On Mon, 27 Jul 2009, Ishmael Reed was quoted as saying:
> <http://www.counterpunch.org/reed07272009.html>
>
> How Henry Louis Gates Got Ordained as the Nation's "Leading Black
> Intellectual"
> Post-Race Scholar Yells Racism
> By ISHMAEL REED
I'm sorry, IMHO this whole article is extremely pissy and wrong. Gate's crime was that he's been "pushing the line" that "race is a social construct?" And that he embraces feminism? Wow. What a pussy.
Reed reads like a parody of black male chauvinist nationalism.
What made Gates a leading black intellectual is that he's an original and wide-ranging scholar, a delightful writer and media presence, and a great organizer of projects and conferences. Plus most of what is says is spot on right.
This idea that Gates an elite denouncer of the black underclass is a figment of Reed's tortured imagination. Reed is quite explictly still pissed that Gates called him a misogynist. Yes, indeed, where could he have gotten that idea?
Michael