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Books by Cornel West
Democracy Matters: The Fight Against Imperialism /
Race
Matters /
Cornel West Reader /
The Future of the Race
The American Evasion of Philosophy /
African
American Religious Thought /
The War Against Parents
The African American Century /
White on White / Black on Black /
Prophesy Deliverance /
The Soul Knows No Bars
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The Case of Cornel West: Struggling
to Maintain Integrity
An editorial
by Rudolph Lewis
I have come to
that stage of life, I do not expect
others to be better than themselves, except for my own people. Of course, it is ever a
pleasure and a blessing when it does happen. For a great portion
of my life, I used to be very disturbed that others did not meet
my sense of rightness. I have come of age now and to hold to
such naiveté would be boneheaded.
There is an old
saying (I do not know its source; surely it must have a folk
origin). It says, Don't get mad; get even. As in all words, folk
expressions need careful interpretation and that's where the
measure comes. As a matter of a personal ethic, a conscientious
slave must have at one time considered this dilemma. I suspect
Nathaniel Turner struggled with such an ethic, as we see in his
running away from a cruel master who happened to be his half
brother.
But how does the
weak when his integrity is threatened get even effectively? Of
course, Turner ultimately did not think and act thus in
these categories after he had gone through his wilderness
experience. A careful reading of his Confessions
(1831)
will reveal that. Turner did do, however, as the Christian
would recommend, "Wait on the Lord, for he is a
Deliverer." The Lord, we are reminded, however, does not
always come the way we expect. That is the hook. All of history
is left open.
Such can be seen
in the celebrated case of Cornel West at Harvard. He is at odds
with the powers that be. The new president of Harvard, a fellow
named Summers, I believe, recently, called Cornel into his
office. But it was not to proffer him another award.
Nevertheless,
Cornel West is considered a rhetorical genius. He has numerous
books to his credit. He is a national if not an international
scholar personality. He is a member of Skip Gate's so-called
intellectual dream team, which has brought Harvard tens of
millions of dollars and a considerable amount of prestige as far
as its connection with well-considered Negroes. Both Gates and
West have received numerous awards. Gates from the President of
the US (Clinton), as the No. 1 Signifying Monkey!
The president of
Harvard called Cornel West into his office and insulted him. It
was nice and nasty, not the Bull Connor
approach, yet one with a similar stench. Summers raised
questions about Cornel's level of scholarship. Is he really a
theologian, a philosopher, or a politician? The last scholarly
work from Cornel was in 1986.
Then there was
the matter of the inflation of grades for African-American
Studies 101. Rather than Cornel's lack of writing and
researching, many believe, probably rightly, it is Cornel's lack
of discretion and discernment in his political activity and his
association with unsavory nationally-known Negroes, such as Al
Sharpton of New York, today's Malcolm and Martin rolled into
one, according to some.
Such activities
led to Cornel’s dressing down by Summers, a self-important
official who felt obliged to come to the defense of the status
quo, that is, high-placed individuals of the well-known and
recognized Harvard University. A rumor was put in the wind that
West was considering handing in his resignation. There's a
national outcry among a few liberal high-placed individuals in
defense of Cornel West. Princeton has a standing offer for West
to come there.
Neither
Princeton nor Harvard is going to save Black America from its
sorry situation. They are agents of the powers that got us in
this mess. At most what Harvard and Princeton will do for Black
People is to give a few an upper middle-class life style. These
well-placed scholars are ready, capable, and willing to speak
for Black America in the most scholarly and intellectual tones,
without threatening their master's house and making him feel too
uncomfortable. From the perspective of Harvard and Princeton,
that is, from the perspective of "real" power, these
African-American scholars are lap dogs of objectivity.
What's happening
to Terance
Garner and Rap Brown
and others who challenge those who are against the security and advancement of black
life and culture make me uneasy. Locking up blacks in the USA is
reminiscent of Hitlerite and Stalinist tactics. Point out those
who are struggling against social injustice, label them a
general threat to society and then go after them—the least
vulnerable the better. That's today's stratagem of social
progress as well.
It is
post-modern Jim Crow, an existence not sustained by the law
codes and righteousness. It is merely a lived, expected and a
silently sustained reality--the state against black life and
culture, a heavily policed African-American community contained
by threats to comfort, insecurity; imprisonment and random
killings by the police, and state executions. All who object are helpless,
it seems, other than to note its existence.
There's an old
African saying. "When the elephants fight the grass
suffers." I really have little concern about what Harvard
and Princeton do with respect to Gates or West. These two
fellows are influential and wealthy, millionaires. I
cannot enter that fray in good conscious. My position is this.
The previous significance of a Negro at Harvard does not have
the same relevance as it used to for the Negro struggle, which
was designed to convince others of our intellectual equality and
our humanity. That victory has been won, if not recognized.
West and Gates
have wealth, prestige, and means. What both do now can be done
at one of the traditional black colleges and universities, of
course, with a cut in pay and perks. Yet they cling to Harvard
and Princeton. As the young folks say, "What's up with
that?"
Today, I will
worship the Lord much, thanking him for all my blessings, that
which was meant for me. I pray for discretion and discernment
and righteousness. And most of all, I pray for what is just in
God's measure. Amen.
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posted 26 January 2002 / update 23 June
2008 |
