For the first time in its history, Hattiesburg,Mississippi is experiencing the phenomenon of white flight. In its past, Hattiesburg was a small college city which could boast of producing an NFL quarterback. It is home to the University of Southern Mississippi and Brett Favre. Since Hurricane Katrina, it is also one of the fastest growing cities in America. African Americans as well as whites have been moving into Hattiesburg in rapid numbers, swelling the small city at its seams.
As with any influx of new people, some of the old guard of Hattiesburg have decided to move to the outskirts of the city. They are running to a smaller suburb called Oak Grove, Mississippi. These mostly white people move, taking their children and their tax dollars out of the city and its school system.
Normally, in these situations, Black middle class members tend to follow their white counterparts. If the white people move to the suburbs, we also move there, automatically thinking that the what's contained in the suburbs is somehow magically better than what we already have in our own neighborhoods. Their schools somehow educated better. Their neighborhoods are somehow cleaner. Their houses somehow house better. Their stores magically have better clothes. Their grocery stores somehow have better food. So, we take our much-needed dollars and revenue outside of our neighborhoods, too for better, better, better. Everywhere is better than our own neighborhoods.
This is why we follow white people into the suburbs. This leads to ghettoization and impoverishment of Black neighborhoods. We cease to care about our own schools and making them better with the assumption that if we can just get to the suburbs, everything will be all right. We allow people to throw garbage on our grounds while keeping the suburbs pristine. We allow all types of criminal elements into our neighborhoods without so much as picking up the phone to call the police. And the worst part is, the children become miseducated because no one has any educational standards that they care about; thus, a cycle of poverty begins that is almost impossible to break.
But, and this is a big but, I am so proud of the people of Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Instead of abandoning their own neighborhoods to follow the white folk out to Oak Grove and Petal, they have decided to stay in the city proper. Instead of abandoning their own school system, they are steadily investing in it. They are steadily recruiting the best teachers they can find from the surrounding universities. And even though it is now a majority-Black district, it remains one of the best educational districts in the United States.
I think Hattiesburg, Mississippi can be a model in resisting the ghettoization that follows white flight. Instead of following white populations, thinking that what they have is somehow inherently better than what we have in our own neighborhoods, we should focus on improving our neighborhoods and our own schools.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Sometimes Race is Just a Smokescreen
As a politician, how would you go before thousands of poor/working class white voters and say, "Even though most of you all don't have insurance or access to quality healthcare, I'm going to repeal and/or block any legislation which will help you to buy/purchase/receive quality medical care?"
How would you tell poor/working class white people, "Even though you are already struggling financially, I'm going to increase your taxes so that you pay even more while giving my campaign contributors, who may be your bosses, a tax break and they will pay taxes at a rate lower than yours?"
How would you tell poor/working class white people, "We need to start and fight endless wars, put boots on the ground all over this globe and use only your kids to do that?"
How would you tell poor and/or working class white people, "I know the economy is terrible, but I'm going to make it even more terrible by allowing our businesses to take more manufacturing jobs to China and everything in your house, from your toilet seat to your calendars to your forks and spoons to you television to your clothes to the mini-American flag which you are now waving will read, 'Made in China'?"
As a politician, how would you campaign on these things? Even though this is the reality of Republican politics and economic platforms, how do they win elections by saying these things to their majority-white voters? The answer is you don't. They use a smokescreen instead. And the favorite smokescreen of choice is Black people.
Since the beginning of the Republican primary process, politicians like Gingrich and Santorum have used that old reliable smokescreen of telling their poor/working class white audiences, in so many words, "Black people. Black people are the reason why this country is suffering...Black people with their food stamps and socialized medicine and single-parent homes are draining the wealth and resources of this country...Black people! Black people! Black people and not middle-age rich white guys like me who are actively shaping the real class warfare by redirecting wealth up to the richest 1% of the country. It's those damn Black people. They are the ones who are sucking up the resource while every white person in America, white people like us, is productive and working hard and taking advantage of the free enterprise system. We're not the ones accepting handouts. We're not the ones getting wealthy off tax breaks, it's only the Blacks."
As an African American who currently owes a gazillion dollars in student loans as I struggle to obtain a Ph.D., I should be outraged. I should be shouting to the top of my lungs, but I am not. I understand this: race is a Republican smokescreen. To play dog whistle politics, to employ the type of rhetoric which blames one group for the entire country's misfortune, is to deploy tactics which ensure that the public willing consents to their own exploitation. Playing dog whistle politics and securing plenty of votes by them is to assure the wealthiest 1% that their fortunes are safe, and they don't have to contribute their fair share. Playing dog whistle politics assures the warhawks that they can start not one, but two wars, and their children will be safe and secure, and won't be risking their lives. Let the working class children pull the country's load, as long as we keep saying, "The Blacks! The Blacks! The Blacks," They won't mind.
I'm just sitting back, observing it all, and wondering why more poor/working class whites aren't mad as Hell that their politicians are playing them like chumps or using scare tactics. It seems that, as poor/working class whites who sometimes have even less than their African/Latino American counterparts, they'd one day wake up and smell the smoke-filled coffee. But, maybe not soon. The scare tactic....the tendency of Republican candidates to yell, "The Blacks are coming! The Blacks are coming!" has been working since the days of Barry Goldwater. And it looks like it may work one more time.
How would you tell poor/working class white people, "Even though you are already struggling financially, I'm going to increase your taxes so that you pay even more while giving my campaign contributors, who may be your bosses, a tax break and they will pay taxes at a rate lower than yours?"
How would you tell poor/working class white people, "We need to start and fight endless wars, put boots on the ground all over this globe and use only your kids to do that?"
How would you tell poor and/or working class white people, "I know the economy is terrible, but I'm going to make it even more terrible by allowing our businesses to take more manufacturing jobs to China and everything in your house, from your toilet seat to your calendars to your forks and spoons to you television to your clothes to the mini-American flag which you are now waving will read, 'Made in China'?"
As a politician, how would you campaign on these things? Even though this is the reality of Republican politics and economic platforms, how do they win elections by saying these things to their majority-white voters? The answer is you don't. They use a smokescreen instead. And the favorite smokescreen of choice is Black people.
Since the beginning of the Republican primary process, politicians like Gingrich and Santorum have used that old reliable smokescreen of telling their poor/working class white audiences, in so many words, "Black people. Black people are the reason why this country is suffering...Black people with their food stamps and socialized medicine and single-parent homes are draining the wealth and resources of this country...Black people! Black people! Black people and not middle-age rich white guys like me who are actively shaping the real class warfare by redirecting wealth up to the richest 1% of the country. It's those damn Black people. They are the ones who are sucking up the resource while every white person in America, white people like us, is productive and working hard and taking advantage of the free enterprise system. We're not the ones accepting handouts. We're not the ones getting wealthy off tax breaks, it's only the Blacks."
As an African American who currently owes a gazillion dollars in student loans as I struggle to obtain a Ph.D., I should be outraged. I should be shouting to the top of my lungs, but I am not. I understand this: race is a Republican smokescreen. To play dog whistle politics, to employ the type of rhetoric which blames one group for the entire country's misfortune, is to deploy tactics which ensure that the public willing consents to their own exploitation. Playing dog whistle politics and securing plenty of votes by them is to assure the wealthiest 1% that their fortunes are safe, and they don't have to contribute their fair share. Playing dog whistle politics assures the warhawks that they can start not one, but two wars, and their children will be safe and secure, and won't be risking their lives. Let the working class children pull the country's load, as long as we keep saying, "The Blacks! The Blacks! The Blacks," They won't mind.
I'm just sitting back, observing it all, and wondering why more poor/working class whites aren't mad as Hell that their politicians are playing them like chumps or using scare tactics. It seems that, as poor/working class whites who sometimes have even less than their African/Latino American counterparts, they'd one day wake up and smell the smoke-filled coffee. But, maybe not soon. The scare tactic....the tendency of Republican candidates to yell, "The Blacks are coming! The Blacks are coming!" has been working since the days of Barry Goldwater. And it looks like it may work one more time.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
What If and the World War II Generation
Lately, I've been down and out by what I see from the Baby Boomer Generation and from my own generation, Generation X. Collectively, we are the most selfish, self-serving, self-absorbed, self-aggrandizing people the world has ever known.
As the grandchild of a World War II veteran, I have nothing but love and respect for my grandfather's generation, the World War II generation (The Greatest Generation and the Silent Generation combined). They endured the Great Depression before travelling thousands of miles overseas to fight evil in segregated units before returning home to Jim Crowism down South and redlining and Gerrymandering up North. Having seen the horrors of war, they faced lynching and death at home in order to agitate for better housing and education for their children, sparking the modern day Civil Rights Movement as we know it.
They elected the last Republican to balance the budget, Dwight Eisenhower, invested in infrastructure, and sent their children into the lion's mouth in order to desegregate schools. The World War II generation gave us Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr., Fannie Lou Hamer, and Ralph Abernathy. They endured much, sometimes sacrificing their lives, and they did it all without asking for thanks and praise. They also produced the Baby Boomer Generation, one of the most selfish group of people the world has ever seen. The Baby Boomers in turn gave us Generations X and Y: the high tech, spoiled, disrespectful, microwave generations who seem to care nothing for the world around them.
As a member of Generation X, I definitely have a legitimate beef with the Baby Boomer generation. Not with everyone, but as a collective. Here's my beef: Baby Boomers offer us legitimate criticism, but no teaching. My grandfather was a harsh old man. He called us variations of the word fool that I still haven't figured out yet (what does "starnated" mean anyway). But after his anger subsided, he always showed us a better way. Though he only had an eighth grade education, he was an excellent teacher. He used parables, every day situations, stories, and riddles (sometimes his belt, too) to get his point across.
As for our parents, the Baby Boomer generation, most of them were too busy breaking the glass ceiling for teaching. Yes, like my grandfather's generation before them, there was criticism abound, but no follow-up. So, we got called "starnated fools" by our parents as well, but many of us were not taught. Whereas my grandfather listened to our little crappy kid complaints and offered advice, the Baby Boomer generation ignored us. They were always too busy, and our problems were never big enough for them to be concerned about.
Now, these same Baby Boomers are still ignoring the now 30+ Generation X'ers. Many of us have careers, graduate degrees, families, and problems of our own. But who cares, asks the Baby Boomers? We ain't been through Jim Crow or had to help out with the share cropping or never had to use an outhouse, so what are we whining about? Even as they call us a "Lost Generation," they selfishly chase away the few of us in church and in higher education who are trying damn hard not to be lost. What? Let some young fool come in and steal their position of authority or their moments of shine. What? Retire and go home and be old and become irrelevant? Hell No! Not the Baby Boomers. Forever youthful, they're still working (some have to because they simply cannot afford to retire. Others simply don't want to be old). They are now in charge. They run our dilapidated schools, our broken government, and our inadequate social programs.
They failed to teach, but trained us to be consumers. They wanted us to have careers, but taught us to devalue life. What's a baby but another mouth to feed? They traveled half-way across the country, and literally built Detroit, Chicago, Oakland, and St. Louis with their labor and buying power. They taught their children that their's no place worst than the South, especially Mississippi, and therefore to be ashamed of humble beginnings. In short, our current, spoiled-rotten, ignorant generation is the product of the selfish Baby Boomers and their failure to teach.
One day, in my anger, I got to thinking. What if the World War II generation had done the Baby Boomers the same way they did/do us?
1. What if the World War II generation had come home, and said, "I want my child to have everything I didn't have growing up," and instead of agitating for better schools and adequate housing, they simply bought their children more clothes, more toys, and more "stuff," and thought that would suffice or "fix" everything? What if? That's what happened to us. Our parents truly spoiled us. With entrance to corporate America and access to better-paying jobs, our Baby Boomer parents decided, "I want my children to have all of the things I didn't have. I don't want them to come up the way I did." Well, when did "things" ever solve any problems?
2. What if the World War II generation looked at the Baby Boomers, with their large Afros, stack shoes, loud colors, Motown sound, and mini-skirts and said, "This is just a lost generation"? What if they'd written off their rebellious children and asked, "Why are we trying to fight for these ungrateful bastards" and then ceased the fight for Civil Rights?
3. What if the World War II generation looked at children as if they are simply roadblocks to economic success, and recommended abortion for "unwanted" children?
4. What if the World War II generation turned church into a money-making industry?
5. What if the World War II generation never taught their children the value of a dollar, but continued to give their children material things as if that would make life problem-free?
6. Last, what if the World War II generation told the Baby Boomer generation, "You can't tell me nothing. You don't know nothing. You ain't been through nothing. You ain't got no testimony. You ain't been through the Cold War where we had to practice ducking from an atomic bomb. You ain't been through the Great Depression where 1932 was so hard that we was eating dandelion greens. You ain't been through World War II in a segregated army and had to come home and get beat and lynched just because you had on a uniform. You ain't got not testimony."
7. What if the World War II generation hardly ever went to church or took their children to church? What if the World War II "showed how the Lord done blessed them" by going to church only to show off their new clothes?
8. What if the World War II generation never purchased any land to pass on to their children, but bought clothes and jewelry instead? Some Baby Boomers are still living on their parents' land and fighting over their deceased parents estates. Where are the Boomers' land and houses? What will they leave to their children of value?
9. What if the World War II generation, as a collective whole, had created an entire culture in which material goods, but only material goods created by somebody else, are everything, and their children actually became ashamed that their parents owned a sewing machine?
10. What if the World War II generation was satisfied to raise their children in the projects on government handouts, and didn't encourage them to at least get out in this world and try?
Where would the world be if the World War II generation had behaved like the Baby Boomers? Where will the world be if Generations X and Y continue to live as if tomorrow won't come?
As the grandchild of a World War II veteran, I have nothing but love and respect for my grandfather's generation, the World War II generation (The Greatest Generation and the Silent Generation combined). They endured the Great Depression before travelling thousands of miles overseas to fight evil in segregated units before returning home to Jim Crowism down South and redlining and Gerrymandering up North. Having seen the horrors of war, they faced lynching and death at home in order to agitate for better housing and education for their children, sparking the modern day Civil Rights Movement as we know it.
They elected the last Republican to balance the budget, Dwight Eisenhower, invested in infrastructure, and sent their children into the lion's mouth in order to desegregate schools. The World War II generation gave us Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr., Fannie Lou Hamer, and Ralph Abernathy. They endured much, sometimes sacrificing their lives, and they did it all without asking for thanks and praise. They also produced the Baby Boomer Generation, one of the most selfish group of people the world has ever seen. The Baby Boomers in turn gave us Generations X and Y: the high tech, spoiled, disrespectful, microwave generations who seem to care nothing for the world around them.
As a member of Generation X, I definitely have a legitimate beef with the Baby Boomer generation. Not with everyone, but as a collective. Here's my beef: Baby Boomers offer us legitimate criticism, but no teaching. My grandfather was a harsh old man. He called us variations of the word fool that I still haven't figured out yet (what does "starnated" mean anyway). But after his anger subsided, he always showed us a better way. Though he only had an eighth grade education, he was an excellent teacher. He used parables, every day situations, stories, and riddles (sometimes his belt, too) to get his point across.
As for our parents, the Baby Boomer generation, most of them were too busy breaking the glass ceiling for teaching. Yes, like my grandfather's generation before them, there was criticism abound, but no follow-up. So, we got called "starnated fools" by our parents as well, but many of us were not taught. Whereas my grandfather listened to our little crappy kid complaints and offered advice, the Baby Boomer generation ignored us. They were always too busy, and our problems were never big enough for them to be concerned about.
Now, these same Baby Boomers are still ignoring the now 30+ Generation X'ers. Many of us have careers, graduate degrees, families, and problems of our own. But who cares, asks the Baby Boomers? We ain't been through Jim Crow or had to help out with the share cropping or never had to use an outhouse, so what are we whining about? Even as they call us a "Lost Generation," they selfishly chase away the few of us in church and in higher education who are trying damn hard not to be lost. What? Let some young fool come in and steal their position of authority or their moments of shine. What? Retire and go home and be old and become irrelevant? Hell No! Not the Baby Boomers. Forever youthful, they're still working (some have to because they simply cannot afford to retire. Others simply don't want to be old). They are now in charge. They run our dilapidated schools, our broken government, and our inadequate social programs.
They failed to teach, but trained us to be consumers. They wanted us to have careers, but taught us to devalue life. What's a baby but another mouth to feed? They traveled half-way across the country, and literally built Detroit, Chicago, Oakland, and St. Louis with their labor and buying power. They taught their children that their's no place worst than the South, especially Mississippi, and therefore to be ashamed of humble beginnings. In short, our current, spoiled-rotten, ignorant generation is the product of the selfish Baby Boomers and their failure to teach.
One day, in my anger, I got to thinking. What if the World War II generation had done the Baby Boomers the same way they did/do us?
1. What if the World War II generation had come home, and said, "I want my child to have everything I didn't have growing up," and instead of agitating for better schools and adequate housing, they simply bought their children more clothes, more toys, and more "stuff," and thought that would suffice or "fix" everything? What if? That's what happened to us. Our parents truly spoiled us. With entrance to corporate America and access to better-paying jobs, our Baby Boomer parents decided, "I want my children to have all of the things I didn't have. I don't want them to come up the way I did." Well, when did "things" ever solve any problems?
2. What if the World War II generation looked at the Baby Boomers, with their large Afros, stack shoes, loud colors, Motown sound, and mini-skirts and said, "This is just a lost generation"? What if they'd written off their rebellious children and asked, "Why are we trying to fight for these ungrateful bastards" and then ceased the fight for Civil Rights?
3. What if the World War II generation looked at children as if they are simply roadblocks to economic success, and recommended abortion for "unwanted" children?
4. What if the World War II generation turned church into a money-making industry?
5. What if the World War II generation never taught their children the value of a dollar, but continued to give their children material things as if that would make life problem-free?
6. Last, what if the World War II generation told the Baby Boomer generation, "You can't tell me nothing. You don't know nothing. You ain't been through nothing. You ain't got no testimony. You ain't been through the Cold War where we had to practice ducking from an atomic bomb. You ain't been through the Great Depression where 1932 was so hard that we was eating dandelion greens. You ain't been through World War II in a segregated army and had to come home and get beat and lynched just because you had on a uniform. You ain't got not testimony."
7. What if the World War II generation hardly ever went to church or took their children to church? What if the World War II "showed how the Lord done blessed them" by going to church only to show off their new clothes?
8. What if the World War II generation never purchased any land to pass on to their children, but bought clothes and jewelry instead? Some Baby Boomers are still living on their parents' land and fighting over their deceased parents estates. Where are the Boomers' land and houses? What will they leave to their children of value?
9. What if the World War II generation, as a collective whole, had created an entire culture in which material goods, but only material goods created by somebody else, are everything, and their children actually became ashamed that their parents owned a sewing machine?
10. What if the World War II generation was satisfied to raise their children in the projects on government handouts, and didn't encourage them to at least get out in this world and try?
Where would the world be if the World War II generation had behaved like the Baby Boomers? Where will the world be if Generations X and Y continue to live as if tomorrow won't come?
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