Uppity Negro Network™

An alternate title for this article would be:

Heart Attacks in Older White Men Spike during West Virginia Democratic Primaries

Could you imagine an old white man, geezer if you will, wearing a red and black plaid checkered shirt, and army green pants held up by suspenders, shuffling with an old wooden cane as a result of his hip surgery four years ago.  He gets into the voting booth, and pulls out his reading glasses to look at the ballot and then lets out a frightened “I be damned!” Clutching his right shoulder, he says “I gotta pick between a wo-man and a nigger!”  And collapses to the floor.

Well, that’s true hyperbole, and I’m just doing my Onionspiel if I had to write for them.  However, I think it’s interesting that 7% of West Virginia voters cast their vote for John Edwards.  Wth!?!?!?!?  So, clearly, both of these candidates have to deal with race as an issue.

A Civil War?  Nah, I don’t think it’s going to be quite that serious, but, um, we are definitely a country divided by race.  Just ask Joshua Packwood, Morehouse valedictorian.  Well, if that name doesn’t ring a bell, just walk down the streets of rural West Virginia or Pennsylvania and I’m sure one would see just how bad it is.  Where pollsters were being told to “Hang that darky from a tree!”

And these were northerners in Pennsylvania.

And yet again, race rears its ugly head in the best way it knows how, right under the surface.  And I’m convinced that some older white voters have simply refused to listen critically to what Obama has to say.  Hell, how many of us, aside from political pundits, critically listen to speeches given by these candidates in their entirety?  I know I really don’t, but I’m not going around saying either candidate “isn’t saying anything” or that “all they talk about is change without any substance.”  I’m saying all this to say, I was watching the news and to the effect, and older white guy, who very much fit the description of the hypothetical individual at the opening paragraph who was having a heart attack, said in a wonderful Appalachian drawl ”I’m not voting for him, because he’s a Muslim–Oh-bamma.”

Yes, rhymes with Alabama.

I know a southern accent dictates the mispronunciation of some words, but to watch that clip actually made me laugh out loud at the wanton ignorance that individual displayed. 

In a weird way, and only at the human level that I share with men who would dare make such a statement, I feel sorry for men like that.  Granted people who think like that are not in the majority, they do exist and moreover they do vote.  What are we as a country supposed to do to bring these people into full knowledge about this country.  I mean, that guy sounds like a left-over relic who would remember stories from his grandfather about “them darkies” just roaming around after slavery ended when he was little boy.  Steeped in this truly racist ideal, what is he or they supposed to do when faced with a candidate who very well may DIE (yes McCain would be 72 if elected and sworn in) and that of a woman and a black man.

Go figure.

We make this claim that Obama has transcended race, and we are lying to ourselves.  We make it seem as if it’s only blacks who are baiting the race issue, but again, if that’s the place then Obama polling places in Pennsylvania wouldn’t have been vandalized with bigoted words spraypainted: “Hamas votes for BHO.”  Or even pollsters wouldn’t have been told that

Be that as it may.  We still have a long way to go in this country.  Many people keep telling blacks to get over race, but yet and still its rural white folks in places like West Virginia and Pennsylvania who commit these random acts, such as shouting racial epithets at pollsters for Obama of both races.  As I’ve already stated, 50% of my reason for having endorsed Obama at the beginning was because of his race–I’ve had my chances to vote for white presidents before, now it’s my turn to vote for a black one.

Keep it uppity, and keep it truthfully radical, JLL

Let me start out by saying this is post is NOT about Joshua Packwood–in fact let me be clear about the congratulations that are due him.  I am a firm believer about those that earn awards and acclaim should deserve it.  However, this post is to address the issues I couldn’t help but notice that surround his interesting rise to stardom.

Now, I don’t know if I’m beating a dead horse by writing a blog about this the day after it made national news, but here I go.

It was released yesterday that Morehouse College, the institution established in 1867 in Atlanta, Georgia, the nations ONLY undergraduate institution dedicated to educating black males is naming it’s first white valedictorian.  His name is Joshua Packwood from Kansas City, MO.  A quick Google search will provide further family background stories or some of the embedded links that I’ve done for your convenience and one could see possibly why he chose Morehouse, it was more his speed than some other schools. 

Well, if one thinks I’m race baiting, then so be it.  If one thinks that I’m “hatin’,” then so be it: you shoulda seen me yesterday, I went to the store and loaded up on Haterade just for moments like this.

Whatever the case may be, this poses some issues, not problems, but issues for those of us who graduated from HBCU’s.  Now the following may come off as offensive to non-blacks, but this is how I’m feeling, and some of my other friends that I talked to yesterday about this issue.  I’d welcome feedback, and only positive feedback that engenders good, wholesome discussion about this issue.

Issue number one for me is that the only reason this young man is getting press is because he’s white.  And yes, Geraldine Ferrarro was right in some respect to the effect that some of Obama’s noveltyis because he’s black.  But that’s something she should have known better to not have said where it would have gotten out as such, but that’s a whole other blog about what blacks and what whites can say.  But let’s be honest, if the college was on the proverbial other foot, I doubt it would make national news.  Perhaps if it were a small school that has a tradition of being liberal, perhaps the local state papers would carry it, but I don’t see it going any farther.

But, all of this plays into the truly complicatedness (yes, I made up a word) that is the black community.   Irrespective of Morehouse being Martin Luther King’s alma mater, Morehouse is REALLY a good school to go to.  In the black community, Morehouse ranks high in the minds of uppity Negroes.  Granted this uppity Negro didn’t apply to Morehouse, in fact University of Alaska-Anchorage was my number one pick, so we see where my mind was, but it was and still is a highly revered school.  So, why is it that the previous 140 valedictorians didn’t get write ups in the paper about them?  And I wonder would an Oberlin College, known for its historical liberalism make a national press release about their first black valedictorian.

Frankly, a quick internet research only turned up one name of a black valedictorian named Franklin Denison from Northwestern Law School in 1890.

So is it that black students aren’t smart enough to be valedictorians of TWIs (traditionally white institutions) as a reason why when I type in “black valedictorians undergraduate” or “black valedictorians ____________” (insert your school of choice) into a Google search engine that nothing pops up.  When I was talking to one of my friends who currently attends Morehouse and I simply asked “What were y’all doing [to seemingly "allow" this boy to be valedictorian]?” to which he replied “f*cking around…..being black and trifling….letting ole boy exist under the radar and then pop up his senior year and end up being valedictorian….that’s wat we’ve been doin.”   That was from a Yahoo Instant Messenger conversation, so it’s a direct quote.  And for those that are wondering why “black and trifling” are synonymous, that’s yet another instance in coded lanugage.

But, its hard for me to ponder that out of that class, he’s the only white student and he managed to succeed and the others did not.  At a school that is quite clear on its goal for educating black males, it’s just very interesting, or even ironic that it’s naming a valedictorian who is white.  Now, I’m not going so far as to say it’s a slap in the face of the previous valedictorians, by Packwood simply being named one.  If he earned, he should get it.  I think the slap in the face, if there even is one, arises when Morehouse, as the pinnacle of uppity Negro maleness is naming someone who looks like the oppressor as the best out of all of those sitting at the graduation. 

Now I’m sure if he had been my classmate for four years I’d have a TOTALLY different viewpoint.  But in light of recent racial events surround the presidential race, and the Sean Bell case and these Philadelphia police officers pulling a Rodney King on these men (which I think was more racially infused than the Sean Bell case) I think that its quite clear that the United States is not a post-racial society.  So, for me, Joshua Packwood does not transcend race–he’s still white.

Another aught with this whole situation is as to whether or not a black student would be as readily accepted on white campus as valedictorian or otherwise.  I was previously convinced beyond the shadow of a doubt that the answer is no.  One is from personal experience, and the other is just as a result of listening to others experiences. 

Quick story, back when I had corn rows, I enrolled in a 2nd year graduate level accountancy class at Vanderbilt University because it would have satisfied a credit that I knew I needed when I had intended on still graduating from Dillard University post-Katrina.  Lets just say, I didn’t fit the image, and I was given the absolute run-around as far as getting an ID and a password to access the online readings.  Suffice it to say, I didn’t do to well because I was unable to get the required reading done.  Understand, however, that the professor was all smiles, and nice about the situation.  And the lady to whom I talked to each class period concerning the ID and password was all smiles.  The only reason I got the ID and password was that one of those days, another younger woman, who happened to be from Chicago as well told me what to do.  And when I did it, and caught the older woman in a lie–I was like WOW!  This actually happened to me.

Secondly, I REALLY encourage the readers to read this embedded link about being black and attending Yale University and I remember visiting the school in the spring of 2005 as I was looking at Yale Divinity school and walking through the main part of campus and coming from New Orleans, 67% black at the time, it was quite a culture shock. 

My mother kind of went off when she quoted the president of Morehouse as saying “Josh Packwood is Morehouse…He happens to be Euro-American and brings much appreciated diversity to our campus.”  Well, what did you expect for him to say?  “What the hell were the rest of y’all doing to allow a white boy to be valedictorian?” I’d think not.

Whatever the situation, this is definitely going to be a conversation piece for some months probably even years to come.  Especially because I know I’ll be the one to always say “Well….you know Morehouse had a white valedictorian back in the day.” 

Again, I just wonder was it really worth getting write-ups in the AJC and Newsweek online, especially seeing as how we do NOT yet live in a post-racial society.  Contrary to popular belief as disseminated by Sean Hannity, we as black people have not yet gotten to a point where one can “be judged by the content of their character” as opposed to “the color of their skin” as he so famously quotes Martin Luther King.

My final qualm was that a man of Morehouse was quoted as saying “Right now we live in a time where people say the black institution is obsolete, that you can get a better education at a majority institution….To see a white guy who had declined Harvard for Morehouse, I figured it was good enough for me.” 

This was by a junior Wendell Marsh, a junior as reported by the AP. 

I’d really like to talk to him and tell him that HBCUs and TWIs are the same, and always have been.  It’s interesting to see that people still have the “white is right” standard.  It seems to me that he only made the decision in comparing it a) to a TWI and b) it seems that Joshua Packwood’s status as a student at Morehouse somehow validated it as a “real school” over that of, hell, Martin Luther King!!! and the THOUSANDS of alumni that have graduated from Morehouse over the years.

I cringed when I read that line in the article.

So, Mr. Marsh, if you happen to read this, please, lets sit down and talk, man to man, no hard feelings and I want to know where you come on this particular issue because, yes, I’m calling you out.

I feel it most appropriate, also, to close with yet another sentiment from one of my Morehouse friends:

If we have a white valedictorian, it’s time for a black President [of the United States.]

keep it uppity, and keep it truthfully radical, JLL

[added after original post date:  I believe this CNN article speaks to some of the issues that I was trying to raise in this post. http://edition.cnn.com/2008/US/05/16/white.valedictorian/?imw=Y&iref=mpstoryemail]

Well, perhaps I’m in the minority on this one.

I think I need to look at myself on this one.  The Black Snob kind of informed me that Wright was over the top; my friend on Facebook somewhat informed me that Wright was doing some damage to Obama’s campaign; I had a friend tell me on Yahoo Instant Messenger that I sounded like a “Black Panther reject” (although I dismissed that one as credible because prior to that conversation he informed me that he didn’t know who Jeremiah Wright was); another friend told me via text messaging yesterday that Wright was hurting Obama’s chances; some of the callers I heard during intermittent call-in times on Michael Baisden and __________ said that Wright was hurting the chances of Obama; and of course most in the news media, black and white, including Roland Martin, were saying that Wright was single-handedly hurting Obama’s chances.

Well, as a result of my two previous posts and numerous comments on other blogs, most should know where I stand on the issue, but I guess in my ivory tower of uppity Negroness, I had given black America more credit.  So take this blog as an outright offensive against all of the African Americans who have blindsided by the glory of what is called the Big House.

I’m all for Barack Obama’s candidacy and I personally hope that he wins the nomination and ultimately the general election in November, and sucessfully gets sworn into office next January and minimally completes his four year term.  But, again, I must ask, at what cost is black America willing to sacrafice some issues just to see another black man in office?  As I’ve said before Wright was right as far as Obama being a politician–his move to denounce Wright was for the sake of his political career–I’m not mad at the brother for that, I knew that was coming when I woke up Monday morning to my friend going off on me in the phone back in Chicago telling me how wonderful Wright was. 

Well it seems to me that there is a parallel that is emerging called plantation politics: the politics of the slaves in the field were often different from the politics of the slave who got to sleep in the Big House–I mean White House.  You see the slaves on larger plantations who worked in the field would often direct their angst toward the big house where their master lived.  So it posed a dichotomy of loyalty when the master would artfully pick a slave to work in the big house.  This slave who once was from the field, was now working in the place where their anger had once been directed, and the ultimate question is where do their loyalties lie.

It’s not a hard stretch of the imagination to believe what a quandry the slaves in the house were facing.  Realize now that often times they received better food, and a better place to sleep, even better clothing, they were no longer toiling in the hot sun doing back-breaking work during the summer months, and they were protected from the elements during the winter months.  The house Negro had to deal with where their loyalties lie.

But the field Negroes–ohhhh, the field Negroes–they knew where their loyalties lay.  They were beholden to God and to themselves and each other.  They knew where to direct their anger, it was usually at the white man who would stand on the veranda and look out over the plantation, over the legalized and systemitized economy that kept them in bondage.  Whether or not their master was a fair one (and fair by what standards) or not, the master was still overseeing and actively participating in what was keeping them in bondage.

It seems to me that Jeremiah Wright was and is speaking about the politics of, shall we say, the field Negroes (and yes, in this case I’m substituting this n-word for another n-word).  So, you mean to tell me that Wright’s stance on AIDS, and on 9/11 and governmental involvement has not been uttered in barbershops and beautyshops nationwide with addresses that include Martin Luther King Street or Drive?  The place where conspiracy theories are birthed and thrive are in these establishments.  Granted many of them have faulty logic and are outright outlandish at times, I’m just shocked at how quickly blacks have been ready to throw Wright and his proclamations overboard just to see a black man in the Big House?

I just thought black Americans would have been more concerned about the issues that Jeremiah Wright was talking about as opposed to how badly he communicated them (yes, throwing up the Que sign in the middle of the press conference was over the top–GROSSLY over the top).  It seems to me that we’re back at square one as far as race relations in this country.  This whole controversy accomplished NOTHING, and I hold black America and Barack Obama responsible for the following reasons.

Granted Wright should have been aware of whom he was speaking to and how whatever he said was going to be twisted even by moderate and liberal media outlets simply because of the nature of how he said it.  That being said, I’m just shocked that a good portion of blacks have fallen for what seems to me to be the okey-doke as far as religion and politics are concerned.  Many blacks who previously had no idea about how religion and politics and intricately and intimately woven together, will now walk away saying “See, that’s why I don’t believe in politics in the pulpit.”  It seems to me that a section of blacks are missing the forest for the trees.

I fault Obama because by fully denouncing Wright it somewhat steals the punch of his previous speech on race.  What I thought was a wonderful mastery of both sides of the race issue in America, both black and white, has now, to me, been placed back into the hands of a few blacks who will forever lecture and yell at white America for past ills and issues (that yes, need to be brought up) and white Americans will stand and ultimately pat us on our heads and say “Be a good little darkie.”

Well, perhaps that analogy was VERY general and over the top, because not every white person thinks that way, I know that, but still, this is how I’m feeling at the moment.  (I really think my analogy of the child and the parent and the crib from my last blog makes the most sense.)  Obama had the chance on Tuesday to bring up the issues that Wright failed to communicate to wider America as far as the Black Church, race relations in this country, and certain questionable governmental policies–and HE DID NOT. 

Let the record show that in 1800 Gabriel Prosser’s rebellion was thwarted by slaves that perhaps didn’t know where their loyalties lie.  Also in 1822 with Denmark Vesey, again slaves ratted out on the insurrection.  And of course in 1831 with my friend Nat Turner, a preacher nonetheless, who had visions and said that he was carrying out God’s will essentially–beholden to God and himself.

I’m just not that hyped about Obama getting into the Big House–I’m sorry, I keep doing that, I mean the White House, for the same reason Wright said in fact.  The moment Obama is sworn into office, he will now be the face of the policies that help subjugate millions of Americans and millions of humans across this globe.

I’m not advocating a separatist movement because of my particular political stance on this one and I’m certainly not advocating that blacks take up arms and start killing random white folk as did Nat Turner, but rather acknowledging that perhaps we, as a country, black and white, have even a farther way to go than what both sides are willing to acknowledge.

Keep it uppity and keep it radically true, JLL