rich or the system, is just as much crap.
Thus the reason I am a fence sitter, or as I like to think of it, courageous searcher of the truth.
Post a Comment