My Thoughts on Cornell West’s Beef with Ta-Nehisi
Dr. Cornell West is Throwing Stones in a Glass House.
Posting this for the 1 1/2 people that care about my opinion on this. I hope this starts one of those 500 Comment wars that happen on my Facebook page when I say non controversial shit like, “Trust Women” and “Hillary would have been a better president than Trump” Probably not though, because I’m not challenging anyones idea of “Manhood” or “Accountability”
On the Morning of December 17, Dr. Cornel West released a post via the Guardian in which he emphatically states that writer, Ta-Nehisi Coates is the neoliberal face of the black freedom struggle. He attributes this to Coates allegiance to President Obama, his silence on the many atrocities under the Obama administration to our sisters and brothers in the middle east, and his “silences on issues such, as Wall Street greed, Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands and people.”
West accuses Coates of being the “ Neoliberal Face of the Black Freedom Struggle” but what exactly does that mean? In order to have a clear minded opinion, we have to first look at the definition of Neoliberal. According to Britannica.com
Neoliberalism is an ideology and policy model that emphasizes the value of free market competition. It is most commonly associated with laissez-faire economics. It believes that businesses and corporations can be the most successful and beneficial for the economy when there is little to no government interference.
Our current political and economic system is strongly influenced by neoliberalism. The Republicans party’s political ideology is guided by it, and while democrats can and have pushed against it, the foundation of most of their policies are built off of neoliberal ideas.
This is important to know, because the dominant stake holders of our country dictate our system, and for much of America’s history, that dominant stake holder has been the institution of whiteness. With this information on hand, it is confusing as to why West would call Coates their darling.
A sloppy skim of Ta-Nehisi’s writing will quickly show you that this concept does not connect with his analysis of the country, or his depiction of what will liberate African Americans, and under-represented group from the grip of white supremacy. In fact, Ta-Nehisi’s writing, ideology and work is an affront to this system.
West is one of the greatest minds this country has ever produced, it would be silly to think he doesn’t know this, he does. By calling Coates the black ambassador of this Neoliberalism, West is doing nothing more than finding a long winded way to call Ta-Nehisi an Uncle Tom.
The deeper you get into this piece, the less viable West point becomes. To push his argument ahead, he states that in Coates writing, he never connects the ugly legacy of white supremacy, to the “predatory capitalist practices, imperial policies (of war, occupation, detention, assassination) or the black elite’s refusal to confront poverty, patriarchy or transphobia. This ignores the volume of writing that Coates has produced which touch on all of these topics, so much so, that Coates his-self felt compelled to respond via twitter. No matter how much you love Dr. West, we have to be real, Ta-Nehisi’s thread and the way he refuted the good Dr’s claims should make you wonder if West even took the time to do a deep dive into Coates writing before he threw these accusations around.
It’s not just his incorrect argument on Coates not speaking up on topics such as patriarchy, or the ills of capitalism, it’s the boldness in which West say’s that Coates appreciation of Obama stops him from calling the President out for his very real atrocities in the middle east. Once again, a simple look through Coates catalogue shows that this isn’t true either. As America’s first black President, Obama gets a lot of slack, and even Coates has lionized him, but in the same breath, he has also called him on his shit, and there are countless receipts to prove that.
I can not stress this enough, Cornel West is a legend, intellectual titan, and hero to a lot of us, but even your heroes can be wrong. There will be moments when the people that inspire you will fall short. When that happens, we have to be honest about what’s going on, and call them out form a place of love. Which brings me to my final point. Dr. West has been one of the loudest voices in the fight for Social, Racial, Economic, and Environmental Justice, and was one of the first, and loudest supporters of Senator Sanders run for President. We should all give him props for that, he’s usually on the right side of the progressive political spectrum.
While he has remained sharp in the politics of politics, it has become common to see him going after other black leaders. Since Obama entered and then left office, he has wielded criticism at Melissa Harris Perry, his former Protégé, Michael Eric Dyson, Al Sharpton, President Obama, and now Coates.
We used to know and love West for his sharp racial and political analysis, and now when he makes headlines, it’s usually to go after another prominent black leader. This has happened while he enthusiastically supports Bernie Sanders, a game changing politician with great politics, and an ear for working class people, but someone who is flawed, particularly when on his racial analysis. When Bernie get’s it wrong on issues, which he has, Cornel responds with love, when his black counterparts get something wrong, or don’t agree with them, he wields a hammer.
Finally, I should be clear. This post isn’t meant to drag Dr. West through the mud, or attack someone who is more than likely receiving his fair share of criticism, it’s an attempt to call a spade a spade. Dr. West is most potent and helpful when he is helping us unpack the role that race place in the overall political analysis, and he can be a leader in articulating the need to support a radical black liberation struggle. He could be helping us to understand the way that whiteness has morphed to rationalize Donald Trump, and uplifting new leaders in the movement, but he’s not. Instead, he’s publishing hit jobs in a white owned publication, about a black man he claims is the darling of an ideology made up by white people. He’s throwing stones in a glass house.
