Zadignose's Reviews > Race Matters

Cornel West would probably not be offended if I pointed out that he doesn't quite have the literary talent of a W.E.B. Dubois... Who does? He doesn't have the fiery character of a Malcolm X. He comes across as someone sure of his ideas, but humble as an individual. His ideas are clear and generally well expressed, though his presentation does have a kind of dry style, like an academic essay assignment. The book does not have the kind of rigor to qualify as an analysis, and this isn't really philosophy. It's a plain-talking exposition of ideas, largely asserted or assumed, with a few explanatory examples and references to historical persons and ideas, but it isn't really argued out. Mr. West does his best to play fair by staking out ground that might bring together the right and the left, i.e. he aims to be non-partisan, though ultimately it's clear that he's coming from a Marxist perspective.

For my own purposes I'll try to note some of the controlling ideas that define the various chapters... okay, bullet points:

- The problems of black folks go beyond the narrow focus of liberals and conservatives on social structure or behavioral problems. First, it's not an either or, as structure and behavior go together and influence one another, second because cultural factors exist outside of political and economic structures... e.g., family, churches, etc., and most importantly it's time to face up to the psychological factors of lost hope and spiritual nihilism that dominate the lives of the poorest and most despairing people.

- We need love, self-respect, integrity, leadership, and values that go beyond the commercial values that have come to dominate.

- Black folks can't let the struggle simply be about getting black men the kind of power and dominance that white men have, to the detriment and neglect of black women, gay black men, and lesbians, and race identity and black nationalism can't trump moral and social issues of class, poverty, and human dignity.

- Black folks shouldn't be hornswaggled into supporting someone like Clarence Thomas who isn't qualified to serve on the supreme court, who doesn't represent black interests, who cynically plays the victim of racism to secure his own position and achieve his own ambition while condemning others for exploiting race... and support him just because of "racial reasoning"... i.e., he's black so hold together and support him, even in the face of abuse of black women (Anita Hill and Thomas's own sister whom he falsely blamed for welfare cheating...). Supporting such an unqualified individual represents an insecurity among black folks who unconsciously accept that we can't do better than this.

- Black intellectual and political leadership are at an all-time low, ironically due to the emergence of a larger black middle class (having gone from something like 7% to 25% of the black population), with the middle class seeking white acceptance and affirmation and pursuing their own individual betterment as defined by America's commercial values. Meanwhile what's really needed is community level leaders and grassroots organizers rather than leaders competing to become the voice of a national leader/savior.

- New black conservatives have emerged at least in part due to failures of liberals to directly address the real problems and to find an answer to the destructive despair and nihilism.

- Affirmative action is still supportable because racism is still real and present, the black folks who want to end affirmative action are the ones who have already benefited from it, but they want to win legitimacy among their white peers, and pragmatically, even if the issue relates more to class than race and gender, one can enforce rules that give opportunity to minorities and women, but if you just throw it down to trusting employers to use fair hiring practices with no accountability, racism and sexism can come back with a vengeance while employers claim color and gender blindness. There's no evidence to suggest racism in hiring has really abated.

- Black anti-semitism and Jewish racism against blacks are destructive to both interests, they have a long history, coalitions and cooperation should be fostered, and there are many reasons for recent conflict between Jews and blacks, including the rise of political conservatism among Jews, their opposition to affirmative action, their social and political rise in America which outstripped the rise of blacks in the same time, the failure of black leaders to strongly condemn black anti-semitism, the fact that blacks are somewhat blind to the very long history of European violent anti-semitism, plus Jews support unjust practices of Israel regarding Palestinians while blacks don't understand the Jewish sense of urgency towards self-preservation.... i.e., both blacks and Jews are caught up in racial reasoning rather than larger issues of social justice... heck there's more to this...

And, in an effort to conclude my summary by addressing the final two topics:

-Black sexuality is a taboo topic that should be addressed openly and not feared if progress is to be made. Mythology about black sexuality is damaging. Fear and fascination with black sexuality, and especially interracial sexual relations are at the core of racial conflicts. Black people confront many contradictory problems relating to how they may be degraded, or made to feel ashamed or dirty, while at the same time being objects of sexual fascination for white folks. Black folks have to be proud, not ashamed, and at the same time willing to accept a variety of expressions and sexual identities, without enforcing images of machismo on all black men. Men and women must rise together. Healthy sexual relations should be embraced whether intra-racial, inter-racial, hetero- or homosexual. At the same time, the author cautions in several places about the harmful effects of the commodification of sex, instant-gratification culture, and hedonism. Maybe I'm not getting this quite right, so I'll just quote the final thoughts on this topic from the book:

As long as black sexuality remains a taboo subject, we cannot acknowledge, examine, or engage these tragic psychocultural facts of American life. Furthermore, our refusal to do so limits our ability to confront the overwhelming realities of the AIDS epidemic in America in general and in black America in particular. Although the dynamics of black male sexuality differ from those of black female sexuality, new stylistic options of self-image and resistance can be forged only when black women and men do so together. This is not so because all black people should be heterosexual or with black partners, but rather because all black people—including black children of so-called "mixed" couples—are affected deeply by the prevailing myths of black sexuality. These myths are part of a wider network of white supremacist lies whose authority and legitimacy must be undermined. In the long run, there is simply no way out for all of us other than living out the truths we proclaim about genuine humane interaction in our psychic and sexual lives. Only by living against the grain can we keep alive the possibility that the visceral feelings about black bodies fed by racist myths and promoted by market-driven quests for stimulation do not forever render us obsessed with sexuality and fearful of each other's humanity.

-There's also a fair amount about Malcolm X. The author saw a lot of unfulfilled potential in Malcolm X, whose strong expression of rage was focused on a psychological transformation in black people, but who tragically could not live long enough to mature and examine the implications of his approach. The author saw Malcolm X as starting to transcend national boundaries, and overcoming some of the unfortunate tendency of Nation of Islam to respond to white-nationalist power by adopting the same underlying formula i.e., by focusing too much on white power, it ironically kept white culture as the dominant force and turned black nationalism into a reactionary movement. The author believed Malcolm would have gone beyond this in promoting black pride on its own terms, speaking out with appropriate rage to white abuses, but not allowing white culture to define the movement. He also commented on the fact that, still young, Malcolm in his more orthodox Muslim phase, could not yet transcend racial reasoning enough to be able to see the broader social justice issues, i.e., he could not criticize the patriarchal oppression of women and the anti-democratic culture of Arabia, while he experienced the positive humanizing experience of being accepted as a black man.

Now, this is all my sloppy effort at summarizing, I probably misrepresented something, and if you've read this far and think I got something wrong, tell me!