Over at Prospect Magazine there is a thread called "In praise of dead white men". It's about how everyone needs to learn the canon, Black or white. Why shouldn't it be? Modern watered-down education is founded on the same notion that Jim Crow was, that Blacks couldn't learn. Yet a lot of Blacks who claim to be proud are saying they need something more relevant to Blacks in education.
Well, OF COURSE we're not comparing white popular culture writers to The Fire Next Time or Invisible Man. Obviously James Baldwin is better than some novel about sexy vampires. AND Baldwin or Ellison or Maya Angelou is in an important way more relevant to Blacks than Shakespeare or Dante. But relevance isn't everything. Greatness is it's own thing. Blacks have been in Shakespeare plays for years because everyone can appreciate him if they try.
So, cut out the touchy-feely pop novels, and keep the canon, and keep Baldwin and Ellison. It ain't rocket science.
But that doesn't mean a white writer, taught by a white teacher, is going to appeal to Black kids. And it's not because white teachers are mean and nasty. You can't win if you're a white teacher. You're either mean and nasty or you're too nice. Black kids will walk all over a white teacher. It does no good to say "they should be ashamed!" They're not going to show respect until their communities are run by Black adults, their schools staffed by Black teachers, and their job opportunities are with Black businesses.
If that means government, from school all the way up to Congress, has to be Black, so be it. A Black Declaration of Independence is coming, and that won't be rocket science either. I'll write about in a while, so hang on.
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