Civilized or Otherwise: an Ode to Respectability Politics
Respectfully American.
As energies begin to flare on quadruple levels, millennials are caught dead center in a battle for the emergence of truth and radical justice versus social normalcy. These last few weeks (heck last few years) have been full of outrage, outburst, obstruction, and did I mention outrage?
On a macro scale, these issues have involved embezzlement at colleges and universities across the country and continued protests of the criminal justice system to the micro level of a continued conversation regarding sexual assault, LGBTQIA+ inclusiveness and self-liberation.
These issues have not just made us more aware of the clear biases and differences within communities, but it has especially shown us that respectability politics is still a very prevalent part of society.
Take the Parkland Shooting “#MarchForOurLives” protest that has taken over the country juxtaposed to similar movements such as “#BlackLivesMatter” which pushed (and still does) for gun control laws within their attempt to campaign against violence and systemic racism towards Black people by police and law-enforcement and who’s movements were met with riot-gear, tear gas, countless arrest, and considered acts of terrorism.
Or even the recent (but continued) vocal “disruption” of #AUCShutItDown members at the Morehouse Student Government Association debates regarding college communities ignoring sexual assault. Members of AUCSID posed a question which was screened, therefore they decided to take matters into their own hands and ask the question regardless of protocol.
This in turn caused #AUCShutItDown members (specifically Clarissa Brooks) to be met with irritation and outrage from the student body. Both situations continue to support the idea that the more respectful a party is in their approach and attempt to be heard, the better it fairs within the larger community.
But why is that?
Dr. Carol Anderson, a Charles Howard Candler Professor of African American Studies at Emory University, suggests that respectability politics is a two-fold system which has the potential to uphold and criminalize Black people, our actions, and overall community values.
In a gut wrenching and painfully descriptive series of examples, Dr. Anderson affords listeners (in this case Morehouse College students, faculty, staff and visitors) a more in-depth view of just how far being a respectable Black person (mostly male) can get you in her discussion titled Respectability Will Not Save Us.
Dr. Anderson offers the lynching’s (both noose ridden and systematic) of Black folks such as: Claude Neal, Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner and Tamir Rice, to the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which Rosa Parks was the vehicle for due to Claudette Colvin being 15, unwed, and pregnant. No matter how important or impactful the cause, anything that could be seen as a character flaw would have taken precedent over the issue of injustice, leaving leaders of Black liberation movements with hefty decisions to make.
Respectability politics or the politics of respectability by definition, refers to “attempts by marginalized groups to police their own members and show their social values as being continuous and compatible with mainstream values rather than challenging the mainstream for what they see as its failure to accept difference.” More simply put, Black people having to choose between living in the margins or tap-dancing to make a difference.
The way in which this ideal has been ingrained into cultural systems is through communal identity or what we call social norms. If people (Black people in particular) would align themselves with the rules and regulations of the particular industry, institution, or community they seek to be apart of, they would be readily accepted…
That is until their intelligence is questioned, based off their skin color, they are offered the “token black” rhetoric, someone has the audacity to get too comfortable in conversation, they’re mistaken for the help, a thug or criminal or they eventually get tired of business as usual and begin to buck the system.
Respectability politics has not been and will not be the saving grace for Black people, but it has done an excellent job at keeping the Black community stagnant.
50 years to the death of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the “progress” we were supposed to make as a nation has been overshadowed. We are yet and still fighting similar battles, even more deeply rooted in blatant hatred and bigotry in our post-racial America, under the banner, “what would MLK Jr. do?” …respectability politics.
#BlackLivesMatter continues to stand tall in their fight against systematic lynching’s, police brutality, gun control and the justice system, only to be overshadowed by the fact that the movement was race centered, leading media outlets to call the movement thuggish and irrational, while President Obama suggests there should be a mutual respect between police and organizers… respectability politics.
Time and time again, Black people are shown just how far being respectable can take them. Yes, there may be some benefits like a comfy corporate job, some social group acceptance (greek letter organizations, honor societies, country clubs), and maybe even some awards… but ultimately respectability politics is just another way of saying, “stay in a child’s place,” which is a direct slap in the face to Black liberation.
Being a respectable negro has done its job. It has silenced communities, murdered millions, halted liberation, left the voiceless completely mute, and victim blamed like no other.
At a time, such as this, being respectable is in direct conflict to the saying, “if you don’t stand for something, you will fall for anything,” as well as the many organizations which were established to offer Black bodies space, when there was none.
In this push toward liberation, there is no time to stick to business as usual, especially when more liter fluid is being thrown on the fire daily.
So where do you stand? What will you do? How has being respectable helped you?
Corey D. Smith is a senior, sociology major, attending Morehouse College. Offering critique, inciting conversation and shaking the proverbial table.
