Stepping Forward Book

Michael Eric Dyson ruminates on issues the AA community contend with. It is a great look at race relations circa late 90s.

He begins with the OJ Simpson trial. For Dyson, the trial put the tension between African Americans and the justice system in the public conscious of America. Dyson argues that OJ broke the rules of "surrogate whiteness" in the white public conscious. For him race is conflated with OJ's social status. That he had access to this safe whiteness made the racial woes of the day a safety net for him after losing his surrogate role. It is thus the white response to how AA took the OJ trial that merits critique in the book. For Dyson, the trial used race as a spectacle, conflated power with race, and allowed a previously safe, white friendly black man to use black suspicion of the justice system to sway AA conscious in his favor. He points to the "white rage" seen in letters Dyson received. And in the news towards the racially biased outcome of the trial. He argues that race context allows us to speak about events around race in a constructive manner that seeks to remove noise from conversations around race issues.

Michael E Dyson advances three ways of thinking about the color line
context - ways we view race , ways race has been normalized
pretext - ways race conversations came to take shape, history of race
subtext - the motive of a racialized narratives, use of race

Dyson then argues for black sexuality by highlighting the ways white Christianity normalized black inferiority and how slavery subjected the black body. For Dyson it is thus a wonder that the black church, rather black men would seek to reproduce the very same paradigms that shackled the black body. He uses this history of sexuality within the African American culture argues against homosexuality and hypocrisy of free sexual exploration. He strengthens this argument by arguing that white cartesian sexuality, as in sexuality being separate from the body and a lesser function, led to the culture of bodily inferiority practiced by slave owners. Dyson places the black church at the center of the black community and believes in the

He applies the same framework of context, pretext, subtext to hip hop. He details how the treatment of hip hop mirrors the emergence of rock, jazz, and R&B. Older blacks tend to believe that the younger ones have gone wild. They see hip hop as representative of this negative culture. The osmosis to white culture has made white parents concerned about the encroachment of urban black culture. Older blacks tend to also find it disrespectful and sees the youth as flawed beyond recompense. But "aesthetic alienation" of hip hop is a reinforcement of what black youth feel. In Dysons view, to miss this, is to perform the same alienation that mainstream white America has done to the urban black youth. That older blacks take this view also miss the same development of blues, soul, R&B, jazz, and rock all follow a radical tradition of merging political realities with sexual freedom and social reform. They also miss the positivity and "multiethnic...free form expression" present in rappers like the Zulu nation(J Cole, Kendrick Lamar, Logic, JID, Reason...).

I should rewrite the previous paragraph to show this, but by now we can see Dyson methodology of engaging in race issues. Understand the context how hip hop is viewed. Understand the subtext of race around hip hop and black music in general. Understand how history can lend insight into how this developed.

Using this framework he finds himself able to push against the nihilism(I would argue solipsism) that he sees in Cornel West's ideologies. Nihilism for West is seen as a cause for moral ills rather than a result of the racism according to Dyson. Dyson believes the systemic destruction of black life has caused of this black nihilism(afro pessimism). Dyson also criticizes West's doctrine of love. For Dyson, it does not provide that material needs necessary to perform free love. He also calls West ideological in his values. West ideas of "cultural armor" black ancestors had to beat back hopelessness was comprised of strength no longer present. But Dyson highlights the success of black churches and black families as signs that West's ideas are more ideological than practical.

He then puts forth an idea of "juvinocracy". He says young men are the only man in the household and are out committing crime. While highlighting crack cocaine as a driver of the culture behind American juvinocrats he sees gun violence as the core issue. Dyson also sees this as an issue particular to American violence culture, gun culture, and crack culture. Lets note that he also mentions this trend globally. He argues that most crime is performed by young men. Instead of a nihilism at the heart of black individuals or a pathology of black behavior. This escapes racial moralization or social justification by noting the trend as a complex political, economical, moral, and social event. To combat the "juvinocracy"(A Clockwork Orange vibes) we need to radically reexamine the political economy of drugs and the social/political reform targeting these youth.

I'm kind of getting tired of writing this review so yeah

Next he contrast Colin Powell, assimilationist, with Minister Louis Farrakhan, separatist. Both represent wide takes on race by black leaders, but are well taught, argue for conservative morals, believe in hard work, and argue for black self reliance. Both even advocate for global black solidarity. Powell represents someone who has achieved some of the highest military honors in the world without making an issue of race. Powell is a supporter of democracy, and believes black Americans should participate in the US political system. He might've considered a presidential race had not his wife publicly announced her fears of the racist threats Powell received in the mail. For Dyson, this shows how black identity is too outside of American mainstream identity, and how assimilation attitudes hide the subtext of race.

" race loses its power to hold the trust or interest of those outside its rank. Why? Because black identity...is seen as particular and therefore limited. The transcendence or suppression of black identity becomes the condition for its survival."

Powell has revealed to us the context, pretext, and subtext of race used to forward a race neutral identity politics and some of its pitfalls. But if we look at Farrakhan, the other side of the coin as Dyson puts it, we get a more radical separatist approach that calls into question the rights of black gays, black woman, and Jews . Dyson also sees Farrakhan as a manipulator of the Malcolm visage to side against mainstream white America through fear. Farrakhan also plays pied piper by advocating his strictly black separatist roots that oppose X's. This allows him to use the power and memory of Malcolm against whites scared of black nationalism, while consolidating power in the Nation through the castigation of X.

The cozy relationship with Saddam Hussein is strange given Hussein's removal of Islamist policy to consolidate power. The lack of criticism he leveled to African nations, specifically Sudan(civil war, slavery), committing war crimes also cast suspicion on moral views. Farrakhan's "realized" or "blues" eschatology provides cosmic meaning to the suffering of blacks and is central to black identity. But Farrakhan's self proclaimed title of leader of black people call into question serious concerns on this matter most recently seen in radical AA traditions.

"Can a leader who has preached separatist dogma, unite a broad spectrum of black Americans in their quest for social justice. Can the head of an authoritarian, some have said fascist organization, that thrives on racial conspiracies', bizarre , gnostic beliefs, and religious charisma yield to the demands of a democratic constituency? Or to put it another way; do the virtues of race translation outweigh the obvious deficits of a leadership built on of race transcendence"

For Dyson, the million man march is the realization of Farrakhan's paternalism, and the Nations focus on the restoration of black masculinity. This vision is patriarchal and allows the devaluation of black woman through conservative values. But this patriarchy blinds feminist's to the needs black males have to provide for themselves. How to go about capturing social agency is a tough issue. But issues that harm black men harm black woman. Dyson sees the err of this thinking by noting this "simplistic" view of race that believe all that is to be done is for black men to be responsible. This offers NO consideration for misogyny, sexism, and patriarchy found in the black community. For Dyson, the MMM falls short of its goal in doing so, by making the event a male themed ritual for the manifestation of black morality.

What Dyson believes we need is neither race transcendence, nor race translation, but race transformation. This radical transformation is absolutely progressive. This transformation should question morals and values the left avoid, while highlighting the history of racism that does not permit race transcendence. This race transformation should find ally ship in oppressed causes nationally and globally. Here he cites Jesse Jackson, Laura W Murphy, Lisa Sullivan, Constance Rice, and Monifa Bandele as models for this transformative act of race.

More takes place, but I find this to be a fitting end.

Thoughts:
Race translation and the context, subtext, and pretext of viewing race are important. These culminate in his view of race transformation.

Question for today:
How do identity politics resemble authoritarian aspects of race consciousness found in Farrakhan's worldview?