Nobody knows the trouble I've seen. Nobody knows my sorrow.
-- Traditional
EC suggests that a member of the class of 'successful US blacks' should be on the hook for their moral obligation to African-Americans who are less fortunate. Given the example of a rich (not wealthy though) successful surgeon 'Clarence' who is dedicated to his profession, he responds:
However, I’d not make up my mind about whether I thought Clarence were a successful U.S. Black unless I learned more about how he used his wealth, power, and prestige for the direct political, economic, and cultural uplift of Black Americans.
This is the 'black man's burden', but what it more plainly denotes is special consideration for black racial self-interest. And so I have to wag my finger from a Christian perspective, not so fast there buddy.
Like most blackfolks who grew up in the city, more specifically the 'hood, I grew up around mostly other blackfolks who lived in the same place primarily because we didn't have much choice. When we first moved to 90016 in 1964 there were still white families on the block. A few split around 67, and only one remained thereafter. She was the lady who never came out of the house. Some families were from Louisiana, several from Texas, but nobody was originally from LA. We had Japanese families in the neighborhood and a few Chinese too. No Mexicans or Koreans until the 80s.
It was a black neighborhood but the blacks were from different parts, went to different churches, had different class backgrounds. One was a childless couple, a minister and his wife. I never saw Reverend Robinson drive anything but a new Lincoln Continental, and I never saw him wear anything but a suit. Ever. Mr. Haney was the divorced drunk who ran a barbershop on his front porch. Punishment was getting a haircut from him instead of the Magnificent Brothers on Crenshaw. Mrs Myers raised four boys by herself. The Arnolds had 8 rowdy kids who went from bad to worse when Mr. Arnold, an ex Sea-Bee and truck driver from Texas died. Mother Sadie always had the polling place at her house. But I'm waxing nostalgic and painting more good than bad. There was plenty bad too. My point is that the brotherhood we established as neighbors was only marginally thicker than that in any suburb. Parents didn't stop by for drinks or party together. We never had so much as one block party. We knew we were black but we weren't that close.
The politics of black nationalism brought us closer in political aim and established brotherhood, but it had its limits. They are the limits inherent in the false reciprocity of a racial standard.
If you ask me the greatest fault with black nationalism, I would say that it's transcendence is limited, and in the absence of a disciplined institutional backbone it has slipped down to a few simple-minded imperatives. EC echoes the primary one. From blacks to which much is given, much is expected to be given back, to blacks.
This is a racial game which assumes that it is the natural duty of races to behave this way. Birds do it, bees do it, Whites do it, Jews do it.. While it is just a short step from this to a general expectation of mutual antagonism, a lot of well-meaning progressives in the racial uplift game don't go there. But their disdain for how the rest of the world operates on a non-racial basis is self-evident. "I don't care what white people think about..." is a common preface of many rants.
There is a certain self-righteousness implicit in the race raising game. The assumption is that there is always some moral benefit in giving to those nobody else gives to, so long as they are black. There could be no clearer evidence of this than the support given for black criminals, deadbeat dads, and other social misfits deemed victims of Cosby-style opprobrium.
But I think the most egregious sin of black nationalist race-raising is the extent to which it reinscribes racial caste into people who are otherwise thoughtful and considerate. It was whiteness that made us black, and now we are doing whiteness the favor of continuing the reactionary identity of blackness. If the next mass-murderer on the tube is about to be revealed, we cross our fingers and hope that he's not "one of us". Whenever we hear the Urban League tell its annual tale of woe, about how many African Americans are in prison, we hang our heads in special shame. We don't weep for American society, but only for blacks. Public education, public health, whatever the issue, black nationalist politics makes us single out the African American component and spend our entire moral power dealing with the 'black' part.
What is so striking is how easily this attitude becomes paramount and how it trivializes other problems in America, how it trails media and decries a similar fixation on black problems as yet another species of white supremacy. What it simply cannot face is that that old spiritual ain't exclusively Negro. All the trouble in the world isn't blackfolks' trouble, but the nationalists assure you that it's all the 'successful' blacks ought to concern themselves with. Healing white people's pain is verboten. Making whitefolks feel good and comfortable is traitorous. Anything done at the expense of a 'black' soul for the benefit of a 'white' soul, is an unforgivable crime. You're familiar with the ostracism. "Uncle Tom".
A true Christian, or anyone who sees true equality of souls without regard to race is incapable of being consistent in racial uplift. I can see no moral imperative against racial discrimination that matches the moral imperative of healing the sick. I recall the Book of Common Prayer:
For all people in their daily life and work;
For our families, friends, and neighbors, and for those who are alone.
For this community, the nation, and the world;
For all who work for justice, freedom, and peace.
For the just and proper use of your creation;
For the victims of hunger, fear, injustice, and oppression.
For all who are in danger, sorrow, or any kind of trouble;
For those who minister to the sick, the friendless, and the needy.
For the peace and unity of the Church of God;
For all who proclaim the Gospel, and all who seek the truth.
We are all limited, and we can only do so much in our limited ways. We must, all of us, have our priorities and our special talents to guide us. I'm sure there are those who can only see the world in black and white and know only the special oppressions that fall on those closest to them. And for them, the special emphasis of black nationalism's race raising cures what ails them. But for those of us with wider vision, let us remember that in the ways I have outlined, the cure is worse than the disease.
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