Can we talk about this?
BILL MOYERS: Speaking of race, guess it’s like – all the talk in politics today about blackness. I mean, you’ve got people arguing, blacks arguing, is Barack Obama black enough or not? You got people talking about Condoleezza Rice. Since she’s gotten to power, is she aware of her black– should she be aware of her blackness? What’s your take on all this?
JAMES CONE: Well, I think everybody should be aware of their heritage. See, blackness is a powerful, powerful symbol in America. Because we were taught to be ashamed of being black. And in a society in which you are taught to be ashamed of it, then to overcome that, you have to affirm it. So, you shouldn’t be bashful about talking about it. Because to be bashful about talking about it is to, in some sense, to be ashamed of it, at least from the perspective of those who are black and who don’t have the kind of position that Condoleezza Rice or Barack Obama would have. So, all they want is to say, you know, express some identity with our history and our culture. It’s okay to identify with the larger culture. Because we are one community. But that should not entitle one to just forget about one’s own particular culture of blackness.
BILL MOYERS: So, is Obama black enough?
JAMES CONE: Well, you know, I’m not sure I’m black enough. I’m not sure that that is the right ques– I’m sure I’m not black enough for a lotta people. I– what I think is relevant here is that people are reaching out to Barack Obama, wanting him to address some of the issues that are particularly important to them. And he has addressed one or two, but is not, you know, from the perspective of the people who are asking the question at least, not enough in order to affirm the fact that he really is as much for black people as he is for the state of America. See, and the problem here is, is that whites make it difficult for black people to be black and also for them to support him.
BILL MOYERS: How’s that?
JAMES CONE: Because the more you express identity with the community from which you come from if you’re black, the more fear white people have. Now, that’s not true for Italians. That’s not true for Germans. That’s not true for any other group, hardly, except us. Because there– it’s because we haven’t been talking about that lynching tree. We haven’t been talking about slavery, the ugly side of that. So, if Barack Obama comes out and says, “I’m black and I’m proud of it,” well, whites would get nervous. And they would be careful about whether they would vote for him. So, he has a narrow, a narrow– road in which to walk. Because he won’t be elected if he doesn’t get the white vote. It’s hard to get the white vote if you express a kind of affirmative identity with black people. So, you get caught between a rock and a hard place. And that’s where he’s caught.
BILL MOYERS: And I have sympathy on this score– for Condoleezza Rice. Her policies are another thing. But part of what the civil rights movement– was all about. We thought a black man or a black woman should get to be Secretary of State or President of the United States and not have to– be anything but a powerful person doing what that person needs to do.
JAMES CONE: No. I think that’s a little off there. I– now– see, I– how I would put it is, a black person should be Secretary of State without having to deny their racial heritage and actually put it up front.
BILL MOYERS: Up front?
JAMES CONE: Yes, up front. Because we are a part of America.
BILL MOYERS: But that would make her the black Secretary of State.
JAMES CONE: No, no.
BILL MOYERS: And you don’t talk about–
JAMES CONE: That’s– no, no.
BILL MOYERS: –Henry Kissinger–
JAMES CONE: No, no, no.
BILL MOYERS: –as the Jewish–
JAMES CONE: No.
BILL MOYERS: –Secretary of State.
JAMES CONE: No. They wouldn’t make her the black Secretary of State anymore–
BILL MOYERS: Had she talked about it?
JAMES CONE: –no, no. It would not necessarily. It would mean that she is proud of her cultural history the same way– white people are proud of theirs. When you talk about Thomas Jefferson and George Washington, well, you’re talking about slaveholders. But you don’t say that. But you are. And I–
BILL MOYERS: Why don’t we say that?
JAMES CONE: Because America likes to be innocent. It likes to be the exception.
BILL MOYERS: But we’re not.
JAMES CONE: We are not. That’s why it’s hard for Barack Obama or Condoleezza Rice to talk about blackness; ’cause it’s– if they talked about blackness in the real, true sense, it would be uncomfortable. But America can’t be what America ought to be until– America can look at itself, the good, the bad, so that we can work on making ourselves what we oughta be.
Combine these insights with the recent collapse of minority owned television stations and it isn’t surprising that Jesse Jackson feels that the only candidate listening to black voices is John Edwards.
African Americans are brutalized by a system of criminal injustice. Young African Americans are more likely to be stopped, more likely to be searched if stopped, more likely to be arrested if searched, more likely to be charged if arrested, more likely to be sentenced to prison if charged, less likely to get early parole if imprisoned. Every study confirms that the discrimination is systemic and ruinous. And yet no candidate speaks to this central reality.
Jackson is a leader in the Chicago community, and he is saying that Barack Obama is silent on issues of interest to the African-American community. That’s a bit of an exaggeration, but the point stands. And the reason why is pretty obviously explained by James H. Cone.
Seems worthy of discussion.
