For your reading pleasure.
One love,
Madiba.
I come here to make a speech, to tell you the truth. If the truth is
anti-American, then blame the truth, don't blame me -- MALCOLM X
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"...NIGGERS JUST JUMPED ON THE SHIPS!" By J. Tolbert, Jr.
(editor's notes-nothing in my writing career has provoked so many
responses as my commentary on Henry Louis Gates Jr.s' "Wonders of the
African World" http://www.tbwt.com/views/feat/feat1621.asp Many
readers agreed with my analysis. Those who disagreed believed that I
was wrong to criticize what they believed to be a very informative work.
One reader even likened me to a "slave" because of my criticism of a
fellow African. In essence, I was an unknowing participant in the
"divide-and-conquer" strategy of white supremacists. I would be as
foolish to not listen to this point of view, as I would be to discount
Gate's entire program. But what some saw as a historic sojourn, I saw as
a continuing chapter of "The Bell Curve"
(http://www.fair.org/extra/9501/bell.html)
Controversy is no stranger to Henry Louis Gates Jr.. To his credit, he
doesn't back down nor should he. He has been publicly and privately
confronted over his perspectives. In some circles, he is to black
studies what Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is to civil rights.
Gates has a history of criticizing the work of other scholars of African
history who actually have credentials in history, not literature. For
the moment, let's forget all that negative stuff. Let us "imagine"
that Professor Gates' work is widely recognized as sound; that he is one
of the premier scholars of our time; and that "Wonders of the African
World" was a groundbreaking event. It is possible that Gates' detractors
are just plain wrong. But even if I were to concede that Gates is
correct in all areas, there is one nagging factor that makes him look
bad - TELEVISION.
It is gospel truth that the history of television is rift with the
wholesale distortion of the African image. From Canada to South America,
Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and beyond. From "Birth of a Nation"
to "Tarzan," to "Homeboys in Outer Space," television has portrayed us
as buffoons, clowns, savages, etcetera, etcetera, and etcetera. I was
not the only viewer who became concerned with the strong inference
coming from "Wonders of the African World," that Africans were the
initiators and maintainers of slavery. Years ago, a comedian spoke of
this same distortion when he said the captain of a "slave" ship
deflected criticism of his role in the trade by saying that it wasn't
his fault, that he just drove up to the dock and the "...niggers just
jumped on the ships!"
Today, the whole strategy of the conservative movement in the United
States is to intellectualize this "...niggers just jumping in the ships"
mind-set. Whole books such as the "The Bell Curve," "Blaming Whitey,"
http://www.salon.com/news/col/horo/1999/11/22/decatur/index.html
and other psychopathic treatises have been written to justify the
exclusion of African people from humanity. In an age where "image is
everything," "Wonders of the African World" placed the majority of the
blame on the Africans. I was not the only one who was left with the
impression that European involvement was only opportunistic, that
European involvement did not produce the great "holocaust" of
enslavement, colonization, terrorism, murder, exploitations, and the
geographical displacement of a great people.
Despite the beautiful images shown, "Wonders of the African World"
capitalized on age-old themes of the African immorally, unintelligence,
and barbarity. It would be difficult, especially in the United States,
to not find an African American who has not experienced the long-term
psychological, economic, and political consequences of this
stereotyping. Maybe it was bad editing?
The African Diaspora continues to suffer the effects of this
centuries-old oppression with no end in sight. You will not find people
of Jewish ancestry explaining the World War II holocaust by assigning
the majority of blame to Jewish people. They are clear about the crimes
done to them and who is responsible. They still actively look for Nazi
war criminals to exact justice in criminal prosecutions and reparations.
Many of those who criticized me characterized my outrage over African
complicity as "denial" although I freely acknowledged that Gates charge
does "...have historical merit." My outrage is not based in a racial
apportionment of blame, however, I will not sit back and allow the other
side to establish a higher guilt in the victims. I believe more than 400
years of oppression clearly establishes who is the criminal and who is
the victim. Especially when the criminals are unremorseful and offer no
restitution, only more promises of rolling back more laws restricting
civil and human rights. Considering all of this in retrospect of my
commentary, I really must apologize for not being hard enough on
"Wonders of the African World" or any other similar work that appears to
blame the victim and not the criminal.
Whatever good Henry Louis Gates, Jr. may have tried to convey in his
writings and travels on Africa was lost in his television and radio
presentations. But I do not believe he is that naive. Based on the
fact that he is media savvy and uses all forms of communication to
advance his scholarship. His positions clearly demonstrate that he
serves another people's agenda that continues to trivialize African
people. No one is trying to shut Professor Gates up, no one is trying
to "radicalize" his scholarship or make him march to the tune of 'black
militants." Others have perspectives and opinions, and for now everyone
has the right to express what they believe. Said Gates of another
critic; "...I cherish the sort of debates and discussions that...has
generated, especially given the fact that it has occurred on the
Internet. Perhaps this debate will be recalled by our descendants as
the first such use of the Internet by scholars in African and African
American Studies to air their views. If so, this will have been a signal
moment for our field." I agree.
ATICLES, COMMENTARIES & EDITORIALS
"blaming whitey"
http://www.salon.com/news/col/horo/1999/11/22/decatur/index.html
confronting "blaming whitey"
http://www.tbwt.com/views/rd/rd_11-09-99.asp
the dangers facing black radio
http://www.tbwt.com/views/earl/earl_11-15-99.asp
roaches need to travel too!
http://www.salon.com/travel/diary/hest/1999/11/16/hester/index.html
doesn't your boss have anything better to do than to monitor your
e-mail?
http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/1999/12/08/email_monitoring/index.html
happy black folks?
http://home.netnoir.com/channels/news/malveaux/index.cfm?happy1=3Dtrue
the fascism of Star Trek
http://www.friesian.com/trek.htm
not boycotting the TV networks
http://www.tbwt.com/views/earl/earl_12-02-99.asp
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