I don't recall questioning the historical depth. I do recall being concerned that what you wrote initially didn't seem to address the forces of commodification. Surely you didn't pack everything about your thinking into that one post on how whites might become Black. And since I don't know you or your politics it seems reasonable that I should question you about it. And it seems reasonable that I should get a reply cognizant of the fact that phrases like Black liberation and Black Power can easily be read as versions of identity politics. And of course it seems reasonable that I should get a reply that doesn't perjoratively label me as a failed Marxist from the get-go. BL and BP, as you well know, have been analyzed as variants of identity politics, not necessarily because of the theoretical works of their proponents, but in the actual practices taken up by followers.
>Why
>would you question the historical depth of
>a discussion of Dubois, etc. ?
Because Dubois isn't always taken up in the same way you do. People have used Dubois's work for a variety of purposes, not necessarily marxist and definitely not in the interest of a worldwide coalition politics. This is, in part, because of his training in German Hegelian thought, idealism.
>It evinced
>a lack of historical depth in the questioner
>that threw into question your Black consciousness.
Yes, I can see how you might have thought this. I think you can see, now, that this isn't the concern that motivated my questions. In fact, I was looking at it from what I see going on around me: a superficial interest in and attempt to symbolically represent one's politics on the part of whites who all too often think it quite enough to study and appreciate Black history and Culture. I don't think it's enough to become Black, though perhaps its a start, mostly because I think the forces of commodification are so great that Black history and culture will just become packaged and sold in ways not unlike the Benetton Down's babies that Frances mentions. We already have a well-established tradition of co-opting and commodifying Black history and culture in this country. So, I'm wary.
I mean come'on Charles. I rented When We Were Kings the other night because I wanted my son to watch it. In it Spike Lee talks about how young Blacks know nothing about their history and culture, and they often don't know what happened last year let alone in 1850. So, of course they should learn to love Blackness and celebrate Black Power. So, of course whites should do same. But will that kind of political strategy be enough to dismantle systemic systems of class/racial oppression?
For Mexicanos will it be enough to fight Taco Bell's Dinky campaign and demand that people learn to love and celebrate their Mexican history and culture. No. It might be a start, but it's not enough. I think you addressed this later.
>Also, responding to pro-Blackness, love of
>Blackness as antagonistic to the other
>Peoples of color is not a Black reflex.
No, probably not. So I'm a woman of color who reads pro-Blackness as having had, at times, a history of turning all issues into issues of white vs. Black. So shoot me. In any event, I read Niles' list of Black cultural icons and I was wondering how you'd manage to put together a kind of program for whites and other people of color who want to become Black. What would you recommend if you had your druthers? What criteria of selection might you use?
SnitgrrRl