<< I live in Prince Georges County, Maryland, which has the wealthiest
African American middle class in the U.S. Needless to say, I rarely see
anything political being worn by anybody on my subway trips. When I've
worn Free Mumia shirts I've gotten a few looks, but very few comments.
Could it be that most African Americans just aren't as political as
before? What is to be made of the fact that African American "leaders"
like Jesse Jackson are writing books on black entrepeneurship?
Could it be that radical politics is seen by many African Americans as
an anachronism? >>
Well, PG county isn't exactly typical of Black America. And most of Black America was never that political, like most Americans. And Black capitalist accomodationist politics have an old history in Aferic-American culture, think of Booker T. Washington. The Black Capitalist ideal was and is also advocated by the Nation of Islam. So while the lack of effective radical leadership matters, that strain in nothing new.
If I had to speculate about why Mumia has not captured the imagination of the Black community, I'd point to some obvious factors. As Wojtek insists, his odd affiliations (MOVE) and even his hairstyle (deadlocks) are probably offputting, despite the reasnable and accessible tone of his writings. Moreover, since he's not demonstrably innocent, many Black politicos and ministers are probably skeptical that they might end up supporting someone who might turn out to be a real cop-killer. The fact that the loony left has flocked to his cause and is not pleasant to deal with probably doesn't help--there was a lot of tension, even back when in the Scottsboro days, between the more respectable and (as far as the liberals went) civilized CPUSA and the Black community.
--jks