Revisiting the Discussion about Black Americans

From the time Obama secured the democratic party nomination up until winning the election, much attention has been paid to the political and social lives of black Americans.  In general I think it’s great that attention is being paid to black Americans that isn’t motivated by a crisis.

Unfortunately, these conversations are boring. We begin with a focus on the black underclass vs. black bourgeoise (not all black people are in the ghetto—DUH!), some kind of crisis (AIDS, incarceration,
out-of-wedlock births…), outrage at hip-hop and the generational divide it creates, and an interracial couple thrown in just to show how times are a changing.

Maybe it is because I spend my life living black America I find these topics to be dull and not really reflecting the lives of black Americans. While I understand the importance of having groups share their own experiences, if you want to learn about black Americans, black Americans aren’t the only people you should be asking.  We don’t create our lives in a vacuum—we interact, move, and think among various places and with various people.   So why not explore issues facing black Americans in the context of other people’s lives and other issues? Below are my burning questions:

When did it become OK for Hispanics to say “nigga?”

I don’t care to talk about the propriety of the word and if anyone should say it. Add that debate to the “beaten to death black American issues.” But the one non-black group that seems to get away with saying it are Hispanics.  Why?

Why are so many of the black kids on campus black Caribbean or black African?

A noticeable number of the black kids in my year at Haverford were either from another country or their parents were. This trend warrants a reexamination especially when affirmative action is brought up.

Why couldn’t Mona Lisa Smile take place at Spelman?

That movie—about a rebellious teacher who challenges the norms at a conservative Wellsely—is one of my favorites. Yet each of those characters could have easily been at Spelman and the issues they
addressed are not so removed from black women. Why can’t more black movies celebrate friendships, different points of view, and social challenges without being poorly written and acted or “urban” (for lack of a better word)?

And why do these issues matter?

Because they examine the impact the relationships black Americans have with other groups of people and explore the images of black Americans outside of hip hop and crisis. If we really want to discuss black America we have to open the conversation.