It is a major mistake for all people not to investigate and even open yourself up to Black History Month. The privilige of being black,brown and white might be too high of a price to pay as the planet evolves.But Black History Month, or what I prefer to define as African Genesis Month, is clearly an opportunity to exercise your capability as Chris Mathew's says , to see beyond the veil. Diversity training and multicultural education still appear to be needed as Harry Reid and the Teabaggers are reminding us. Let's embrace the opportunity.
Eugene Robinson A 2009 Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who has witnessed the best and worst aspects of society delivered the Black History Month keynote address at Quinnipiac University. Robinson, who earned the industry's most prestigious award for his Washington Post commentary on the 2008 presidential race, delivered the address, "We're Someplace We've Never Been: Race, Diversity and the New America," on Wednesday, Feb. 3,2010. His remarks revolved around this duality conundrum of can we be human and ethnic simultaneously. Or as what I think Chris Mathews was trying to say ie I can see your humanity and your specificity at the same time.
Robinson, who was raised on what was called the "colored" side of the tracks in the segregated South and has ascended to reporting excellence, has been shattering racial barriers throughout his impressive career.
During his 25-years at the acclaimed daily newspaper, Robinson has served as a city hall reporter, city editor, foreign correspondent in Buenos Aires and London, foreign editor and assistant managing editor for the Post's Style section. He also writes a twice-weekly column for the Post about American society.
Robinson referenced during his remarks the 1968 "Orangeburg Massacre," during which police fired on unarmed students protesting a segregated bowling alley. Three young men were killed during the incident, which took place within yards of his South Carolina home.
He was educated at Orangeburg High School, where he was one of only a handful of black students on the previously all-white campus. At the University of Michigan, he became the first black student to be named co-editor-in-chief of the prestigious student newspaper, The Michigan Daily.
As news broke over the past quarter century, Robinson was involved in reporting it and he spoke to the fact that engaging the world has widened his consciousness lens in viewing and identifying the multiple linguistic and cognitive constructs of race,class, law , prejudice and hatred.
Robinson has written books about race in Brazil and music in Cuba. He has covered a heavyweight championship fight, witnessed riots in Philadelphia and a murder trial deep within the Amazon. He has sat with the Commander in Chief.
The Age of Obama is still dawning, but Robinson elaborated on the many nuances and ongoing ramifications of what was considered not long more than an impossibility.Or as he mentioned for something to be considered impossible, one has to posit that it was possibility. The possibility of a black, or half white or visibly mulatto person (my words) to become Commander in Chief was considered a fantasy by many and beyond impossible, given the racial memory that many of us are enthralled by.I had the pleasure of speaking with Crystina Outlaw following the speech and quote below much of her email to me, for it creatively captures the angst and pull of how do we move beyond a cultural-linguistic-political-economic narrative in order to write new chapters in the evolving documentary of two-legged creatures traversing planet earth.
"Hi tom, Just got your messages. As my Grandmother and I discussed the evening's event and the ideas and questions presented I felt as though some of Mr. Robinson's remarks contradicted one another and remained disconnected. For instance in his preview about his upcoming book he told us that he was concentrating on the multi-dimensional aspects of what "Black America" looks like today, which is a 40 year evolution from the generalizations and stereotypes that have been cultivated over a few hundred years. In this preview he mentioned the disparity between the ever growing middle class and the lower income communities. In response to a question regarding the condition of Black America he responded with a small story about a colleague and his efforts to assist children in a small community down south to be more prepared for school and his colleague realized that there were more factors that needed to be addressed before he could help those children reach that goal such as assessing whether or not the parents were literate, health conditions and access to resources.
What surprised me is that it appeared that he may have not made the connection that what his colleague attempted to do and achieved (which is probably some time ago) is the exact same support that is needed today. He commented as if it was an isolated incident that should be replicated, but not connecting it to the condition of today's lower income communities. Related to this idea of disparity I believe is the idea of tradition or habit. In his reflections and answer to a question regarding affirmative action he touched upon the subject of habit. His family's college educated tradition have made his children the fourth generation to attend and graduate from college. That same form of habit can be applied to the condition of some in the opposite direction. If a young teen has a child and doesn't finish school then it is a possibility that her child may be subject to the same outcome. Habits are only broken by being replaced by new habits and as a people (all people) as a matter of survival, we thrive and depend on the aspect of habit. I feel if anything there should be more concentration on why that growing disparity continues to be a devastating factor since the 80s and the gap is not closing. How does that tradition of devastation get replaced?
Lastly, I thought it interesting that while speaking on the topic of prejudice, the social climate of his childhood and its impact on current events (ie the election of President Obama) he consistently used the word "race" and other terms that surrounded race. For me this was puzzling because as far as I understand it "race" refers to all human beings and not a section or particular "breed" of human. The human race has many ethnicities and cultural derivatives due to geographical location thus the difference in living habits, group traditions, physical appearance, etc. Even though this is pretty basic knowledge I thought it odd that a man who is probably aware of this would use such terminology and thus still signifying the power of a separatist ideology that remains and still colors the way we, as Americans view our culture and ourselves. As humans we feel the need to individualize and separate ourselves from that which is unfamiliar, but because this is an innate reaction we have to strive to overcome our immediate reactions with rational thought and universal truths. This is probably why we continue to struggle with, as Mr. Robinson would suggest, "RACE" today because we fail to view another person despite their ethnic background as a human being and categorize each other on the basis of our personal heritage."
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