Monday, April 28, 2014

To the Clippers Detractors: Being Brave is a Privilege

After the girlfriend of Clippers team owner Donald Sterling released an audio of racist remarks to TMZ, the Clippers are getting a lot of backlash (especially from the Black community), accused of being cowards for not forfeiting their game in protest. I was at my limit when I saw yet another article complaining about the cowardice of the team. Other websites have taken a reactionary slant to their frustration, pointing to the civil rights movement as the model example of how Black people need to come together to make a difference.

But this article in particular didn't just bash the Clippers, oh no. It whined about the entire Black community being cowards. Now, I'm not going to review the article itself, although I'll say I wasn't impressed by it. Besides, it's not the article I want to share, it's the comments. Unexpectedly, someone finally put the feelings that I couldn't articulate into words. The reason I've been annoyed so much by this "conscious" community backlash.




Many, if not most Black people KNOW why African Americans don't just "quit" their jobs to fight racism in the workforce. The conscious (Black Power) community simply feigns obtuseness on the issue. They are frustrated that the rest of the Black community can't afford to be as disconnected from reality as they are. Firstly, black people were in economic turmoil before there ever was a  "Great recession". Many are economically worse off than those living in the civil rights era, and middle class jobs that Black people depended on have been outsourced (Detroit, anyone?). With work not as plentiful, African Americans often can't afford to take the same risks their predecessors did to combat racism on the job: much more is at stake because they lack the same amount of employment options. Secondly, the goal of combating injustice in the workforce is for better working conditions under your employer. Not to just quit so your boss can find someone who he can get away with treating like crap in replacement of you, while you're out on the street for being "brave". What exactly does that accomplish?

Thirdly, I doubt it'd be easy for the Clippers to just quit without getting blacklisted by other racist team owners that haven't yet been caught. Nor do I think it's practical for them to just get up and get any old kind of job without it being MEGA awkward because they are already sort of famous. Seriously, imagine trying to do your average 9/5 job with people (and stalkers) gawking and asking you for autographs and meaningless questions while you're trying to work. Quitting your job is a privilege, especially if you're famous. Privacy is a privilege.

And speaking of privilege, let's consider the privileges the civil rights movement had that don't exist today. The civil rights movement naively relied on capitalism to defeat the oppressive side effects of capitalism. It relied on well financed institutions like the NAACP to champion the rights of a few Black people. Eventually that was bound to fail, evident by the NAACP's recent endeavor to forgive Sterling so that his money can continue being spent on Black youth projects.This is partly why the civil rights movement lost its steam, and why it is difficult for new African American movements to gain momentum, even with the internet.

It takes money and promotion to stand out and get recruits. And, the people who control the money are the same ones who are at the root of Black oppression. So before people go hailing the civil rights movement as "the" shining example of civil disobedience, understand that civil rights philanthropists didn't use their money to silence the very organizations that they donated to--- at least, not to overt extent that they do now.
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