Are We The Niggers Of The World?

Southern chef Paula Deen is the newest celebrity to say something out of pocket regarding the politics of race in America. In a nut shell, Deen is in a legal battle regarding a hostile working environment, particularly saying nigger and glorifying a segregated South. My instant reaction, as one who is forever a student of media, was, "She's at the last five seconds of her 15 minutes." As an African American man, one of the benefactors of the American Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and 1970s, though I never had to address a segregated South, my family is not that far removed from it. My grandmother and her daughters had to go to the colored entrance for ice cream in Henderson, North Carolina. A professional colleague of mine could only go to the colored section of the Carolina Theater here in Durham, NC. Segregation in the South was so bad that legendary comedian Redd Foxx said the following in a stand up routine, "I wouldn't go down South to get my mama out of the hospital, I'd send her cab fare, but damned if I'd go down there." From my oral history, I don't see Mint Juleps; instead, I'm reminded of that strange fruit that bears from southern trees.
Recently, I had an opportunity to discuss the Deen debacle with a high school friend of mine. It generated from an earlier post I made on Facebook which was this:
We are ready to roast her (Deen) in her own barbecue pit, in her own barbecue sauce for saying the "N" word and going back to a time of the segregated South. But when
Jay-Z and Kanye (West) roll out w- "Niggas in Paris" and preform it live at a Victoria's Secret televised fashion show, there's a cultural pass. In a post racial society, I smell a little hypocrisy.
My friend, who has confessed to me that he is white (lol) in earnest wanted me to explain why there is this racial double standard in the use of the word nigger. Because he is my friend and we never had an opportunity to discuss race, for me I embraced to opportunity. I didn't feel as though I was his personal expert on all matters African American, but instead it was an opportunity to share that side high school life in Knoxville, TN he was obviously oblivious to. I began somewhat snarky:
My professor answer would be, many of us (African Americans) have taken the tools of the oppressor (racists white folks) and adopted them to build a level of desensitization whenever it's used. However, when someone of power and privilege takes that pejorative and uses it in an assaultive way (ie hate speech) then it stirs up an oral history that's been passed down; up to I would say our generation (children of the 1980s). Think about it like this: when I was in Knoxville with you, I think you and I could agree, I presented a bit of an anomaly. My speech pattern was different (I was constantly told I sounded white) and in many cases, I was in accelerated classes. I had different interests. It didn't make me better than anybody. Now, I was in the minority on quite a few levels, and I really had no power. I had very little cultural capital. I had to wrestle with taunts, not just because of the color of my skin, but also because of the texture of my hair and because I was an heir to the advances of the civil rights movement. People teased me when there was the first nationally recognized MLK holiday at South Young. In fact the day someone did called me a nigger and spat on me from a roaming pick up truck with the confederate flag, I was frightened and powerless. Now, we jump to a generation of greed where profit is key. HipHop culture uses the word nigger liberally. I don't agree with it at all.... At the same time, the term isn't considered hate speech when it's used in the marginalized culture. But here is where it gets interesting, HipHop music (gangsta rap specifically) crossed over into hegemonic audiences. In some schools of thought, some scholars theorize that this entry into mainstream suburbia, may have created a cultural normalization of the pejorative. I think an equally salient theory is that belief structures are passed down and in some cases, the language is synonymous to the belief. From what I can say in certain Black cultures I've been able to circulate in, there is class division and in some cases, African American circles will shun one who won't engage in a battle of the dozens using the N word because they feel that the person is "not being black enough." Stupid, I know but it exists.
Just my .02 worth.
As I responded to him, I was beside myself because our cultural logic presents a contradiction. Our popular culture says its ok to say Nigger. Quentin Tarantino apparently has the American Express Race Card that allows him to use Nigger carte blanche. Co songwriter of Accidental Racist, LL Cool J has used nigger in quite a few of his songs. In our culture we have normalized not just the word nigger but even the nigger ideology as well. When we deconstruct the nigger ideology, we have to accept it as what is, as opposed to what we have enabled it to become. Webster's dictionary would lead us to believe nigger is derived from the Spanish word Negro, born out of referring to Latin Niger. Both references deal with Black people, yet the context addresses a matter of chattel property. Niggra, the Southern pronunciation, eventually evolved into nigger, also considered America's pariah. I think about what my favorite Beatle, the late John Lennon did so masterfully with the word nigger, "woman is the nigger of the world." He took the malignant cancer of nigger and injected it into the feminist movement. That resonates with me. So I raise this question in our post racial society, collectively: are we our own niggers, or are we (Americans) niggers of the world?

The Empresses Have No Clothes On

Winfrey and Vanzant on a fatherhood tour? Hmmm.

For me, I get annoyed with this rhetoric problematizing Black fatherhood, particularly when the problems are often generalized by the sensational few who obviously do need help. I'm not going to say we are perfect, but I refuse to buy into this moral panic which suggests a majority of Black fathers are on a collision course with deviancy and catastrophe. First, (I hate to sound like a social science snob on this) neither of them have taken he time to conduct any research that either polls a statistically significant amount of the African American male population of fathers; nor have they taken the time to explore the adjacent limitations which may contribute to the barriers presenting challenges to quality parenting. I'm not saying this because of a gender bias: in fact I was raised primarily by my mother. The aspect of my rearing which was different was that she surrounded me by strong male role models, including my grandfather, my stepfather, and my godfather. I'm not attempting to say that Vanzant and Winfrey can't contribute to the conversation. I'm curious to hear their input. That said, I refuse not to be critical of the messenger or their motives. I'll close on this note. I have issue with Vanzant and Winfrey regarding their "intervention" with rapper DMX. I sincerely feel that DMX (though to some fault of his own) was really played as a ratings booster and they capitalized on this man's hard times. To me it looked as though it were the launching pad for something bigger and I think we are beginning to see the layers slowly reveal themselves. Again, in a general sense, I'm not saying that I'm too stubborn not to listen strong African American females in regards to being a better dad. I listen to my mother, my therapists, my circle of friends, and even some women I date because as a full time single dad raising a boy, I welcome all opinions. As I welcome those opinions, I also choose wisely, and some of the kernels of knowledge, in certain cases call for some serious self reflection on my part. So in short, before we collectively decide to promote Vanzant and Winfrey to be parental champions to a moral majority right wing conservative agenda (yes I said it, I refuse to take it back) we should take the time to seek our community resources and learn from the best sources, our trusted families and friends who ARE doing it right.

Moral Monday: How The Marginalized Are Prohibited From Civil Disobedience

From UNC's The Daily Tar Heel

One of the things my father taught me when I was a kid is that you have to fight your own battles.  I can remember when daddy (what I called him then) told me, under no circumstance was I to back down from the bus stop bully.  If I did, I would have a whipping waiting for me at home.  Sure enough, I didn't back down, and surprisingly, daddy became my own version of Batman, ordering the bully never to put hands on me again.  That was in 1977, when in North Carolina, James Hunt was the governor. Now, I'm a father, a professor, an agent of social justice, and again a target of a bully. This time, my bully is exponentially bigger than the one I dealt with in second grade.  The bullies are the legislators of the North Carolina state capital; up to, and including Governor Pat McCory.  Literally, as I sleep, and even with my eyes wide open, I'm witnessing state robbery without a gun.  The laws of inclusion are systemically being dismantled; voter disenfranchisement is rapidly becoming legalized; and education budgets are being decimated with unswerving accuracy.  In essence, my worst nightmare has been sowed; the Confederate South is ‘rising again’ with North Carolina on course to become a post modern, post racial, antebellum state, under the guise of industrialism.

In response to this threat, local NAACP chairperson Dr. William Barber has organized weekly "sit-ins" to challenge the legislative actions of the state: Moral Mondays.  The NAACP and others have strategically challenged the NCGA's actions by formally adopting civil disobedience to protest and hopefully force a consciousness raising among the folks who are in the political drivers seat.  Here is where I have the challenge.

I would like to be arrested for this political cause because to me, this too, is my fight, yet regrettably, I can't go.

First and foremost, I'm an African American man who has a skeletal job.  I'm a non-tenured professor.  I'm actively on the job market, even at my current place of employment.  Acquiring a criminal record, no matter how just the cause, for me, in my social position only adds another reason for potential employers to say, we'll pass on this applicant.  Not too long ago was I on the negative side of the employment statistic; no job, no insurance, no benefits.  I remember vividly the stark reality of having to go to the department of social services to file for much needed assistance so that my son and I could live week-to-week, check-to-check, prayer to prayer.  Do I risk my job as an adjunct professor, which Dr. Cornel West would call, “hope on a tightrope,” for what I know is morally just and spiritually correct?  

Another point I raise, do I have access to the financial and social capital to recover from an arrest?  In this age of social media, anyone can get access to your criminal record in a matter of seconds.  Chief among the folks who would know I've been arrested would be my students and of course my employer.  There's this tabloid called The Slammer which we know seeks public information on those who've been arrested, including the most visible sign, one's mug shot.  Imagine walking into class, knowing you've been arrested for social justice, but your students only see you've been arrested. Motivations, to the non critical student, mean nothing to them: what they see is a juicy hot topic for gossip that will undoubtedly make its rounds through their social networks, let alone your department chair, dean, and provost. Civil disobedience, I'm slowly learning is an act for the financial and social elite.  Yet with the political rollbacks, which in my opinion are more criminal, happening to me and countless other North Carolinians represents my fight.  I strongly feel a need to be there on the front lines, picketing, vocalizing my grievances, and yes, if need be, arrested.  Again, regrettably, I can't go.

Who I do see in attendance however are quite a few of my white liberal friends from Duke, UNC, and NC State Universities eagerly, and in some cases repeatedly getting arrested at the Moral Monday protests.  Being a student of critical race theory, for them, White privilege enables greater access to civil disobedience.  Very few of my White counterparts have to face the realities others and I have to negotiate.  Rarely do they know the anxieties faced by being challenged on your racial, economic, or immigration status.  As the overwhelming majority of those impacted by the actions of the North Carolina General Assembly those historically living on the margins, the cost in social capital is grossly disparate in comparison to those who are morally conscious yet have White privilege. White dissidence in this case signifies an exercise of one's First Amendment rights while minority civil disobedience could mean 1) increased incarceration time, 2) time from work, 3) a through vetting in the criminal justice system and 4) a challenge to ones immigration status.  I feel the Moral Monday protest functions not only as a call to political action but also a spiritual obligation (regardless of one’s faith). I refuse to be deterred, as I'm going to work through this so that I can actively participate, even up to and if need be; being arrested.  I may even write a letter from jail.  But I just want to make sure I have an opportunity to let it be known that even in civil disobedience, in my DuBosian tone, there are two systems, one that is privileged; one that is suspect.