What she says makes sense from her point of view. If you're trying to be as successful as possible in a certain society, you don't win by villifying them. you win by playing their game better than them. Check Japan and intustrialization.
As someone who's looking forward to a future in activisim, what she says pains me but only a little. She's saying what everyone is doing: looking out for themselves.
The answer to her article and philosophy is not emotional but practical: prove her wrong.
Set up black-owned institutions that will truly allow us to be a self-sufficient people.
Until then, It's hard to blame her for telling black women to leave a sinking ship without providing a good/better alternative than the status quo.
I hope this didn't come off the wrong way. I love your blog and just wanted to share my own thoughts on the article.
i totally understand what you're saying, itohan. and i agree with you - as far as her view/mentality is concerned. very apt summary.
the japanese may have mimicked industrialization, but they clearly didn't sacrifice (all) of their culture/language/heritage to do it. the story of the african in america is a *completely* different case.
there is SOOOO much historical/socioeconomic/psychological "stuff" she's glossing over in order to make said points. and she contradicts herself several times in the process.
there are clear reasons WHY those black institutions have not appeared. we had the beginnings of many. they were dismantled - partially because of blatant hatred (see: tulsa), and partially because of the integration process, which opened our communities to more businesses/services/professionals than just our own. the history/timelines are very clear, and the systematic undoing of these institutions is documented.
plus, to continually call the african-american community "dead" (and, by extension, herself...if she had any understanding of the cultural roots she stems from) speaks volumes, imo, about her mentality.
she seems to have internalized a lot of oppression, then armed herself with academic information "about" the community. i wonder if she was even raised IN it, or if she has anything to do with it now...
i fear the "activist" who despises her own people.
2 comments:
What she says makes sense from her point of view. If you're trying to be as successful as possible in a certain society, you don't win by villifying them. you win by playing their game better than them. Check Japan and intustrialization.
As someone who's looking forward to a future in activisim, what she says pains me but only a little. She's saying what everyone is doing: looking out for themselves.
The answer to her article and philosophy is not emotional but practical: prove her wrong.
Set up black-owned institutions that will truly allow us to be a self-sufficient people.
Until then, It's hard to blame her for telling black women to leave a sinking ship without providing a good/better alternative than the status quo.
I hope this didn't come off the wrong way. I love your blog and just wanted to share my own thoughts on the article.
i totally understand what you're saying, itohan. and i agree with you - as far as her view/mentality is concerned. very apt summary.
the japanese may have mimicked industrialization, but they clearly didn't sacrifice (all) of their culture/language/heritage to do it. the story of the african in america is a *completely* different case.
there is SOOOO much historical/socioeconomic/psychological "stuff" she's glossing over in order to make said points. and she contradicts herself several times in the process.
there are clear reasons WHY those black institutions have not appeared. we had the beginnings of many. they were dismantled - partially because of blatant hatred (see: tulsa), and partially because of the integration process, which opened our communities to more businesses/services/professionals than just our own. the history/timelines are very clear, and the systematic undoing of these institutions is documented.
plus, to continually call the african-american community "dead" (and, by extension, herself...if she had any understanding of the cultural roots she stems from) speaks volumes, imo, about her mentality.
she seems to have internalized a lot of oppression, then armed herself with academic information "about" the community. i wonder if she was even raised IN it, or if she has anything to do with it now...
i fear the "activist" who despises her own people.
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