On April 30th, the Stowe Center presented Writing about Race with Dr. Jelani Cobb of the University of Connecticut. The conversation, a part of our Salons at Stowe series, predicated on Dr. Cobb's writing on contemporary issues of racial justice both in Ferguson, Baltimore, and beyond. On May 5th, Dr. Cobb was awarded the Hillman Prize for Opinion and Analysis journalism. His acceptance speech honored the lives of Trayvon Martin, Amadou Diallo, Jordan Davis, Tamir Rice, by crediting these individuals for his work. Watch his speech below:
Dr. Cobb states "I write with the hope that we can move from contingent citizenship to actual democracy." What do you think he means by that?
If you missed the Salon on April 30th, check out the interview notes below!
Katherine Kane, Executive Director, Stowe Center:
How and why did you start writing?
How and why did you start writing?
Dr. Cobb:
First, thank you for inviting me here. Especially given the context in which we are meeting. I’m so happy to see you are honoring Ta-Nehisi-we are good friends. We went to Howard University together. I started writing because I was a part of a community he and I were both a part of. in Washington D.C. Some of us were college students, some of us not, but we were all interested in the written word. We were trying to address the issues that we saw as relevant. The more personal side of it is that, I always talk about background with people, and my earliest memory, earliest thing I recall, is my father teaching me the alphabet. I was really small when he taught me the alphabet. My dad was a big guy and I remember the enormity of his hands helping me trace the letters. He would always bring home writing tablets. At the time, I didn’t really understand the multi-layers of this. My dad is from Hazelhurst, Goergia, and only went to the third grade. He grew up in the great depression and when he was 8 he went to work. Him tracing my hands, was him showing me expectations and allowing me to be in spaces he wasn’t allowed to be in.
First, thank you for inviting me here. Especially given the context in which we are meeting. I’m so happy to see you are honoring Ta-Nehisi-we are good friends. We went to Howard University together. I started writing because I was a part of a community he and I were both a part of. in Washington D.C. Some of us were college students, some of us not, but we were all interested in the written word. We were trying to address the issues that we saw as relevant. The more personal side of it is that, I always talk about background with people, and my earliest memory, earliest thing I recall, is my father teaching me the alphabet. I was really small when he taught me the alphabet. My dad was a big guy and I remember the enormity of his hands helping me trace the letters. He would always bring home writing tablets. At the time, I didn’t really understand the multi-layers of this. My dad is from Hazelhurst, Goergia, and only went to the third grade. He grew up in the great depression and when he was 8 he went to work. Him tracing my hands, was him showing me expectations and allowing me to be in spaces he wasn’t allowed to be in.
Katherine:
Is there a connection between writing lyrics and speaking? As a commentator, you speak on television a great deal.
Is there a connection between writing lyrics and speaking? As a commentator, you speak on television a great deal.
Dr. Cobb:
My mom was a fan of debate. We always watched 60 minutes and we would always have to have an opinion that came from that as well. And some of it is that to be taken seriously as an African American you have to have sharp speaking skills.
My mom was a fan of debate. We always watched 60 minutes and we would always have to have an opinion that came from that as well. And some of it is that to be taken seriously as an African American you have to have sharp speaking skills.
Katherine:
Any of you in audience have debates?
Any of you in audience have debates?
[Lots of people nod]
Katherine:
You wrote a book on President Obama. How were you drawn to this topic?
You wrote a book on President Obama. How were you drawn to this topic?
Dr. Cobb:
I was interested in Obama, because we had no indication that the country was prepared to elect a Black president in mass numbers. Talk to political scientists, sociologists, no one had any indication that this would happen. You could count on one hand the number of black people who won state wide elections and thus there was no indication that someone could win 50 states. Also the things that happened that year suggested the country stepped out of its history, even though it really just took a pivot. Political scientists say that in times of economic strife racial tensions rise. In September 2008, the economy tanked and Obama’s numbers went up. I wanted to try to deconstruct this. In the same month Obama was inaugurated, three African American unarmed men were killed by police. There are lots of things we can talk about domestically, internationally, about Obama’s presidency, but one prominent strand is going to be the existence of a black presidency with great bouts of police activity that resulted in deaths of unarmed black men. When he came in office, some things were kind of predictable, but we didn’t know how they would play out. He is the only black president, and also the only president to have to show his birth certificate. He has a lot of firsts and not all of them are good.
I was interested in Obama, because we had no indication that the country was prepared to elect a Black president in mass numbers. Talk to political scientists, sociologists, no one had any indication that this would happen. You could count on one hand the number of black people who won state wide elections and thus there was no indication that someone could win 50 states. Also the things that happened that year suggested the country stepped out of its history, even though it really just took a pivot. Political scientists say that in times of economic strife racial tensions rise. In September 2008, the economy tanked and Obama’s numbers went up. I wanted to try to deconstruct this. In the same month Obama was inaugurated, three African American unarmed men were killed by police. There are lots of things we can talk about domestically, internationally, about Obama’s presidency, but one prominent strand is going to be the existence of a black presidency with great bouts of police activity that resulted in deaths of unarmed black men. When he came in office, some things were kind of predictable, but we didn’t know how they would play out. He is the only black president, and also the only president to have to show his birth certificate. He has a lot of firsts and not all of them are good.
Katherine:
One of the things we are interested here at the Stowe Center is the connection between history and now. You were an English major, but still studied history? And now you are a history professor and a journalist.
One of the things we are interested here at the Stowe Center is the connection between history and now. You were an English major, but still studied history? And now you are a history professor and a journalist.
Dr. Cobb:
I minored in history, so history was always there. And when I graduated I thought do I want to be a historian or do I want to be a journalist? During the week I am a historian and on the weekend journalist. I am interested in what is happening in the present and how it ties to the past. We are very ahistorical in our approach to things. Being able to confront our past will help us change trajectory. I am teaching class at UConn on Ferguson next semester, and one of the things I point out to students in Ferguson is that it is a predominately black community that used to be a predominately white community. We are approaching the 80th anniversary of the Harlem Riot in 1935. And Harlem was a community that used to be all white and quickly became all black. And in Detroit in 1943 there was a riot. In 1920 Detroit was 96% white, and in 1940 the black population had quadrupled. People were concerned, you started seeing signs that you would think would be in Mississippi.
I minored in history, so history was always there. And when I graduated I thought do I want to be a historian or do I want to be a journalist? During the week I am a historian and on the weekend journalist. I am interested in what is happening in the present and how it ties to the past. We are very ahistorical in our approach to things. Being able to confront our past will help us change trajectory. I am teaching class at UConn on Ferguson next semester, and one of the things I point out to students in Ferguson is that it is a predominately black community that used to be a predominately white community. We are approaching the 80th anniversary of the Harlem Riot in 1935. And Harlem was a community that used to be all white and quickly became all black. And in Detroit in 1943 there was a riot. In 1920 Detroit was 96% white, and in 1940 the black population had quadrupled. People were concerned, you started seeing signs that you would think would be in Mississippi.
Katherine:
You write about the “deja vu of history”. There are always report released that say American students don’t know history. How do you as a professor and how do we as a site communicate the importance of our history?
You write about the “deja vu of history”. There are always report released that say American students don’t know history. How do you as a professor and how do we as a site communicate the importance of our history?
Dr. Cobb:
One it requires creativity. We need to step outside of the traditional ways we do history. We need to hook people on an interesting story. In history, there’s tragedy, moments of great possibility, incredible triumphs, all those things are in the narrative. One of the things I do on social media, is to drop things in. Like yesterday, I tweeted that it was 23 years since the LA riots as a result of the police officers .
I sometimes go to the FBI site and show people that the FBI has files on certain people and I’ll tweet out links to those. Now that’s also the idealistic approach, because we don’t just ignore history out of boredom. Texas wants to change all the text books to get rid of “trans Atlantic slave trade” and replace the term with “triangular trade.” Ignoring history does not absolve us, it indicts us. Ed Baptist, writer of The Half Has Never Been Told, talks about how central slavery was in building the American economy. And there are some people who say, “well, that was a long time ago.” And Ta-Nehisi once said to a comment like that, well “the Revolutionary War was a long time ago too.” There is a substantial plurality when you talk about discrimination that say whites were the most discriminated against. You have people who say the Civil War was not about slavery. It is difficult to confront that we as a nation went to war to decide whether to keep an institution that was about holding people as property.
One it requires creativity. We need to step outside of the traditional ways we do history. We need to hook people on an interesting story. In history, there’s tragedy, moments of great possibility, incredible triumphs, all those things are in the narrative. One of the things I do on social media, is to drop things in. Like yesterday, I tweeted that it was 23 years since the LA riots as a result of the police officers .
I sometimes go to the FBI site and show people that the FBI has files on certain people and I’ll tweet out links to those. Now that’s also the idealistic approach, because we don’t just ignore history out of boredom. Texas wants to change all the text books to get rid of “trans Atlantic slave trade” and replace the term with “triangular trade.” Ignoring history does not absolve us, it indicts us. Ed Baptist, writer of The Half Has Never Been Told, talks about how central slavery was in building the American economy. And there are some people who say, “well, that was a long time ago.” And Ta-Nehisi once said to a comment like that, well “the Revolutionary War was a long time ago too.” There is a substantial plurality when you talk about discrimination that say whites were the most discriminated against. You have people who say the Civil War was not about slavery. It is difficult to confront that we as a nation went to war to decide whether to keep an institution that was about holding people as property.
Katherine:
Here we are in New England the home of abolition [laughs]. I’m being sarcastic. People have forgotten that the north had slavery.
Here we are in New England the home of abolition [laughs]. I’m being sarcastic. People have forgotten that the north had slavery.
Dr. Cobb:
The tentacles of history stretched from Louisiana to NYC to Boston, everyone was intricately connected to slaver. 2/3 of our entire exports in the 19th century was cotton. And well what were they using the cotton for? Where were those textile mills for? When we start thinking like this we get out of South Carolina very fast. What banks were financing this? Slavery is not something that can exist in isolation. I’ve been in this awkward situation with white people will admit to me that their family owned slaves and that they feel bad about it. I feel bad about it too, but not for the same reasons. Like Ben Affleck who says he wanted to hide that his family held slaves. If you are trying to confront issues in American history, then we need to care less about individual genealogy. Let’s talk about what we’ve done nationally. Take the environment. No one person messed up the environment. What have we done nationally?
The tentacles of history stretched from Louisiana to NYC to Boston, everyone was intricately connected to slaver. 2/3 of our entire exports in the 19th century was cotton. And well what were they using the cotton for? Where were those textile mills for? When we start thinking like this we get out of South Carolina very fast. What banks were financing this? Slavery is not something that can exist in isolation. I’ve been in this awkward situation with white people will admit to me that their family owned slaves and that they feel bad about it. I feel bad about it too, but not for the same reasons. Like Ben Affleck who says he wanted to hide that his family held slaves. If you are trying to confront issues in American history, then we need to care less about individual genealogy. Let’s talk about what we’ve done nationally. Take the environment. No one person messed up the environment. What have we done nationally?
Katherine:
You’ve been on the ground in Ferguson and been in Baltimore. Your journalism is bumping up against your study of history. Now that your experiences in Ferguson have some distance, what particular things do you think now?
You’ve been on the ground in Ferguson and been in Baltimore. Your journalism is bumping up against your study of history. Now that your experiences in Ferguson have some distance, what particular things do you think now?
Dr. Cobb:
Like is often said, the seeds of the conclusion were present at
the beginning. When the Ferguson report was released, I went back to my notes,
and these were things the people were telling me the first week I was there. We
would start talking about Brown, but then would pivot to housing, to education,
to ticketing. In Ferguson they have a program with a judge on Saturdays to help
with outstanding warrants/tickets. It is one of the municipality’s most popular
programs. They get about 2,000 people. This is what is happening there. This
community is making money off of ticketing. When the Department of Justice report
came out later, it just pulled the cover off of what has been going on for a
long time.
What I know now more, is how Ferguson is related to bigger
trends. It is related to trends of communities going from white to black very,
very quickly. There is a lot of conversation around Ferguson and the political
structure of the municipality. Ferguson is 2/3 black, but 1 out of 6 on the
council is black. They had a black superintendent of schools who was ousted 6
months before the shooting over leniency towards letting St. Louis students
going to school in Ferguson. I was talking with a lot of political scientists
about this trend and Brenda Carter of Yale and the Reflective Democracy
Campaign, pointed out that American actually looks like Ferguson. Non-Hispanic
whites hold 90% of all political positions, even though they are only 63% of
the population. So people of color who are 37% of the population, don’t have
the luxury to say oh “this is just how Ferguson looks,” because it is how
American looks too.
Kathreine:
And now this week, we are seeing a similar situation being played out in Baltimore. But, Baltimore has a different political makeup than Ferguson and other places.
And now this week, we are seeing a similar situation being played out in Baltimore. But, Baltimore has a different political makeup than Ferguson and other places.
Dr. Cobb:
The Mayor of Baltimore, Stephanie Rowlings-Blake, had as much of a tailwind when she won as possible. She won with 84% of the vote. Baltimore tends to have lopsided elections in that way. During her first year, the legislature switched municipal elections to president election years. And so she was pegged to be re-elected in 2015, but then they pushed in back in 2016. So when we think about Obama, we can think about the entire power of his office.
The Mayor of Baltimore, Stephanie Rowlings-Blake, had as much of a tailwind when she won as possible. She won with 84% of the vote. Baltimore tends to have lopsided elections in that way. During her first year, the legislature switched municipal elections to president election years. And so she was pegged to be re-elected in 2015, but then they pushed in back in 2016. So when we think about Obama, we can think about the entire power of his office.
The television show The
Wire, analyzed all aspects of Baltimore life. You see everything that is
going on from the media to politics to industry and see everything that is
going on in these contexts. There is no single synopsis [of Baltimore].
And until we had a black presidency, we could not understand the
limitations of a black presidency [or political leadership]. That being said,
there is a difference between being a good leader and a bad leader. The
problems in Baltimore are much bigger than any single demographic. Much of
white population moved out to the suburbs and left behind a largely black population
which was far less employed. When we talk about the riot in 1968, the white
population was already declining and going to the suburbs. The fabric of the
American city was changing.
Katherine:
I know one person in the audience is from Baltimore, anyone else have ties?
I know one person in the audience is from Baltimore, anyone else have ties?
Audience
member:
My husband is from Baltimore, so it is very personal for me.
My husband is from Baltimore, so it is very personal for me.
Cassandra
Butler, Stowe Center Trustee:
I think you alluded to it earlier, but I would like you to expand on the role of being an African American in public office, on Barack Obama. You said it has to do with class and that he was “dealt a bad hand”?
I think you alluded to it earlier, but I would like you to expand on the role of being an African American in public office, on Barack Obama. You said it has to do with class and that he was “dealt a bad hand”?
Dr. Cobb:
At the time Barack Obama was elected, the U.S. was in two wars, lots of money, was being spent towards those wars, and the economy had tanked. It is a kind of neat comparison to look at black mayors where they were popping up. Cleveland, Gary, Newark-those are cities where industries have left. I went to South Africa and met with members of parliament and one said when Mandela came to power, the thing we had to adjust to was thinking that South Africa was a rich country with poor allocation to realizing that if we did redistribute evenly there would be a lot of poorer people.
At the time Barack Obama was elected, the U.S. was in two wars, lots of money, was being spent towards those wars, and the economy had tanked. It is a kind of neat comparison to look at black mayors where they were popping up. Cleveland, Gary, Newark-those are cities where industries have left. I went to South Africa and met with members of parliament and one said when Mandela came to power, the thing we had to adjust to was thinking that South Africa was a rich country with poor allocation to realizing that if we did redistribute evenly there would be a lot of poorer people.
It is kind of a neat comparison to look at Black mayors where
they were popping up. Cleveland, Gary, and Newark and to think about those
cities where industries have left. I went to South Africa, met a retired member of parliament from when Mandela came to power. He said the thing
we had to adjust to, is we thought South Africa was a rich country with poor
allocation, we found out though if we distributed evenly, there would be lots of poorer people. We are confronting declining tax bases in a lot of areas- except in Atlanta, but in Detroit and other former centers of industry.
Audience member:
There have been studies that have shown that race does not matter. That someone of one skin color is no smarter, no better than someone else. Race isn’t real.We should talk more about class. And why do people categorize Obama as black? He has a white mother, why doesn’t that make him white?
Dr. Cobb:
Race doesn’t exist as a discrete biological function. But if you go to a movie theater a shout fire, and people get battered and bruised, but then you turn the lights and say “oh, it was a lie, there is no fire” the people who were hurt are still hurt. Race is a lie, but we use it to make people feel subordinate. We need to grapple with the legacy of race.
Race doesn’t exist as a discrete biological function. But if you go to a movie theater a shout fire, and people get battered and bruised, but then you turn the lights and say “oh, it was a lie, there is no fire” the people who were hurt are still hurt. Race is a lie, but we use it to make people feel subordinate. We need to grapple with the legacy of race.
On Obama’s identity, fine to say he is multiracial, but most black people are multi-racial and many white people are too. My great-great grandmother is white. But if I get pulled over while I’m driving, I’m not going to say “Oh, Officer you made a mistake. I am actually white.” say most Black people, and many white people are..get pulled over can’t say officer, I’m actually white. And ideas of class have allowed us to avoid talking about race. New Deal, the GI Bill, all these things helped certain people. And once people, white people, seized to be poor, they are now Americans in full. If you’re black there is a sense of resentment when you achieve. I dropped my friend off at the airport in a Mercedes convertible. An Officer comes up to me and just yells “what kind of f****** idiot you are leaving your lights on in the day?” and then just drives away. If a white person who grew up in Appalachia and gets a Mercedes they are considered a success story.
Katherine:
Isn’t that the issue of the stereotyping? We had this idea that people who live in poor areas, therefore we expect less on the positive side, and more on the negative side?
Isn’t that the issue of the stereotyping? We had this idea that people who live in poor areas, therefore we expect less on the positive side, and more on the negative side?
Dr. Cobb:
Here’s the thing we never get to, is that white people are not culpable for the actions of other white people. I was on a subway in DC, and a black person gets on, listening to some hip hop in his ear phones, screaming out like every iteration of mother****** possible. Now, I’m 6’3”, and when I got off that train I was like 5’7”. You have to consciously put off that this person is not representing me. We can’t make these grand assumptions based on race.
Here’s the thing we never get to, is that white people are not culpable for the actions of other white people. I was on a subway in DC, and a black person gets on, listening to some hip hop in his ear phones, screaming out like every iteration of mother****** possible. Now, I’m 6’3”, and when I got off that train I was like 5’7”. You have to consciously put off that this person is not representing me. We can’t make these grand assumptions based on race.
Katherine:
Just want to follow that up with what happened in Newtown. It was not cast that white people were all made to be like this one person.
Just want to follow that up with what happened in Newtown. It was not cast that white people were all made to be like this one person.
Dr. Cobb:
People take the proportionality argument, that there is a higher percentage of black crime, per number of people. But if we took all of the black people out of this country, it would still be much more violent than most other counties in the Western world. A white person may be scared to walk in a black neighborhood, but if a man from Holland came to the U.S. it wouldn’t be unreasonable for them to be scared of white people here.
People take the proportionality argument, that there is a higher percentage of black crime, per number of people. But if we took all of the black people out of this country, it would still be much more violent than most other counties in the Western world. A white person may be scared to walk in a black neighborhood, but if a man from Holland came to the U.S. it wouldn’t be unreasonable for them to be scared of white people here.
Audience member:
First question, your mother made you watch 60 minutes. What’s her background? Bourgeois?
First question, your mother made you watch 60 minutes. What’s her background? Bourgeois?
Dr. Cobb:
Mother started college when she was 52.
Mother started college when she was 52.
Audience member:
I am British West-Indian, and I listened to his question [man who said class matters, race is not real] and I am thinking, when I grew up I never had to identify as a race. That wasn’t on our birth certificates. The U.S. should not separate people by race on their birth certificates.
I am British West-Indian, and I listened to his question [man who said class matters, race is not real] and I am thinking, when I grew up I never had to identify as a race. That wasn’t on our birth certificates. The U.S. should not separate people by race on their birth certificates.
Audience member:
I was born in New York and there is no race on the birth
certificate..
Dr. Cobb:
I don’t think you can say something is bourgeois that is educational, what that implies is only a certain class of people have these interests which is not true. My father only went to the third grade because there were no opportunities. I think you can be poor, you can be uneducated, and still want to learn, still be engaged in learning.
I don’t think you can say something is bourgeois that is educational, what that implies is only a certain class of people have these interests which is not true. My father only went to the third grade because there were no opportunities. I think you can be poor, you can be uneducated, and still want to learn, still be engaged in learning.
Audience member:
I’m a first generation American, and when my father emigrated here from Ireland he only had a sixth grade education and was a Union brick layer. My mother was a cafeteria worker and every Sunday they would gather their 5 kids and we would all watch 60 minutes. It was where we, as not necessarily enfranchised people, thought we were learning the truth.
I’m a first generation American, and when my father emigrated here from Ireland he only had a sixth grade education and was a Union brick layer. My mother was a cafeteria worker and every Sunday they would gather their 5 kids and we would all watch 60 minutes. It was where we, as not necessarily enfranchised people, thought we were learning the truth.
Dr. Cobb:
I saw Morley Safer once in the airport and I ran him down and said, I’m a professor and a journalist and my mom made me watch you. I have to get your autography. It’s important to have access to educational resources in whatever form. I sent out a tweet once at like 3:00 am, asking people to tell me when they got their first library card. It crashed my twitter! I still think of my public library as a huge factor in my life.
I saw Morley Safer once in the airport and I ran him down and said, I’m a professor and a journalist and my mom made me watch you. I have to get your autography. It’s important to have access to educational resources in whatever form. I sent out a tweet once at like 3:00 am, asking people to tell me when they got their first library card. It crashed my twitter! I still think of my public library as a huge factor in my life.
Audience:
About difference in complexion; Barack Obama being bi-racial, he has to choose how to self-identify. He is identified by other people as Black. I had the fortune to attend two civil rights events and learned so much. Science says there is no distinction, but everyday there are privileged white people vs. disadvantaged people of color. It is not a little thing it’s life or death, to discount the impact of visual racial difference.
About difference in complexion; Barack Obama being bi-racial, he has to choose how to self-identify. He is identified by other people as Black. I had the fortune to attend two civil rights events and learned so much. Science says there is no distinction, but everyday there are privileged white people vs. disadvantaged people of color. It is not a little thing it’s life or death, to discount the impact of visual racial difference.
Audience:
I am from Baltimore born and raised, and am old enough to be 9 years old in ’68 . We just have this cycle of oppression and riots. As a historian where do you see this going?
I am from Baltimore born and raised, and am old enough to be 9 years old in ’68 . We just have this cycle of oppression and riots. As a historian where do you see this going?
Dr. Cobb:
So here’s the two things I think- and historians look backward for a reason, it is easier to sort out what did happen vs. what is going to happen. Look at how we’ve progressed. You can make all the moral arguments you want about women being more franchised now, but it wasn’t until an external need- WWII- that this was expedited. Take the racial example of this. There's an old southern adage "keep the negro in his place." That place was at the bottom-there was clarity on who is at the bottom. But then we see what happens when you create an underclass-you have crime, poor academic performance, etc. But now it is in society’s benefit to be competitive internationally. We want everyone to know calculus now even though we didn’t want that previously. I heard this joke once that went like "now people are happy to see rappers in first class because they think they can fight." Things often change when there is an external need.
So here’s the two things I think- and historians look backward for a reason, it is easier to sort out what did happen vs. what is going to happen. Look at how we’ve progressed. You can make all the moral arguments you want about women being more franchised now, but it wasn’t until an external need- WWII- that this was expedited. Take the racial example of this. There's an old southern adage "keep the negro in his place." That place was at the bottom-there was clarity on who is at the bottom. But then we see what happens when you create an underclass-you have crime, poor academic performance, etc. But now it is in society’s benefit to be competitive internationally. We want everyone to know calculus now even though we didn’t want that previously. I heard this joke once that went like "now people are happy to see rappers in first class because they think they can fight." Things often change when there is an external need.
Audience:
I saw you at St. Joseph’s University on a panel and thought you were outstanding. And you
laid out the problem there, just like you’re doing tonight for the audience.
What role do we have as an audience, what can we do?
Dr. Cobb:
It would be presumptuous of me to tell people what to do. I try to talk with young people who are interested in journalism and contribute my time. I contribute resources to the same library where I got my first library card. I try to make a difference where I can. As for corporations and the broad community, generally I think when much is given, much is required.
It would be presumptuous of me to tell people what to do. I try to talk with young people who are interested in journalism and contribute my time. I contribute resources to the same library where I got my first library card. I try to make a difference where I can. As for corporations and the broad community, generally I think when much is given, much is required.
Katherine:
This audience is interested in your perspective on things like this, on ways people can make change.
This audience is interested in your perspective on things like this, on ways people can make change.
Audience:
What role do white people play in the race conversations? A lot of times white friends stay silent. How do you feel that they should approach the situation?
What role do white people play in the race conversations? A lot of times white friends stay silent. How do you feel that they should approach the situation?
Dr. Cobb:
It's not good when people that are not in a particular group tell others in that group how to handle things. It's like men telling women how to handle sexism or it would be like telling David Ortiz how to hit a fastball. You have to defer to people’s personal experiences. It is very important when we see racially how this works when you see something like Orange is the New Black and start talking about mass incarceration. When really cute, educated white girls are getting wrapped up in prison, now they start paying attention. With freedom rides, when they put white people on buses, there was attention. I think there is a subversive power to this. I was in New York with a friend named Renegade (ask Ta-Nehisi about him when you see him) and we were waiting for a cab. And then this white woman walks next to us and starts to hail a cab too. We thought, now we are never going to get a cab. And sure enough a cab pulls up to her and she opens the door and says "you both wanted a cab, here."
This doesn't always happen like that though. I was in New York, with Renegade and Ta-Nehisi and we were walking on the street, and an older white women walked up and she just did an about face. Who would have thought two essayists, and a poet would scare someone?
It's not good when people that are not in a particular group tell others in that group how to handle things. It's like men telling women how to handle sexism or it would be like telling David Ortiz how to hit a fastball. You have to defer to people’s personal experiences. It is very important when we see racially how this works when you see something like Orange is the New Black and start talking about mass incarceration. When really cute, educated white girls are getting wrapped up in prison, now they start paying attention. With freedom rides, when they put white people on buses, there was attention. I think there is a subversive power to this. I was in New York with a friend named Renegade (ask Ta-Nehisi about him when you see him) and we were waiting for a cab. And then this white woman walks next to us and starts to hail a cab too. We thought, now we are never going to get a cab. And sure enough a cab pulls up to her and she opens the door and says "you both wanted a cab, here."
This doesn't always happen like that though. I was in New York, with Renegade and Ta-Nehisi and we were walking on the street, and an older white women walked up and she just did an about face. Who would have thought two essayists, and a poet would scare someone?
Audience:
Bringing it back to Hartford, my son goes to a magnet school. One day one of my son’s friends came to visit him at school. She is from Burlington. She was so unnerved by people recognizing racial difference out loud. The magnet school is diverse, but she is from an all white school and wasn’t used to recognizing race. She was taught to be color blind. My son’s friend came from Burlington, she was so unnerved by people recognizing differences in race. [If you are a person of color] you can help this girl, white people to recognize and appreciate difference.
Bringing it back to Hartford, my son goes to a magnet school. One day one of my son’s friends came to visit him at school. She is from Burlington. She was so unnerved by people recognizing racial difference out loud. The magnet school is diverse, but she is from an all white school and wasn’t used to recognizing race. She was taught to be color blind. My son’s friend came from Burlington, she was so unnerved by people recognizing differences in race. [If you are a person of color] you can help this girl, white people to recognize and appreciate difference.
Audience:
See, I don't want to help like that or teach. That girl will be fine if she never learns to not be color-blind, because she is protected, privileged to not recognize race.
See, I don't want to help like that or teach. That girl will be fine if she never learns to not be color-blind, because she is protected, privileged to not recognize race.
Audience:
I went to a program about race and really was confronted with what it means to have privilege, to live in a racist society. It is important to validate people's feelings, to listen, to learn if you do not come from the same background as another person.
Audience:
The dangerous side of the oppostite end of pendulum is that people feel its not their place to have this conversation. Men don’t feel comfortable talking about sexism so no one talks about it because people think they’ll get jumped on. How new is it that the henchman of the status quo sever somebody’s spine and kill them? Another question is we have photographs, coffee table books of lynching, and now we are seeing acts of police violence being documented. What has that done to the movement?
The dangerous side of the oppostite end of pendulum is that people feel its not their place to have this conversation. Men don’t feel comfortable talking about sexism so no one talks about it because people think they’ll get jumped on. How new is it that the henchman of the status quo sever somebody’s spine and kill them? Another question is we have photographs, coffee table books of lynching, and now we are seeing acts of police violence being documented. What has that done to the movement?
Dr. Cobb:
The reason those photographs of lynching exist, it was one of the things people took pictures of. Audio technology, photograph recordings, one of the first things that was recorded was a lynching. These things have been documented by the pertinent technology of their eras. The other side of that- white people were lynched absolutely. It was a white phenomena for many years. People wouldn't lynch slaves, property, got in trouble. Those spectacular elements of lynching came about as a means of intimidating the black population at large, those things are not new at all. In Storrs, we have the spirit rock, and some students painted Black Lives Matter on it and within hours the word black was spray painted over. We have have not systematically devalued all lives. If the behavior we saw in lynching, happened to white person, we would say that is psychopathic. Saying black lives matter is subversive. Talk about Michael Brown stole cigars, Freddie gray arrested...what this means if you are a black person, if you have run a foul of any of these elements, simply by saying black lives matter fundamentally you cannot be treated in certain ways. Those are the things we are grappling with now and have been back to 1619, which I why I sit down and write.
The reason those photographs of lynching exist, it was one of the things people took pictures of. Audio technology, photograph recordings, one of the first things that was recorded was a lynching. These things have been documented by the pertinent technology of their eras. The other side of that- white people were lynched absolutely. It was a white phenomena for many years. People wouldn't lynch slaves, property, got in trouble. Those spectacular elements of lynching came about as a means of intimidating the black population at large, those things are not new at all. In Storrs, we have the spirit rock, and some students painted Black Lives Matter on it and within hours the word black was spray painted over. We have have not systematically devalued all lives. If the behavior we saw in lynching, happened to white person, we would say that is psychopathic. Saying black lives matter is subversive. Talk about Michael Brown stole cigars, Freddie gray arrested...what this means if you are a black person, if you have run a foul of any of these elements, simply by saying black lives matter fundamentally you cannot be treated in certain ways. Those are the things we are grappling with now and have been back to 1619, which I why I sit down and write.
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