I'm sick of this obsession with race. What the hell is race, anyway? Obama has as many Caucasian as Black African genes, and very few of us know our ancestry more than 2 or 3 generations back. Who cares? I, as a white upper middle class professional, have more in common with him than with most white Americans. An African American Evangelical Christian has more in common with Huckabee than Obama. Enough of this foolishness!

We have five more days and then Black History month will be over and then we can get on with other things.

Debra,

I have to say, Imus was paying attention to what you were saying, and it's the first time in years I've heard an AM radio host just let someone talk, and actually go deeper than the spin and sound bite. Great interview.
The thing that comes to mind, now, is the maturity and grace with which the Rutgers women handled his foolishness a while back. Maybe he learned something. Maybe he should invite *them* onto the show. Now that would be a conversation.

'The way the term is used, all it means is: descendant of West African slaves brought here to labor for whites against their will."

Who the hell do you think you are? !

More importantly, where did you get the authority to define blackness for the rest of us?

Do you live in a bubble? To deny the universality of the black experience in America serves no purpose other than an attempt to fracture any sentiments of solidarity that exist among us.

You say "We don't feel a kinship."
I think what you mean is YOU don't feel a kinship, and you resent those that do.

That's your problem, Ms. Dickerson, not ours.

Your posts are consistently filled with vitriolic anger toward black people...and you resent the idea that we generally don't like you? You're not enlightening anyone with your sweeping generalizations & attempts to evoke pity for yourself. Trust me, I would've liked it better if you were born white too...

Yeah, I know MotherJones won't print this...you don't accept criticism on your web page, period, but perhaps someone will read this and realize that Ms. Dickerson's views represent a negligible fraction of the black community.

I think hyphenated-americanism is its' own worst enemy. People in a lot of parts of the country have problems. Question is, can they extract the stick they're sitting on, pull their socks up again, and be adults and good neighbors. Illustrate the basic principles, get out and talk with people, figure out what's wrong with the overall picture, and put down some good words NOT related to money, because that's part of the greater issue here, but like, practical, non-government-dependent things that people can do to fix their communities and generally try to spread an overall pattern of good will etc. Karma. It'll be a group effort to turn things around. I think the key is learning who it is you're talking to.
Imus? Who cares. He's another blowhard with a microphone, nothing more. People listen to him 'cause they're bored.
Get UNbored, solve a problem or go help somebody. It's that easy.

The Nigerian doctoral students I knew in Miami were enrolled in graduate studies for the student green card so they could keep their jobs as local security guards, while their wives earned more serious money working as domestic help. The goal was to earn enough money here to return to Nigeria and become landowners, which apparently is more desirable than paying rent in Lagos. One fellow was working on his third PhD. The local university was happy to have him because he boosted their statistics; the number of black students and the international diversity of their graduate studies program, which translates into tuition/aid/grant dollars. Most Nigerians speak English well, which is also a plus. Of course, to get to his front door in Opa Locka, you had to step over his native-born crack-addicted cousins and dodge the homeboys armed with the automatic weapons they stole from south Florida's dwindling redneck population. Not quite nirvana.

Very interesting and important article. It would have been so much easier to read, though, if there had been some paragraphing!

Appearance on Imus was awesome. I've listened to it several times over the past few days.

Having the race discussion, Imus is doing what he said he would do. Acknowledging the discussion is difficult and uncomfortable Professor Dickerson you took the I-Nation to school that morning. Thank you... ChanX

AlexLawyer, must be nice, as a privileged upper middle class white person, to be able to afford not to care about issues of racism in this country. 'Cause if we don't want to think about that stuff, it must not exist or be a real problem, right?

Debra,

You were stellar on the show.
Dialog with two open minds is
the key to understanding.

Never be silenced, never fail
to listen.

I sincerely enjoyed your conversation with Don Imus. I will look forward to your future appearances on Imus in The Morning. Great dialogue!

Dear Ms. Dickerson, I am a 52 year old white male. As a 9 or 10 year old my dad and I were watching the news when Dr. King's famous line was played about judging people by the content of their character and my dad turned to me and said that he could not improve on that. Well I have lived that to the best of my ability but I wonder how much good it has done. I have not seen a single black say that anything has gotten any better about anything. It is quite wearisome but I haven't lived one minute as a downtrodden minority so I will keep on and hope for the best. Yours Truly, Denzil

I was literally blown away by your interview on Imus in the Morning. Thank you for coming and please come back soon. We must get all these cards on the table.

I loved your interview with Imus even though I do not fully understand your thoughts. I rarely hear mention of God, however my beliefs about the worth of people is informed by my belief in our Creator.God makes no distinctions based on race, and we must not either.

As a white guy, I thought your interview with Imus was fascinating. Having listened to Imus for nearly 20 years, unlike you I was not surprised in the least by his easy familiarity with your writings or his knowledge of black history. I can understand the outrage many felt after his comments regarding the Rutgers team, but perhaps it may now be somewhat easier for those non-listeners who wanted his scalp for what he said to understand the nature of the of the backlash from his listeners (and a fraction of his usually reputable guests).

Ms. Dickerson's interview with Imus was not an abberation. I appreciated his show before he got fired because it was one of the few places in the media where I could listen to important public figures (mostly political, but others as well) expound in depth and without interruption, on ideas far too complicated and interesting to be distilled to a 20 second soundbite. Mr. Imus is nearly always prepared, having read his guests books/articles/papers etc. (when he doesn't, he always begins the interview with an admission of that fact). His questions are frequently littered with those to which the listener wants an answer, but which others are too often afraid to ask. I believe these are the points raised by those who listened to Mr. Imus for years as well as folks like Dick Cavett, Frank Rich and others liberal white guys who felt they were being robbed of one of the few places in the public media where one can be entertained and at the same time hear serious people answer serious questions without interruption. Sort of like NPR with some yucks.

As Imus himself has admitted, he deserved to be terminated for his comments last April. I wonder if the outrage would have been muted had Imus's critics been regular listeners of his show. It seemed to me that many were familiar only with racist-sounding Youtube clips cut from thousands of hours if his show (most of which were clear - however incompetent - attempts at humor).

I and many others found it frustrating that - though his remarks were inexcusable - he was selected then fired as the symbol of racist-radio-talk. One one needs to do to understand this frustration, is listen to Imus's new radio station (770 WABC in NY) from 6 AM to Midnight. When Imus's show ends at 10:00 AM, you will spend the rest of the day listening to racist and sexist remarks all day, many of which will make Imus' ill-chosen words pale in comparison. The first thing that will be obvious is that Imus is the only host on the station with left-leaning politics and some empathy for those who don't resemble him in race, age, sex etc. Meanwhile, talkers like Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, John Gibson, Michael Savage, et al. say things - in serious and mocking tones - that I find far more racially insensitive. But these idiots find themselves buffeted and protected by their conservatism (after all, isn't racism and sexism part of the conservative platform these days?) Either the fact that they sincerely believe the trash they utter, or the sheer volume of the garbage they spew seems to immunize them from the kind of assault Imus faced in the "liberal" media.

I'd like to think some small amount good has come of all hoopla surrounding Don Imus's firing. Hopefully Ms. Dickerson's interview on the show will help re-ignite that discussion of race and gender we were supposed to begin back in April of last year.

I am an early listener of Imus, from the "Imus in the Morning" days.

If you did record that, is it your intention to transcribe the same?

Transcription is where I directly help writers, reduce writer's cramp, and help writer in their craft, writing, vs. drudge typing.

If this helps, great. If not, OK too.

AK

How was the return flight?

Literally (????) blown away?

Wonderful interview. I am a longtime listener to Imus. He is the most under rated guy on the radio. He has done so much to help so many. Children, veterans, etc. Extremely intelligent and clever. He knows how to interview and get the best out of his guests. You were a great discovery for me. I look forward to hearing and reading you a lot in the future. What an intelligent voice you have.

Wonderful interview. I am a longtime listener to Imus. He is the most under rated guy on the radio. He has done so much to help so many. Children, veterans, etc. Extremely intelligent and clever. He knows how to interview and get the best out of his guests. You were a great discovery for me. I look forward to hearing and reading you a lot in the future. What an intelligent voice you have.

What is wrong with people? It is all about the color of someone's skin!! One guy in this comment area said Only five more days till Black history month is over... This is the kind of moron we are talking about, it just proves the point of how ignorant people are ( this belongs with the AOL crazies). When will people learn it is about coming together, not the same old caveman mentality that we seem not to be able to rise above.

Prof. Dickerson,
I am a regular observer of Imus In The Morning because I feel that the show is more intellectual than other choices at that hour. Your participation is case in point. It was truly stimulating, and this article is even more so.
I am a white male who is saddened by the conduct of our past as well as what we see unfolding in front of us today. Be it the plight of the American Indian, cruel slavery, Jim Crow, our support of torture. We have much to be ashamed. Your discussion with Imus and this mind-opening piece has illustrated another that I was not aware.
Thanks.
Dale Aulthouse

Debra,

I'm a big "biracial" fan of yours. What a great interview. It's amazing to me what people read into your words.

Superb interview, by host and guest....and your take on Imus 2008 is spot on.

For the record: I'm 51, white male, and don't care what hue your skin is...I care about how you treat me & others..THAT'S what I'll judge anyone by, and how I expect to be judged. Period.

I also believe America cannot come together because we've been forced to define ourselves by skin color, by religion, by lots of different factors that used to be "strengths" but are now used to be divisive...long gone are the days when America came together to in fact be Americans.

And I know of the injustices that never made that completely possible...but we seems not to want to be much closer in many ways not that long ago were, in fact, a goal...

Best wishes...

Superb interview, by host and guest....and your take on Imus 2008 is spot on.

For the record: I'm 51, white male, and don't care what hue your skin is...I care about how you treat me & others..THAT'S what I'll judge anyone by, and how I expect to be judged. Period.

I also believe America cannot come together because we've been forced to define ourselves by skin color, by religion, by lots of different factors that used to be "strengths" but are now used to be divisive...long gone are the days when America came together to in fact be Americans.

And I know of the injustices that never made that completely possible...but we seem not to want to be much closer in many ways not that long ago were, in fact, a goal...

Best wishes...

Professor Dickerson: I am a long-time Imus listener who was not the least bit surprised by the fascinating interview he held with you. I suppose it is easy to dismiss him given the sophomoric comments and behavior he sometimes displays. Those who listen regularly, however, do so because of his amazing interviews which include fearless, provocative and insightful questions. Be prepared for him to now feel as if he "discovered" you! I have never read Mother Jones and first saw you on Colbert. I was impressed. Very. Your interview with Imus only impressed me more and I cannot wait to hear more from you as I know I surely will given Imus' new discovery.

Years ago heard him relay the story of how he responded to his young son when asked why people were different colors. He told the boy that people were like cars. They all were made the same and worked the same but came in different colors. My first thought was "What a wonderful way to begin teaching a child about race."

I once had the pleasure of interviewing a black co-worker who happened to be an immigrant. He told of the racism he withstood from his own race because he was an immigrant. He was told to "go home" because he was taking jobs away from other blacks. His English-style spelling was mocked by his schooolmates and were it not for the understanding and friendship of his white teacher, he would have have felt totally alienated.

We have much to learn about race and I enjoy the open diaglogue I can have about it with my friends. But I learned the hard way that open dialogue is not possible when people, regardless of their color, are locked in a dogma that cloaks their own racism.

To me, your willingness to share your perspective on the interview and Imus is the equivalent to his willingness to admit what he did was wrong and live up to his word to do better.

I look forward to hearing more from and about you.

I really, really, really enjoyed 'meeting you' on the Imus show and look forward to hearing more conversations. I am a 50 year old white woman in Florida and I get what you are saying..what's with some of these other people? You are refreshingly genuine...thanks....for helping me,and others...to think.

Agreed. Paragraphs would be a help. But great points...

Nic,

If there is a universality of black experience in the US, then why are the children of black immigrants over represented in the university system? Shouldn't they struggle as much as other African Americans? While all African Americans experience racism, not all African Americans grow up in poverty or attend poorly funded schools. Racism may provide some universality of experience, but growing up in poverty and attending poorly funded schools are much larger barriers to succeeding in the US today than race.

This is why Barack Obama recognizes that his children probably shouldn’t benefit from affirmative action. Affirmative action based on class would go much further to creating equal opportunity (and outcomes) for all American children than affirmative action based on race. Otherwise, at some point, affirmative action will cease to be a mechanism for lifting African Americans out of poverty and will only be benefiting the children of wealthier, better educated African Americans. Already, we can see this trend in the immigrant black community.

At the same time, while not totally refuting my thesis, I think it is important to recognize that many black immigrants come from families that would be considered poor by US standards. However, poverty is relative. My wife, who is Tanzanian, is an interesting example. She attended public schools in Tanzania and public university. She was always a top student and she attended school on scholarship. While by comparative standards, her family would have been considered poor in the US, in Tanzania her family was middle class and her father was well educated. Her older sister has a master’s degree. Therefore, there was nothing unusually remarkable (though my wife is remarkable) about her success. The fact that she was succeeding as a black student, never occurred to her because everyone around her was black.

Then she started a master’s degree in Law in the US. Though most of her friends are also international students (mostly from Eastern Europe), she was also recognized by the African American community at the University. When they realized how well she was scoring on her exams, they congratulated her on her success as a black student. For the first time in her life, she was recognized not as simply being a talented student, but as a talented black student. While flattered, my wife found this praise puzzling since she didn’t see her blackness as a challenge to overcome and her life experience was totally different from their life experiences, which were also far from universal.

I think this is where Ms. Dickenson is right. At some point, blackness in the United States does start to break down. If African American’s are content with affirmative action primarily benefiting people who don’t need it, then it is fine to hold up anybody who is black and successful as an example of what can be achieved, while completely ignoring that the pathway they took is something that might not be available for others.

If African American's are content to ignore these distinctions, then it is even easier for other Americans to ignore them and to not deal with the root problems of poverty and poor education.

What is the legal definition of black? I don't think there is one. My genetics is rusty, but I don't think race is in the genome. Is it a melanin content thing - do a spectral analysis of light reflected from the skin? Is it a cultural construct? After 50 years of exposure to race obsession, I find Idon't really know.

I came here as an African foreign student. In my engineering school the black foreign students outnumbered their american counterpart. These black students came from Africa, Brazil, Europe, all over the place. Most of them were not immigrant (as known by the INS) in the sense of coming to live in the US forever. To me, all it proved was that minorities (and poor people of any color) in this country are helped enough to succeed. It's not about the color of your skin it's about class. Most of these black foreign students were very well off and were paying out of state tuition (3 to 4 times of what domestic students paid). Same goes with the black immigrants. They work hard and all black immigrants I know are not rich by any means, by they far from being poor. Again to me, I could wrong, all it shows is that colored and poor people in this country need some help. They are very capable if given a chance.

correction: meant not helped enough to succeed

My experience with african immigrants is that they have done exceptionally well here in the United States. One of the things that I like to point out to people, who like to point to asian and indian immigrants as examples of successful assimilation in America, is that the people who come over here are typically the "cream of the crop".
The less educated, less capable, and less ambitious do not make it to our shores. The best and the brightest are the ones that get the resources to make the journey to America seeking the "american dream" and they usually find it.

After reading the column and hearing the interview, I would like to add my comment concerning the last point of the interview. I would have to say that I would "categorize" myself as Black not african-american. My family genealogy dead ends in slavery here in the US. I have no connection to Africa other than what history tells me and to be associated with another country that I have no connection to would be wrong in my opinion. So for me, an educated college graduate, successful professional at the age of 37 would categorize myself as the following:

Nationality: American
Race: Black

As for what to call Mr Obama, Hopefully it will be Mr. President. Enough said.

Dear Nic,

Every orthodoxy has its limitations, and I'm sorry but Ms. Dickerson does an excellent job pointing out the failings in the monolithic idea of 'blackness'. Who defines it? You? Sharpton? Everybody has to find their own truth, whether you like it or not.

As a long time fan of the Imus in the Morning program, I am deeply grateful to you for having summoned the courage to appear. You were GREAT! The dialog which occured between you and Imus is exactly what is needed if any progress is to be made toward finding some common understandings between peoples of different ethnicities. You made a number of thought provoking statements which I have never heard anywhere else, promoting a dialog in my own life around the water cooler and over a beer with friends. I'm really looking forward to your next appearance.

I loved the interview and was proud of Ms. Dickerson and also Imus. I will be looking forward to Ms. Dickerson's next appearance and interview as well.

As a long time listener,I enjoyed the interview with Imus. In the past I have even had the fortune to call in when I had something topically humorous to say. I have even read your two books and have discussed them with my reading group. On your next appearance on Imus you may want to mention the hypocrisy of CNN hosts, during the Rutgers debacle, not disclosing they are a division of Time-Warner and that Time-Warner is a major distributor of the verbal degradation of women in general and black women in particular. Also how Hillary Clinton ran down to Rutgers during the fray but has no problem taking campaign contributions and photo-ops with Puff Daddy and Russell Simmons, two of the biggest producers of mysogynist rap.

.

Wow! Ms. Dickerson, kudos to you and Imus for the most excellent interview last Wednesday. I am a new listener of Imus since he moved to RFD TV in Dec 2007. I thoroughly enjoy the in-depth opportunity that you were given to share your point about race. Imus was prepared and you were surprised, yet appreciative of the respect given to you and your opinion. It was refreshing to hear about your points in depth instead of short sound bites. I plan to read your book. These conversations are helpful for us all to understand each other and live in peace.

Peace to you!

Carrie

When Imus made that comment it was the same to me as chris rock saying "toothless, pasty cracker" trying to get a laugh. Imus is a semi-comedian, twisted angry comedian but comedian none the less. His problem is that people love to hate the spineless dirtbag and were looking for a reason to aid the train wreck with his derailing. Your problem with Ms. danqua is an american reaction as most black americans don't realize that african blacks don't like american blacks for many good reasons but you take it for granted they do and act superior as usual.

We're neither White, nor Black, nor Jew, nor Eurasian, or any other race label. We're all members of the Human race. Period. End of story.

It's funny that hyphenating your American identity becomes a problem when people of color do it, and usually it is a problem to people who say they're Italian, Irish, Slovak, etc.

It is important to realize that there are differences if we are willing to use the differences in deepening our humanity and accepting others. It is ridiculous to say, as the Supreme Court did, that we just need to stop discriminating--flip the switch.

Sadly, the trouble is with those who don't want to change. We continue to live in segregated communities, ensured by white-flight.

Also there are issues of class that are suggested by the article/interview. The melting pot has always been more myth than reality, with immigrants getting shafted.

I can't say I'm surprised that there would be a tension between African-Americans who have been here longer and newcomers. Seems to be the dreaded "those people" amalgamation that would suggest that all blacks should get along fine.

There will be an ever-present need to work out differences, easier than it sounds when people tend to look out for #1.

Thank you!!!

Well, I'm sick of this stuff about race too - the stuff that makes it crucial and necessary to talk about it. And Dickerson talks about it more intelligently than most. If African Americans support Obama, it should be because they support his policies and not because he is black. Because he isn't?

Worthwhile and very interesting article, Ms. Dickerson. Thank you.

Wasn't aware of the information with regard to academic performance by immigrants from Africa, but it shouldn't be surprising. Part of the explanation might involve their strong family support systems, always an advantage regardless of land of origin.

Heck, my wife is from Cairo and I call her black. Are there degrees of blackness? Does it have to do with skin color or length of time in country? If you're skin is black but you're from someplace other than Africa or your are but only got here five years ago does that make you something other than Black? Are there African-Canadians or African-Mexicans? This is all too confusing...

A white supremacist won't care whether someone came from Africa last year or last century. Both will be hated equally and called the N-word. This squabble between people-of-color over who is "more black" is akin to those who consider mixed-ethnic people as less black than those with a "purer" heritage. Or, to use another analogy, Protestant Christians preferring not to associate with "papists" because the latter listen to the Pope and take communion every day.

Well, guess what? We're all human beings who are best judged by the content of our character. Isn't that what "the dream" is all about?

African Americans of the likes of Paul Robeson, W.E.B DuBois, Martin Delaney et al, played crucial roles in the development of African independence movements. Latter-day "African-Americans" have lilliputian intellectual appreciation of human history, hence the attempt at differentiating between "black immigrants" and "native born". So, where do we go from here? Each individual is responsible for his/her truth;live by it or deny it. Que sera sera.

"What is wrong with people? It is all about the color of someone's skin!! One guy in this comment area said Only five more days till Black history month is over... This is the kind of moron we are talking about, it just proves the point of how ignorant people are ( this belongs with the AOL crazies). When will people learn it is about coming together, not the same old caveman mentality that we seem not to be able to rise above."

[Posted by: Nick on 02/26/08 at 7:35 AM]

I agree and I am also disgusted with the racist comment by jesus666.

I recently went through a 12 week intensive anti-racism dialogue circle (training on anti-racism) and I wish EVERYONE in this country would go through the same training. It is obvious by the comments section in here as well as the crimes that go on in this country (ie: the noose of Jena 6, racism surrounding Katrina, etc.) that we have not made very much progress as a nation.

WOW!

GREAT piece and many excellent comments.

I'm looking forward to the day when a person's race, gender or sexual preference be immaterial in what he/she has to say...Probably never happen in my lifetime, with the religious right, present administration and unbelievable bias shown by so-called intelligent people...

I tutored a very eager Nigerian young woman and have followed her progress in the USA over the past five years. She has found American blacks to be angry and hateful toward her and all whites. They consistently tell her that she should hate whites. She always answers that whites are the only ones who have helped her in this country. American blacks have called her "kiss up" and "kiss ass". She doesn't like them very much.

I think "race" is an obsolete tribal construct and is dying out generation by generation. It is not even an issue for many of the next generation. I hope less so for the one after.

The color of a persons skin can be admired or appreciated but not categorized. Nobody has any control over their skin color so how can that be used against them? Does ones eye color dictate their character?

*****

“We are conditioned to notice and emphasize the differences among ourselves, instead of the similarities. The corporate-style partitioning begins early in life: fetus, newborn, infant, toddler, preschool, lower school, middle school, junior high, senior high, pre-teen, teen. Get in your box and stay there!”

~ George Carlin

I have been receiving the Mother Jones emails for a few years now and I often browse them but rarely read the articles anymore. This one really intrigued me. After reading and clicking I was surprised to see as many of the comments by white males.

It is interesting how white people have a perception just like black or immigrant peoples. My family looks white (mostly) we darken up nice in the sunny months and pale in the winter but our last name is Dominguez.

Example: My mother today received her AARP newsletter. It was her first one. It was in Spanish. She filled out the English newsletter request and membership information yet... it sure is beneficial we've become so excited about a new language offering. It was presumptuously rude.

Other Hand: My father applied for a transfer and 15 years later received a call. The caller offered him the position because he was Hispanic.

Solutions? We need to stop arguing about how black is black. Or whether Puerto Rican is the same as Mexican is the same as Spanish. There is no reverse racism, only racism. These are concepts of ETHNICITY not race.

When my family moved here from Spain two generations ago Grandpa was thrown in the river because he didn't speak English, yet he'd made it into veterinary school at a prominent university. He was 16 and this was in the 1940s. He graduated and became a very important veterinarian in our state and Puerto Rico.

Define yourself by your skin and thus people will judge you. I chose not to. So did my grandfather.

I was enthralled with the article and interview. I had never listened to Imus before, and although he was alright, Debra Dickerson was amazing. I found her brilliant. I love the way I was made to think. Being a white (Italian American) woman, brought up in the lower middle class, with limited college, I never would have thought that some African Americans made a distinction between themselves and African immigrants. I understand now that there is a distinct difference, in that, the life and history of an African immigrant is as about as similar to my life and history as it would be to an African American’s. Although the similarity that the African immigrant and the African American face, while here in America is that white racists do not see any difference. I am wondering if this can and or will unite them in some way. I am also interested in the 'Obama isn't black' issue. I find it so interesting that although what Debra Dickerson says makes so much sense: "The way the term is used, all it means is: descendant of West African slaves brought here to labor for whites against their will." The main stream of America will continually and consistently call Obama, Black or the "The First Black President." Like I said I love the way I am made to think by Debra Dickerson. Thank You

Having immigrant parents from Central Europe I heard much about the pride that went ancestry, if conquerors, with the conquests; if Slav (thought to mean slaves) the oppressed. But when talking about it, it would always end up with saying such and such person is a mixture. Likewise, when I volunteered with a welfare agency and fell in love in the Milwaukee ghetto and it was a ghetto, pride came with the indelible mark. But the preponderance of the fault was with the thinking that still radiated from the region of the hacked Saint Andrew cross, that is, one eighth the mark was already beyond the pale. That flag was such a travesty on the country of the Scots, the other branch of my family. But the fault already lay as eight to one between the owner's ancestry and slave ancestry; more than that because most of the "whiteness" was already forced on the African women and that is the terrible truth we hope this country can get over.

Dear Don: Do you understand basic math? If so, then you should understand the 'equals' sign. Further, the Consitushoner or whatever that piece of paper says declares, 'all men are created equal'. Given that standpoint, what's your opinion on hyphenated-americanism?

Thank you.

Amen to the end of yet another wasted gesture at racial exceptionalism which seems to advance the "Balkanization" of the U.S.. School teachers across the nation will again be relieved of the once "egg shell walking" experience of trying to "segregate" history and achievement by racial origin. Most children have long ago been so saturated with both the kumbaya and black "experience" approach they zone out every year. Come March 1, (women's history month) they will once again be asked to return from the trances brought on by repetitive "I Have a Dream" mantras. Then, just maybe, they may start to realize that the hard earned efforts of equality of yesteryear now require all people to be both responsible and accountable for their own actions. The chasm that exists in "black" America today is due to choice; fortune and misfortune as it is with the "rest of" America. Oars in the water! Got a leak? Make a sincere effort to learn how to patch it. Not all folks make it to the other bank. It's time to paddle your own canoe!

In 1962 while attending the laboratory school of a mid-western university, as a cultural exchange, my family participated in a "Have a Nigerian Student to Dinner" evening. I don't recall the menu, our usual fare being creamed tuna on toast or fish sticks with fried potatoes, but the evening was convivial.

What struck me about Sam was the absence of the inferiority complex that is so programed into all Americans by society and media. (To keep us all in our collective places in the social order) It was and is nearly impossible for anyone, especially white or black, to view ourselves in relationship to each other, without this bias. It is as ingrained as "White Collar" "Blue Collar" "Work Ethic", "God" or the "Flag".

I recall during the second Clinton campaign, Bill was doing his usual ballyhoo about how he was going to help the most downtrodden Americans ...blah blah...etc. Meanwhile the camera zooms close up on an African-American woman caucus member. It's like they were saying "In case you don't know who we are talking about folks..." To our collective shame, this is reality.

I am excited about Sen. Obama's campaign, and if his best experience is in building coalitions, that is O.K. by me, as little change occurs when the power of the electorate is divided among enough disjointed issues. In my opinion, accelerated globalism is really hurting the U.S. economy, and to do anything at all about that inevitable trend, even short term, will require a united electorate.

When are we as humans going to get over our exterior differences. We all bleed blood and we all cry tears. I am teaching my daughter to be color blind and to look at a persons character. How we treat each other will be the true test of civilization.

debra!
long time no see! it's cousin stephen, the red headed poet from the knox side that came and stayed with you for a couple days! send me an email.

You are a very courageous, thoughtful and intelligent women! It is impressive to watch you hold to your convictions in the face of vicious criticism. It is also impressive to have watched you enter a potentially difficult situation such as your interview on Imus where you did not know the outcome. Thank you for your example.

nic- I think your response with its unpleasant, uncivilized tone simply confirms many of Debra Dickerson's points. If people don't conform to the world view of a self-defining 'rest of us us', then they must be ignored or silenced through social coercion.

"The human race is one and indivisible." said the philosopher. There are no “races”. The is one race, “The Human Race”. The human culture is all the same, the differences are just geographic. The human emotions and desires are all the same, just different environments and experiences. The ones who promote the differences cannot see this truth; unfortunately, they are the confused ones, and they wind up confusing others. We should all wake up to this reality: we are all human.

Kudos to Isopluvial and others who pointed out, essentially, that "race" is not a biological or anthropological classification under "species."

Race is a social construct concocted by class elites. Class/caste/religious distinctions were quite common prior to the 1600-1700s. Early US colonists did not describe racial differences between themselves and the indigenous tribes.

As plantation owners began to rely exclusively on slaves (who were predominantly from Africa) as opposed to indentured servants (primarily European), they began to write laws making slavery permanent for Africans, thereby dividing Blacks from whites and slaves from free men. Poor whites were given new entitlements, while blackness ("Negro") became associated with the class of people who had no rights.

The American Assoc. of Physical Anthropologists have a "Statement on Biological Aspects of Race" here:

http://physanth.org/positions/race.html

The notion that race is akin to breed is preposterous. However, diversity does exist.

"Genetic differences between populations commonly consist of differences in the frequencies of all inherited traits..."

We are all of the species homo sapiens, capable of mating.

It is time to move beyond race and towards economic status and prior educational opportunities as a basis for affirmative action. Also, it is time to include "black history" as part of American history (as well as indigenous tribal history). Retaining one's cultural traditions does not require separation by race.

Truly appreciate the clear accurate presentation by the Dr.. I would add that the continuing battle of capitol vs labor plays a strong role across the board and uses any and all means to perpetuate its ends. In re: Black Immigration, no real black immigration to this county has taken place since the last slave ship docked here.
Black Americans are continually being sold a bill of goods detrimental to their well being. Again thank you for the candor

It was a very interesting interview. I always get crossways with the idea that, because someone, black or white or whatever, makes a racist or sexist remark it is reasonable to consider them to be racist or sexist or whatever. What about humor? One very valid kind of humor is that genre which exploits the contrast between what is being said and reality. I think a photograph of Mother Teresa wearing a tee-shirt emblazoned with "Fuck The Poor" would hysterically funny.

Mother Teresa would likely find that photo funny too.

Had a great sense of humor (from what I've read)

You make some interesting points but write in the most convoluted manner imaginable. Please re-take English 1.

I'm new around here, so I apologize if this has already been said:

I've always wondered whether or not to call a "white" (as in, Dutch-descended) immigrant from South Africa an African-American.

With Nick, in that The Big (if Not Quite Visible) Power Players are throwing us "ordinaries" race labels and the social problems which travel with them, as a diversionary and divisive tactic (just look at your local, public school system, see what you think about American educational efficacy); "They" will maintain a guarded, old, power structure by our continually-ensuing, confused grasping at tokenized issues dumped under our noses. The more apt issues may be class status (division of economic wealth and variable access to basic citizens' rights, based on legal inheritance) and gender bias (division of economic wealth and variable access to basic citizens' rights, based on sexual inheritance); while these two issues comprise "old news," too, if we are going to go anywhere new and different in our society, we had better look further than ancestral, ethnic inheritance and look for similarities among those ideals we would really wish on our kids to inherit, if our deep and vast longing could combine and manifest in a manner felt by the power-mongers. Come together : parity, equality, prosperity, peace.

Now this was one of the more thought provoking while diluted pieces on race I have read in awhile. It is about time that someone sees race for what it is: a superficial substitute for cultural identification. Now that cultures are clashing among those that look similar on a superficial level, perhaps more thought provoking dialogue can be ignited.

Thomas Sowell in h9is book "Ethnics in America" pointed out this phenonemen by comparing Carribean Blacks to American Blacks. Hasn't anyone ever considered that American Blacks are the only etnic group in the US that did not come here voluntarily?

I WOULD TAKE THIS ONE STEP FURTHER. GET OVER AMERICA. I WOULD ARGUE THAT PEOPLE IN THE USA HAVE MORE IN COMMON WITH THEIR FOREIGN PERSONAL DEMOGRAPHIC COUNTERPARTS THAN WITH MOST OTHER AMERICANS IN ITS ENTIRETY. IT IS A QUESTION OF SYSTEMICS NOT RACE. NATIONALISM AND PATRIOTISM ARE JOKES.

CORF,

THANK YOU FOR SHOUTING.

Are you implying that we should exchange our Domestic Africans for the Africans from the motherland ?

I heard the interview and you and Don made me, simply think. Despite all the issues with Don Imus, the show has always had that component. It, however, has sometimes been lost.

Thank you and thank Don. I would hope he would have you on again.

It's hard to get beyond the second sentence:

"It's amazing how much we fawn over Senator Obama's being 'black' without displaying any interest in that blackness, as if being a half-Kenyan mostly ex-pat tells us all we need to know about him."

I read Sen. Obama's autobiography, which describes the four years he lived in Indonesia with his mother between the ages of six and ten. Let's concede the point that although he didn't renounce his citizenship at age six, he did live outside the country and was therefore an expatriate. How has he been "mostly [an] ex-pat"?

"Kenyan" is a nationality and is no more descriptive of color, race, tribe, or caste than "South African" or "Trinidadian." Unless we're just going by what everyone knows.

But we're not telling his story, we're telling her-story. Not their stories, but our hair-stories. This is the way we talk about race.

See, there was once this guy named Ralph Ellison who wrote essays about how race and ethnicity intersect with American identity.

Stanley Milgram, "the man who shocked the world," is also supposed to be the author of the six degrees of separation theory, so let's play.

Twelve years ago, Henry Louis Gates wrote a piece in the New Yorker "outing" Anatole Broyard as a black man who passed for white. Leaving aside any ethical considerations about this kind of outing (and whether, in fact, Broyard was neither black nor white but something else), the piece made a curious claim. Gates said that "the reason Broyard couldn't write his novel was that he was living it -- that race loomed larger in his life because it was unacknowledged."

Now a Trinidadian academic named Arnold Rampersad has written a new biography of Ralph Ellison which claims that Ellison's inability to *complete* a second novel (not "write," because he left behind two-thousand pages of manuscipt) was the result, not of passing for white, but of having "grown increasingly aloof from other black artists and detached from black reality" (as stated in the New York Times Book Review by former restaurant critic Mr. William Grimes). Mr. Rampersad interrogates Ellison's life in reverse, viewing each incident as a possible act of racial betrayal culminating in his unfinished novel (which sounds suspiciously like the Gates idea recycled, or possibly that of revolutionary-chic Antillean psychiatrist Frantz Fanon??

Then, for me, the question becomes, what ethnicity is Mr. Rampersad, because even a cursory familiarity with Trinidadian history reveals that the black-white binary opposition so familiar to us Americans, was more of an East Indian/Black power struggle when the author forsook his homeland for America and the "promise of reinvention," i.e. that we are not bound by our pasts. I'm not knocking it.

As a man who was born and raised in Detroit by a Father and Mother both of whom are college (and! Post graduate) educated . . . I find that whenever the term "black" is used, it refers to a class not a racial identity. As descendants of slaves our opportunities are defined more by our class or lack of class.

When the common examples of black only re-enforce underclass values (as in pop culture) we do a disservice to the true diaspora of the traditional "pull oneself up by your bootstraps" mentality of our traditions. Teaching each other to read when doing so if discovered meant DEATH!, is an example of the perseverance and tenacity with which our values are based.

The lost underclass have come to perpetuate a false attitude that prior institutional mistreatment entitles one to preference without WORK. This is reflected in our "trailer park 'brothers' as well. This is not, again I postulate, a racial definition (being black) but a class identity.

I have heard all the excuses. I was a felon, having completed parole and coming close to believing the hyperbole which perpetuates the hopelessness ex cons feed in to. I was told, "see you soon" by the prison guards, when I was released. Had I fed on the underclass mentality, more than likely hopelessness would lead me to the revolving door of the institutional stagnation of mind body and soul.

All and all I chose education and hard hard work to fight those evil thoughts and now find (surprise surprise surprise) myself, a business man and School Teacher.

I am not an exception. The attitude of hope stems from the values of MIDDLE CLASS AMERICA. . .

"The way the term is used, all it means is: descendant of West African slaves brought here to labor for whites against their will."

Who the hell do you think you are? !

More importantly, where did you get the authority to define blackness for the rest of us?

Do you live in a bubble? To deny the universality of the black experience in America serves no purpose other than an attempt to fracture any sentiments of solidarity that exist among us.

You say "We don't feel a kinship."
I think what you mean is YOU don't feel a kinship, and you resent those that do.

That's your problem, Ms. Dickerson, not ours.

Your posts are consistently filled with vitriolic anger toward black people...and you resent the idea that we generally don't like you? You're not enlightening anyone with your sweeping generalizations & attempts to evoke pity for yourself. Trust me, I would've liked it better if you were born white too...

Yeah, I know MotherJones won't print this...you don't accept criticism on your web page, period, but perhaps someone will read this and realize that Ms. Dickerson's views represent a negligible fraction of the black community. "

I need not say anything because it's all been said right here for me. I couldn't agree more. Please don't speak for a Black population as though you know the minds of us all.

"Yeah, I know MotherJones won't print this"

Yeah, knowing stuff and being right becomes juxtaposed when you are not right, eh?

I, like most people in America, are sick of hearing about racial relations. I think in the wake of this whole Obama and Clinton thing, the races are becoming even more divided. I don't understand why black Americans chastise and persecute people like Obama, the author of this article, successful black businesspeople, etc. These individuals demonstrate that black Americans can AND do become successful individuals. Why make that a bad thing? That makes them "less black?" That sounds ridiculous to me. We should all praise these people for their ability to provide good role models to other black Americans.