CW Political and Social Thought

Black Skin Color and White Voters

But of course, if you listen to Weaver, you'd think that the real problem is whether a Black candidate has dark or light skin. ~CWPoliticalandSocialThought

Vesla Weaver, a U.S. politics professor at my alma mater, the University of Virginia, conducted a study in 2005 to examine the role of race and skin color in elections for Black candidates with white voters.  She set up an online experiment that presented four fictional political candidates- two white, one light-skinned Black, and one dark-skinned Black- by morphing "three separate pictures of actual people (one of them Virgil Goode), so that each candidate shares the physical characteristics of two common people." [Cville] The number of respondents totaled 2,138 non-Hispanic white adults and, after viewing campaign literature, answered questions on the perceived intelligence, trustworthiness, work ethic, and the experience of the candidates.

The white candidates were largely favored. That's not very surprising, but what is surprising relates to the role of skin color in how close to victory a Black candidate may get and, in some cases win, against a white candidate. In which case, dark-skinned Blacks were favored over light-skinned Blacks in races with white opponents. Weaver believes that "self-monitoring" is to blame, which is tied to an increase in racial awareness. "You see a white candidate and the black candidate and you say, "There's not much difference between these people. I'm being asked about race.' There's a high incentive to self-monitor." [Cville]

However, in races between Black candidates, the light-skinned candidate was preferred over the dark-skinned candidate. She suggests that self-monitoring goes down and, as such, so does racially charged votes. "Interaction between race, skin color, and issue stance: being conservative and light-skinned is an advantage for the black candidate when he runs against another black, and being conservative and dark-skinned is advantageous when the opponent is white." [Exp. Central]

My Response

So that being the crux of her study, we should reflect on the benefits of such a study. Having been a government major, I know that the number one reason why minorities are underrepresented on almost all levels of government has less to do with this business of light-skinned and dark-skinned and more to do with the rules and structure governing political representation. In Western democracies, we clearly see that countries that have multi-member districts and proportional representation or a combination thereof have a far greater level of diversity, especially ideological (e.g. France and Germany). A first-passed-the-post system, like here in the United States and Great Britain, not only rewards people who are from the majority group insofar as race, but also punishes those persons who may be from that racial majority, but who are ideologically aberrant. Essentially, our political structure is stacked in such a way as to substantially increase the costs for candidates who lie outside of a group that constitutes a mere 25-35% of a given population, given than only about half of Americans vote and the other quarter or less favor a different candidate. So while, Weaver's research is interesting, she really is not getting to the heart of the matter. Black candidates don't win seats because white voters aren't color blind. Besides, Black voters are just as color conscious, if not more so. Black candidates don't win seats because a) there are not enough of them running and b) the American political system is essentially a high-stakes game. With one seat available and many differing interests representing a vast constituency, parties often feel compelled to elect less controversial or "safe" nominees. And since white men have basically monopolized the political decision-making apparatus for most of our history and have, in turn, become the face of stability and normality in government, this means that white men, more than any other group, are primed for political leadership. But of course, if you listen to Weaver, you'd think that the real problem is whether a Black candidate has dark or light skin.

Closing the Achievement Gap in Charlottesville and in the Nation

This entry comes as a result of a story that I read in which Charlottesville High School (VA) is reporting that there was a 147% jump in the number of Black students who will receive 'advanced diplomas' this year.  [1] At first, I was a  little skeptical  because, as other citizens correctly pointed out, the school doesn't release the numbers behind this jump. Even if there were a measly group of ten Black students to begin with, enrolling 15 more students in a school that averages 337 students per grade and has a Black population that is roughly half of the student population, this is not very impressive. [3] As well, in order to receive an advanced diploma, students are not obligated to take Advanced Placement courses, which remains one of the important indicators of a competitive student applying to college. But it's not all bad news. At least Charlottesville is trying to do something given that it would be fair to characterize the current state of our educational system for Black students as a crisis.

"Just 12 percent of African-American 4th graders have reached proficient or advanced reading levels, while 61 percent have reached the basic level" [1]

"While 9 percent of white students have repeated a grade, twice as many, 18 percent, of black students have been held back at least once." [1]

"Of black 16 to 24 year-olds, 13 percent have not earned a high school diploma or GED; 7 percent of white young people are without a high school credential." [1]

"According to the most recent statistics, the nationwide college graduation rate for enrolled black students is only 40 percent, compared to 61 percent of enrolled white students." [1]

"Still, African-American students, who made up 14 percent of the student population last year, were only 7 percent of the participants" in Advanced Placement courses. [2]

"That is, the (achievement) gap is smaller between low-achieving and low-socioeconomic status Black and Whites than it is between high-achieving or high-socioeconomic status Blacks and Whites. In other words, higher academic achievement and higher social class status are not associated with smaller but rather greater differences in academic achievement."  [1]

With one-fourth of students who take the SAT not identifying with a race or ethnicity, the SAT "achievement gap" is not an accurate measurement. [Read more]

Explanations
Minority Schools
"More than 70 percent of black students  in the country attend schools that are composed largely of minority students....As black and brown students get concentrated in knots of ethnicity, and often poverty, in central city schools, their educational resources are, likewise, increasingly depleted, resulting in gross inequities between white students and their black and brown peers." [Dyson, Is Bill Cosby Right]

Support Networks
"If students do not have proper support networks, students may not pursue academic success for their own gratification. This study suggests that the high achievers have support networks that have instilled a sense of value to obtaining an education and these students are now self-motivated to learn. While highly motivated and ambitious in other areas, the underachievers do not have support networks that place a high value on education." [The Journal of Negro Education]

Under-funding
"Schools that serve predominantly black student populations are more likely to be under-resourced than are schools serving predominantly white student populations." [1]

Parenting
"And these people are not parenting. They're buying things for the kid. $500 sneakers. For what? And won't buy or spend $250 on Hooked on Phonics. All this child knows is "gimme, gimme, gimme." And these people wanna buy the friendship of a child...and the child couldn't care less...Just forget telling your child to go to Peace Corps. It's right around da corner. It's standing on da corner. It can't speak English. It doesn't want to speak English...And I blamed the kid until I heard the mother talk." [Bill Cosby]

Culture
"It is widely documented that much of this problem nationwide traces to a sense many black students have that school is fundamentally separate from the essence of being "black...This stance is a product of a race-wide pull away from the old integrationist ideal in the 1960s, and the drive to define ourselves against "whitey" made a certain sense at that time. But few then had any way of predicting the awkward results this ideology would have as time went by. One of them is an ingrained sense in black peer culture that school is something "the white man" does. [McWhorter, Authentically Black]

The Lynching of Mary Turner in My Hometown in 1918

"Her body was cut open and her infant fell to the ground with a little cry, to be crushed to death by the heel of one of the white men present."  - On the lynching of Mary Turner

For the last year or so, I have been researching my family's history in Virginia and southern Georgia. For the most part, this journey has been very rewarding, finding a newspaper article on my great, great, great grandfather who was born into slavery in the 1850s, discovering an extended relative who was one of the first Black principals in Central Virginia, and uncovering Native American ancestors. Unfortunately, I have also confronted the brutality and racism that defined the world in which they lived. Such was the case in Valdosta, GA in 1918.

Lynching has a long and a very depressing history, the history of which I can't even begin to describe in this entry. What I can say, however, is that experts have approximated that the number of African Americans who were lynched between the 1890s and 1930s averaged 103 per year and were often perpetuated by lynch mobs. As early as 1880, Brooks County, a county formed in 1858 from a portion of Valdosta, had developed a reputation for racial violence.

Brooks County, named after South Carolina congressman Preston Brooks, established a reputation second to none in Georgia for race violence. During the era of lynching, 1880-1930, the county established a ...reputation for mob violence on an unprecedented scale; there were at least twenty-four confirmed victims of lynchings. In December 1894, a mob lynched five men in a single incident. Lynchings were carried out on a regular basis, with mobs taking lives in August 1898, January 1901, July 1909, June 1911, March 1913, November 1917, and May 1918. There were more lynchings in Brooks than any county in Georgia; Fitzhugh Brundage has suggested that the county was the most mob-prone county in the entire South.( n10) It should come as no surprise, then, that the single lynching incident that claimed the most number of lives in Georgia, in May 1918, occurred in that county. ("Killing Them by the Wholesale" by Christopher Meyers)

It was in this historical context that Mary Turner, eight-months pregnant, became one of the most gruesome cases of lynching, racism and lawlessness in the United States. Responding to her husband's lynching, which supposedly involved his complicity with the murder of a white man, papers reported that Turner's statement about her husband's lynching being "unjust" "only inflamed" the white mob which had already claimed eight Black lives. Descriptions of Mary Turner's lynching are some of the hardest writings to stomach.

"The mob tied her ankles together and hung her to a tree head down and gasoline from automobiles was poured over her. Turner's clothing was burned off of her body. A member of the mob produced a sharp knife and her stomach was laid open; her unborn child fell to the ground. Hundreds of bullets were then fired into Turner until she was barely recognizable as a human being. Both Turner and her child were buried about ten feet from the tree, the grave marked by a whiskey bottle with a cigar placed in the neck." (Meyers)

"Mary Turner was pregnant and was hung by her feet. Gasoline was thrown on her clothing and it was set on fire. Her body was cut open and her infant fell to the ground with a little cry, to be crushed to death by the heel of one of the white men present. The mother's body was then riddled with bullets." [1]

The white residents of Valdosta, Georgia decided to teach her a lesson for being uppity enough to be vocal about her pain. A mob found her tied her upside down to a tree, doused her with gasoline and burned her alive. One of the crowd members took a knife and split her belly open letting the baby fall out. Another member of the crowd smashed the baby’s head with his foot. Then the crowd took out their guns and filled the burning body of Mary Turner with bullets. The Associated Press wrote that Mary Turner had made unwise remarks about the execution of her husband. [2]

"...a man stepped forward with a pocketknife and ripped open her abdomen in a crude Caesarean operation. 'Out tumbled the prematurely born child,'" White wrote. "'Two feeble cries it gave - and received for the answer the heel of a stalwart man, as life was ground out of the tiny form. [3]

Gladly, Valdosta has come a long way from Mary Turner, but unfortunately, two recent story coming out of Valdosta show me how far Valdosta still has to go.

Valdosta Court Refuses to Admit Muslim Woman for "Security Reasons"

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today criticized officials in the Valdosta, Georgia, municipal court for denying a Muslim woman entrance to the courtroom because she refused to remove her head scarf. 20-year-old Aniisa Karim had come to court to challenge a speeding ticket, but was denied entry on the basis of security concerns, security guards told her....Read More

White Students Hang Black Doll From Tree

Three white students painted a doll black and hanged it from a schoolyard tree, prompting calls from parents and the local NAACP that the FBI should investigate the act as a hate crime....Read More

Being a Double Minority: Gay and Asian

Just as with gay people in general, it's easy for people to overlook double minorities. When we are taken somewhat seriously, we're often forced into one corner or the other, having to be 'Black' or 'Asian' or 'Hispanic' while downplaying our gay identity. When we are  within the gay community, double minorities are often subjected to the  standards of white beauty and  struggle for recognition as a racial and gay minority. Though with various gay minority communities having created their own permanent and racially separate organizations, I am not sure that anyone has become invested in challenging the status quo. In any case, here are the stories of many gay Asian men in a film called Forbidden Fruit.

White Male Privilege in the VA Democratic Party

White Males are roughly 35% of Virginia's population, but have twice as much representation in the Democratic Party. The importance in using the Democratic Party as an illustration of white male privilege demonstrates the point that despite the so-called appeal of the Democratic Party to less represented groups like women and racial minorities, the pervasiveness of white male privilege in Virginia politics is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the special status afforded to white men in the United States. Indeed, they are overrepresented in almost all legislative bodies, but as well are  overrepresented in the media,  in academia,  and in the business world. No doubt, the deliberate attempt to shut out women and minorities for most of our nation's history has paid incredible dividends and  it is  our duty to see that that legacy ends once and for all.

Democratic Party Candidates for the Virginia General Assembly in 2007 as reported by the Democratic Party of Virginia [1]

By Numbers

 

In Percentage

 

* Race determined by physical characteristics and in some cases biographies provided by candidates on their official website.
* Race of Jerry Taylor and William Pratt not determined.

List of Party candidates from Virginia Democratic Party official website

• 01 - Jerry Taylor
• 05 - Susie Garner - http://www.susiegarner.com/
• 06 - Bill Thomas  - http://www.billthomas2007.com/
• 07 - Peggy Frank - http://www.peggyfrank.com/
• 09 - Eric Ferguson - http://www.fergusonfordelegate.com/
• 13 - Bruce Roemmelt - http://www.electroemmelt.org/
• 14 - Adam Tomer - http://www.tomerfordelegate.com/
• 16 - Andy Parker - http://www.parkerfordelegate.com/
• 19 - Lew Medlin - http://www.lewismedlin.com/
• 28 - Clyde Matthews - http://clydematthews.com/
• 21 - Bobby Mathieson - http://www.bobby21.com/
• 31 - Bill Day - http://www.dayfordelegate.com/
• 33 - Marty Martinez - http://www.martyfordelegate.org/
• 34 - Margi Vanderhye - http://www.vanderhye.com/
• 40 - Rex Simmons - http://www.rexsimmons.com/
• 50 - Jeanette Rishell - http://www.jeanetterishell.com/
• 51 - Paul Nichols - http://www.paulnicholsfordelegate.com/
• 52 - Chris Brown - http://www.brownfordelegate.com/
• 56 - Will Shaw - http://www.willshawfordelegate.org/ 
• 59 - Connie Brennan - http://www.conniebrennan.com/
• 72 - Tom Herbert - http://www.herbertfordelegate.org/
• 74 - Joseph Morrissey - http://www.morrisseyfordelegate.com/
• 78 - Mick Meyer - http://www.mickmeyer.com/ 
• 82 - Bob MacIver - http://www.bobmaciver.com/
• 83 - Joe Bouchard  - http://www.bouchardfordelegate.com/
• 86 - Jay Donahue - http://www.jaydonahue4delegate.com/
• 88 - Carlos Del Toro - http://www.deltorofordelegate.com/
• 96 - Troy Farlow - http://www.troyfarlow.com/

Incumbents

• 02 - Bud Phillips
• 03 - Dan Bowling - http://www.danbowling.homestead.com/
• 04 - Joe Johnson
• 10 - Ward Armstrong - http://www.wardarmstrong.com/
• 11 - Onzlee Ware - http://www.onzleeware.com/
• 12 - Jim Shuler - http://www.delegateshuler.com
• 23 - Shannon Valentine - http://www.shannonvalentine.net/
• 32 - David Poisson - http://www.delegatepoisson.com/
• 35 - Steve Shannon - http://www.delegatesteveshannon.com/
• 36 - Ken Plum - http://www.kenplum.com/
• 37 - David Bulova - http://www.davidbulova.com/
• 38 - Bob Hull - http://www.bobhull.org/
• 39 - Vivian Watts - http://www.vivianwatts.com/
• 41 - David Marsden - http://www.marsdenfordelegate.com/
• 43 - Mark Sickles - http://www.marksickles.com/
• 44 - Kris Amundson - http://www.amundson.org/
• 45 - David Englin - http://www.davidenglin.org/
• 46 - Brian Moran - http://www.brianmoran.com/
• 47 - Al Eisenberg - http://www.aleisenberg.com/
• 48 -  Bob Brink - http://www.bobbrink.org/
• 49 - Adam Ebbin - http://www.adamebbin.com/
• 53 - Jim Scott - http://www.delegatejimscott.com/
• 57 - David Toscano - http://www.toscano2005.com/
• 63 - Rosalyn Dance
• 64 - Bill Barlow
• 67 - Chuck Caputo - http://www.delegatecaputo.com/
• 69 - Frank Hall
• 70 - Dwight Jones
• 71 - Jennifer McCllelan - http://www.jennifermcclellan.com/
• 75 - Roslyn Tyler
• 77 - Lionell Spruill
• 79 - Johnny Joannou
• 80 - Ken Melvin
• 87 - Paula Miller - http://www.delegatepaulamiller.com/
• 89 - Kenny Alexander
• 90 - Algie Howell - http://www.algiehowell.com/
• 92 - Jeion Ward
• 95 - Mamye BaCote
• 100 - Lynwood Lewis

Senate

Challengers / Open Seats

• 01 - John Miller - http://johnmillerforsenate.com/
• 06 - Ralph Northam - http://www.northam2007.com/
• 09 - Donald McEachin - http://www.donaldmceachin.com/
• 13 - Steve Heretick - http://www.heretickforsenate.com/
• 15 - Bob Wilkerson - http://www.wilkersonforsenate.com/
• 22 - Mike Breiner - http://www.breinerforsenate.com/
• 23 - William Pratt
• 24 - David Cox - http://www.coxforva.org
• 26 - Maxine Hope Roles - http://www.rolesforsenate.com/
• 27 - Karen Schultz - http://www.karenschultz.org/
• 28 - Albert Pollard - http://www.pollardforsenate.com/
• 34 - Chap Peteresen - http://www.fairfaxsenator.com/
• 37 - Janet Oleszek - http://www.janetforfairfax.org/
• 39 - George Barker - http://www.barkerforsenate.com/

Incumbents

• 02 - Mamie Locke - http://www.senatorlocke.com/
• 05 - Yvonne B. Miller - http://www.senatorybmiller.com/
• 16 - Henry Marsh
• 17 - Edd Houck - http://www.senatorhouck.com/
• 18 - Louise Lucas
• 20 - Roscoe Reynolds
• 21 - John Edwards
• 25 - Creigh Deeds - http://www.creighdeeds.com/
• 29 - Chuck Colgan - http://colganforsenate.org/
• 30 - Patsy Ticer - http://www.patsyticer.com/
• 31 - Mary Margaret Whipple - http://www.whippleforsenate.com/
• 32 - Janet Howell - http://www.janethowell.com/
• 33 - Mark Herring - http://www.markherring.org/
• 35 - Dick Saslaw - http://www.dicksaslaw.com/
• 36 - Toddy Puller - http://www.toddy.org/
• 39 - Phil Puckett

We Can No Longer Ignore the Issue of Race

I talk a lot about racism on my website, but never did I think that someone could be tortured, held in captivity, sexually abused, humiliated, and be forced to eat dog and rat feces all because they were black. In commenting on Megan Williams' ordeal in West Virginia authorities are saying this...

"At one point, an assailant cut the woman's ankle with a knife and used the N-word in telling her she was victimized because she is black, authorities said. They said the young was also forced to eat dog feces..."

"Her captors, all of them white, choked her with a cable cord and stabbed her in the leg while calling her a racial slur, poured hot water over her and made her drink from a toilet, according to criminal complaints."

I have said time and time again that the white population in this country does not want to talk about race because they are afraid of what they might see in the mirror. Whites like to think and would like for everyone else to think that the United States is the freest nation in the world, but it is the freest nation in the world if you are Caucasian. If you are Black, even educated, you face a lifetime struggle in fighting for your rights to be heard, represented, and respected. I can't say that I am altogether surprised by what happened to Megan Williams, though the manner in which she was treated was comparable to being a slave in the deepest part of the Deep South.

As long as whites treat the issue of race as being a 'Black problem', they will never truly understand democracy, humanity, and freedom because in order for their freedom, humanity, and justice to be realized they must release themselves of their own white supremacy and hatred against everyone who is not white.

I am not just talking about the more overt forms as with Megan Williams, but I am talking about the subtle forms, like using affirmative action as a scapegoat for their own desire to preserve the greatest gifts of this country for whites. Affirmative action is not an automatic ticket to higher education or employment, nor should it be, but the mere use of race as one factor is being manipulated to mean that minorities can't even get into a college without allegations of not working hard enough, being smart enough, or deserving enough. Whites also have a way of ignoring minorities in how they contribute to the character of this nation.

They don't care much about Black history or culture, neither does their ignorance excite them to put up a book, or watch a movie, or start a conversation with a person of color. I once discussed this issue with a white student who was entering into the teaching field with a focus on American history. In encouraging him to read various books on minority history, he dismissed my gesture by saying that he does not have have time being that he's a new teacher, but as soon as he's comfortable in his subject matter, he'll "look into it". This is the nature of being white in America. 

Whites are so secured in their notion that this nation belongs to them that any other groups' attempt to claim ownership is disposable, sneered at, and ridiculed.

To them, the notion that Blacks have made an indelible mark on this country seems fabricated, if not down right stupid. If my remarks seem hyperbolic, then just a white person, "What does it feel like to be white."  More than likely they will look confounded, but deep inside they will know that whiteness in this country is power: power to dominate, power to inflict, and power to conquer.

It is with this power that  those white West Virginians virtually enslaved Megan Williams.

Here are the facts as reported in various news stories

1. 20-year-old Charleston, W.Va., resident Megan Williams, a black woman, was allegedly abducted, held captive for at least a week and tortured by six white individuals from Logan County, W.Va. Black Missing

2. A prosecutor said police are investigating the possibility that the victim was lured to the house where she was attacked by a man she met on the internet, but Carmen Williams insisted that wasn’t the case. “This wasn’t from the Internet,” she said. ABC NEWS

3. On September 12, 2007 six white residents of Logan County were arrested and charged with kidnapping, sexual assault, malicious wounding, and battery against Megan Williams, who is Black and Mentally Challenged. It is also reported that the defendants allegedly repeatedly used racial slurs while forcing Megan to eat human feces, rat feces, and drink urine while trapped at the Logan County, West Virginia residence. Send 2  Press

4. Frankie Brewster, 49, and her son Bobby Brewster, 24, are accused of kidnapping, sexual assault and malicious wounding. Karen Burton, 46, George Messer, 27, Alisha Burton, 23 and Danny Combs, 20, are charged with sexual assault and malicious wounding. SKY.COM

5. Authorities say they held a 20-year-old black woman for about a week at their mobile home, where she was tortured, sexually assaulted and forced to eat rat droppings. Court TV

Notes on Tokenism

Tokenism- a practice that seeks to give the public appearance of being diverse or valuing the parts that constitute a diverse body

"I am an invisible man. No, I am not a spook like those who haunted Edgar Allan Poe; nor am I one of your Hollywood-movie ectoplasms. I am a man of substance, of flesh and bone, fiber and liquids- and I might even be said to possess a mind. I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me." 
- Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man

My favorite book of all time is Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man because it speaks to me as a Black man who is somehow able to navigate in a predominately white world despite the hostility around and imposition upon me. As an individual entity and member of the  African American race, I am vastly misunderstood and blatantly caricatured. My culture and history are not deemed to be of much value, thus when I am loosely accepted, I am encouraged to check my Black identity at the door.  Ironically, that watered-down identity is then used to project institutional images of acceptance and tolerance when in fact, the appearance of diversity is just that. So when I see the 'token' Black  persons in films, posters, websites, and the like I question the truth of those images. When I see the University of Virginia using Black faces to suggest that it is a place of refuge and security, I am enraged. Administrators, especially those leading PR campaigns, think that a press release suffices in the instance that a racial incident creates tension and breeds animosity. You will never find them at a BSA meeting, CSA festivity or QSU meeting because they by and large could care less about the precise nature of the diversity they preach. This is not just endemic to the University of Virgina. Almost every place where there are minorities, there's this practice of tokenism due to the fact that minorities are hardly ever appreciated for what they bring to the table  besides being able to be a means to an end. You will find that with tokenism, institutions will do as little as necessary in order to quell a specific incident or to prevent public embarrassment.

Popular Forms of Tokenism

   

I'll Take on the Whole United States If I Have To

We have frequently printed the word Democracy, yet I cannot too often repeat that it is a word the real gist of which still sleeps, quite unawakened, notwithstanding the resonance and the many angry tempests out of which its syllables have come, from pen or tongue. It is a great word, whose history I suppose, remains unwritten, because that history has yet to be enacted.
~Walt Whitman, Democratic Vistas (1871)

To be an Afro-American, or an American black, is to be in the situation, intolerably exaggerated, of all those who have ever found themselves part of a civilization which they could in no wise honorably defend-which they were compelled, indeed, endlessly to attack and condemn-and who yet spoke out of the most passionate love, hoping to make the kingdom new, to make it honorably and worthy of life.
~James Baldwin, No Name in the Street (1972)

I have been regularly contributing to a forum on possible constitutional amendments. Here is my latest post.

The last gentleman's comment illustrates my point. He does not want to see the importance of race because doing so would challenge his privileged status as a (presumably) white male. Moreover, how dare he use Oprah and Bill Cosby as indicators that Black people have somehow overcome! He has no clue what it means to be minority in this country. Even for minorities like myself who graduated in the top of their class in high school, attended a prestigious university, and managed to overcome the odds, we are subjected to the white supremacist notions that our people are never good enough and that white folks are always a "little bit" better. Though I took more A.P. courses than any other kid in my class, my white peers in high school gossiped behind my back and said that I was only admitted to U.Va. because I was black. This is the reality of being a minority. We constantly have to break people's stereotypes of who they assume we are. I make a concerted effort not to let my hair grow too long, my pants be too low, or my speech too 'black' for fear that someone may stereotype me. White supremacist ideology has gone unchecked for much too long. We can't even imagine the damage that has been done and the millions of Americans, white and Black alike, who have bought into this.

Related Links
My Posts on A More Perfect Constitution

What Would Be Your Constitutional Amendment?

Professor Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia is leading an effort to generate discussion for calling a constitutional convention. In his latest book, A More Perfect Constitution, he is advancing 23 proposals that will "consider the very real possibility: that the failure of the nation to update the Constitution and the structure of government it originally bequeathed to is is at the root of our current political dysfunction."  I challenged him on one glaring omission in an e-mail I sent to him and he encouraged me to make that correspondence public.

September 27th, 7:03 p.m.

Professor Sabato,
I can't say how excited I am that the Center for Politics is calling for a constitutional convention. I have discussed this issue many times with my peers and my professors since I came to U.Va. On the issue of the number of representatives in Congress, I am so baffled that the world's third largest nation has less national representatives than France, Britain, and many other western democracies. A professor of mine, who actually teaches American constitutionalism, in fact justified these numbers by saying that adding more representatives would lead to more instability or turnover, but my question is, "What is so bad about forcing those in power to share power?" And if we were willing to continually expand the size of Congress well into the twentieth century, why should we stop now given how diverse and complex our nation has become? This is one of many important issues that I am glad that you are addressing.

But I have to say this Professor Sabato, I am troubled by the absence of any clear message about race in your proposals. For Americans and white Americans especially, race has always have been the pink elephant in the room that no one is willing to talk about and when we do, it's explosive, divisive, and sometimes very violent. Here I am thinking about: the Founding Father's compromise on slavery, the denial, which only in the recent past began to abate, that Blacks were negatively impacted by slavery and the support for the theory that slavery in fact 'modernized' African Americans, the idea that race is not as important in the post Civil Rights era, so on and so forth. Will we continue to pretend that the United States is a just and equal society for all when Black kids, and sadly now Hispanic kids suffer immensely and disproportionately from unequal education, unequal access, unequal chance, and, dare I say, unequal citizenship. I believe it was Al Sharpton who put it best, "When America catches a cold, Black America gets the flu."

It is to the white majority's advantage to not bring up race, so I am not really surprised that your proposals make no explicit statement in this regard. It is to the advantage of minorities and particularly African Americans, whose ancestors by and large did not choose to immigrate to the United States, why this question of race still must be kept on the table, because honestly Professor Sabato it's not just about the racial bias of our justice system, our educational system, or our political system. It is about the totality of being a minority in this country, from the small things like all the white male statues in Charlottesville to Hurricane Katrina. Moreover, American society does not accept African Americans on their own terms. When American history is taught there is no effort to define African Americans independently of their relationship to whites. There is no talk of the culture that my enslaved ancestors created; the music, the institutions, and the religion.  Instead we hear of the "master" and his objectified 'slave'. I have a picture of one of my great, great, great grandfathers who was born into slavery in the 1850s and who lived well into his 90s. I would never call him a slave. Though his society thought that he was an object to be traded, I believe that he was a human being who never deserved to be treated like chattel. I prefer the term enslaved person because this captures his humanity and his dignity.

But the fact that even now we treat Black folks who were victims of that good ole American institution as just people who did as they were told and that's it, shows me that we still got a long way to go. The greatest two moments of revelation came to me when a white friend of mine, who graduated from college, had no clue who Frederick Douglas was and when a Black friend of mine didn't know if Clarence Thomas or 'that other Black judge' was the 'Republican, like the conservative one'. I believe that calling a constitutional convention is a very good idea, but I believe that now is our opportunity for us to get it right.  Racial inequality and injustice will not be tolerated and we must make every effort to raise African Americans and all minorities, their history, their culture, and importance to a level that is honorable and just.

Respectfully Yours,
CW

September 27th, 7:10 p.m. A reply to Professor Sabato's reply.

Professor Sabato,
The constitutional amendment that I have in mind would spell out our values in terms of racial equality. I know that constitutional amendments tend to be rather short and sometimes vague, but I think that Virginia's resolution on slavery is what I have in mind, especially the message of reconciliation. I don't understand why we must think so technically on this issue. It's our constitution for God's sake! I think that such an amendment should assert a commitment to making sure that no one race is left in the cold or sleeps near the fire. That all Americans, poor, rich, Black, White and everything in between deserve a society that is just and equal, not just in terms of rules, which themselves have yet to be realized, but in terms of intangibles. Racial minorities deserve the same right to claim ownership of American history, culture, and politics, as well as the right to believe in the U.S.'s commitment to our foundational principles. As such, racial minorities must be given representation and recognition in ways that are politically, educationally, and culturally proportionate.

Professor Sabato, if the United States could say this I would be very proud to be an African American, but I know that as long as people like a white liberal friend of mine, believe that this is a 'white country', we can't close the books on what W.E.B. DuBois called 'double consciousness'.

White Men Are Not Going Down Without a Fight

Don't get me wrong; I love my white brothers, but white men will not give up their privileged position in society without a fight. No one can challenge the idea that white men are the embodiment of power in this country because everywhere you turn they are overrepresented (media, politics, academia especially higher education, share of the economy, etc) and overexposed even, though ironically, within the gay community. So it comes as no surprise that they don't want to see the advancement of women and minorities if that means they have to lose out on the perks of being a white man in America. They have been extremely clever in making sure that they hold onto their power by creating rules and by delineating issues that assure that they remain in power. Take affirmative action for example. Basically, affirmative action is a means of redressing the severe limitation placed on women and minorities, in particular, and promotes the philosophy that these underrepresented groups must be given a seat at the table. But when Allan Bakke challenged this policy (vis-a-vis Regents of the University of California v Bakke), he gave every White male a rallying cry by coining the term 'reverse discrimination', which basically boils down to this.

White men don't want women and minorities to get  preferential treatment at the expense of stripping them of their undeserved and universal status as the most powerful group. Unfortunately, too many people, white women and minorities included, have been persuaded by their rhetoric because these groups can't imagine any other way. They can't construct a picture of what a pluralist society looks like because they have become accustomed to and dependent on white men running things. I feel that Black folks are all too susceptible to this. Look at the lukewarm reception that Barrack Obama is being given by the Black community. You would think that Black folks would support Obama, being that he is the closet shot that we have ever had to the presidency, but Black folks have a hard time reconciling their hate of white men with their love for him. They hate him because he represents the greatest challenge to racial equality, but they love him because they can always use him as a scapegoat. If Black folks were to gain their proper share of political and economic influence, the tenuous assumptions about 'Black identity' would be lost or necessitate fundamental restructuring. Even so, that day will not arrive until the institution itself allows for that possibility. With states having the sole authority to redraw congressional and state districts that are invulnerable to real competition, an abatement of white male privilege seems nearly impossible. But this represents  one of the  less obvious ways that white men have handicapped the democratic and inclusive policy that  resulted from the Civil Rights Movement. On a more individual level, white men have taken upon themselves to act as deputies, such as with the case of Jeremiah Munsen, 18 and his 16 year old cohort who were recently arrested for hanging nooses on the back of the truck during the protests in Jena, Louisiana on September 21st.

Video Credit: Keith Boykin

We Are Considered White-Americans

The U.S. Government defines white as...

"White- A person having origins in the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa." [1]

What is strange about this definition is that none of these men in the picture would be considered white in any respect by ordinary Americans; Whites, Blacks and Hispanics alike. I wonder why the government has such a loose definition of "white"? I personally believe that race is constructed in the United States to give the appearance that Whites have a right to power when, in fact, they distort their numbers as a form of tyranny of the majority. There is nothing scarier for a White person than this country falling into the hands of another group or another group gaining more strength and legitimacy. I've heard the most liberal whites talk about how they don't like how they are becoming the minority. This paranoia has in source in white supremacy, that this country is a 'white' country that should be governed by 'white' people, which of course warrants suspicion. Then again, whites have a hard time thinking about race, which is to their advantage. If they don't have to realize their own white privilege, then they don't have to do anything about it.

 

Minorities, on the other hand, are always talking about race because it is to their advantage to point out racial inequalities and injustices. Otherwise, minorities will go blindly about their business without any understanding of the roadblocks that inhibit their achievement, however, white privilege is more than that. It's more than having members of your race widely represented in textbooks, or political bodies, or socioeconomic classes; it's about a state of mind. White privilege is like a debit card with an infinite amount of money. Anytime a white person is in need of anything, they can always count on white privilege. Need a self-esteem booster? Just use your debit card. Think you're stupid? Use your debit card. Need to feel special? Use your debit card. Want to degrade someone? Use your debit card.

There is a famous article written by Peggy McIntosh called "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack"

Here are a few of the questions

1. I can if I wish arrange to be in the company of people of my race most of the time.

2. I can avoid spending time with people whom I was trained to mistrust and who have learned to mistrust my kind or me.

3. If I should need to move, I can be pretty sure of renting or purchasing housing in an area which I can afford and in which I would want to live.

4. I can be pretty sure that my neighbors in such a location will be neutral or pleasant to me.

5. I can go shopping alone most of the time, pretty well assured that I will not be followed or harassed.

6. I can turn on the television or open to the front page of the paper and see people of my race widely represented.

7. When I am told about our national heritage or about "civilization," I am shown that people of my color made it what it is

 

Yeah I Said It. And I'll Say It Again!

In my first year of college, I asked a few white friends of mine if they believed that there was such a thing as 'African American culture'. Despite the fact that these students were educated, came from families that were well-off, and seemed to be culturally competent, they denied that African American culture existed. I don't think that they meant to imply that African Americans didn't generate any cultural outputs worth valuing. Rather, they wrongfully assumed that such outputs merely constituted 'American culture'.

This reasoning is endemic to the white population at large in that they deprive African Americans of ownership of African American authentic forms of expression. In terms of the power dynamic at work here, there is little benefit to the white population in assuming that Black Americans assert an equally deserving historical place separate from them. Acknowledging the significance of the nation's most important minority population would be in some respect denying or downplaying whites' own importance, which has been treated as the only such source of legitimacy and pride. Dare I say that an African American presence in the United States has without question contributed to the most fundamental questions of American identity. What would the Constitution be had it not been for the struggle of African Americans to call upon white Americans to make that document come alive? What would American cuisine, and in particular, Southern cuisine be without African Americans' creative use and preparation of meats and vegetables to create all-American comfort foods? What would American culture be had it not been for gospel, blues, jazz, doo-wop, R&B and rap? In one word, boring.

Of course, I can say this because there is nothing that can make me tap my feet or clap my hands like a Black gospel singing "Praise the Lord Everybody" or Fats Waller's "Ain't Misbehavin". There is absolutely nothing that could evoke more emotion in me that a Black Baptist minister preaching on Sunday morning. Sure I may walk away asking myself, "Now how did that sermon relate to those scriptures?" But my church experience, which I have had a lot of being the child of a minister, was never really about following the Bible to the letter, it was about the experience. Was it possible to join others in a democratic spirit to praise God, to worship him with all the vocal sound I could muster, with all the energy I possessed? The spirited nature of African American worship has left its imprint on politics in that African Americans want to inject conviction into the debate, especially convictions that attest to the common humanity and interconnectedness of all humans, the secular and divine equal standing of all Americans, and the right of all groups to participate in the governing of these United States, with Martin Luther King being the epitome of this. No one will tell you that of course, but when I listen to Barbara Jordan's speech from July 25, 1974, I know that she is not an aberration. I do not doubt that any African American would have appealed to the same ideals. Unfortunately, a woman that I think is one of the most tragic and influential politicians has been long forgotten. Even when I ask my African American friends about her, they have no clue who I am talking about. That is not to say that I was not shocked when a white friend (a college graduate might I add) told me that he didn't know who Frederick Douglas was. The dangerous thing for all Americans is to buy into this white ideology that we all are just 'American' because we really do miss out on the richness of African American and American culture.

Chicago Mass Choir, I'm Gonna Praise the Lord

If Only Shirley Chisholm Were Alive Today

What Black Person Doesn't Know This Poem

The Fire Has Come and Gone, Now What?

The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin galvanized the nation in the early years of the Civil Rights Movement and continues to be one of the essential works of African American literature. Given the visceral nature of race politics and, and more generally, the American sociocultural dynamic today, how much can an account of the United States from the 1960s explain attitudinal realities, both individual and social, and remain relevant despite political and economic shifts? I have provided what I think are some contemporary and timely excerpts.

Excerpt from My Dungeon Shook

"Know whence you came. If you know whence you came, there is no limit to where you can go. The details and symbols of your life have been deliberately constructed to make you believe what white people say about you. Please try to remember that what they believe, as well as what you do and cause you to endure, does not testify to your inferiority but to their inhumanity and fear....There is no reasons for you to try to become like white people and there is no basis whatever for their impertinent assumption that they must accept you. The really terrible thing, old buddy, is that you must accept them. And I mean that very seriously. You must accept them and accept them with love. For these innocent people have no other hope. They are, in effect, still trapped in a history which they do not understand; and until they understand it, they cannot be released from it. They have had to believe for many years, and for immunerable reasons, that black men are inferior to white men. Many of them, indeed know better, but, as you will discover, people find it difficult to act on what they know. To act is to be committed, and to be committed is to be in danger. In this case, the danger, in the minds of most white Americans, is the loss of their identity."

Excerpt from Down at the Cross

"Neither civilized reason nor Christian love would cause any of those people to treat you as they presumably wanted to be treated; only the fear of your power to retaliate would cause them to do that, or to seem to do it, which was (and is good enough)...but I do not know many Negroes who are eager to be "accepted" by white people, still less to be loved by them; they, the blacks, simply don't wish to be beaten over the head by the whites every instant of our brief passage on this planet. White people in this country will have quite enough to do in learning how to accept and love themselves and each other, and when they have achieved this- which will not be tomorrow and may very well be never- the Negro problem will no longer exist, for it will no longer be needed."

"Negroes in this country...are taught really to despise themselves for the moment their eyes open on the world. The world is white and they are black. White people hold the power, which means they are superior to blacks (intrinsitically, that is: God decreed it so) and the world has innumerable ways of making this difference known and felt and feared. Long before the Negro child perceives this difference, and even longer before he understands it, he has begun to react to it, he had begun to be controlled by it."

"But I had been in the pulpit too long and I had seen too many monstrous things. I don't refer merely to the glaring fact that the minister eventually acquires houses and Cadillacs while the faithful continue to scrub floors and drop their dimes and quarters and dollars into the plate. I really mean that there was no love in the church."

"White people were and are, astounded by the holocaust in Germany. They did not know that they could act that way. But I very much doubt whether black people were astounded- at least in the same way...a civilization is not destroyed by wicked people; it is not necessary that people be wicked but only that they be spineless."

"And, in fact, the truth about black men, as a historical entity and as a human being, has been hidden from him, deliberately and cruelly; the power of the white world is threatened whenever a black man refuses to accept the white world's definitions...Why then, is it not possible that all things began with the black man and that he was perfect- especially since this is precisely the claim that white people have put forward for themselves all these years?"

"In any event, the sloppy and fatuous nature of American good will can never be relied upon to deal with hard problems. These have been dealt with, when they have been dealt with at all, out of necessity- and in political terms, anyway, necessity means concessions made in order to stay on top."

"White Americans find it as difficult as white people elsewhere do to divest themselves of the notion that they are in possession of some intrinsic value that Black people need, or want...It is the Negro, of course, who is presumed to have become equal- an achievement that not only proves the comforting fact that perseverance has no color but also overwhelmingly corroborates the white man's sense of his own values....The only thing white people have that black people need, or should want is power- and no one holds power forever."

"Color is not a human or a personal reality; it is a political reality"

The Real Face of Jesus

  Despite the pervasive religious temperament in this country, which puts  the U.S. atop the list for the most religious nation in the developed country [1], very few Americans are aware that popular depictions of Jesus as blond-haired and blue-eyed are terribly inaccurate. British scientists and Israeli archaeologists have recreated what they think is the closest match to a typical Galilean Semite. [2] With help from a diverse pool of scientists like anthropologists, archaeologists, geneticists, dentists, and nutritionists, they have challenged the very image  of Christianity. Though, I believe that this study challenges a much deeper preoccupation. It contradicts the legitimacy of white authority in the world.  Speaking as the descendant of American enslaved persons, I am aware of the  ways that Christianity has been manipulated in substance and symbolism to  justify the subjugation of African Americans. For example, when illiterate enslaved persons learned about Christian beliefs and values, the Bible's apparent support of slavery was one of the first lessons they were taught. In one such religious setting, slaves were told, "Servants, obey your masters. Do not steal or lie, for this is very wrong. Such conduct is sinning against the Holy Ghost, and is base ingratitude to your kind masters, who feed, clothe, and protect you." [Sernett, African American Religious History]

A high profile African American historical figure named Jupiter Hammon (1720-1806?), the first African American to write and publish poetry, interestingly enough preached the same message in his "Address to the Negroes in the State of New York."

Now whether it is right, and unlawful, in the sight of God, for them to make of us slaves or not. I am certain that while we are slaves, it is our duty to obey our masters, in all their lawful commands...The apostle Paul says, "Servants be obedient to them that are your masters according to the  flesh, with fear and trembling in singleness in your heart as unto Christ: Not with eye service, as men pleasers, but as the servants of Christ doing the will of God from the heart. [Sernett, 36]

No doubt, this has gone out of fashion, but what remains is the powerful symbolism of white power. Given that merely having darker skin connoted intellectual, physical, and aesthetic inferiority throughout most of our history, presenting Jesus as a man of color challenges the standard of what it means to have authority, legitimacy, and power in the United States. This takes the form of not just political leadership, but sophisticated cultural outputs like art, music, and literature as well as individual preferences and choices. White power is as fundamental to the American way of life as democratic ideals. In fact, in successfully challenging the status quo, minorities can only navigate these terrains based on the existing assumptions about  white power, which constitutes the su