Calmly now, and with some exhaustion,
I am not certain why Thomas Mertes thinks that my post was anything other than an opportunity for response - after all, it would not have surprised me one bit if Reed was a lurker here, and it certainly doesn't surprise me that Doug has forwarded my post to him. (I hope you also sent on the subsequent one, which elaborates a bit more.) Reed is a nationally known public figure, and especially given how willing he is to denounce others, he can't exactly be surprised that someone might have similarly negative things to say about him. He has all the opportunity in the world -and a great many more resources - to respond to me.
Otherwise, there is only one thing to say. I have accused Reed of not living up to his claims for himself - to greater sophistication than other African American Studies scholars, on the one hand, and to a better nonsectarian leftist political position, on the other. In turn, Rakesh has accused me of not living up to my claims for myself as a critic of Reed, accusing me of inadequate scholarly work, and of hypocrisy (using the fact that our personal history allows him to know something about me, although the fact is he has barely seen me in 6 or 8 years and knows nothing about how what he knows relates to my present - or even much about how it related to me then). For scholarship, I have promised to back up my claims on this list - but I need a couple of weeks. As to hypocrisy, there is nothing you can say over email that matters . . . should I provide testimonials from local Knoxville activists about what I am? From black scholars who support and have made possible my work? I have made no claims about Reed's praxis, of which I know nothing. I have made claims about his writing, and I will back them up.
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