7/13/2004

Evolve, Already!

"Preposterous like an androgynous misogynist" - Talib Kweli La Shawn, Samantha, and Michael have all written about Kweisi Mfume's comments regarding Black conservatives. Check them out for some solid rebuttals and logic questioning. Me? I'm just gonna make it plain: he's out of his wig. This is exactly what I was talking about yesterday. He's still in the Colored People mindset. Everything I said remains true, only this time I kinda feel like really getting at the N2ACP. Very rarely (and I mean VERY) do I agree with Rush Limbaugh, but when he calls it the NAA(L)CP, I can't help but admit he's right. If you're not liberal, they ain't speakin' for you. Which is too bad. You would think that if there was any place the conservative viewpoint would be respected or at least heard, it would be in the N2ACP. Only thing is, I don't think the focus is really on Advancement. I think it's really about maintaining the legal status quo, circa 1968. Like I said, I don't necessarily think the organization is altogether obsolete, but they are certainly focused too much on the past. We're not going back to 1963. Black people are not going to lose the right to vote, we'll still be able to shop, eat, and sleep where we want, and if we just feel like it, we can marry white people. The laws are not going to change. But that's all you keep hearing because that's all they've got anymore. Like my driving instructor told me, "It's hard to go forward if you keep looking in the rear view." Or to quote Satchel Paige, "Don't look back. Something might be gaining on you." Only in this case, it's not what's gaining on us, it's what we're losing. It's time for some honest dialogue. Jokers need to quit resortin to punk moves like name-calling and step to the plate with some real conversation. Don't tell me I'm a puppet because your lines ain't got no pull. I want to see somebody point out to me in practical terms, where the conservative agenda is wrong. I can accept ideological differences. Probably won't agree with 'em, but that's what grown folks are for, to have different opinions. The question is, wha'chu gonna DO? Talking about racism and classism and patriarchy and capitalism and whatever other structural elements are at work in keeping the Black man down is all good, but if that talk doesn't lead to any action, then as Nino Brown would say, it's "running the marathon." And as for the insinuation of pay for position, it's easy to lament the plight of the poor when you're sitting up in hotels, eating good. Pimps up, hoes down, right?