At one point, I thought about getting some popcorn. I mean…it was getting that good. The jabs were landing ever so effectively. The punch lines were classic. Amidst the texts/calls/BBMs asking the same question “Did you see that?!”, I knew I wasn’t the only one watching the festivities. People everywhere were looking at this. This was one for the history books. No, we weren’t watching season finales or reality television reunion shows. With our feet crossed- some of us even in pajamas- and phone in hand, we all tuned into an epic Twitter battle royal on Tuesday. However, instead of our favorite rappers sparring at each other using 140 characters or less, it was our professors- some of Black America’s leading scholars and thinkers- going in.“Is this Revenge of the Nerds?”, a good friend jokingly asked. Ohhh but it was so much more.
On Tuesday, the world became aware of the full extent of Dr. Cornel West’s disdain for President Barack Obama. The tenured Princeton professor and philosopher called him a “Black mascot” for Wall Street oligarchs and corporate plutocrats. Insisting that President Obama has ignored the plight of the poor and Black in America, West also explained his personal issues with the President. Apparently, while campaigning for him, Dr. West called and prayed for (then) Senator Obama and he didn’t call him back. And to add insult to injury, Dr. West wasn’t even given tickets to the Presidential Inauguration. He had to watch it from his hotel room with his mother and brother, while the hotel worker assisting him with his luggage had a ticket. Oh and then there’s Dr. West’s claim that President Barack Obama, the leader of the free world, came up to him last year at the Urban League's 100th Anniversary Convention and “cussed” him out.
Let me first say this- I think Dr. Cornel West has contributed profoundly to significant discussions in America. I love his work. Taking Dr. King’s book Why We Can’t Wait and drawing parallels of progression from it with Dr. West’s Prophesy Deliverance is one of the highlights of my academic career. But I, like a great number of people, gave West a glaring *side eye* for his remarks in Chris Hedge’s piece. I’m not one of those people who thinks President Obama is above critique; I was highly critical of a healthcare system without a public option. So Dr. West and others who can substantively critique leadership are necessary. But let’s be real: that’s not ALL Dr. West is doing. Unfortunately he (and others) has begun to believe his own hype to the detriment of his message. It’s a sad day when the one who told us you can’t save and lead the people if you don’t serve and love them is upset a hotel bellhop was granted the access he was seemingly denied. Then, later that evening with Ed Shultz, he said he wanted to affirm Pres. Obama’s humanity and protect him from attack. Where is Ed Lover when you need him? C’mon Son. We don’t believe you; you need more people.
And, as scholars do, many took West to task for his disparaging, unfounded and egotistical remarks. For instance, many referred to Dr. Melissa Harris Perry’s piece, calling West to task, as the academic equivalent of Nas’ “Ether”. I mean…..there were only two things I thought about after reading it: playing “Ether” and using my best Fabolous voice to say “Niiice”. It was good. It was grounded in scholarship and rooted in fact. But, though we’d seen a great deal of back-and-forth all day after West’s interview was published, it seemed things within Black academia took a slight turn after Harris Perry’s piece was posted. My jaw dropped when I read "It is becoming increasingly difficult to take @mharrisperry seriously." tweeted by Eddie Glaude, Princeton professor and West’s good friend and protégé. And that- my friends- is when, for me, it got real. Several other professors and scholars waged scholastic war via Twitter on, what can only be classified (in my opinion) as the truth.
While Harris Perry has no need for anyone to defend her (she did an awesome job of that on her own), I couldn’t help but be amazed at how quickly scholastic critique evolved into personal attack. Black scholars can hide behind nine syllable words and a string of phrases they believe the average person wouldn’t comprehend, but many known an academic “yo mama” when they see it. This isn’t the first time Black scholars have gone at it through social networking mediums. However, the below the belt comments fielded Tuesday evening showed just how low public intellectual discourse in Black America can go when pushed. As a student admiring the contributions of many of these scholars, I wonder what type of tone is being set in the Black intellectual community. Why does it seem we can’t get points across without personal attacks? I’m not watching Rihanna and Ciara go at each other’s throats through subliminal tweets, I’m watching highly educated and well paid individuals undermine their colleague’s credibility.
This has gone beyond feeling slighted because President Barack Obama didn’t announce his presidential candidacy on, what some believe to be, THE African-American platform (let’s be honest- that’s exactly what started all this in the first place). This has gone beyond any structured critique of leadership and policy implications. This has become personal. On Tuesday, Princeton professor Imani Perry tweeted “Cornel West opened the space. Period. And in my tradition we respect elders, period. Disagreement can be consistent w/that.” I agree. However, when we see West imply one of the most engaged leaders within our community is weak and can be “easily manipulated”, we do not see respectful disagreement. When we see our educational leaders refer to the work of their colleagues as “bombast and bellicosity”, we do not see respectful disagreement. When we see them resort to petty remarks of misspelled tweets just to get a point across, we do not see respectful disagreement.
Those who accuse the African-American community of not having a substantive critique of the Obama Administration can’t then become hypocritical and unwilling to accept a substantive critique others have of them. I purchased every book Dr. West has published. I even own and have read the majority of the works of the intellectuals who squared off on Twitter. I support them and believe their voices are necessary. However, in a community where our children hear the first African-American President of the United States referred to as someone who is afraid of “free Black men”, the last thing they need to hear are their future professors picking on each other.
With so many in the Hip Hop generation climbing the Ivory Tower, academics and pop culture will continue to intertwine. Beef is good. It’s good in the music. It’s even good in academia. It keeps us on our toes, ensuring our product- whether music or philosophy- is fresh and most beneficial to the progression of the people. But beef is problematic when it becomes personal. It’s counterproductive. Most importantly, it’s just straight up whack. It was entirely too many degrees and too much money talking reckless on Twitter Tuesday. Using my best Florida voice, I ask “Where they do THAT at?” Sadly, in the African-American intellectual community.
Showing posts with label Black in America. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Black in America. Show all posts
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Saturday, October 23, 2010
CNN Does Not Care About Black People
I had two previous installments to warn me. I should’ve known better. How could I have possibly thought “Black in America 3” would actually be about real Black people…..in America? Maybe it was the title “Almighty Debt” that got me. I envisioned this lively discussion about the wealth of Black churches in proximity to the poverty of Black communities. There would be conversation about the weekly intake of our congregations and how much of that is reinvested into our communities. I just knew questions about fiscal responsibility and social accountability would have to be asked and answered. But that would have required actual research, concise objectives and realistic examples- resulting in a show that made sense. And well….that’s not necessarily what we’ve come to expect from “the most trusted name in news”.
Instead CNN spent two hours showing America had badly in debt Black Christians are. Using a 2009 Pew Study, which found that African-Americans were the most religious and most giving to their religious organizations than the country as a whole, CNN somehow sought to draw parallels between Black debt and Black spirituality. (I know right?!) The special chronicled New Jersey Pastor DeForest Soaries’ attempt to pull African Americans from the muck of financial lack and three families, within his congregation, experiencing the very thing he preaches against with fervor. The Jeffries were facing foreclosure. The husband, a luxury car salesman, and his wife, a real estate broker, had not paid their mortgage in 26 months. Fred, a high school senior, has dreams of attending college but his single mother doesn’t have the resources to send him. Carl is a husband who has been unemployed for more than a year but diligently works to find his next job. Though extremely different circumstances, CNN showed they all had one thing in common: They believe God would make a way, as we say in the Black Church say, out of no way.
Can anyone at CNN please tell me when every African-American became a Christian? I’ll wait. Does my cousin, who is very much Black and hasn’t attended a service since he had to begin buying his own Easter clothes, not exist? Is my friend, a possessor of melanin and Buddhist beliefs, invisible? I know for a fact that both of them are broke. But given that their spiritual focus didn’t fit the limited scope of this documentary, their debt (and that of many like them) isn’t calculated into the astronomical figure with the rest of us Negroes who love Jesus. I understand it wasn’t CNN’s intention to show the varied experiences within Black America but for those who watch their commentaries and believe they’re really getting a glimpse into our lives, please know that not all Black people are Christians. While it is the faith to which many African-Americans subscribe, it is not the only one- if they subscribe to one at all. The Black religious experience is as assorted as the hues of our skin. And even among the millions of us who profess Christianity, we do not practice or engage at the same levels or with matching intensity. So for all who now believe every Black person knows that Nehemiah is in the Old Testament and has been given the Right Hand of Fellowship, I hate to disappoint you.
Therein lies the problem. Anyone who has ever taken a statistics course knows the importance of correlations. Variables must have a relationship in order to have an effect. Can anyone at CNN tell me the correlation between being a Black Christian and being in dire financial straits? Again, I’ll wait. And while CNN didn’t come out and say that they were suggesting a relationship between the two, the implication was strong enough. The underlying story of faith drove the entire documentary. Every other shot was a clip of a Sunday morning service. Cameras got close ups of Carl’s tears as he enjoyed a personal worship moment. And they even had Cece Winans singing “Oh the Blood of Jesus”. CECE WINANS!!!! “OH THE BLOOD OF JESUS”!!!! You can’t get much more Black Church than Cece Winans and “Oh the Blood of Jesus”. And what made CNN’s intention more clear was Soledad’s question to Carl’s wife. After learning they’re always $2000 short on bills but faithfully pay tithes each month, Soledad asks if they’ve ever thought not to pay tithes so they could pay their bills. Without hesitation, the wife says no. There were those watching who shook their heads in disbelief and others who nodded theirs in agreement. This is the problem when you unfairly link spirituality and financial conditions. Within the Christian faith, tithing is very important and Scriptures speak to it being a commitment between God and the believer. One tithes because they believe that percentage of their income does not belong to them, but to their savior. To suggest that Blacks who are broke and tithe are broke because they tithe mocks their belief in a way that is beyond unconscionable.
African-Americans are not in debt because they give money to their churches. African-Americans are in debt because structures of inequality still exist. Pastor Soaries is incorrect. Debt is not a bigger problem than racism; debt is a product of racism. When Blacks are still subject to poor education, higher rates of chronic diseases, poor or nonexistent health care, expensive yet inferior housing and higher rates of unemployment more than Whites, how is debt their fault? It’s easy to suggest that African-Americans are poor because they buy $500 shoes when they only make $22,000 a year. How much effort does it take to accuse someone of going into foreclosure because they bought more house than they could afford? You never offend the oppressor when you blame the oppressed. There’s nothing groundbreaking about blaming Black people for their problems. Surprise me by asking employers why African-Americans are still paid less than their White counterparts and sometimes not even hired for specific positions. Ask bank CEOs why they, for years, did not approve the home loans of Black applicants and- when they finally did- preyed on their desire to be homeowners, offering predatory adjustable rates that made foreclosure inevitable. I am not excusing the importance of personal responsibility but let’s not ignore the systematic forces that are constantly working to ensure disproportion.
But it’s easy to see how many would think those systematic forces no longer exist with the family CNN chose to profile. How many Black families do you know that are 26 months behind in mortgage payments but have the money in 401K accounts to pay it? Seriously, I’ll wait. I forgot Black families like the Jeffries came in such unlimited supply and were perfect illustrations of African-Americans in debt. Really, who doesn’t remember being a high school senior racking up $400 worth of credit card debt every month while your parents fight the bank to keep their house and their money? That was a much more accurate depiction than the scores of middle and working class Black families who scale back in lifestyle and work hard to simply remain afloat each month.
I could not escape the feeling that “Almighty Debt” was a poor attempt to explain and a thinly veiled attack of Black spirituality. When one of those profiled spoke of their faith in God to transform their situation, Soledad’s narration constantly reminded viewers of their dismal circumstances. It almost seemed sarcastic at times: “The poor young Black boy has no father, no brother and no money for college but he has Jesus. The Jeffries haven’t paid a mortgage in two years but know God is going to make way. Carl has filled out 300 applications but feels in his spirit this next job belongs to him.” The resilient spirit of African-Americans is nothing new. The same fortitude that carried us through the horrors of slavery and Jim Crow carries us through financial oppression and withheld resources. We always survive when everything purposes to kill us. Perhaps that is what’s most fascinating to those trying to understand us. But faith in the Black community isn’t believing that God will let you keep your house when you don’t pay your mortgage. Faith in the Black community is paying your rent and believing that God will one day allow you to own a home. Faith in the Black community isn’t praising God in advance that your credit card won’t get declined buying shoes you don’t need. Faith in the Black community is praising God in advance for finding a way to buy the shoes your child needs when the money is nowhere in sight. African-Americans, in totality, are not frivolous spenders who’d rather spend our last today than save for tomorrow. And we’re not these infantile dreamers who believe that some man sitting on a throne up in the clouds is going to give us everything we want even if we don’t work for it. We are an eclectic people who believe in many things but, most importantly, we believe in the power of ourselves to find creative ways to exist and thrive within a society that will do whatever it can to keep that from happening. That is who we are.
That is being Black in America.
Instead CNN spent two hours showing America had badly in debt Black Christians are. Using a 2009 Pew Study, which found that African-Americans were the most religious and most giving to their religious organizations than the country as a whole, CNN somehow sought to draw parallels between Black debt and Black spirituality. (I know right?!) The special chronicled New Jersey Pastor DeForest Soaries’ attempt to pull African Americans from the muck of financial lack and three families, within his congregation, experiencing the very thing he preaches against with fervor. The Jeffries were facing foreclosure. The husband, a luxury car salesman, and his wife, a real estate broker, had not paid their mortgage in 26 months. Fred, a high school senior, has dreams of attending college but his single mother doesn’t have the resources to send him. Carl is a husband who has been unemployed for more than a year but diligently works to find his next job. Though extremely different circumstances, CNN showed they all had one thing in common: They believe God would make a way, as we say in the Black Church say, out of no way.
Can anyone at CNN please tell me when every African-American became a Christian? I’ll wait. Does my cousin, who is very much Black and hasn’t attended a service since he had to begin buying his own Easter clothes, not exist? Is my friend, a possessor of melanin and Buddhist beliefs, invisible? I know for a fact that both of them are broke. But given that their spiritual focus didn’t fit the limited scope of this documentary, their debt (and that of many like them) isn’t calculated into the astronomical figure with the rest of us Negroes who love Jesus. I understand it wasn’t CNN’s intention to show the varied experiences within Black America but for those who watch their commentaries and believe they’re really getting a glimpse into our lives, please know that not all Black people are Christians. While it is the faith to which many African-Americans subscribe, it is not the only one- if they subscribe to one at all. The Black religious experience is as assorted as the hues of our skin. And even among the millions of us who profess Christianity, we do not practice or engage at the same levels or with matching intensity. So for all who now believe every Black person knows that Nehemiah is in the Old Testament and has been given the Right Hand of Fellowship, I hate to disappoint you.
Therein lies the problem. Anyone who has ever taken a statistics course knows the importance of correlations. Variables must have a relationship in order to have an effect. Can anyone at CNN tell me the correlation between being a Black Christian and being in dire financial straits? Again, I’ll wait. And while CNN didn’t come out and say that they were suggesting a relationship between the two, the implication was strong enough. The underlying story of faith drove the entire documentary. Every other shot was a clip of a Sunday morning service. Cameras got close ups of Carl’s tears as he enjoyed a personal worship moment. And they even had Cece Winans singing “Oh the Blood of Jesus”. CECE WINANS!!!! “OH THE BLOOD OF JESUS”!!!! You can’t get much more Black Church than Cece Winans and “Oh the Blood of Jesus”. And what made CNN’s intention more clear was Soledad’s question to Carl’s wife. After learning they’re always $2000 short on bills but faithfully pay tithes each month, Soledad asks if they’ve ever thought not to pay tithes so they could pay their bills. Without hesitation, the wife says no. There were those watching who shook their heads in disbelief and others who nodded theirs in agreement. This is the problem when you unfairly link spirituality and financial conditions. Within the Christian faith, tithing is very important and Scriptures speak to it being a commitment between God and the believer. One tithes because they believe that percentage of their income does not belong to them, but to their savior. To suggest that Blacks who are broke and tithe are broke because they tithe mocks their belief in a way that is beyond unconscionable.
African-Americans are not in debt because they give money to their churches. African-Americans are in debt because structures of inequality still exist. Pastor Soaries is incorrect. Debt is not a bigger problem than racism; debt is a product of racism. When Blacks are still subject to poor education, higher rates of chronic diseases, poor or nonexistent health care, expensive yet inferior housing and higher rates of unemployment more than Whites, how is debt their fault? It’s easy to suggest that African-Americans are poor because they buy $500 shoes when they only make $22,000 a year. How much effort does it take to accuse someone of going into foreclosure because they bought more house than they could afford? You never offend the oppressor when you blame the oppressed. There’s nothing groundbreaking about blaming Black people for their problems. Surprise me by asking employers why African-Americans are still paid less than their White counterparts and sometimes not even hired for specific positions. Ask bank CEOs why they, for years, did not approve the home loans of Black applicants and- when they finally did- preyed on their desire to be homeowners, offering predatory adjustable rates that made foreclosure inevitable. I am not excusing the importance of personal responsibility but let’s not ignore the systematic forces that are constantly working to ensure disproportion.
But it’s easy to see how many would think those systematic forces no longer exist with the family CNN chose to profile. How many Black families do you know that are 26 months behind in mortgage payments but have the money in 401K accounts to pay it? Seriously, I’ll wait. I forgot Black families like the Jeffries came in such unlimited supply and were perfect illustrations of African-Americans in debt. Really, who doesn’t remember being a high school senior racking up $400 worth of credit card debt every month while your parents fight the bank to keep their house and their money? That was a much more accurate depiction than the scores of middle and working class Black families who scale back in lifestyle and work hard to simply remain afloat each month.
I could not escape the feeling that “Almighty Debt” was a poor attempt to explain and a thinly veiled attack of Black spirituality. When one of those profiled spoke of their faith in God to transform their situation, Soledad’s narration constantly reminded viewers of their dismal circumstances. It almost seemed sarcastic at times: “The poor young Black boy has no father, no brother and no money for college but he has Jesus. The Jeffries haven’t paid a mortgage in two years but know God is going to make way. Carl has filled out 300 applications but feels in his spirit this next job belongs to him.” The resilient spirit of African-Americans is nothing new. The same fortitude that carried us through the horrors of slavery and Jim Crow carries us through financial oppression and withheld resources. We always survive when everything purposes to kill us. Perhaps that is what’s most fascinating to those trying to understand us. But faith in the Black community isn’t believing that God will let you keep your house when you don’t pay your mortgage. Faith in the Black community is paying your rent and believing that God will one day allow you to own a home. Faith in the Black community isn’t praising God in advance that your credit card won’t get declined buying shoes you don’t need. Faith in the Black community is praising God in advance for finding a way to buy the shoes your child needs when the money is nowhere in sight. African-Americans, in totality, are not frivolous spenders who’d rather spend our last today than save for tomorrow. And we’re not these infantile dreamers who believe that some man sitting on a throne up in the clouds is going to give us everything we want even if we don’t work for it. We are an eclectic people who believe in many things but, most importantly, we believe in the power of ourselves to find creative ways to exist and thrive within a society that will do whatever it can to keep that from happening. That is who we are.
That is being Black in America.
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