There's an old story about boy who asks his father what holds the Earth up in space. The father tells his son that the Earth is held up by a giant elephant at the bottom of the globe. The son, not satisfied, asks what holds up the elephant. Why a larger elephant of course, replied the father.
Dell Gines asks the question "How Do You Justify Fighting For Black Elevation When You Have Got Yours?". The answer is the same.
In many ways, his readers are confused. Here one quotes Malcolm X:
“You talk about the progress of the Negro−−I’ll tell you, mister, it’s just because the Negro has been in America while America has gone forward that the Negro appears to have gone forward. The Negro is like a man on a luxury commuter train doing 90 miles an hour. He looks out of the window, along with all the white passengers in their Pullman chairs, and he thinks he’s doing 90, too. Then he gets to the men’s room and looks in the mirror−−and he sees he’s not really getting anywhere at all. His reflection shows a black man standing there in the white uniform of a dining−car steward. He may get on the 5:10, all right, but he sure won’t be getting off at Westport.”
No he isn't getting off at Westport, neither is he walking behind an ox in an unplowed field.
But one of them is on the right track:
Dell: Your question is not without merit, bhat is your definition of “participation”? What about the $75K attorney who has 3, 4, or 5 kids at home, who is making sure he can afford to send his kids to a good school, spends his evenings at home with his wife and kids, rather than out clubbin’ or having “late nights at the office” bangin’ out his secretary? Raises kids who are well-mannered and respectful, ensures that they are excelling in school and not our running the streets doing drugs and creating babymama drama. Is that guy not “participating”? Something tells me that if a lot more folks were “participating”… a lot of our social ills - and I’m not just referring to the Black community - would start curing themselves.
It's elephants all the way down, or in the case of American progress, it's class all the way up. The basic question is whether or not you accept the basic premise of 'elevation' and whether having accepted it, you are willing to abide by its rewards and punishments.
Most politically active blackfolks are oriented around 'The Struggle' which just about all will agree is a class struggle. More specifically, it is the struggle of the black underclass to enter and remain in the American middle class. Nothing speaks quite directly to that notion as the very definition of success given - that of an attorney employed by a corporation on a 75k salary. Very bourgie, in a good way, very middle class. Quite simply, elevated.
Such a person is a winner. Why then are black aspirations so unresolved by the presence of such winners? Primarily because The Struggle continues for millions more. And by dint of the foolish notions of race trumping class, the problem with the logic presents itself. See Xyborg:
As long as the majority of Black people either are (or are perceived to be) at the bottom of the socio-economic pile then even the Black person who has got “his” will continue to be judged by the condition in which the majority of his/her people appear to be in.
This is an illigitimate excuse. Read properly as a reason to remain with the struggle it also nullifies the reality of class elevation. It say, essentially, so long as somebody somewhere treats you like you are lower-class, you should align your politics with the lower-class accordingly. Nothing speaks to the truth of college-educated people remaining ignorant than the broad agreement with this ill logic.
That blackfolks cower in fear of labels like 'sell-out' and 'Tom' indicate that at bottom, they are persuaded by this argument. They doubt their own success.
Of course it is true that successful middle class people are made paupers by arbitrary forces. Of course the 75k lawyer could get sued into bankruptcy by a 150k lawyer. It is absolutely the case that a million dollar white supremacist could instantly destroy the work of an entire branch of the NAACP. There's always a bigger elephant. Of course black liberation philosophies should not be satisfied by the existence of 100,000 75k lawyers. All of this is to say that there is always struggle at every level of life. It has always been thus and ever shall. But you cannot dismiss the fact of black elevation. What terrified 9 Little Rock High School students 50 years ago terrifies nobody today. South Boston is not scary. When I was 10 years old, my aunt was frightened to death of driving at night through rural Georgia. I was not then, I doubt any blacks today are. The very prospect of facing a sheriff in Alabama was a daunting prospect for blacks of the Jim Crow era. Today they are likely to shake hands with a good ole boy who is black.
The struggles of the black underclass may long be with us, but they should not dominate African American politics. Dell asks a legitimate question that ought to be answered, and I believe that the answer lies in charity. It will be the charity of the black rich, as today it is the charity of limousine liberals that floats the boats of hope for the black underclass. Nobody will be as familiar with their plight as those two generations away from it themselves. But in the intervening generations, nobody should deny the elevation achieved.
Everyone is familiar with Ernie Banks painting of the man with the hand down and the man with the hand up. The problem with this painting is not the intent, but that both arms are equally skinny. The difference and the distance between the black underclass and today's white collar upscale class is significant but it is not that great. It is foolish to believe that the philanthropy of the salary man is sufficient to permanently alter the prospects of the indigent. Peoples' futures are not secured by spare change and spare time, but by fulltime dedicated work and capital. That capital is not going to ever come from any bourgie class, but a class of real capitalists, and that dedication is not coming from anyone but those in the bottom of the boat.
Each man has his own struggle. Let him face it honestly.
Recent Comments