A good friend of mine asked me what I thought about the "progress" our country has made by electing it's first black president. I post the response here with the hope of revisiting the ideas presented therein. Though it may come off as a bit cynical, I have nothing but hope and the greatest expectations for the office of the president, the nation, the world, and myself in the new year.
Regarding progress, you know me. I'm taking everything with a grain of salt. My historiography class just finished Richard L. Allen's 'Black Awakening in Capitalist America' which prompted some good discussion on the definition of progress. His thesis is that black America exists in a "domestic neocolonial state," such that racism is directly related to capitalism. Socioculturally, how far have we come? All that work Denzel has done and he wins his first Oscar for 'Training Day'? Halle Berry as the first black female for "Monster's Ball"? And that's 'high' art. What about pop culture? Some of this ish looks like Step 'n' Fetchit.
Historically, 'black faces in white places' via political representation has done little to alter the economic conditions of the majority of black Americans. If anything, the black middle class serves as a buffer between the majority white capitalist elites and the disenfranchised folk, of which blackfolk constitute a statistical majority. Check this out: http://www.prisonsucks.com/ . And I'm not even going into the educational and employment inequities that contributes to this.
You ask me if I'm feeling good about it. I'm critically ambivalent. On the one hand, there is symbolic value in Obama's election that could lead to some shift in or an awareness of a collective consciousness, for whatever that's worth. And it's comforting to have an intelligent person at the helm. And the campaign itself has done wonders for the revival in participation in grassroots movements.
On the other hand, Obama's election serves to further blur the connections between racism and capitalism, and further reinforces the myth of meritocracy, where, at least in theory, everybody has a shot to succeed in this system. In my mind, these are both dangerous ideas. The 'success' of capitalism necessitates losers, and those losers disproportionately have black and brown skin. Further, the more middle class blacks align with the elite power structure (read: the same whitefolk who've been in power from the 'get go') in the belief that they too can make that class 'leap' , the more the connections between racism and economic oppression become obscured.
In terms of symbolic value, I'm more excited for Michelle assuming the first lady-ship than I am with Obama's election. The better the black woman does, the better we ALL will do. If Michelle's positionality can be used, by her or others, to bring a more specific focus to the raced, classed, and gendered cocktail of oppression that is particular to black females, that might be a way in to address these other issues on a more broad scale.
Relative to the clip you sent, so long as blackfolk 'walk in the footsteps' of whitefolk, we'll continue to tread the same path. As we continue the process of recognizing new ways of economic and resultant sociopolitical forms of organization, then I'll start to feel better.
Appologies if this comes off as a rant. You just tapped me at a good time.
loveandpeace,
