Prometheus 6

I got email overnight from Mr. Barger. I have not read it.

I have not deleted it, either. I may read it, though I know pretty much what's in it. One of the vast, cosmic powers that are my inheritance as a reification of a Chaos Deity is the ability to perceive the form of negative spaces…which is to say I read between the line well. I expect it says I misinterpreted his "swinging from the trees" reference to my grandparent's generation. Juliette, in her comments, said she read it as a reference to lynching.

I'm not sure I give a good god damn.

You see, my great-grandfather WAS lynched. My grandfather was brought along by the lynchers to cut him down from the tree. My father, as a child, was there.

Whether he meant as anthropoids or strange fruit, it was stupid, insensitive and totally unacceptable. And he let me know right up front, via a link to an old post on his site he keeps around for JUST such an occasion and dumping those hoary old chestnuts into the conversation, exactly what type of discussion he wants to have. And I ain't havin' it.
What leads me to prejudge the poor man so harshly, you ask?

For example, I'm sympathetic to the classic complaint about black guys having trouble getting a taxi, but do you expect taxi drivers not to notice or take into account that young black men in this country have far higher crime rates than about any other group? Do you expect them to ignore reality in front of their faces and their own physical security?

And of course HE expects ME to ignore the fact that the young men he describes DON'T TAKE CABS. They got no job, no education, remember? And even if I felt it rational to fear these young men (and I take into account being a 6'2" 185 lb Black guy influences my view of how fearsome the precocious little darlings are) it is NOT rational to avoid the guy in the $300 tailored suit because you're afraid of a boy in $20 jeans that are too big for him.

He also expects me to get all hyper about this. I'm not. There ARE Black cab drivers, and I tip well. And for some reason I don't even have to search specifically for them. All I have to do is stand on the corner and raise my arm. The cabbies sort themselves by race, just for my benefit. Or maybe it's another manifestation of my Chaos Powers. I got so many, I lose track sometimes…

At any rate, I think it time for the long form answer to Mr. Barger's White America's central racial concern:

By the way, what exactly would I, Al Barger White America, need to do or say in order be judged clean and not-racist?

This is not to imply I feel all "White America" deserves the ire I baste and braise this turkey with. It is to say, once again, that "White America's" main concern in the discussion of race is to ease its conscience and find out how to approach race safely. Can't say as I blame you all…switch out "pain" for "conscience" and its a fair approximation of "Black America's" main concern. Therefore I shall NOT use Mr. Barger as the example to make my point; instead I'll give you an example of the eggshell-dance Sarah mentioned in her comment yesterday.

Almost a year ago I was approached by a couple of Progressives that had written a post on something or other Bush or the Republican party (like there's a difference right now) said that was, shall we say, wrong. The writer of said post used an Uncle Remus metaphor that included attempts at using the South-Mouth dialect of English, which dialect is related to and often confused with a number of Ebonics dialects. They were concerned about offending and asked my advice.

The advice I gave: Assume nothing and write to make your point.

Another example: during the Dean run a was asked by one of the online volunteers what they could do to engage Black voters.

The advice I gave: Make promises and keep them. I had other issues, like "are you asking as a representative of the campaign that can make binding statements or as a grass roots volunteer talking about what you're sure he'll do," and "if I tell you something and you do it, aren't you acting?"

Now the three Progressive I mention here all meant well…I have no ill feelings toward them at all. But they all made assumptions similar to Mr. Barger's…difference being Mr. Barger avoids guilt by saying any broken eggs are MY problem irrespective of who broke them because I'm the one all spattered with yoke and egg whites, I'm the one with shell shards in my eye (at least it's not a beam). Then he throws a few eggs, just to make sure you got the point. My fellow progressives are trying to avoid guilt by not breaking the eggs

When you have such concerns it is only because you don't know enough about Black folks to have a feeling for the reaction you'll get. Your best bet in such a situation is not to pretend you do. Talk. Ask. Learn. Sad as it is for me to say, your average Black person will almost cum from the delight of being actually heard by white folks.

Which explains a LOT of Black Conservatives. Getting paid is not always a financial transaction.

White America wants off the racial hook no less than Black America does. The hook is in deep, though. Getting it out will hurt, no matter what. So stop looking for a painless method of not being racist. At this point in out history, after just 40 years of Black freedom and 40 years of white folks having to live with the dual-soul syndrome DuBois wrote of in Black folks a century or so ago, there is no painless way for ANY of us.