Countdown Paper:Race Matters Chapter 5 – 8

5 Big Picture Sentences
In this section, Cornel West continues his deliberate yet uncomfortable conversation about the problems in American society regarding race. In chapter 5, West says that affirmative action, although not perfect, is certainly deterring some racial and sexual discrimination. In the following chapter, he touches on the enmity between blacks and Jews, first giving some background knowledge about the brief period when there was some unity, and then the black Anti-Semitism that followed. Chapter 7 touches on black sexuality, which West considers crucial to solving race problems in America. Finally, West concludes by taking a look at Malcolm X’s good motivations and the ways in which he was blinded by trying to channel black rage.

4 Key Passages
“As members of such an economy, we have all been programmed to respond to the human differences between us with fear and loathing and to handle that difference in one of three ways: ignore it, and if that is not possible, copy it if we think it is dominant, or destroy it if we think it is subordinate.” – Audre Lorde, page 93
“The Afro-Americanization of white youth – given the disproportionate black role in popular music and athletics – has put white kids in closer contact with their own bodies and facilitated more human interaction with people. Listening to Motown records in the sixties or dancing to hip hop music in the nineties may not lead one to question the sexual myths of black women and men, but when white and black kids buy the same billboard hits and laud the same athletic heroes the result is often a shared cultural space where some human interaction takes place.” – page 121
“This demythologizing of black sexuality is crucial for black America because much of black self-hatred and self-contempt has to do with the refusal of many black Americans to love their own black bodies – especially their black noses, hips, lips, and hair.” – page 122
“That is why Malcolm X’s articulation of black rage was not directed first and foremost at white America. Rather, Malcolm believed that if black people felt the love that motivated that rage, the love would produce a psychic conversion in black people; they would affirm themselves as human beings, no longer viewing their bodies, minds, and souls through white lenses, and believing themselves capable of taking control of their own destinies.” – page 136

3 Key Terms
what it means to be “black” or “Jewish” in ethical terms – does involve looking at group interest, but goes further to a “higher moral ground where serious discussions about democracy and justice determine how we define ourselves and our politics and help us formulate strategies and tactics to sidestep the traps of tribalism and chauvinism” (page 109)

“xenophobia” – the fear of people different from you

“cultural hybridity” – the complex mixture of African, European, and Amerindian elements of modern African Americans, “something that is new and black in the modern world,” which was feared by Malcolm X because he wanted to be able to channel black rage into Manichean divisions, such as male and female, black and white; it downplayed the vicious character of white supremacy and linked the destinies of black and white people in such a way that made black freedom possible (pages 144-145)

2 Connections
The chapter about black sexuality reminded me of both of the videos we were supposed to watch for last week’s class. The short film made up of young black females talking about society’s standards for beauty was very interesting; I never knew about “lighter” black skin being seen as more beautiful, and I thought this racism between members of the same race to be fascinating and terribly sad. Similarly, the clips of the black preschoolers identifying the white baby doll as “good” and pretty,” and the black baby doll as “bad” were tragic. This experiment definitely begs the question, where are these children picking up this message?
I experienced a kind of disconnection in the last chapter. I was slightly confused by the way that West seemed to be idealizing Malcolm X, because in discussions about his legacy in my classes and with my parents, he was always portrayed as a bad man, the opposite of everything good that Martin Luther King, Jr. stood for. I have always associated violence, hatred, and ignorance with his name, so it caught my eye when West put him on such a pedestal. The concluding sentences of the book say, “Only if we are as willing as Malcolm X to grow and confront the new challenges posed by the black rage of our day will we take the black freedom struggle to a new and higher level. The future of this country may well depend on it,” which definitely made me think about Malcolm X in a new light.

1 Question
West stated on page 120 that “everyone knows it is virtually impossible to talk candidly about race without talking about sex.” Why is this so?