AlphaPatriot has a long post reacting to Dr Cosby and his overhearing a conversation at McDonalds. In the process he has the very reaction warned about at Get In Where Ya Fit In
Here's the AlphaPatriot:
So if "nigger" is not the derogatory term that it once was, then everyone should be able to use it. I should have been able to turn to the kids and say, "He's right. If you're going to be a nigger you should be a straight up nigger!" and they would laugh and I would smile and wave. But I can't. Had I done so there may have been bloodshed. Because had I done so I would now be in jail for shooting one or two people as they would almost certainly have turned on me with hate-filled eyes, animus in their hearts and malice in their souls.
And rightly so, for it is a word filled with hate that should never be used.
People, if you don't want me to say it then don't use the word. More importantly, if you don't want your peers of other races to say it, then don't use it. You can't be mad if they do. You mustn't.
Why "mustn't" we? And why is it "more important" to make sure our peers of other races don't use the term?
Because it's so frustrating to white folks not to be able to do something Black folks can, that for other minorities to do so would simply compound the frustration?
This is a typical case of speaking to "issues with minorities to be dealt with" as opposed to "issues minorities must deal with."
A-P isn't the first to insist that Black folks deal with racism as defined by white folks rather than as experienced by us. Won't be the last. And I won't even go into the curiosity of a self-identified middle aged white man hanging at BET looking for Black folk's reaction to being yelled at. But you should think about it when you get the time.
Anyway, so no one has to go searching, here's the PREsponse from Get In Where Ya Fit In::
So I get a lot of hesitant, and probing questions like; "Ummm... Mark, I was just wondering .... Umm.... Why do uh ..... black people you know...... call each other.... ummm.... Nigger?". Well first of all, no black person I've ever heard of calls anybody a Nigger. We use the term nigga. It's taking a word and re-branding it. Second, I'm assuming the majority of white people know the answer but I'll explain it to the one's who don't since I still occasionally get the question. Since blacks were treated so awfully in this country for so long, that word was a potent symbol of all that discrimination and oppression. When the time came for a lot of lifting of the most heinous of these forms of racism, the word was turned back in on itself and used as a badge of honor and repudiation. Basically saying, I've taken your worst and survived it. You can't use that word as a weapon to bludgeon us anymore. Kinda noble in a way. Let's call that the "old school nigga" but I'll get back to that. I occasionally use the term in the "old school" way by which I simply mean a person who lived through the hard times of racism and overcame it and what that communal experience entailed.
Now once that is answered, (inexplicably in my mind) the next question is always well since you guys say it, why can't I? The sentence is never phrased that way of course. It's always asked in another context, but that's what is really meant. Why are you able to say something I can't?
And AlphaPatriot isn't all bad. Actually demonstrated some reasonableness by linking in a Boston Globe editorial before I got to it. Here's his reference:
Update: The Boston Globe has an excellent take on why this is not just black America's problem:
From a white perspective, it is easy to cheer on Cosby then smugly write off his words as a long-overdue wake-up call for black America. It's their problem, not ours, right?
Their problem it may be, but the big issue -- declining values and standards -- isn't limited to one ethnicity or neighborhood.
Today the American minivan is hip-hopping along the way to soccer games and baseball practice. The beat is a better pickup than caffeine, but listen to the lyrics and the message is a real downer. Not to sound like Tipper Gore, but after a while you realize you are singing about shaking your "tailfeather," "milking the cow," and "double-Ds," with the n-word thrown around as generously as the Beatles used "yeah, yeah, yeah." White boys can't jump, but many of them want to be Kobe Bryant or, short of that, Ja Rule. They want the money, the cars, and the bootylicious babes, and they see no connection between those goals and reading "A Separate Peace." (Incidentally, it is difficult to explain why a certain ethnic slur is unacceptable when they hear their rap idols singing it on their favorite CDs.)...
The hip-hop generation is not all black. White America just likes to believe it is.
Read it all.
I believe AlphaPatriot's understanding of the Black communities to be flawed. But it's obviously not evil…if you get all the way to the bottom of the page.
James of Hobson's Choice jumped the gun a bit with this interesting comment. I didn't really address it in the comments because it was my intent to bring it up anyway.
I'm sorry, I must be an idiot. I cannot figure out what he said that's so controversial. African American leaders are constantly saying things like that, because that's what leaders do. Moreover, affluent African Americans have a surprisingly conservative outlook because they aren't embarrassed about telling others to "snap out of it."
European Americans make much of it because many of us are relatively thin-skinned; we hear frequent references to racism or discrimination, police brutality and sharp critique of US treatment of African Americans, and we flinch. So when someone like Mr. Cosby says things like what he did, we jump all over it because we think it takes the onus off Whites to shape up. But I'm certain that was well known to you.
Yes, very well known.
There's no dispute here over the pathologies the Black communities need to address (you'll note I'm saying "communities" rather than "constituencies" here. Quite intentional; I'm discussing people rather than politics). But let me tell you how things look to me. Let me explain what I see as the issue raised. Conservatives will find my conclusion a mixed bag—they'll love much of my conclusion but hate how I got there and what the conclusion actually means.
Think. Why was the first executive order directing the government to act affirmatively to bring Black Americans into the economy issued? What was the order intended to accomplish?
It was intended to change the behavior of white Americans.
You see, at the time there were plenty of educated Black folks, college degreed janitors, because of racism. It certainly wasn't because Black folks didn't want the work. The order was intended to override white racism.
The response to the order was along the lines of, "I'd love to hire a niggra if I could find a qualified one." And when the underemployed college graduates stepped up, it because, "Oh, but he didn't got to THAT college like HE did. HE is more qualified that the niggra." And the niggra takes a lesser position because he's more qualified than any white person willing to take a job on that level.
Or the response was to just hire a colored person and show him as proof they were integrated.
Or the response was to drop someone into a slot totally unprepared and shake your head sadly when he fails.
Or a lawsuit, almost all of which were settled out of court, all such settlements saying there's no admission of guilt it's cheaper to buy you off.
And to set aside record numbers of civil rights complaints, so you can be rewarded with a federal judgeship…and who knows where that could take you…
And scapegoating.
And every time a Black person mentions there's still racism to be dealt with, he's reminded of how many Blacks are in the middle class, how much closer we've gotten to equal pay for equal work, like white people had a damn thing to do with it. Collectively, I mean. Some of y'all individually are da bomb. Most of you ain't bad and I really feel most of you mean no harm. But collectively "White People" have fought tooth and nail against leveling the playing field and everyone has been too fucking polite to just say it like that, to put the pattern together under everyone's nose.
I had to do it to explain that the controversy in the Black communities is, do white people get off scott-free for racism?
That is the question underneath the discussion. It's beneath the discussion in the white communities too.
And in my opinion, the answer is yes. White people get off scott-free, It actually comes down to a question of "what the fuck are you gonna do about it?" I mean, check this out, from Tacitus:
Seeing Slate's take on the morally abominable Jude Wanniski reminds me of our late efforts to secure a paleocon voice for redstate. Now, I could personally care less about paleocon representation, but my partners argued, and justly so, that they're conservatives too (if increasingly not Republicans), and certainly not all bad. Though a lot of them are bad -- see Domenech do battle with them, as "evilcons," here and here. As part of this ideological quota effort, we considered asking Steve Sailer to contribute, until I came across this squirm-inducing essay on football and race (note, please, that blacks have a biological advantage in "trash talking"). The problem was that so many of the prominent paleocon essayists have this racist junk, if not up front in their ouevres, then somewhere buried not terribly deep in their archives. It and bizarre revisionist history constitute a pretty disturbing propensity within that demographic. I'm actually not sure if we ended up getting a paleocon for redstate. If we did, I'm not aware of it, but I trust my partners to do the proper vetting. But if we didn't, that's all the same to me: I'm happy to consign most of them to the company of Raimondo, Rockwell, and the assorted odd corners that the American fringe retreats to.
Tacitus, of course, has the right correct reaction:
Braying fools barking about the rational basis of their hate aren't worth engaging beyond a certain point, and that point has passed. I'll doubtless write in the future about the conservatives who do too little to oppose and eject this crowd from our movement and our party. I definitely won't be further engaging those who think that conservatism is a form of identity politics for white people. One might as well try to reason with a mad dog.
A conservative friend put it best in an e-mail about Sailer:
I realized maybe a year ago that when the paleocons talk about America being "under attack," they don’t mean by radical Islamic terrorists or by postmodern anti-family cultural values. They mean you and me. The people with ethnic surnames. The Mexicans and the Puerto Ricans. We’re the ones attacking this nation, just by being here.
And if we were to tell them face to face that we felt accused, they’d disagree; they’d say it isn’t people like you and me that they’re talking about. Our skin isn’t brown enough, and we speak English.
Disingenous bastards.
But it's way too many of these suckers in too many influential places. Like Tacitus' partners said, they're conservatives too.
Myself, I hold to Derrick Bell position on the permanence of racism. I honestly don't expect the mainstream to come clean. I expect Black folks to have to deal with racism for the foreseeable future of the foreseeable generations to come, both personal and structural. Because there's no knobs on society, we can't just dial back our human reactions.
But we can learn the environment, learn to navigate and negotiate it, manipulate it as selfishly as every other affinity group out there.
What did Justice O'Connor say, twenty five years? Better get on it.
Let's see if I have it all:
Am I missing anything? Seriously.
Just around the turn of the century, The Ballantine Publishing Group put out a series of books called The Library of Contemporary Thought. One of the first in the series, and apparently the only one that's not out of print, was, Workin' The Chain Gang: Shaking Off The Dead Hand of History by Walter Mosley (yes, the Walter Mosley of "Easy Rawlins" fame).
This is not a book I suggest to a lot of folks because I don't think many are ready for it.
Sections are crystaline, though, and this is one. This is Cosby's message, but it's descriptive of everyone. Somewhat lyric, but some messages are best delivered in that mode.
There's a difference between the person we see in the mirror and those we see in the street. My eyes are mine, as is my stomacheache, my broken heart, my slow descent into old age.
What does this have to do with the new millenium?
Just this: We must recognize the volume and quantity of baggage that we all carry; the years of experience, the quirks of our genes. We're like tiny three-leaf weeds that have beneath us a root system larger than a peacock's fan. What we show, what we see, is nothing compared to what we are. This is why change, real change, is so difficult.
Maybe you should shed a leaf, one three-leaf weed suggests to another.
I've been thinking of moving out from under the shade of that big oak, yet another weed declares.
Anything is possible, but not without the knowledge of our true situation. The three-leaf weed cannot simply move out from under the shade of the all-encompassing oak. She will have to alter the excruciatingly slow process of growth to drag her leaves to a brighter sun. Failing that, she will have to scatter her seed toward the light.
I posted a link to a streaming video of a news report on Dr. Cosby's presentation last week because after the buzz the first speech caused (and I still can't find a transcript) I thought it would be good if folks are going to talk about it, they should know what he said.
The snippets that made it into the press last time were pretty brutal…and they were just what folks wanted to hear. I know it's sort of against the Cosby spirit to talk about how non-Black folks are responding to all this. Oh well. It's just for one installment anyway, and it's necessary because that reaction is part of the environment we have to deal with. So I searched for "Cosby" in Google News early this morning. I wanted the first reactions.
I found a lot of that AP release with a word changed here and there. Basically I grabbed that and the first few that, judging from the excerpt, looked like they were trying to write something.
Sometimes I was wrong.
Anyway, here's a bag of headlines and the first paragraph of each article. When you think about it, it's interesting they're all writing about the same event.
Education tops sports, Cosby tells parents
He strutted across the stage and gripped the hand of his fraternity brother, the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, then Dr. William H. Cosby Jr. held the entire room in his hands as he preached the tough love that has gained headlines -- and for which he offered no apologies.
Bill Cosby has harsh words for black men
CHICAGO -- Bill Cosby went off on another tirade involving the black community yesterday, telling activists that too many black men are beating their wives while their children run around not knowing how to read or write.
Actor Cosby hits out at language
Black actor Bill Cosby has criticised young African-Americans for the use of "profane" language.
Locals sound off on Cosby comments
Bill Cosby grabbed attention, and drew more criticism, yesterday for comments criticizing some members of the black community. But some people said he struck just the right chord.
Cosby's rage at wife-beaters
ACTOR Bill Cosby has again hit out at members of America’s black community, telling men to "stop beating your women".
Bill Cosby defends criticism of blacks
ATLANTA -- A day after publicly criticizing shortcomings in the black community a second time, Bill Cosby said he wanted to make it clear he meant it.
This Cosby show will tolerate no funny business
Let's get this out of the way: Bill Cosby is not interested in sitting down and talking to a reporter about his recent critiques of the black community. But he's certainly not keeping his controversial views quiet.
Debate Continues as Cosby Again Criticizes Black Youths
As Dr. Cliff Huxtable, TV's quintessential sitcom dad, Bill Cosby offered gentle, homespun advice to his young family each week. But in real life, Cosby lately has been delivering a much harsher message: African Americans, particularly the young, have only themselves to blame for a variety of social ills.
'It's about our minds,' Cosby tells conference
The cardboard sign said it all: “Bill Cosby, You Don’t Need to Apologize.”
Cosby Calls On PUSH, Black Parents To Make Changes
Actor-Comedian To Black Community: 'Turn Mirror Around"
In a passionate and controversial lecture before the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition & Citizenship Education Fund's annual conference Thursday, Bill Cosby challenged black parents to insist that their children perform better in all avenues of life.
Cosby's whole rant is this internalized feeling that black people should somehow achieve perfection. That we all need to "stick together" like the Jews. Which is insane. Jewish social life is riven with debate. There is nothing like the ideological conformity common in black political life. What's the old joke, if you have two Jews, you have three arguments? So this demand for perfection seems to arise from time to time, driven by myth and unrealistic expectations.
…What most disturbs me is the way Cosby is SO eager to cut the black middle class slack for abandoning it's brothers and sisters, building gated communities, and still lagging behind in test scores. There is still a gap in achievement even when economics is not a factor. And it isn't because blacks are stupid, we know they aren't. Racism might play a role. The black middle class got their money and they ran to suburbia, even when racism limited their options. Look at Long Island. The most racially segregated place in America. You can tell if someone is black by the town they live in, Hempstead, Wyandanch, Freeport, Roosevelt. The same crappy school districts, same poverty you get in the Bronx, except people are far more hostile to change. Before he lectures the poor on their shortcomings, he might want to lecture his peers and the middle class on theirs.
Obviously, Dr. Cosby was addressing Black folks last week.
In an interview yesterday, Cosby said he is speaking out because dropout, illiteracy and teen pregnancy rates are at "epidemic" levels among less-affluent African Americans. "You can't get me to soften my message," he said. "If I had said [it] nicely, then people wouldn't have listened."
But I believe he intended a slightly more subversive impact for the media.
Vanessa Jones at the Boston Globe:
In a pause-laden nine-minute conversation yesterday, Cosby eluded attempts to schedule a face-to-face interview to speak more in depth about these matters. One reason why? "I have other things to do," he said brusquely.
He was willing to entertain a few questions, such as: Why are you talking about these issues at this moment?
Cosby: "I'm not being combative; I'm trying to understand something. When you say `at this moment,' what do you mean?"
The reporter said that "at this moment" means now, as opposed to last year or two years ago. "What I'm talking about specifically is the dropout rate in these areas," he said. "And, um, why now? Because I feel that it has reached epidemic proportions."
Cosby said newspapers should go into neighborhoods and do stories about the problems he's talking about. "There are many, many wonderful, educated people in the [black] community," he says, "who will be willing to talk to you and tell you their first-hand experience -- teachers -- their first-hand experience, and if they want to withhold their names, etc., etc, whatever. But it's not just a matter of Bill Cosby."
And, no, a last-ditch appeal to Cosby to use his celebrity status to explore these issues doesn't change his mind.
"I don't accept that I have to be the fulcrum of this," he said. If "the things that are tied into helping this thing grow and get worse are not addressed, then so be it.
"Maybe it's more interesting [for newspapers] to talk about [these problems] or write about them when [people] are incarcerated or when a parent is beating a child to death."
Another request elicits the comment: "I gotta go."
Really interesting because he had to know the attention his statements would attract. By giving no in-depth follow-up at the height of the interest I think he hoped to drive the media to those "many, many wonderful, educated people in the [black] community."
The problem is, the only thing new about what Dr. Cosby said is that Dr. Cosby said it. The actual issues at hand are not very interesting to the mainstream because they think them specific to Black folks. So, the news becomes "Bill Cosby said this!" That, specifically, is what the media is following up on.