35 Million Ways to Be Black
The intellectual impresario talks about slavery, his quest to make "Roots for the 21st century," and the need for "moral revolution within the African American community."
MJ:What else would you do in schools?
HLG: Instill respect for teachers. If I saw Miss Smith, the only black teacher I had in Piedmont High School, right now I’d call her Miss Smith. She’d be 150 years old, but that’s what I’d call her. We have lost values like that. Now, I don’t want to go back to segregated neighborhoods, but I want to re-embrace those values—for the parents as well as the kids. We need two-tier programs: We need to make it possible for unwed mothers who are teenagers or who are illiterate to learn to read and write with their children. So that instead of trying to pluck a child out of an unhealthy environment, a non-reinforcing environment, you change the family environment at the same time you are teaching the child. Why not? I think literacy is everything. Frederick Douglass said, “The first slave to read and write was the first to run away.”
MJ: What other sorts of values are crucial?
HLG: Nuclear families. Working two jobs, like my daddy did: He’d work in the mill all day, then go be a janitor. Careful planning. Deferred gratification. One of those Haitian cab drivers asked me once: “I’m thinking about buying a house and living in one part of it and renting out the rest to pay the mortgage—do you think it is a good idea?” And I go, “How long have you been in this country?” And the guy says, “Two years.” He didn’t spend his money on a Cadillac, he didn’t spend it a Lincoln Continental, he bought a house that was a means of making income! That’s the key. The only reason we are having this conversation is because my mother believed that I could succeed if I worked hard enough and we saved. Leo Durocher would have two outs, bottom of the ninth, maybe be down two runs, have two men on, and he would put Willie Mays at bat and would say, “Willie, I need you to hit a home run, you can do it.” “Yes, Mr. Durocher.” He would knock that home run out. He was hypnotized—and I was hypnotized by my very own private self-esteem machine that was Pauline Augusta Coleman Gates, and we have to figure out how to bottle that and have some for everyone.
MJ: Recently you’ve been in the news for your new TV series tracing the ancestry of prominent African Americans, and you’ve got a new book, Finding Oprah’s Roots: Building an African-American Family Tree. Why this sudden interest of yours?
HLG: It’s not sudden at all. I did that series, to be perfectly candid, to find my own family tree. [He points at the kitchen wall, to a small, framed diagram of his family tree.] I really wanted the very best people ferreting out my ancestors. And I had no idea that those three great-great-great-grandfathers even existed. One of them even fought in the American Revolution! As a free Negro, which is amazing. I have a copy of his pension application that was granted on July 10, 1823. On July 11, 2006, I was inducted in the Sons of the American Revolution. The more I found out about that branch of the family, the more inspired I was and the more self-confident I can feel in this world. It’s probably romantic, but I think knowing about the sacrifices of the people with whom you share DNA, learning how they endured, how they transcended something like slavery, has to be inspiring. I know it is for me. I keep that family tree in the kitchen because every day I come down here and I grind my little coffee beans and I get the Times and I stand at that island and I look up at the names. Every day. How did my ancestor John Redman even get into the First Virginia Regiment of Light Dragoons and train to fight on horseback with a saber? Knowing that he did makes me feel more comfortable with myself.
MJ: What about black Americans who can’t find this kind of documentation?
HLG: You can find virtually everybody black back as far as the 1870 census. Why 1870? That’s when the ex-slaves first have surnames. But if you find your great-great-grandfather in 1870 and it says he’s 50, that means he was born in 1820 and you’re back to 1820 already. For an American that’s pretty damned good, you know? I’ll take that. I got the idea for this series, not because of the genealogy piece but because of the genetics piece. I wanted to do Roots for the 21st century, Roots in a white coat. And I thought that the emotional climax of the series would be when I unveiled the identity of the tribe from which someone’s ancestor had descended. But that wasn’t the climax, the climax was the family tree. “My great grandmother did that…and she had been a slave?” People cried.
[A nurse comes in and begins checking on Gates’ leg, dabbing disinfectant where the metal spokes enter his skin. He immediately pulls her into the conversation. What could she tell about him if interviewed? “I could go on for chapters!” she says cheerfully, and keeps on working.]
MJ: In a couple places in your writing, you talk about the pleasure and necessity of being bilingual. What do you mean by that?
HLG: Look at these black college students today. They’re worried about somebody black jumping in their face and saying, “You’re not black enough. You’re a Harvard kid, a turncoat, a traitor, you speak standard English, you get straight A’s—those are all white things.” And they had to put up with that all their lives, probably. I give a speech to the black freshmen at Harvard each year, and I say, “You can like Mozart and ice hockey . . .”—and then I used to say “golf,” but Tiger took over golf!—“and Picasso and still be as black as the ace of spades. You know, there are 35 million black people in this country and there are 35 million ways to be black.” When I say that, I get a standing ovation. That’s what I mean by being bilingual: comfortable in your skin, comfortable with all parts of who you are.
Why haven't I heard of this man before?!?! Why haven't the citizens of Detroit heard his message??? I am an innercity teacher fighting a losing battle.....kids without supplies who can come up with $50 for an amusement park field trip, who can buy a lot of junk food ...to help pay for a graduation dinner that they "can't afford"....and on and on. It is the saddest situation I have ever been in....one excuse after another from these kids who think the world should be handed to them on the proverbial silver platter and anyone who says different is a "racist." No responsibility, no accountability..... just life as usual and blame your condition on someone else. Combine that with advice from parents to beat up anyone who displeases you and we have an "interesting" day at school.
Isn't the "immigrant mentality" the abandoned legacy of Booker T Washington?
Oh Well! The real man is Dr. Claude Anderson!!!!!!!
Inspiring! Our granddaughter, Camille Coates(caucasian) graduated from Princeton this year. Her thesis is: "Spheres of Vulnerability for South Africans Growing Up in an Era of HIV and AIDS in South Africa". I will email this article to her.
Very good, I think this information can apply to all races.
I echo the remarks of the first letter - Why haven't I heard of this man before?!?! Why haven't the citizens of Detroit heard his message??? My kids started school in Philadelphia in a combined neighborhood of educated whites & mixed marriages and less well-off blacks. Half their friends were black or mixed. I was nervous about moving down to Nashville, but for the wrong reasons, I learned. The 'reverse racism' was awful in school. Really hard on my kids. I feel so sorry for the 'normal' middle-class black families, like my neighbors, who have to deal with this. The final straw for my son was when, while working at a restaurant, the whole crew decided to 'adopt' a family for Christmas. Part of the deal was dinner at the restaurant. They all came in with those very expensive 'sneakers', cell phones, gold jewelry etc and were extremely demanding & unpleasant. I grew up with my Mom's stories of being Catholic and friends with black people in the South.
"you have to be 10 times better than..." ie you represent your people. I wish more people like Mr. Gates would speak out - the people who need to hear him don't read books.
I'm sorry you haven't heard of Dr. Gates; He's often been a part of media discussions when race, history and economics are topics. He's also played an integral part in many PBS broadcasts. He tells the truth. Although I live in the Boston area, I was raised in N.J. in a well integrated neighborhood that included many immigrants, some had even escaped from communist regimes. Our parents and teachers, Black, White and Asian were marching in locked steps about one thing: that we children were going to reach higher (vocationally or academically) than the previous generation. I was told by my high school teachers "When you get to college, other students may have had better equipment to work with. We are preparing you to compete." We all made sacrifices and knew the difference between a "want" and a "need". I was never made to feel inadequate, but encouraged. Three days after my arrival at university, I received a note from the Black Stdent Affairs office asking why I had not yet sign up for remedial English. I explained that on the basis of my board and AP scores, I as exempt from English. It ws a kick in the gut for a 17 year old. I'd never been the object of anyone's low expectations. Half the battle is raising children to know they are capable of great achievement.
Sorry about the typos above. The incident still galls me.
I would love to think all the problems of lower income people could be solved by adopting an immigrant mentality, but that is only a very small step to a much bigger problem. I am biracial/Haitian American/Jewish/Christian, but here in the deep south, I am simply black. Where I am issues/life is still white and black, north/south, rich/poor, etc. Schools are largely resegregated after a 10 year desegregation program. It's easy to blame people who blame their problems on someone else and a grant here or there may change a life or two. But, I believe we can think bigger than that and be bigger than that if we change how we view others who spend all of thier income for a chance to be recognized among their peers. Not everyone in poverty has a bling bling mentality and there is a structure to poverty. Education is key for all involved in change...let's move mountains!
good interview...at least this time it is not skewed negatively towards immigrants......My "man" on these issues is still Orlando Patterson(Harvard)...and btw "skip" may be the first African American Harvard Cambridge PHD....but there are Black scholars(from the Caribbean and Africa ) with Oxford/Cambridge residing in the USA with such degrees long before'skip"
The reason the immigrant mentality is not in the African-American community is because it is not taught in school that Black America is simply a colony of America. It was taught but that was before Brown v. Board. Now, we are taught that equality is here, and we are stupid because we haven't succeeded. But honestly, do black people know why they are historically, outside of slavery. Hell no. That is the the problem because if they did, they would not be trying to integrate, they would be trying to educate.
That's my professor and mentor!!! =). You can read more on Skip here: http://www.gale.com/free_resources/bhm/bio/gates_h.htm
What great thoughts, by a great thinker. Dr. Gates is correct in many of his thoughts on life in America.
As a documentary photographer I see his statements played out across this great Americana each day.
The heart of darkness in Los Angeles is Skid Row; race and economics clash and African-Americans are in the trap of crime and squalor.
Down the Nickel... Where folks only have a nickel bag of hope!
There is a legacy of injustice towards humanity: the poor, and those that simply have poor educations.
America exports the "Urban Bling Factor" and it creates great wealth for some. While, those in the trap of real inner city living remain in extreme poverty.
Dr. Gates is correct, and you can see it in this link:
http://www.skidrowportrait.aminus3.com
Peace.
William Shepherd
What great thoughts, by a great thinker. Dr. Gates is correct in many of his thoughts on life in America.
As a documentary photographer I see his statements played out across this great Americana each day.
The heart of darkness in Los Angeles is Skid Row; race and economics clash and African-Americans are in the trap of crime and squalor.
Down the Nickel... Where folks only have a nickel bag of hope!
There is a legacy of injustice towards humanity: the poor, and those that simply have poor educations.
America exports the "Urban Bling Factor" and it creates great wealth for some. While, those in the trap of real inner city living remain in extreme poverty.
Dr. Gates is correct, and you can see it in this link:
http://www.skidrowportrait.aminus3.com
Peace.
William Shepherd
skidrowportrait@gmail.com
i am the blackesest muahauhahahahaha
Hillary is spreading falsehoods in black church speeches claiming that she was for the civil rights movement when in fact she was against the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
GOOGLE: 'Hillary Against Civil Rights Act'.....Learn the Facts.....We're glad Hillary changed her views but please tell her to stop lying in black churches about her past !!!
I really enjoyed reading this article. It has enlightened me and inspired me to be black in 35 million ways. It really inspired me because it was with Henry Louis Gates Jr., who I have been trying to contact about My family tree not know if we are related in any way. If so it would be one more reason for me to share with my three sons' and two daughters his many writings and ideas.
thank you for sharing with us this interveiw. If I can get a response back for Mr. Gates it would be appreiciated. this is my email address opengatesdevelop@yahoo.com
Thank You
Ms Helen D Gates
I would like for Mr. Gates to interview more Black people, i mean the ordinary ones, especially about their own family research and family tree. He is doing interviews with celebrities etc. but need to interview the little man. I am searching for the House family of North Carolina. Thanks.
I want to contact him for business. Help!
Dear Mr. Gates, I was fascinated by the PBS piece on tracking the ancestry of African Americans through genetics. I was introduced to the history of this horrific history of human bondage through a book authored by Hugh Thomas entitled, The Slave Trade. My question is, Are you familiar with this book and how accurate are the statistics and data contained within. I teach history and biology and would like to pass on additional information to my students. V/R yours,
I enjoyed watching your newest PBS special Africian Americam Lives II. I was curiuos as to whether you heard of the book " Inheriting the Trade: A Northern Family Confronts Its Legacy as the Largest Slave-Trading Dynasty in the U.S. History " by Thomas DeWolf . I was watching CSPAN Books just days after watching PBS and thought you might be interested in this book.
Office Phone: +1 617 496 5468 x65468
104 Mt. Auburn St. Rm 303
Office Fax: +1 617 495 9490
University Mailing Address: W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African Am
3r
104 Mt Auburn St
Cambridge MA 02138
Email: hgates@fas.harvard.edu
I wanted you to help me to find my great grandmother's slibings and her Father's relatives..
I am pissed at you Henry Lois Gates!!!Educate yourself .
Low income girls of all races get pregnant because they have no other
successes in life.It is something they can do when there is nothing else.It is also a way to find love often abssent in their lives.
They need to have self worth and self love in order to make different decisions.This is about their morality.....hmmm that sounds a little sexist Mr Gates......
I teach the kids you are taking about ,they live in an island of poverty in the projects.
The incarceration rate is high ,the nutrition sucks, their moms are babies themselves.Many of the kids are so traumatized or stressed by their lives that it is all they can do to control their behavior.They are told to make correct choices--what does that mean if you have nothing on which to base your choice?
The schools use behavior management non-profits.They operate through the teachers to convince the parents to make their children clients ;this is paid for by medicaid.It is cheaper than paying a teaching assistant since it is an outside contractor .The child gets a "counselor" who sits in the class room waiting for the student to "act out" then he is pulled out to a room down the hall for behavioral management training,this happens several times a day.What is he missing in class?What is he learning about interacting with peers in the room away from them down the hall? Is he being prepped for his future jail sentence?All the kids in the program are put on meds which parent administer sporadicly.Do they need meds because they are ADHD or because they are stressed,hungry ,upset ?......but be sure if they don't keep quiet about what distresses them ,meds will be readily available.
In some classrooms 10 out of 15 kids have a parent in jail .I keep food in school because they are underfed and malnourished.The abuse rate is high ,but services are unavailable or extremely difficult to obtain.
If you still can't keep it together after elementary school you may end up in the equivalent of a pre- juvenile detention center(you go home at night) called CCP ,the kids have nicknamed it The Colored Children's Prison.
What do they need Mr. Gates, up there in your mountain?My kids are well indoctrinated in African American heroes so much so they can't name one person not black in history.They know no one who is not black,most of their teachers are black ,everyone in their ghetto is black,their city council is predominantly black,their mayor is black,most of their city is black.They are the culture about which you teach because they are still isolated and segregated.Church hats?Half the teachers in the school have church hats ,half the city has a church hats made.
Of course as with cultures in the U.S. as people gain wealth and power they become increasing part of the mainstream. These kids will not be in that mainstream,I just pray they live through their early 20's.
These segregated neighborhoods are smothered in church vans,church programs, and jailhouse profits running their extreme religious programs,everyone is teaching computer skills and pushing their beliefs on them in exchange for services offered.They already have the Hebrew school and they have had it for some time.
I believe in order to break cyclical poverty you must integrate not segragate the poor into stabile areas with access to work and school, and people who are different from them.Mixed income ,mixed cultures.
They have no clue how to live differently ,it is not as simple as literacy or learning to respect authority .These are the people left behind by the civil rights movement who later were ravished by crack wars.They never were doing well to begin with. Those who were from stability but only kept back by Jim Crow moved on when they had opportunity ,the rest just were left to struggle on with maybe even less in a way.Community without glue.
So go write another book and trace some Operah DNA, and preach some separatist crap.
I am white and I love my babies and I think they are geniuses and I never have had demand to respect ,because it is mutual. So that's where I am ,where the [deleted] are you at?Not down here.
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