I'm a star in the ghetto
If I never reach Broadway, that'll be OK
(Keep on shining)
I don't care what the people up there in New York have to say.
-- Ben E. King
This is going to be rather long and somewhat complex. I'm basically attempting to contextualize a response to EC Hopkins query:
What forms of above-average capital (economic, social, symbolic, cultural) are assigned to Black Americans3, what unearned social advantages are given to Black Americans, or what valuable social opportunities are more easily accessible to Black Americans than other Americans due to Black Americans’ phenotypical traits or due to Black cultures?
This sounds to me as an investigation of black social capital. What do we get credit for knowing and what privilege do we get in society? Interestingly enough, the corollary questions have to do with whether or not we understand and appreciate our social capital and if we are satisfied with it.
My traditional approach to the question of black social capital began
with a comparison of how blacks see themselves within physical and
cultural black communities vs how they see themselves and are perceived
outside of those communities. The example I always used was about how the black
homecoming king and queen were popular and respected at the black high
school, but did not get that same popularity or respect elsewhere. This would be an example to me of diminished social capital.
But before we get into diminished social capital let's talk about positive black social capital.
Positive Social Capital: Black Pride
In the American context, I happen to believe that blackfolks who are not recent immigrants inherit a substantial amount of social capital. We understand American life and American life respects, even if it's not 100% accurate, the black experience. America wants to touch our hair. It can be condescending or straight out stupid. As I am writing this I recall something I wrote from BYO Blackness:
..There would be no way I could have any pride or function properly as a black man if I depended on the computer industry to take care of my personal needs. It doesn't matter to me whether the industry is hostile or indifferent with regards to the reasons for its short supply, I bring it myself. So you will see, at industry functions, a black family when families are invited. I represent.
I am satisfied with my career because it provides the rewards I expect. But it is not a part of my expectations for them to understand and provide anything related to black culture. If I had to get support from the workplace, I would be in sorry shape. But since I do get what I need, when I am in the workplace the flow goes the other way. They get it from me. I am the provider. So everywhere I work has a little more flavor than it had before I came with it. This is your standard 'strong positive black man' stuff. I got it goin' on and everybody is better off for that. Every once in a while people want to touch my hair. Every once in a while somebody says something incredibly stupid and racist. Every once in a while there are intolerably stark reminders of the white male desolation of computer geekdom. So some days, I have to head for the hills and recharge the batteries. Nevertheless it is not difficult for me to enjoy a week in Boise, Idaho learning MDX, as Cobb readers know.
I believe that Americans understand and expect black people to hold their own. I think a black person who is approached from a dorky liberal position, "My word, you certainly are articulate", is insulted. It's a double insult. One, it's possibly a racist insult in that the speaker might think that blacks simply can't be articulate. But it's also an insult because the speaker feels compelled to tell that black individual that they deserve some kind of special approval, as if we don't know that being articulate has value in society. One aspect of black social capital is that all of that hair touching condescension is not necessary. Black people know how to be black in a society where they are a minority. It's edifying. It builds character. We know this. And we know Americans know we know this. America expects black pride and America knows we expect them to respect it.
I'm convinced that America is very well prepared for black pride. Generically ethnic chauvinism is OK, but I think there is a special case of this in America which is reserved for blacks who 'overcome'. We get props.
Perverse Social Captial: Bell's Rules
Perverse social capital is what blackfolks get for playing the inverse race card. I quote from Derrick Bell.
FIRST RULE
The law grants litigants standing to come into court based on their having sufficient personal interest and involvement in the issue to justify judicial cognizance. Black people (while they may be able to get into court) are denied such standing legitimacy in the world generally when they discuss their negative experiences with racism or even when they attempt to give a positive evaluation of another black person or of his work. No matter what their experience or expertise, blacks' statements involving race are deemed 'special pleading' and thus not entitled to serious consideration.SECOND RULE
Not only are blacks' complaints discounted, but black victims of racism are less effective witnesses than are whites, who are members of the oppressor class. This phenomenon reflects a widespread assumption that blacks, unlike whites, cannot be objective on racial issues and will favor their own no matter what. This deep seated belief fuels a continuing effort - despite all manner of Supreme Court decisions intended to curb the practice - to keep black people off juries in cases involving race. Black judges hearing racial cases are eyed suspiciously and sometimes asked to recuse themselves in favor of a white judge - without those making the request even being aware of the paradox in their motions.THIRD RULE
Few blacks avoid diminishment of racial standing, most of their statements about racial conditions being diluted and their recommendations of other blacks taken with a grain of salt. The usual exception to this rule is the black person who publicly disparages or criticizes other blacks who are speaking or acting in ways that upset whites. Instantly, such statements are granted 'enhanced standing' even when the speaker has no special expertise or experience in the subject he or she is criticizing.
FOURTH RULE
When a black person or group makes a statement or takes an action that the white community or vocal components thereof deem "outrageous," the latter will actively recruit blacks willing to refute the statement or condemn the action. Blacks who respond to the call to condemnation will receive superstanding status. The blacks who refuse to be recruited will be interpreted as endorsing the statements and action and may suffer political or economic reprisals.
FIFTH RULE
True awareness requires an understanding of the Rules of Racial Standing. As an individuals understanding of these rules increases, there will be more and more instances where one can discern their workings. Using this knowledge, one gains the gift of prophesy about racism, its essence, its goals, even its remedies. The price of this knowledge is the frustration that follows recognition that no amount of public prophesy, no matter its accuracy, can either repeal the Rules of Racial Standing nor prevent their or prevent their operation.
Over the past few years, writing as Cobb, I've really only paid attention to corollaries of the Fifth Rule. I am satisfied that I have a fairly comprehensive and nuanced view of the operation of racism in America, especially when it comes to the rules of debate online. And I am convinced that this understanding has rendered me mostly ineffective, precisely because of the gap between my expertise and common expectations. The price one pays for going the whole nine yards is that you end up speaking a different language, and then after a while, when you're old like me, you get sick and tired of explaining it. In other words, in the long term, it is very unprofitable to be a race man.
That counts as well for those beneficiaries of the perverse social capital. There is no long term benefit for discounting the experiences of others, of denying the presence of racism or playing any such tragic mulatto role. I find it a huge waste of energy, if one intends on making some political hay of it.
Diminished Social Capital: Dissonance vs Intransigence
There are two ways of looking at diminished social capital. One is dissonance and the other is intransigence. In the case of dissonance, it would be a black thing that whitefolks were clueless to understand. In the case of intransigence it would be a human thing that whitefolks refuse to respect in blacks.
It is my firm belief that the diminishment of social capital of blacks in the case of dissonance is generally counterbalanced by the positive social capital of black pride. Whereas the diminishment of social capital of blacks in the case of intransigence is amplified by black pride.
In the first case, diminished social capital is a transient phenomenon that something like a proper diversity training would correct. Imagine the old white lady from the film "Airplane" saying "I speak jive." Imagine the Average White Band making hit records that blackfolks fall in love to. You could call this domain 'race relations'. I think blackfolks and whitefolks can manage to figure that stuff out for themselves and as racial diffusion happens through 'brownian social motion' all that stuff gets easier over time. I find that the politics of race relations are smarmy and condescending and their permanence and prominence only belies stupidity.
In the case of intransigence, something deeper is operating. That something may be a real conflict of values, but more often than not it's simple racist bigotry. It's really as simple as that. The test of black pride is what can truly tell which is which. Americans should understand that blackfolks have traditionally had some overcoming to do, and most Americans are down with that program. But those that have a problem with black pride are basically bigots.
That's the bulk of the survey and my classification. Now I want to get to the controversial part which is a provocative way of assessing who has to do what, and whether or not black pride is actually a proper black pride. Warning to the faint of heart, I'm going Cosby here. But there's a catch.
Diminished Social Capital: Ghetto Dysfunction
Let's go back to the highschool analogy. Ignoring
for the moment any provincialisms associated with high schools, who has
more self-esteem, the black homecoming king or the white homecoming
king? What do they experience within their communities that gives them
confidence and respectability? My basic assumption is that they are
equal, to the extent that they have learned something about human
nature in their social rise. They will have both endured jealousy,
support, etc and had a broad recognition of how human beings act, and what
they can and cannot get away with as winners in their hometowns.
This is a very important question because if the black experience is to mean anything, we must assume that in the black community, you are indeed getting the full scope of human behavior from good to evil. Which means you emerge fully morally capable with the same kind of judgment any other human being would have. I make this important distinction because I tend to believe that there is a ghetto brain drain and that today, as contrasted to the days of segregation, the ghetto is more dysfunctional and people using the ghetto as their universe do actually have a smaller range of human experience upon which to build their character. The entire question of underclass entitlement is moot if this case is not made, so too is the entire case for integration, assimilation, affirmative action and all other remedies for racism. If the humanity of the segregated ghetto were not actually suppressed, there would be no case for the cause of social equality because black people would be 'naturally happy among their own kind'.
What I'm saying here goes directly to the value of black pride. If black pride is going to gain positive social capital in America, it obviously must be about overcoming. It has to be about victory, not victimhood. It has to be moral, not vicious.
But in fact, the deprivations of racial segregation do take their toll on the very humanity of its victims. They are less moral, they are less healthy, they are less intelligent, they do grow wrong. They lack the breadth of positive experiences which nurture the human soul and thus become soul deprived. What is the point of oppression if it doesn't work? It does indeed stunt the growth of the average victim. This is not to say that it cannot be evaded or overcome, but it does address the fundamental question of equality. In the end, it is about human potential. If human potential is not actually being destroyed, then there is no moral case to be made for reform.
But this is not a fixed condition. I strongly believe it is correlated to the breadth of experience within the context of the black community. And the proof would be in the tales and cultural expressions coming from that community. When the songs and the stories cease to be of universal interest, when they become special interest, when they become twisted and odd, it speaks of a community in jeopardy and humanity under seige. I do not buy into any theory about the twisted cries for help. When degenerate themes become 'black pride' then this is a symptom of a degenerated humanity. They need rescue, not respect.
So this is, once again, my call towards Old School values and underscoring my belief that the black middle class and those above it should emphasize their version of black pride. The good news is that social capital can translate into social power, and Cobb has always been about moving black politics beyond the rhetoric of civil rights towards the rhetoric of social power. We must realize that this must be a virtuous power game, not simply a black power game. Those who take the low road cannot be expected or allowed to co-opt black pride, and America should resist the temptation to merely judge the pride of a person by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.
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