In the span of three years, since the publication of his
initial foray into Negro punditry "Losing the Race" and its follow-up
"Authentically Black," McWhorter has become something a negro-con
phenomenon, appearing on television and talk shows and writing in
numerous outlets. His arguments that blacks are done in by
"victimology" not racism, and that black people are doomed by their own
"separatist" and anti-intellectual tendencies amount to old malt liquor
in a new 40-ounce. But no matter, it sells. With McWhorter's school of
conservatives we hear strains of Booker T. not so much in his views on
thrift and hard work -- because those are articles of faith across and
political lines in the black community -- but in his tradition of
accomodationism and comically "putting on" for his (predominantly
white) audience. Think about this in the context of McWhorter's
obsessive concern -- "proving" that there really isn't much racism left
in the country and you suspect that his books serve -- intentionally or
not -- as balm for the white guilty conscience. The message to black
folk: what you think is racism is actually just coincidental
occurrence. Change to song: We have overcome.
We just didn't notice.[more]
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