I think the politics of respectability is a very interesting approach for the betterment of race relations. I think it is also a difficult subject to approach because it inherently requires African Americans to acknowledge that as a class of people there are seen as lesser. In some of my other classes we've discussed how this can also permeate the divide between races, especially post slavery, by placing this notion on children at a young age, and the challenges that brings to African American children when they have to acknowledge that their race means their life will be extremely different. I found Peter Paul Simons thoughts on the approach very interesting in that he claimed the self-elevating tactics were not working for them as a group of people. This struck me because last semester I wrote a paper of the African American reactions to the Suprem Court decision that found the Civil Rights Act of 1875 unconstitutional. Even at this time there was large percentage of African American individuals who believed that the only way to level race perceptions was for the whole of African Americans to unite and better themselves as a group internally. For them, it did not matter what the law said; they would only be equal once they started performing at the same level as white Americans. I find this whole debate interesting because it goes back to the idea of whether race perceptions came first and that's why African Americans are judged at a lesser level, or whether white Americans created that stereotype.
The "politics of respectability." Contemplating the phrase before reading anything about it, I already knew what was going to happen, already knew I was going to get irritated. Given that White privilege is so engrained, White culture so normative, and both are defining everything around it (a continuing practice today), Professor McKinney summed it up brilliantly when he said, "White supremacy is the water, and everyone else is a fish." It doesn't seem to matter much what anyone or any group does, so long as we're all still operating in a society dominated and defined by ONE group. I agree that the internal decision to better Black people from the inside out is a noble cause to encourage, but it's not convincing enough to me to work externally, and I cannot understand how folks at the time thought it would end up. Maybe it's because we're all products of our times, okay, I get that. However, looking on the cartoons in Rael, I thought it was evident that there was never nor ever going to be a time in which Blacks at the time would be taken seriously. Eventhough they spoke, dressed, and mimicked the living of Whites, they couldn't get the time of day. That the media depicted Black people as overly dressing and overly annunciating shows that Black folks felt the need to be overly done to make up for their social station, but that Whites found it laughable. That is to lead into the whole Black unity issue. Black unity never existed here. I cannot speak to the various nations in Africa or even the initial incarceration and shipment, but Black unity as a whole never existed in the colonies. There are a series of letters, or instructions if you will, written and distributed by Willie Lynch, detailing how to break, domesticate, and control individual slaves. His writings/speeches are incredibly famous, and with a little googling you'll find him. Essentially, Willie Lynch divided Blacks by Age (old v. young), Coloration (dark v. light), Sex (female v. male), Hair Texture (smooth v. coarse), Size (small stature v. large stature), and "use[d] fear, distrust, and envy for control purposes." With so many divisions amongst themselves from the beginning, a call to unite generations later is almost comedic (in a sad way, please don't misunderstand). Willie himself bragged about how his methods would work for anyone who implemented them, and ensure his audience that by doing so, their effects would last for "hundreds of years, maybe thousands." And this is where my mind wandered while we were in class, discussing perceived "respectability," to Willie Lynch; and I ask now, are not the effects of his methods still in play today? Sure, we've all come a long way since 1712, but the issues then are still relevant today. I look forward to see where this class goes. :)
I think the politics of respectability is a very interesting approach for the betterment of race relations. I think it is also a difficult subject to approach because it inherently requires African Americans to acknowledge that as a class of people there are seen as lesser. In some of my other classes we've discussed how this can also permeate the divide between races, especially post slavery, by placing this notion on children at a young age, and the challenges that brings to African American children when they have to acknowledge that their race means their life will be extremely different. I found Peter Paul Simons thoughts on the approach very interesting in that he claimed the self-elevating tactics were not working for them as a group of people. This struck me because last semester I wrote a paper of the African American reactions to the Suprem Court decision that found the Civil Rights Act of 1875 unconstitutional. Even at this time there was large percentage of African American individuals who believed that the only way to level race perceptions was for the whole of African Americans to unite and better themselves as a group internally. For them, it did not matter what the law said; they would only be equal once they started performing at the same level as white Americans. I find this whole debate interesting because it goes back to the idea of whether race perceptions came first and that's why African Americans are judged at a lesser level, or whether white Americans created that stereotype.
ReplyDeleteThe "politics of respectability." Contemplating the phrase before reading anything about it, I already knew what was going to happen, already knew I was going to get irritated. Given that White privilege is so engrained, White culture so normative, and both are defining everything around it (a continuing practice today), Professor McKinney summed it up brilliantly when he said, "White supremacy is the water, and everyone else is a fish." It doesn't seem to matter much what anyone or any group does, so long as we're all still operating in a society dominated and defined by ONE group.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the internal decision to better Black people from the inside out is a noble cause to encourage, but it's not convincing enough to me to work externally, and I cannot understand how folks at the time thought it would end up. Maybe it's because we're all products of our times, okay, I get that. However, looking on the cartoons in Rael, I thought it was evident that there was never nor ever going to be a time in which Blacks at the time would be taken seriously. Eventhough they spoke, dressed, and mimicked the living of Whites, they couldn't get the time of day. That the media depicted Black people as overly dressing and overly annunciating shows that Black folks felt the need to be overly done to make up for their social station, but that Whites found it laughable.
That is to lead into the whole Black unity issue. Black unity never existed here. I cannot speak to the various nations in Africa or even the initial incarceration and shipment, but Black unity as a whole never existed in the colonies. There are a series of letters, or instructions if you will, written and distributed by Willie Lynch, detailing how to break, domesticate, and control individual slaves. His writings/speeches are incredibly famous, and with a little googling you'll find him. Essentially, Willie Lynch divided Blacks by Age (old v. young), Coloration (dark v. light), Sex (female v. male), Hair Texture (smooth v. coarse), Size (small stature v. large stature), and "use[d] fear, distrust, and envy for control purposes." With so many divisions amongst themselves from the beginning, a call to unite generations later is almost comedic (in a sad way, please don't misunderstand). Willie himself bragged about how his methods would work for anyone who implemented them, and ensure his audience that by doing so, their effects would last for "hundreds of years, maybe thousands."
And this is where my mind wandered while we were in class, discussing perceived "respectability," to Willie Lynch; and I ask now, are not the effects of his methods still in play today? Sure, we've all come a long way since 1712, but the issues then are still relevant today. I look forward to see where this class goes. :)