Great news! Systemic and institutional racism is dead!
And given it is the end of Black History month, this revelation
is right on time. At least that’s what I gleaned from John Ridley’s
recent article; The Manifesto of Ascendancy for the Modern
American "N’"in Esquire
Magazine. Apparently, it’s been over for a while but
as I am a bit behind in my reading, I just learned of it while
reading the December issue.
Lots of folks (especially whites) will be quite relieved to know
the pressure is off. All that guilt and discomfort tends
to weigh heavily on innocent shoulders. I mean, haven’t we white
people endured enough? It’s been tough on us and as African American
Ridley points out, with black folks not taking responsibility
for their 9.2 percent unemployment rate and the 11.8 percent High
School drop out rate, not to mention the 69.3 percent of births
created out of wedlock, well, it’s hard not to feel resentful.
After counting the “N” word seven times in the first page of
Ridley’s article, I gave up keeping track of the invective.
Interestingly enough, the article could have been written by any
number of folks - especially those with talk shows on Clear Channel
or perhaps Fox television, who readily agree with Mr. Ridley’s
assertions that America’s "black underclass" has squandered
equal opportunities afforded them and has instead "chosen"
welfare, prison, out of wedlock births and outright decrepitude.
Yes, those notoriously poor, “oppressed minority within our minority”
are merely complainers who whine that they “can’t catch a break”
and are constantly in need of a leader, but then refuse to follow
any direction that’s navigated by hard work and self-reliance.
And “these ‘n’s will tell you their state of being is no fault
of their own”. Yes, that’s what he said.
What’s most interesting about Mr. Ridley’s manifesto is that
he has adopted and embraced a position and tone that will surely
win favor on the airwaves and further his already burgeoning career
as someone who is ‘clear headed’ because of his willingness to
declare the truth about his people. In other words, he will be
richly rewarded for outing his brothers and sisters who have failed
miserably to elevate themselves simply because they are lazy,
pathetic and in search of a hand out. Admittedly, that might just
be the kind of clear-headed analysis being sought-after these
days by those holding the executive washroom keys at Clear Channel,
hoping to capitalize on Black-on-Black criticism.
Equally interesting is that much of Mr. Ridley’s proof positive
cites Condoleezza Rice - and yes, you guessed it, Colin Powell
- as evidence that the “new Black American” has arrived and to
those who don’t get on the prosperity train, Mr. Ridley claims
it’s time for ascended blacks to "wish 'n's good luck".
After spending several paragraphs waxing eloquent about Condoleezza
Rice’s intelligence and qualifications, he then brings it home,
by offering her praises for being a “Russia expert” and berates
Black America for not singing hosannas of appreciation for her
accomplishments. Sound familiar? I believe it was less than a
month ago, Joseph Biden held up Barack Obama to the light, commending
him for being "articulate" and "clean".
He then chastises the predictable "n"s, who immediately
abandoned “Colin” when he chose to join the republican right,
belittling their confusion over how a “self-respecting black man
(would) want to run from the Liberal Plantation?” Offering proof
they are mistaken, he clarifies that Powell is a “self-made modern
American hero who openly espoused the value of affirmative action"
and instead extolling his virtues, the “Old-schoolers tagged Powell
with the usual left-wing racist jabber and called him a ‘sell-out’".
Perhaps Mr. Ridley was attending a republican fundraiser during
the World Conference Against Racism in Summer 2001, when Colin
Powell and other members of the Bush Administration refused to
participate in the conference. (Just for clarification,
that was the “World” conference against racism, not the “Topeka”
conference or the “Bejing” conference.) Perhaps those confused
and ungrateful “blacktivists”, who were unwilling to scrape and
bow to Mr. Powell for openly espousing the values of affirmative
action, found his capitulation unforgivable. After all, the United
State’s silence and refusal to participate in a global dialog
about systemic oppression screamed volumes. Oh those left-wing
racist jabberers!
Throughout much of the piece, Mr. Ridley refers to Rice as either
“Condi”or “Dr. Condi” and Mr. Powell as “Colin” and yet, when
he refers to Dick Chaney and Donald Rumsfeld, he identifies them
not as “Donnie and Dick” but as "Chaney and Rumsfeld".
Perhaps a hangover from slavery? Who knows?
Ridley goes on to say, “How ironic that while the Left attempted
to subjugate Powell with the bull whip of liberal racism, Bush,
who later would be accused by Kanye West of hating blacks, somehow
managed to see in Powell a sovereign black man".
Correct me if I’m wrong, but what Kanye West or (‘Kani’ if you
prefer) said was that George Bush doesn’t care about Black people.
This was not an accusation as much as an observation of Bush Administration
policies and/or programs that have been slashed over the last
several years - programs which significantly affect people of
color.
As to the laundry list Ridley proffers of unspeakable crimes
committed by blacks - which is supposedly meant to demonstrate
irresponsibility, criminality and just plain "bad choices"
- we are left shaking our heads in bewilderment as to how it is
these people just can’t get it together.
Again, his proof of "black ascendancy" is the accomplishments
of ‘Colin’, ‘Condi’, although he neglects to mention (by first
name) the accomplishments of ‘Oprah’, ‘Denzel’, ‘Whoopie’, ‘Jamie’,
‘Morgan’ and ‘Hallie’ as examples that prove once and for all
that those poor black people, who don’t excel and succeed, can’t
be bothered to hoist themselves up with the those bootstraps well
within their reach.
Well done, Mr. Ridley, for shining a well aimed spotlight on
the"‘real" problem—the lazy and the shiftless. Many
in Washington will be inspired by your words and perhaps even
feel further empowered to eradicate even more programs geared
towards enabling the "n"s, and “send them on their way”
- once and for all.
Happy Black History month!
BC Columnist Molly Secours is a Nashville
writer/filmmaker/speaker host of her Beneath The Spinon radio
program at 88.1 WFSK at Fisk. Her websites are mollysecours.com
and myspace.com/mollysecours.
Click
here to contact Ms. Secours. |