Henry Louis Gates, Jr. - Back in Black

The first thing that came to mind was Dave Chappelle's skit featuring his drug dealing alter ego, Tron. Tron switches places with a white male corporate type who is roughed up and framed by the cops, while Tron is given a courteous and apologetic call and asked when it would be convenient to turn himself in.

Chappelle's incisive wit in this hypothetical exploration of race relations in America, is what convinced me that this was a case of racial profiling. If not for the the fact that a white Harvard professor with a very high national profile would never have been treated in this way, I could dismiss it as an over reaction on the part of Gates. But Gates, it turns out, is black and I think he was reminded of that in a most unpleasant way.

I don't blame Gate's white female  neighbour, she was looking out for his property after all, but I do wonder how long they were neighbours and why she couldn't figure out that is was Gates himself. I'm not advancing a conspiracy theory, just wondering again if she would have called the police had it been a white man of the same age  (apparently 58 years old). 58 year old men of any race aren't known for burglary.

That there is now a black American president adds weight to the issue and, if handled accordingly, could pull Obama's tongue on the simmering problems of racial equality, discrimination, segregation and prejudice. The recently featured segregated school proms not only revealed the still living spectre of racism in the US, but begs one to question what else is done in the name of prejudice that has gone unreported, and yet accepted in both black and white communities.

The real issue with both Gate's arrest and the segregated proms is that they are black problems - or blacks are the ones who have the grouse. Whites are merely spectators, busy being human, while blacks are trying to ascend the evolutionary ladder to humanity, a feat ever more possible with the ascent of Obama. To be sure, all men are equal, but reality offers another version of the truth with black people having had to justify their presence in a (white) man's world for generations. This is why many white folks can't comprehend Gate's stance.

Richard Dyer, in his book White, noted that whites very rarely ever acknowledge the implication that non-whites, in the Western World, are raced while whites are just human. This is played out in the media everyday from the many contemporary white blockbuster heroes (while blacks have only Will Smith, Jamie Foxx and Denzel Washington - Asian and Hispanic stars? Even  fewer), to references to 'black on black' violence and the fact that mainstream media is primarily white and niche media is inevitably ethnic or non-white - as if white isn't an ethnicity. Too often do minority characters have to justify their presence through their ethnicity. You get the point? Though whiteness is the standard it is essentially an invisible standard usually unmentioned and under-acknowledged by the white community, if anything excused as 'victim mentality' acted out in the non-white community.

Like these few thoughts Gate's arrest has the potential to take us far and wide within the issue of race and culture, and surely many will try to forward their own agenda on the springboard of this event. But we all know that legislation can't change mens hearts though it can guide their actions, and action may be more necessary than anything else right now. But the biggest concern is not what Obama is going to say or do - he will either be a disappointment to the black community or a black man with a bone to pick to the white community - but what the response will be within the white communities across America, because of the many invisible discriminatory standards that still obtain in a nation that is supposedly free, democratic and equal.

The time is fast approaching when it must be acknowledged that we have issues not just them, and working out these problems is not a gesture of good faith but an act of moral responsibility.

NOTE: It should be noted that many white commentators in the US media have sided with Gates and stated they believe if he were white the situation would have played out differently. Indeed, some have said if they were in his position an arrest would not have been made.

'By the way, sorry about the slavery...now watch this shot': On Apologies For Slavery

The US senate offered apologies for slavery and Jim Crow laws recently, following the Church of England and Tony Blair's administration, who made their apologies some 3 years ago.

So what does this largely symbolic gesture accomplish? Well, practically speaking - nothing. And even though an  apology can provide some cultural healing, the very low key event greeted with marginal media coverage suggests not many people will benefit from the 'healing'. Also, the fact that the resolution comes with a disclaimer that prevents any claim against the United States takes the teeth and sincerity out of the apology.

Cold Case

One can't help but feel, with the considerations made to Native American Indians and Jews after the Holocaust, plus the pursuit of Nazi fugitives and outlawing of Holocaust denial (indeed the Holocaust is a mandatory aspect of school curricula in Germany) , African Americans (and the rest of the African Diaspora) have gotten a raw deal...again. Some say that enslaved Africans and their descendants weren't freed but 'let go', true when you are freed to a life of poverty, segregation and debt. Even though there is no difficulty in connecting the path of US race relations (indeed Global race relations) and the brutal history of segregation and exploitation, no individual, corporation or Government has ever faced justice for one of the most public and prolonged crimes in the last several hundred years.

Beyond race relations, the very prosperity of today's First World is firmly founded on its exploitation of the Developing World (that would encompass slavery and colonisation). In fact, both are products of each other with the exploitation far from over, only morphing into ongoing economic colonisation and 'economic apartheid', to borrow a term from Naomi Klein (The Shock Doctrine, Penguin 2007). Even though it's been 200 years since the abolition of the slave trade, the fall-out is very much evident in countries like Haiti and many African nations that have never truly become viable states. It is not unreasonable to conclude that the present instability in many former colonies is a direct result of their colonial and slave history. In some cases, even while Governments may be run by Black Africans, the money and resources still lie in the hands of the former colonials and Caucasian Africans. Klein finds evidence for this in her damning expose on 'disaster capitalism', The Shock Doctrine, describing a South Africa that moved from the overt institutional racism of Apartheid to the covert retention of the Country's money in the hands of the former 'minority masters'. Haiti, one could argue, has been paying for its insolence in freeing itself from slavery beginning with a levy 150 million francs in 1825, in exchange for recognition as a sovereign nation by the French. To be sure, the French left the fledging nation with little or no resources.

But slavery has been rendered a cold case in the history of crimes against humanity, and the recent apologies confirm this. Some argue that the passage of time and generations has left no smoking gun, no immediate victim and no red-handed perpetrator, hence seeking any sort of justice is pointless. Who would be held accountable? Who would the plaintiff be? What would be the just award for the crime? Good questions that all have very reasonable though inconvenient answers.

The Status Quo

That the rules are made by the rulers has always been the case, but to be fair  many former colonies have been independent long enough (some not so long at all) to be guilty of self-inflicted wounds, both economic and social. If there is to be some restitution for slavery and colonisation this should be taken into consideration. But we aren't speaking about the sins of the victims at this this stage, and the status quo that allows the crimes of the past to go unchallenged is what allows the crimes of the present to go unchallenged. Deal with the status quo and the sins of the past and present can be faced with some modicum of justice and equanimity. What are the crimes of the present? Continued plundering of natural resources of the Developing World (acquired in large part through colonisation) by First World corporations (with the assistance of governments on either side - especially in Africa and South America), onerous IMF and World Bank conditions and First World agricultural subsidies  that undercut local producers and economies. The consequences of these tactics are far reaching and include anything from unemployment and inflation to low exploitative wages and deforestation. Not only are economies destroyed but also local culture and social structure, according to Jeremy Seabrook's Consuming Cultures (New Internationalist, 2004).

That some Governments and leaders of plaintiff communities are complicit in this kind of 'legalised' exploitation is understood, but this doesn't absolve the accused, only impugns others. And the power of scarcity to force persons into 'selling out' shouldn't be underestimated. But that sounds like victim/slave mentality; the attitude that someone else is responsible for the failings of now autonomous groups and communities. To be sure if said communities find prosperity it will be in spite of the actions of the accused and indeed an issue of overcoming the actions of the accused rather than making use of assistance provided by the same. Still commendable if it can be done (and progress if very evident in the African American community) but doesn't mean that there aren't actual victims. Using the logic applied to the impunity surrounding slavery and colonisation, any crime  can be overlooked given enough time and neglect. Any group living in the wake of injustice can be labelled lazy blame shifters when they become the victims 'once-removed'. But this is the cheapest way out for the accused. It costs them nothing to apologise. And cost is very important because in today's consumerist/capitalist world economy, money is the first love of the body politic (ok, always has been). Wars are invented for it, blood is shed to to keep it - nothing, it seems can keep a nation of means away from its money - and other nations money.

It follows then that the US should protect its Beloved from being 'plundered' by folks who may have a right to it. But money is the unimaginative approach to justice, albeit that many find it to the most desirable. When it comes to slavery it's not just one state accountable to another state or community, but corporations are also beholden - maybe more so. Either way, tracking the profit shouldn't be that hard and finding ways to pay for the crime could be spread across methods including debt cancellation, relinquishing of resources, provision of resources without condition, and so on. The truth, however, is that the price of justice in this case is just too high to pay, partly because the crime is still in progress (and so for centuries) and the profundity of the crime warrants an exceptionally heavy sentence.

Promising Compromise

So what's the next most reasonable step? It can only be that the concerned former perpetrators and victims take the possibility of justice for damage caused by colonisation and slavery seriously. That might mean finally including the slave trade in British secondary education curricula, for example, and an effort to genuinely support affected nations and communities in sustainable ways - not handouts, but leg ups. I don't claim to have the knowledge or expertise to provide all the answers - but I'm sure that if those with the know-how actually apply themselves to the task - something could be done. A lot of expense, manpower, technology and brainpower go into war, exploitation, profit-seeking and downright criminality. Perhaps some of that ingenuity, creativity and energy can be put in the direction of healing. Apologies are decent gestures but words mean little when they weren't the problem in the first place.

EDIT: The Madoff sentencing made waves throughout the media with a hefty 150 years to his name. This blog entitled 'When Sorry Isn't Good Enough' makes a strong statement: money matters most. Mind you, the effects of Madoff's greed are real and go beyond a simple loss of cash, but there in the background is a lesson. Swift justice is meet here and it should be. But one wonders why, with situations like Katrina, Iraq war crimes and yes, slavery, the justice is either very slow or non-existent. What really matters more, human lives or dollar signs?

BackLog: Black People Are Human – on Obama Being Elected President

At 3:00 AM GMT, USA [Nov 5, 2008] it was confirmed: black people are in fact human beings!
The shocking news came to an undeniable head when suspected African American, Barack Hussein Obama was elected by thousands, maybe millions of American citizens to be Commander-in-Chief - many of them human beings as well, it is alleged.
The suspicion that blacks were human is age old, but dismissed as myth and fancy by some generations of other human beings of certain races and nationalities. Blacks were often mistaken for lower primates, sugar cane processing plants, cotton harvesting machines, doormats, scapegoats, door opening mechanisms and similar types of labour saving devices. It is even believed that some tried to squeeze money out of black bodies using techniques now long lost - but only a strange red liquid would be the result of the extraction process.
This shocking discovery, some time in the making comes with its share of controversy. George W. Bush, for example, defied the belief that only white people were human by being often mistaken for a block of wood, a chimpanzee or a deli sandwich. Most often though, Bush would be mistaken for President of the United States - this famously went on for 8 straight years and indeed it seemed thousands - maybe billions of people were duped by the convincing rumour. This mass delusion led the entire nation of the United States of America to allow a very tasty looking ham on rye to take charge of the nation for several months - even leading the country into a dust up with Iraq that turned out to be a terrible misunderstanding. The ham on rye sandwich was very embarrassed and is reported to have felt quite sorry for the debacle.
At any rate, the election of Obama to the highest post in the US has left no doubt that blacks are indeed equal to their fellow men. Some still weren't convinced and wanted to enslave a few blacks again 'just to be sure', but they were shot out of a cannon before they could finish the sentence. That said, there are a few earthlings who are convinced only some are human and therefore superior to others by virtue of their skill in tying shoelaces, chewing tobacco and crushing aluminium beer cans with their foreheads. While these talents are highly respected by the aristocracy of nations the world over - conventional wisdom says the world has moved on from such things and a new era has come.
Obama's humanity began to become apparent from a young age - his arms and legs plus his ability to read were strong evidences - but it was his distinct ability to walk upright on two legs and speak in complete sentences that really brought him over the top (something which Bush has yet to do and therefore casts his humanity into hushed question yet again).
Still we accept this finding as scientists work feverishly to document this new development. Books must be re-written, names changed, butts kicked and heads scratched. Current US Vice President and Overlord of the Land of Darksquelch (most feared region of the Nether-World) Dick Cheney, reportedly said 'If I was human and knew what emotions were, I think I would be happy for Barack and black people everywhere...what is happy?' Cheney then allegedly disappeared in a puff of Halliburton Stock, but not before shooting a close friend in the face. The bleeding comrade offered his sincerest apologies for being such a nuisance. Cheney is known for his sharp exchanges with Satan. He has harshly criticized the Prince of Darkness for 'being a wuss on foreign policy'. Cheney takes on the post of Beelzebub after Obama's inauguration.
It is now taken for granted that black people everywhere can do things that normal human beings have been doing for centuries. No one quite knows how they will make the adjustment, but classes, programs and short courses will be started that blacks can attend to 'get caught up' with the skills. Some blacks buoyed by the news of the newfound status looked forward to 'walking down the street', 'benefitting from nepotism' and 'going to work'. Some even found themselves lost in the dream that they someday, could finally not tick the 'other' box on the race section of the many equal opportunity forms that asserted it never mattered what race you were, they ‘just wanted to know so they could treat you equally once they found out you were a minority’.
But it is with a new sense of confusion that we move forward. Who will we look down upon now? Who can we blame for lowering the value of our houses? Who will we exclude from the country clubs and closed circles of elitism? Who will inexplicably devote himself to the brave hero and then die 22 minutes into the film as per our blockbuster movies? These sober questions face us at the very cusp of a new era. And those to whom this noble duty falls will join a long line of really annoyed people. But as for us blacks - oops, I mean humans...it's onward, upward, forward!
The journey continues. I thank you! ;O)

C. Arthur Young