Perhaps it is fitting that, having absolved American racists of all manner of crimes against others, Obama also holds them blameless for their assaults on himself. That's his prerogative, as long as he's the only one being assaulted. But Obama was also dogged over the long weekend by the ghost of Sean Bell, whose death in a 50-shot New York City police fusillade was held blameless by a white judge. Many African Americans anxiously awaited Obama's reaction to the three police officers' acquittals on all charges. "We're a nation of laws, so we respect the verdict that came down," said Obama, when asked about the case by reporters in Indiana. "Resorting to violence to express displeasure over a verdict is something that is completely unacceptable and is counterproductive." That was it.
Hillary Clinton, aware that the Sean Bell verdict was an outrage to Black America, issued a prepared statement:
"This tragedy has deeply saddened New Yorkers - and all Americans. My thoughts are with Nicole and her children and the rest of Sean's family during this difficult time. The court has given its verdict, and now we await the conclusion of a Department of Justice civil rights investigation. We must also embrace this opportunity to take steps - in our communities, in our law enforcement agencies, and in our government - to make sure this does not happen again."
It is difficult not to conclude that Obama distanced himself from the facts of the acquittal - except to counsel against violence and urge folks to "respect" the verdict, whatever that means - while Clinton had the sense to prepare a statement that sounded sensitive to Black anger and on top of developments in the story. The Sean Bell police and judicial atrocity revealed with horrific clarity that Black life continues to be systematically devalued by police in the United States, even when the officers involved are of African descent, as were two of the three shooters in the Bell case. The New York verdict shows that Black lives are devalued by all actors in American society, including Black actors: the essence of institutional racism.
- Obama's "race-neutral" Strategy Unravels of its own Contradictions, black agenda report, 04.30.08
via negrophile.
He is both black (obviously) and beyond blackness.
I have only minor quibble with the films they selected (and those they left out) but reading the pieces, I get that really they are just using these films to talk about a person or a moment in time that they want to play out.
I have major quibble, however, with this statement and the context it is placed in. I'm growing increasingly of the opinion that we -- all of us -- don't know what the hell we're talking about anymore when we talk about race. Trying to understand what Will Smith's success means and relating that to Barack Obama's ascent this year is such an oversimplification that I can't quite deal.
What the hell does "beyond blackness" mean in this context? Transcendence? Cross-over? Neither word works. Neither man has eschewed nor, in most cases, traded on their race and, in my opinion, it is ridiculous to couch their success in terms of "because of" or "in spite of" their skin color.
I've seen this moment in time being discussed as post-racial. That's problematic as well. I do think we're differently racial these days. I also think, however, that we're quick to try to define where we are without understanding much of anything. This isn't unique to this matter, it just annoys me more than most things. We are both tentative and cavalier with issues of race in America that this kind of clunky, ham-handed attempt at writing about it only exacerbates the misconceptions.
And infuriates me.
FAIL. Try again.