The eleventh commandment

Earlier this month, university professor/gadfly/rapper Cornel West questioned the racial identity of President Barack Obama. Here is a portion of the interview:

"As a young brother who grows up in a white context, brilliant African father, he’s always had to fear being a white man with black skin. All he has known culturally is white. He is just as human as I am, but that is his cultural formation. When he meets an independent black brother, it is frightening. And that’s true for a white brother. When you get a white brother who meets a free, independent black man, they got to be mature to really embrace fully what the brother is saying to them. It’s a tension, given the history. It can be overcome. Obama, coming out of Kansas influence, white, loving grandparents, coming out of Hawaii and Indonesia, when he meets these independent black folk who have a history of slavery, Jim Crow, Jane Crow and so on, he is very apprehensive. He has a certain rootlessness, a deracination. It is understandable."

I realize the quote is long but it does illustrate a tension in the community with racial identity. I have no problem with people on the left or right critiquing/criticizing the policy decisions of Obama; he is a public servant and needs to be held to account for his decisions. What I find distasteful is West questioning the 'blackness' of Obama.

This little episode teased out a lot of different feelings. First, the left is disappointed that the US has not become the European Socialist state overnight. Secondly, this event reveals that even members of the left can't afford to criticize Obama without some blow back (See Ted Rall). Finally, this episode highlights the fact the Cornell West in the past questioned the 'Blackness' of other black people such as Clarence Thomas and people said nothing while now he questions Obama and Cornel's friends in the academy accuse him of pettiness.

The broader implications of the battle between Obama vs. West is the idea that we should never question the actions of individual members of our community. We will pull the 'you're not really black' card in a heartbeat to stifle ideological dissent but we will never question poor service and shifty actions. This idea of unity at all costs runs a link though tolerating two hour wait at a salon because it's black owned. Or not questioning the extravagant spending habits of a preacher. Or enduring foul service at the local soul food/Caribbean restaurant. Even the stop snitching campaign harkens back to the eleventh commandment of thou shall not question the actions of another black person. I understand that we as a people need all the support we can get but this not questioning the abhorrent behaviour is our downfall. So I implore you to stop going to the salon with the two hour wait, to talk discreetly with other parishioners about suspect behaviour and don't go back to the Jerk place until they get rid of the sour-faced server!