From "Missy" to "Ma'am"

Talk about race is everywhere these days. Or, more precisely, talk about racism is everywhere these days. From Barack Obama's run for the presidency and the Reverend Jeremiah Wright controversy, to the 40th anniversary of the death of the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., Americans are trying to engage in a conversation about race and racism. It hasn't been easy. If there is one topic that freaks most of white America, it's race. Many insist race doesn't matter, and that Blacks are obsessed with the topic. Others acknowledge the effects of race and racism, but feel no responsibility or culpability for the situation and want to move on. The final group acknowledges race and racism, are color-blind to the best extent any of us can be in America, and try the best they can not to discriminate against people of color, or take advantage of the inherent advantages whites enjoy in America. This is really a small group of whites, but they do exist.

I believe the primary reason many white Americans freak out about racism is denial. Their legacy must be extremely difficult to reconcile. This country was built upon the backs and blood of a group of people through their free labor, brutally against their will. Those same people were then systemically marginalized, brutalized, de-humanized, disenfranchised, and discriminated against. This was all done by, and to the advantage of, white people. The vestiges of slavery and its aftermath continue to this day to the detriment of Black people, without question. No sane person could deny it, and that's a hard pill to swallow for whites.

The good news for whites is, "we ain't mad at you." Black Americans have to be the most forgiving people on the face of the earth, ever. While at times we may seem angry or bitter, the overwhelming majority of Blacks are just trying to make it in this society. We're not currently enslaved, and we realize that you, personally, are not responsible for this shameless history. We want the same things as you: good schools, good jobs, and good housing. To dwell upon race, racism, and discrimination is inefficient, emotionally draining, and probably counter-productive. All we want is our chance(s), and a level playing field. We can forget the past, if White America will stop repeating it and perpetuating its effects. That's a tall order for whites, and not nearly as simple as it sounds. And that is why the struggle and the discussion continues, to this day.

Mind you, just because we don't trip over race doesn't mean that we won't go off on, slap the shit out of, or even pop a cap in, a current practitioner of racism. Our anger and resentment, though suppressed, isn't that far from the surface, and it doesn't take much to set it off. Our memories are not short. Do you feel me?

It is against this backdrop and all of the "playing the race card" nonsense attendant to the presidential nominating contests that I was surprised, and encouraged, to see the recent remarks of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice regarding race in America. Secretary Rice's remarks were part of a more comprehensive interview with Sun Myung Moon's Washington Times editorial board, and her comments were based in part on her reaction to Barack Obama's speech about race in the aftermath of the flare-up over his former pastor and spiritual advisor, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright.

Before I get to Ms. Rice, an interesting side note to the Reverend Wright controversy is how quickly certain media and other certain segments of white society wanted to jump on Reverend Wright's comments as evidence of racist and/or un-patriotic aspects of Black America. A similar rush to judgment was seen in the phony reactions to Michelle Obama's remarks about being proud of her country for the first time in her adult life, speaking of the country's acceptance of her husband's candidacy for the President of the United States, and their hunger for change.

This is an interesting paradox, and additionally a tired political trick on a gullible American public. A variant on the old divide and conquer stratagem, this ruse attempts to paint blacks as undeserving of a chance or for favor because they exhibit some of the same qualities that they condemn us for, or that they're really subversive and disloyal to the country. Please.

Back to Condi. I haven't though much of Ms. Rice, and I still probably don't. A discomforting fact for Blacks is our history of sell-outs, from African tribal complicity in the European slave trade, to the Uncle Toms of the slavery era and thereafter, to the modern-day phenomena, which I'll call the Black Republican Role Model (BRRM). The Black Republican Role Model is a painful (for Blacks) device used by Republicans to remind us of our history. They find a twisted or opportunistic Black person willing, for whatever reasons, to play ball with their agenda, and they then promote and maneuver them into a position of prominence - usually political - to show Blacks how they need to act to sit at the table in their society. The BRRM is also used to demonstrate how hard work, self-reliance, and a willingness to carry water for the Republican party, is rewarded. For Blacks, it is a reminder that we can sometimes be our own worst enemy.

The earliest example of a BRRM I can remember was J.C. Watts, a former congressman from Oklahoma, who also played college football as quarterback for the University of Oklahoma. Perhaps the most recent example would be former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Alphonso Jackson. Other notable BRRMs include former Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell, and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Because I'm extreme, I would also include in this group Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Secretary of State Colin Powell (West Indian, incidentally) and his son, Michael, former Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. The senior Powell has recently exhibited signs of redemption, in his willigness to acknowledge the mistakes in going to war against Iraq.

I'd long considered Rice to be a BRRM, primarily because of her relationship and allegiance to the Bush family. When Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez once called her "Missy, " I found his remark funny and appropriate, in view of her fraudulent peddling of the Bush foreign policy agenda, and her silly clothing affectation. As such, I've been particularly dismissive of her and have found her to be distressingly, albeit brilliantly, enigmatic. However, she earned a lot of props with me with her comments about America's "birth defect" and how she spoke with clarity about the subject. Now I know Rice has often spoke about her own and her family's personal struggles with race and racism, growing up in Birmingham's Titusville's neighborhood that also produced notable black educator Freeman Hrabowski, III, a chilhood friend of Rice's, who is working wonders at nearby University of Maryland, Baltimore County. But I also know that Rice has used those same stories to publicly trumpet Republican themes of self-reliance and godliness. I just couldn't, and still can't, take her seriously. She was, in my view, merely a shill for the Bush clan, and not to be trusted.

I encourage you to read her remarks. Yes, she tows the line and was careful not to offend. She also bent over backward not to give Barack any props politically, but you can feel her passion. And you think; underneath all her bullshit, she's might just be real and feel the same conflict and pain we all do.

I'll be glad when Rice either returns to academia, or business, or whatever, after the end of this disgraceful administration. Hopefully, she's just lost her way and needs to re-discover herself. I guess what would be most disappointing would be if she entered politics, running for office and promoting some conservative agenda. But for the meantime, I'll stop calling her Missy. I'll now call her something which is a sign of respect in the Black community. I'll now call her "Ma'am.

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