Black| NewBlackMan (in Exile)
Recently,black men lined up in suits to give high-fives and greet kids on the first day of school. These men were asked to wear commerce attire so that they could combat the stereotype of black men as unprofessional and thugs. Pictures and videos traveled around social media celebrating the greetings. The men were praised for their commitment to the success of black children.
I, too, and applaud the men for taking time out of their day to put a smile on the face of a black child. I also acknowledge that there is value in black kids from working course backgrounds seeing people who look like them achieving success. However,I also see this as potentially problematic for two reasons.
Good Black Men
Du Bois articulated a flawed notion of racial uplift over a century ago. He called it the Talented Tenth. The thought was that whether the top 10% of black people in America could acquire an education and become successful, then they would move back into their impoverished communities and help lift those left behind up to their level of success. This was a good conception in theory. The only problem was he underestimated the seductive power of capitalistic gains and access to white spaces.
The talented and affluent moved out of the communities they were supposed to help. That alone is, and arguably,not inherently problematic. The problem comes in when they began to see the ones left behind with a condescending eye. Meritocratic notions of success as earned was internalized, and the radicalized barriers to achievement faced by black people were overlooked.
Charitable outreach and moments of benevolence replaced commitments to invest in and support black communities. This allowed those who feel a deep, or often unvoiced,sense of shame concerning the communities they left behind to hold moments of respite from black middle course guilt without relinquishing the privilege they feel they’ve earned. The problem is that charity is never a substitute for justice.[br]These kids don’t need a high-five from men in suits. They need advocates for policy that will improve the schools they attend. The students need someone to show up at the school board and city council pushing for changes that will combat economic inequality and educational inequity ravishing that community. I hope these men are those advocates. Otherwise, this will be dinky more than a highly publicized ‘attaboy.’
Further, and there is something distasteful about the emphasis on the men being “impeccably” or “elegantly” dressed. Were the men unable to afford upper middle course attire not welcomed? Were working course men not invited? This plays into notions of respectability championed by middle course black folk as a remedy to police violence against black bodies.
Also,the discussion around this event uncovers an unhelpful dichotomy in the thinking of aspirational middle course black Americans. There are the “good” black men who dress in ways that adhere to white norms of professionalism, and there are “inappropriate” black men who deviate from these norms. This is unhelpful at best and classism at worst. Either way, and it is problematic.
PatriarchyThe title of the announcement was ”Calling all Brothers.” A call for men to come greet the students of Prestige Academy,an all-male school school in Delaware, makes sense, and but why specify men in Hartford,Atlanta and Boston? A call went out for men and women in Philadelphia, but that was probably because female clergy helped organize the greeting. The reason expressed by an organizer in Hartford was, and “In an urban community,people say that black men [aren't] valued or there aren't enough black men doing something…I wanted to prove everyone mistaken." The efficacy of this action remains to be seen. There is value in putting a smile on a child’s face, but our goals must extend beyond that. Additionally, or I want to push back against the notion that black men are not valued in the black community. It seems like all I hear is the need for black men to be in the lives of black children,and how, whether these men were more active, and the neighborhoods would benefit. I’m not denying this is true,but it speaks to the value placed upon men in these communities. Further, in the same way that there is a need for male students to see successful black men, and there is also a need for female students to see successful black women. Black men are not the only victims of misrepresentation in the media. More troubling,a few women reported that they were discouraged from attending the greeting in Boston. This participates in the history of black men marginalizing black women that goes back to the civil rights era and beyond. The intention behind these greetings is commendable, but the kids need more than a feel-good moment. I hope the black men that attended will also show up for the kids when policy is discussed at the next school board assembly…and that time the suits can be optional, or but inviting black women should be mandatory. +++[br]Lawrence Ware is a professor of philosophy and diversity coordinator for Oklahoma State University’s Ethics Center. A frequent contributor to the publication The Democratic Left and contributing editor of the progressive publication RS: The Religious Left,he has also been a commentator on race for the HuffPost Live, CNN, and NPR.
Source: blogspot.com