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February 22, 2007

Confessions of a Norweigen-English-German-Scottish-Irish-Native-American-American

I know I'm way behind the curve on this one, seeing as how the story is about ten days old now, but I'm going to do it anyway. Did anyone see Steven Colbert's interview with Debra Dickerson on her new book, The End of Blackness? I just saw a re-run of it last night and I swear to God it's the funniest interview I've ever seen Colbert do.

Dickerson, a writer for Salon, probably has herself a really good book here, but one premise was the basis of the interview: that Barack Obama isn't really black because he isn't descended from slaves. We need a new name for black immigrants, she says. "African-American" won't work, either, and for the same reason. Blackness is a matter of culture, not race, she argues. Obama, whose father was Kenyan, should perhaps be called an African African-American. If you have not seen the interview, you really must take the time.

Certainly, it is valid for Dickerson to point out that the descendants of slaves really are culturally different from African immigrants. She argues that the success of these immigrants says nothing about the black community because they have not had to rise up from the cultural struggles that hold black America back. I honestly cannot say whether African immigrants are subjected to less racism than Americans of African descent whose ancestors were slaves, but whether they do or not I see her point. Racism alone is not what is holding black America back. If I understand Dickerson correctly, she is telling black America to let go of the past and move forward.

Still, that is a subtlety that I think is lost on white America because we, too, cannot let go of the past. I think generally, white Americans want very much to see black Americans succeed, and when they do, we are more than pleased to applaud them. We tell ourselves that it is because we want black Americans to have an inspiring role model, but in reality, I believe it is because we want to pat ourselves on the back for having moved forward an left our own ancestors' racism behind.

You see, white America is scarred by slavery, too, and we can't seem to let it go any more than black America can. We carry the guilt of it and we get flustered and don't know what we are supposed to do, and we honestly don't understand why the ugliness of it all won't go away. So when we see someone like Obama who is so genuinely doing well we can for a moment feel gloriously free of the past and exuberant over that person's - and our - success.

Colbert expressed how depressing it is to think that in the eyes of black America, our applause of someone of Obama's stature is meaningless because black America remains mired in the aftermath of slavery. We feel that Obama's success is, to some degree, our own success as much as it is theirs. If he isn't black enough, then we get pulled back into the guilty aftermath of slavery, as well.

I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to laugh at this entire mess for a few minutes, thanks to Colbert. But I wonder - was black America laughing, too?

Posted by Becky at February 22, 2007 08:14 AM