The Peril of Being Considered Exceptional
Photo with no relationship to the topic of this post. It's nice though isn't it?
Call it another kind of double consciousness, but a nagging question sits like a thorn in the minds of many Americans regardless of their race: Is it possible to be both black and exceptional? Whether in the occasional white embarrassment of acting just a little too shocked that a black American is "articulate" or the black "A" student being accused by his or her peers of "acting white", this basic question shows its face now and again. For many folks the answer is simply "no". For whites if a black person is exceptional they are "not really black" and for blacks if a black person is exceptional they are "not really black". I know these are generalizations, but if you think about it you've probably seen examples of this in your own life. I'll offer a few.
When I was ten, my school took a field trip to New York City to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art. As usual I was the only black kid on the bus. It didn't seem to be a problem though, we were all talking and laughing at this and that. But when the bus went through Harlem, something odd happened. The white kids all started talking about how many black people they saw through the window. They started to count them and make all kinds of derogatory comments. Looking through the window at the folks just minding their own business, I had the distinct impression that they were somehow on display for these kids. I also had the impression that these kids saw me as "different" than the people outside the bus.
When I was a teenager something similar occurred. I was on my way with some friends to a concert in Hartford. Once again I was the only black person in this group. We got lost and ended up in a neighborhood with lots of black people. The guys in the car started to get hysterical about being in an "unsafe" neighborhood. One of them muttered under his breath "scum of the earth". He said this as if I wasn't sitting right next to him in the car. I volunteered to get out of the car and ask for directions which got people even more hysterical. I compromised and waited until we saw some cops walking around and went and got directions from them. I never forgot that "scum of the earth" comment.
One summer I had the hilarious job of working at a shoe store (everyone should do this once in their life). A young woman I was working with started complaining about the black guy that her sister was dating. She then went on to explain to me how this guy was a nigger and how much she didn't like niggers (this is in the mid-90's by the way). She was nice enough to let me know that she did not consider me a nigger and described in detail her anthropology of who is a nigger and who is "just black". I listened to this with a mixture of amusement and resentment but held my tongue. She then topped off her lecture by saying "And you know, my sister has that butt they like."
And then there is the more subtle form of this phenomenon. Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a basically mellow dude. When it comes to issues of social injustice however, my indignation burns bright and hot. Once I was at a Baha'i event and a white lady was talking with me. She was just glowing with praise for how wonderful I (allegedly) was. This was embarrassing but I heard it as an expression of her love for me. And then, she said it, "You know, you used to be so angry but you're not so angry anymore." Translation: Oh Phillipe, you're so much more domesticated now, not like those other angry black men.
The greatest peril of being considered exceptional in the way I've been describing is that you might actually start to believe it. You might actually start to believe the hype that you are somehow intrinsically superior to other black people. This is just as spiritually unhealthy as believing that you are inferior to white people.
"And among the realms of unity is the unity of rank and station. It redoundeth to the exaltation of the Cause, glorifying it among all peoples. Ever since the seeking of preference and distinction came into play, the world hath been laid waste. It hath become desolate. Those who have quaffed from the ocean of divine utterance and fixed their gaze upon the Realm of Glory should regard themselves as being on the same level as the others and in the same station. Were this matter to be definitely established and conclusively demonstrated through the power and might of God, the world would become as the Abha Paradise. Indeed, man is noble, inasmuch as each one is a repository of the sign of God. Nevertheless, to regard oneself as superior in knowledge, learning or virtue, or to exalt oneself or seek preference, is a grievous transgression. Great is the blessedness of those who are adorned with the ornament of this unity and have been graciously confirmed by God." (Baha'u'llah)
10 comments:
You know, Comte de Gobineau, the man dubbed "The Father of Modern Racism", made the ultimate argument about Black "exceptionalism" in his work "Essay on the Inequality of Races". He wrote:
"Nay, I go farther than my opponents, and am not in the least disposed to doubt that, among the chiefs of the rude negroes of Africa, there could be found a considerable number of active and vigorous minds, greatly surpassing in fertility of ideas and mental resources, the average of our peasantry, and even of some of our middle classes.
Once for all, such arguments [about individuals] seem to me unworthy of real science.. . . Let us leave such puerilities, and compare, not the individuals, but the masses. . . . This difficult and delicate task cannot be accomplished until the relative position of the whole mass of each race shall have been nicely, and, so to say, mathematically defined."
Most people, (including more than a few Black people) whether they cop to it or not, accept that as entirely reasonable and commonsensical. So they can't imagine what the problem is with treating you as an "exceptional" Black man rather than an "average" Black man. In fact they think they're paying you a compliment, and expect you to behave as such.
Well said Malik and I like the quote. We've got a long way to go my man. I think in general our whole conception of what represents human possibility needs to be elevated not just regarding blacks but regarding all of us. As my friend Artemus puts it we must recognize that we are rational souls and not simply rational animals.
Dear Phillipe
In reading this post I recognise the same situation in the society that I live in, except it is the South Americans and people of South American origin who are treated and talked to this way by a lot of people. Ironically I have frequently heard people who are racist about the South Americans in our community say they cannot be racist as they have black friends!
I love the way, in the Baha'i Faith ,we are encouraged to be constantly vigilant to remove any trace of prejudice from our hearts. Annoyingly I cannot find the quotation on this that I would like to end this comment with but I will keep looking. If only society as a whole aspired to this and did not see some prejudice as acceptable.
Pauline
Phillipe,
For the first time ever I'm going to have to disagree with you.
That photo you have attached is "EXCEPTIONAL" and related in everyway to your post.
Imagine that of all Gods creations on earth you happen to be the ocean. Vast and deeper than the greatest canyon, bluer than the sky, cool in some spots warm in others. A view that appears more infinite than the highest mountain top.
Man flocks to you more often than any other natural attraction on the earth.
Filled with long forgotten treasure of ages gone by.
OH THE PRESSURE OF BEING AN the "EXCEPTIONAL" OCEAN!;)
On another note I'm often caught off guard by the immense flattery displayed by Bahai's in my community. Comments are nice, sometimes, but expressions of "awe" is something that I am not worthy of.
It leaves me just a little to uncomfortable when folks are overly impressed with the fact that I researched the faith before declaring. Isn't that what seekers do?!?!!?!?
AYESHA...just your average everyday human BE-ing
Thanks Ayesha for weighing in. Praise is a funny thing, in moderation it can be good for the soul but in excess it can mess you up.
as usual, stirring stuff to read, phillippe. i mean your writing shakes me out of my complacency about things, even if it hurts my heart to read some of your memories.
i don't know whether i automatically and unconsciously sought to empathize with what you said here by searching my feelings for similar situations in my own life, but i do think there have been some parallels in being a woman---perhaps, for instance, being in an all-male vehicle and hearing the way the men talk about the women out on the street, as though i'm not there.
being a known feminist and---this actually has happened---being commended for not being so vocally angry, or "so much of a feminist" any more, even though i still see these injustices, i still see these insults, but i am learning the wisdom of when to speak out, and how.
shaun and i have been following the reporting on the presidential primaries in the u.s., and because (separate from political parties) Obama is the most outstanding candidate and our favourite, we pay especially close attention to news about him.
maybe since i'm not an american i have a different reaction to anything that touches the subject of "race", but the seemingly endless (and random!) iterations about "black voters" and "black issues" and so on have been making me feel nauseous. clearly difference in race in america is alive and well, and i certainly don't believe that ignoring this problem is the way to address it.
but are we really still at this point where the colour of a person's skin is the most salient thing about them? i don't know how you feel about this, and perhaps i'm being insensitive, but it definitely feels gross to me. gross and base.
like you mention, we are rational souls; there is a God-given nobility in EACH of us ... and we talk about the colours of our skins as though THAT is our defining feature.
i want to hear rigorous discussion about issues. i don't want to hear people reduced to the most superficial thing about them---their appearance.
again, with the parallel that helps me to understand the implications of some of the things you talk about in this post, it is more offensive than if female voters were discussed solely on the basis of their hormones.
in short, i wanted to say that this "double consciousness", do you call it? is something i recognize. i don't know whether i've been made to feel different or superior to other women through this process of distinction: i think i've felt like Oh This Is How They See Me.
and, while sad and, frankly, revolting, it's good to have these reminders of how very far we have to go with sexual equality, and racial equality, and religious equality.
i hope i can be a warrior for all three, phillippe. your reflections inspire me each time.
Thanks Leila for weighing in as well. I've been puzzling over all these things for a long time. It seems that what is needed is an approach to differences of all kind that is founded on a recognition of our spiritual nature and the oneness of humanity. This might then help us to reconceptualize what "unity in diversity" means both in theory and in practice. "Know ye not why We created you all from the same dust?" Consciousness of the oneness of humankind has profound implications, spiritual, moral and social that few of us have adequately grasped, implications that far transcend the limits of politics. Keep struggling with these things Leila, much is at stake.
the Presidential Race (pun intended)
- what makes me sad --however historic it is as a first in this country to have both a woman and a Black man as serious contenders for the position--is the hopes people put in and on politicians, in an inherently flawed, corrupt. "lamentably defective" system. When asked in 1912 what the main qualification for an American president should be, 'Abdul-Baha replied : "He should not want the position."
I overheard two 35-ish Italian/Irish American women, born and bred in this neighborhood, discussing with puzzlement news reports on the topic of race and the election a couple of months ago:
" Black people say Obama isn't black enough?? ... Whatever that means...??"
I would ask: can race be ignored when it shapes the divergent experiences, thoughts, views and understanding of Americans? --
That seems hypocritical.
I think the issue of Obama's Blackness can't be avoided, and it is not necessarily the color/shade of his skin per se that is being mulled over, but whether or not he has had the shared group experience of being Black in America. To African Amercians, by and large, identifying with Obama's "blackness" , I think, would translate into: --"He has the shared knowledge to represent our hopes and aspirations, by virtue of his experiences as a Black American. He is one of us. He knows how we feel about all the issues, and will therefore act accordingly."
To many whites, it translates into: "As a Black man, he just can't have the background to know what it is to be in a position of power and authority, and act accordingly as a President." Also,there's an uneasy feeling that, as a Black man, in view of past and present treatement, he really can't be expected to like white people all that much.
I don't think differences can be overcome--and I definitely include within our precious Baha'i communities as well--by pretending they are not there! Kind of like a physician treating a patient by denying he is sick. Until we acknowledge, try to understand and empathize with, what these differences are, or even what they appear to be, how can we achieve this "unity in diversity"? -- and that's just the beginning.
"This is the Day in which God's most excellent favors have been poured out among men, the Day in which His most mighty grace hath been infused into all created things. It is incumbent upon all the peoples of the world to reconcile their differences, and, with perfect unity and peace, abide beneath the shadow of the Tree of His loving-kindness"
Baha'u'llah
PS-a footnote on Gobineaux: Ironic--or maybe something else, deeper--that this father of modern racism should have decided the Persians were the most civilized and superior race, the Aryan race, the pure race that didn't breed interracially, and traveled to Persia to confirm his theories first-hand. There he saw Babis being paraded through the streets, tortured and executed, witnessed firsthand the frenzy of the crowds, was shocked by the barbarity and changed his mind about their racial superiority. His account of what he saw is mentioned in The Dawnbreakers; with an extensive footnote as well. It brings to my mind the Bah's definitive statement: "All are His servants, and all abide by His bidding"
Judith in PA
Judith thanks for making that connection. It's amazing how when we begin to explore the thinking of people within the historical context it can change the way you see what they've written. I think about that myself, how my particular context of being a post-Civil rights movement, middle class, Ivy League educated black male at the beginning of the 21st century gives context to what I think and write. When I look back at this blog (if that's possible) say 30 years from now, what will I think about the way I was thinking? So much has changed and is changing in this society and yet some things have not changed as much as they should. Fascinating.
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