You are NOT Black Enough

[CrimsonTide4]

Interesting article I received today and wanted to share it with you all, the enlightened ones.

Date: Mon, 02 Sep 2002 00:41:09 +0000

'Blackness' Is a Phony Issue

By Julian Bond*
Washington Post, Sunday, September 1, 2002; Page B07

As a longtime and now nonpartisan observer of African American politics, I
am constantly confused and irritated by the charge that Candidate A or B
isn't "black enough."

Whenever African American candidates compete against each other, the
allegation of insufficient "blackness" quickly surfaces. It did when I
entered politics more than three decades ago. It did in recent congressional
elections in Georgia and Alabama. And it has in the District of Columbia.

The accusation surely doesn't refer to skin color; everyone so charged has
had ample melanin to be readily identifiable as having descended from
African ancestors.

Instead, it seems to refer to language, education and personal style -- as
if these attributes were or should be readily identifiable as "black" and
"nonblack."

Take Washington's Mayor Anthony Williams, now facing reelection. Williams
has been accused of not being "black enough" because:

He wears bow ties. How "black" is bow-tied Nation of Islam leader Louis
Farrakhan?

He received an Ivy League education. What should we make of Paul Robeson,
Columbia, 1923? Or W.E.B. DuBois, Harvard, cum laude, 1890?

He speaks in grammatically proper sentences. What does that say about
articulate Malcolm X?

He plays tennis. What about Arthur Ashe and Althea Gibson, not to mention
the Williams sisters?

He wasn't a warrior in the '60s civil rights movement. Are those of his
generation condemned to political irrelevancy because they were born too
late?

He's a non-native carpetbagger. What does that say about Mississippi-born
and Memphis-raised Marion Barry, who had lived in Washington six years when
he first ran for office?

Washington's voters will make up their minds based on their perceptions of
the various candidates' platforms, promises and past performances. The
degree of their "blackness" isn't measurable -- or relevant. There are no
DNA tests for that.

I will not endorse any candidate. My NAACP position requires
nonpartisanship. But having been born black and remained black for 62 years,
I am as well qualified as any to comment on this foolish and dangerous
phenomenon.

Silly charges about adherence to an imaginary black aesthetic based on
college choices, speech patterns, clothing styles and leisure activities
cheapen the political process. They reflect an unhealthy insecurity in those
who make them -- and in those who reject them, a healthy respect for
democracy.

African Americans properly reject as racist allegations from others that we
all think, look and act alike. Why should we impose these reactionary
notions on one another?
************************************************** **

*The writer is a distinguished professor at American University and a
professor of history at the University of Virginia. He is board chairman of
the NAACP.

© 2002 The Washington Post Company