...don't be afraid white folk...

So, I originally decided not to handle the whole Henry Louis Gates fiasco on this blog because honestly, I'm not a fan. That dude, like a lot of the African American intellectual elite rub me the wrong way. I think some of their scholarship can be useful, just not to me because they largely ignore Black women. And sometimes they have good things to say, although I have a problem with how they tend to "speak for" the Black community but rarely get specific or support everyday movements on the ground. Like the Sharptons and Jackson we only hear from these people when something big happens, a death or a racist celebrity, but unlike those two I've yet to figure out where Gates stands on specific social movements like the problems with education for poor communities of color. And not by saying that it's a problem (we got that) but how to fix it, specific programs that he thinks are doing a good job, etc.

But to be fair, my critiques may be misleading because, for the most part, I ignore these people. I only glance at their work (at best) and I don't research their politics. They're not speaking to me or the issues that I think are important. I'm always angry that when people talk about Black leaders they always mean men. And honestly when was the last time you say them getting their hands dirty? For me, they're symbols, and I don't do idol worship... hell I don't do religion of any sort. So I'm bitter at these men and their (lack of real) leadership.

Because of all of this I decided to keep my own feelings to myself and defer to good friends who handled the topic, click here for my friend Bennett's discussion of the situation, and my friend Angela posted this interesting query as her facebook status yesterday:

"Angela Francis has serious problems with where the emphasis has been placed in the dialogue regarding the Gates arrest. The problem is not that a black man with high socioeconomic status can be arrested after he is reported to have broken into a home and then proceeds to argue with and insult a police officer. The problem is that an AVERAGE man without special status can be arrested or killed WITHOUT doing any of those things."

It seemed as if other people that I trust were dealing with the issue quite well and I was going to leave it alone until... I read a pretty middle of the road, not very well-written article by Maureen Dowd about the whole controversy. It started off so bad I almost didn't finish it, is it just me or does she not actually seem to be saying much? And is she not saying it in a ghastly way? Whatever, thankfully there was a little nugget of "WTF" at the end. In the second to last paragraph there's a gem I just had to share:

"And Gates says that if anyone thinks he’s a fiery black militant, they’ve got the wrong guy, considering he married a white woman, has mixed-race daughters and has white blood himself."

Oh sweet lord in heaven. SAY WHAT?!

My mouth is salivating this is so ridiculously juicy. Uh, uh!

This right here is why I don't want anyone speaking for me. First of all, no one who feels the need to reassure white people that he's not a black militant knows shit about my life. As someone who idolizes Malcolm X and the Panthers for their ability to say in various ways "You're not going to run over me and kill me without a fight," a comment like this from Gates is a slap in the face. I would think that with the current situation what all communities of color need (here and globally) are a few more militants and people willing to stand up for the right to not let others oppress us!

Second, this is the equivalent of saying, "I'm not a racist, most of my friends are Black." It's just as empty of a statement and it's just as insulting to people with brains. Not only can someone who marries and have children with someone of another race be racist and militant, but what kind of fantasy land is Gates living in that he thinks otherwise.

If I see one more white woman complaining at the hair shop that her mixed race daughter's hair is "too kinky" and she "obviously got that from her dad's side of the family." Or one more Black man who has children with light-skinned or white women (Black women do this too) so that the kids can be "light, bright, and almost white" or have "good hair" or even just be "pretty" I will go off!

In his rush to placate white people he denies that race and racism have very little to do with any of the things he mentioned. The fact that he "has white blood himself" (whatever the fuck that means) was not his choice, but so what, so did a lot of Black militants throughout African American history. Surely Gates knows this! For many Black people "white blood" speaks to complex issues of race, racism, slavery and the rape of Black women and has been used as a rallying cry rather than an integrationist tool. (Although, I will be fair and say that this line of reasoning is so fraught with problems that I've argued against using it for a while now.)

From my own history, my family is very mixed and my Creole grandmother left Louisiana because as a lightskinned (historically mixed) person she refused to pass for white or condone a system where so many of her family members did. From what I can tell my grandmother picked a darker skinned man because he was beautiful and couldn't have cared less that her children pass the paperbag test, and I often wonder if this was directly related to the world in which she grew up.

And my half-white father was made so ashamed that he was mixed (when his siblings were not) that he never even told me of the fact. He wanted to be seen as a Black man, not a Black man who was also white. He also was, not surpisingly, overly concerned when my oldest niece was born very light, always wondering "if she'll get darker." And every time I see white and Black people marvel at my youngest niece and nephew's "beautiful" eyes (green and blue) while ignoring my oldest niece's brown eyes I'm reminded that people are fucked up! And if I have to cuss out every one of those people for their blatantly racist responses to my babies I'll do it. Every time. And you can call me a militant or a bitch, I don't give a shit!

I also have lots of white friends, some of whom are closer to me than family, and I am a militant. I study Black nationalists and radical Black women activists because they are the people that I would like to imitate, not someone such as "Skip" Gates. It doesn't mean I hate all white people, but it sure as hell means that making white people feel comfortable around me isn't just at the bottom of my list, it's not even on it!

Having "white blood" is not a panacea, nor does it (obviously) erase racism or preclude militancy. How dare this man even suggest that this would ever be the case?

And lastly, but most hurtfully, Gates should be ashamed of assuming that the only sure-fire way to know that someone is not one of those dreaded millitants is by checking their partners. As if those Black men with white women are the real leaders our community needs, because they've done so much for us. For those of us from California I have two words to unravel that whole argument: Ward Connerly. This would also mean that President Obama's choice to marry an African American woman is a sign. Maybe just the sign that those Republicans need to continue to denigrate our President and First Lady as militants/racists/unAmerican, etc. As if Black women are just not good enough America, they're angry and they make their men angry. Best just leave them alone lest they start a revolution.

I really only have two words to say to this man.

Negro please!

I would prefer that Professor Gates stop talking to the press or at least think a little more critically the next time he does. So, here's to seeing this whole situation leave the limelight so I can go back to my life. So people can continue doing good work attempting to end the real tragedies of racial profiling by the nation's police so that we don't have another Sean Bell or Oscar Grant.

in struggle,
N