Prometheus 6

It seems to me that the problem only gets worse for those black voices that happen to deviate from the standard left-wing party line - the "liberals" see them as dupes at best and uncle toms at worst, while the "conservatives" tend to regard them as aberrations to be ignored, if they fail to aver that everything black is always bad, and that black people are always entirely to blame for any of the ails that befall them.

The end result of this discomfiture on the left as well as the right is that such voices tend to fall between two stools, so to speak. People want voices they can use as propaganda for their own ideological stances, and recognition of complexities gets in the way of such utility. To be a black liberal is easy, and to be a black conservative in the Shelby Steele mold is easier still: what is difficult is maintaining that, yes, racism does indeed still exist, that it does need fighting, that it is indeed responsible for many of the problems blacks face today, but that not everything can or should be laid at the white man's door - that just messes up the script for everyone looking for a nice little token.

As for the realities of "race" vs. "culture" - I'll freely acknowledge that there's no simple identification between the two; to draw on my own personal circumstances, I probably know more about European art and classical music than most white people I'll ever encounter. Nevertheless, this does not mean that I can agree with the notion that "culture" is all - how can it possibly be, as long as one has to deal with others whose attitudes to one will be based on one's perceived racial background?

Let me clarify what I'm getting at by putting this in another context; if in 1935 the Germans said you were a Jew, then for all practical purposes, you WERE one, regardless of what your background was or how you felt about the matter. So it is with being "black" today. As long as there are women who clutch their purses and cross the street, in broad daylight, even though you are dressed in a suit and on your way to work at an investment bank, then there are going to be things you can bring to a discussion that no white person can, however familiar or unfamiliar with "black" culture that person may be.

cobb states in "The Mystery of the Black Blogger" that if you can't write a 1000 word essay on the topic of whiteness, the subject of race-consciousness is out of your reach. and because i believe him, i ask all of you to do a little writing.

the suggested questions are aimed specifically at whitefolks, but please feel free to expound on the subject if you are of another race or ethnicity.

1. what does it mean to be white? what does it mean to be White?
2. how has whiteness affected your worldview?
3. how has whiteness affected your educational experience?
4. how has whiteness affected your experience with authority?
5. how has whiteness affected your experiences with people of other races and ethnicities?

please feel free to post your responses on your own blog. the more people we can add to this discussion, the better.