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Saturday, April 26, 2008

Cornell West on Bill Maher: The "Elitism" Label
Posted by Melina | 11:39 AM


I'm cleaning out the drafts folder left over from a week of dismay and complication, so bear with me:
According to Cornell West on Bill Maher last week....

In order to call someone an elitist we have to define what we mean by "elitism." An Elitist is either someone who knows more than you in the face of relative ignorance, or it's someone who is "arrogant, condescending, or haughty towards everyday people..."


So, according to West, we are watching the spin on something that can be manipulated either way.

In my horrible paraphrasing and limited understanding, (in good company because Maher was pretty blown away too,) which is apparent from the clip below, and which I hope everyone will watch:
What standards have we got concerning the concept of truth?
If understanding truth is considered actually allowing suffering to speak,
then understanding justice is what love looks like in public.

And...Then,what suffering voices did we hear in this primary debate?
what questions and concerns about justice are manifest in the debate? Understanding this includes the questions askedand the answers given....
So according to West, and regarding Obama;
Is he smart enough?
Is he dumb enough?
When we accuse anyone of being too elite are we asking if maybe they don't know just a little too much? And if that's the case, then don't we want someone who knows a bit too much? Or is that an attitude problem?...and where do we hit the "uppity negro" concept?
Isn't this whole thing, tearing the party apart, some incarnation of a deep feeling of "how dare he aspire to the highest office in the country!"




Is there compassion informing our expertise? Because expertise without caring is empty. And at this point, I'm trying to figure if who the candidate is, isn't the very thing that might make it possible for America to get back on track.



c/p RIP Coco

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1 Comments:
Blogger missy said...
I think for many of these voters it's more "how dare he aspire to the highest office in my country!" - they don't see African Americans as full (and patriotic) citizens.

I think that this is due to the long term effects of guilt: you hate the victim and have to believe (1) that they deserved what they got and (2) that your hatred is based on their anger and inability to let bygones be bygones. Since the whole U.S. was complicit in slavery and Jim Crow, African Americans must deep-down hate the U.S., and so they can't be fully American.

Yes, it's emotionally twisted - but just look at the folks we've elected as President lately. Not exactly emotionally stable adults.
4/28/08, 12:21 PM  
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