This passage in the article rang the most true to me. “ Along with the other perks, blacks have not one but TWO federal holidays dedicated to themselves. They also have a whole month devoted to their history. They even now own the Super Bowl halftime show.
But none of it is enough. America is still too white supremacist in the view of Ruha Benjamin and others.”.
It never is enough and White liberals eyes o hope more and more see this. No amount of appeasement is ever enough to the Ruha Benjamin’s of this world. They cry more so you appease more and then the crying continues for more appeasement. Maybe appeasement is not the answer and allowing there separation from us would be better. Just like WE Dubois or Marcus Garvey wanted.
I believe Blacks like Ruha Benjamin will never forget the past which cannot be changed, and because of that they can never be appeased. They will cling onto the past forever.
Water fountains and public restrooms were silly to have segregation for, but schools were drastically harmed by integration. Black kids instantly brought more fist fights, more fighting with teachers, less sitting still in class, paying attention, and made learning impossible, especially in middle school. I like the term freedom of association more than segregation, but yes in schools it would make a huge difference to do what Trevor Noah suggests. Ruha Benjamin sounds like a complete moron, and a total DEI hire who would never get such a position otherwise.
As you point out, Noah is not the first smart, high-achieving black guy to suggest independent black institutions - realizing that the current arrangement exists only at the sufferance of an alien majority whose whims might change.
But it seems he hasn’t been paying attention (or has been blinded by ethnonarcissism) for the past 60 years. All those black nationalist dreams quietly died when it turned out that every black institution or polity anywhere in the world is a complete disaster. None of the post-colonial dreams in Africa came true. None of the black-dominated polities in the US, even when lavishly funded with white taxpayer money, are even remotely well-governed. Even Noah’s own country seems destined for a Zimbabwe-like implosion after only a generation of black rule.
The Princeton professor, whether consciously or not, has a much steelier-eyed view of material reality and of any political future for “black separation”.
idk. South Africa is more complicated with perhaps more robust social arrangements and cross-tensions than US rightists typically understand (how, for instance, are we to weigh the Zulu nationalist vs ANC friction?) but from a macro view, all the trends are bad with no real expectation they’ll improve. Noah may honestly believe in the ‘rainbow nation’ for SA as a black-majority state while stumping for black separatism in the US.
Good writing. You should have mentioned Zora Neale Hurston. You could write on her. She's very interesting (and odd). There was a nice piece on her in Chronicles last year, I believe.
This passage in the article rang the most true to me. “ Along with the other perks, blacks have not one but TWO federal holidays dedicated to themselves. They also have a whole month devoted to their history. They even now own the Super Bowl halftime show.
But none of it is enough. America is still too white supremacist in the view of Ruha Benjamin and others.”.
It never is enough and White liberals eyes o hope more and more see this. No amount of appeasement is ever enough to the Ruha Benjamin’s of this world. They cry more so you appease more and then the crying continues for more appeasement. Maybe appeasement is not the answer and allowing there separation from us would be better. Just like WE Dubois or Marcus Garvey wanted.
I believe Blacks like Ruha Benjamin will never forget the past which cannot be changed, and because of that they can never be appeased. They will cling onto the past forever.
Water fountains and public restrooms were silly to have segregation for, but schools were drastically harmed by integration. Black kids instantly brought more fist fights, more fighting with teachers, less sitting still in class, paying attention, and made learning impossible, especially in middle school. I like the term freedom of association more than segregation, but yes in schools it would make a huge difference to do what Trevor Noah suggests. Ruha Benjamin sounds like a complete moron, and a total DEI hire who would never get such a position otherwise.
Black business districts were replaced with an MLK Blvd and drug dealing
As you point out, Noah is not the first smart, high-achieving black guy to suggest independent black institutions - realizing that the current arrangement exists only at the sufferance of an alien majority whose whims might change.
But it seems he hasn’t been paying attention (or has been blinded by ethnonarcissism) for the past 60 years. All those black nationalist dreams quietly died when it turned out that every black institution or polity anywhere in the world is a complete disaster. None of the post-colonial dreams in Africa came true. None of the black-dominated polities in the US, even when lavishly funded with white taxpayer money, are even remotely well-governed. Even Noah’s own country seems destined for a Zimbabwe-like implosion after only a generation of black rule.
The Princeton professor, whether consciously or not, has a much steelier-eyed view of material reality and of any political future for “black separation”.
It really is strange that the South African chose to make these points. I wonder how he feels they should be applied in SA
idk. South Africa is more complicated with perhaps more robust social arrangements and cross-tensions than US rightists typically understand (how, for instance, are we to weigh the Zulu nationalist vs ANC friction?) but from a macro view, all the trends are bad with no real expectation they’ll improve. Noah may honestly believe in the ‘rainbow nation’ for SA as a black-majority state while stumping for black separatism in the US.
Good writing. You should have mentioned Zora Neale Hurston. You could write on her. She's very interesting (and odd). There was a nice piece on her in Chronicles last year, I believe.