[img]583|left|||no_popup[/img]During these dire times it is incumbent upon the black community to recognize, assess and correct the historic flaws in our mores that represent the self-hating and destructive remnants of our history of slavery. We are faced with such a moment.
The insidious intellectual assault on the black community posed by Tavis Smiley and Dr. Cornel West seems to have gained the able assistance of Dr. Boyce Watkins of Syracuse University added to the mix. So the “Dangerous Duo” have now morphed into the “Treacherous Trio.” While I’m always reluctant to base an article on an ad hominous (corruption of ad hominem) argument, when dealing with the kind of historically treacherous, petulant, hypocritical, and self-righteous delusions that these three represent, it’s impossible to avoid – at least, if one is beating back the gross manipulation of the black community.
Another Tipoff
It is no accident that with the announcement that Dr. Melissa Harris-Perry has been given her own show on MSNBC that Cornel West and Boyce Watkins have immediately chimed in with a campaign of bad-mouthing and criticism toward Dr. Perry. Their behavior was so predictably transparent that it’s deja vu. Their behavior and motivation are inspired by the same petty emotions that have caused them to brutally attack Barack Obama, their fear over being eclipsed as superstars in the black community.
Evidence of that is while Cornel West is renowned for alleging that all he cares about is what’s in the best interest of his people, immediately after the announcement of Dr. Perry’s new show on MSNBC he’s been quoted as saying that she’s “a liar and a fraud.” How does such an attack on a brilliant young black woman’s elevation into the public eye benefit “his people”? Isn’t it a benefit to the black community just to have America exposed to another intelligent black voice, whether or not the voice agrees with him.
Whether it’s envy, sour grapes or the early onset of senility, West has been routinely betraying his carefully crafted persona of the selfless black intellectual of late. First, on the day, Sen. Obama announced for President, West challenged him with the question of “How much do you love your people?” That took place before the nation, and a grinning Tavis Smiley, during Tavis’s “State of the Black Union’” broadcast. It appeared to be in direct response to Sen. Obama’s failure to postpone his announcement and appear on the broadcast to kiss Tavis’s ring.
West seems to have no shame when it comes to his own self-interest and monitoring which way the wind is blowing. In spite of the public spectacle that he engaged in on behalf of Smiley, once it became clear Obama had a chance to win the election, West didn’t hesitate to go on the road to campaign for him.
Look at What He Did
After Obama won and West failed to receive the goodies he expected, again West betrayed his image as the selfless black intellectual. This time his petulance revealed itself.
West not only criticized the first black President as “a black mascot of Wall Street oligarchs and a black puppet of corporate plutocrats,” he said that “I think my dear brother Barack Obama has a certain fear of free black men.” Not only was West grossly disrespectful, in the finest tradition of a common sheet-wearing racist, he publicly slandered the President as a black man.
The fact that he shot off his mouth without being able to substantiate one syllable should have discredited him.
Many of West’s colleagues attempted to justify his behavior by trying conjuring up a higher purpose. Then it came out that the entire episode happened because he felt slighted at not receiving tickets to the inaugural. And the future President failed to return his calls. What is really telling is his attitude toward one gentleman with tickets.
West is quoted as saying “I couldn’t get a ticket with my mother and my brother. I said this is very strange. We drive into the hotel and the guy who picks up my bags from the hotel has a ticket to the inauguration.”
Consider West’s mindset. What makes him think he’s more deserving of a ticket than the brother who picks up his bags? That does not sound like a brother who believes in the equality that he reportedly gets ten thousand dollars a speech to espouse.
I am not surprised at West’s unscholarly attack on Dr. Perry’s good fortune? I expect. In an Ebony article, A Black Woman’s “Life of the Mind” Is Her Own: Melissa Harris Perry, Dr. Kimberly Ellis indicates that in spite of the fact Dr. Perry was recruited to Princeton by West, when she came up for a full professorship she was denied, and West was involved. While West has a mantra of publicly espousing how much he loves his people, when he’s cloistered from public view within the walls of academia his true character begins to surface.
You will notice that West’s character and poor judgment are becoming more pronounced in his defenders and the people who become associated with him. I have watched that process taking place in Dr. Watkins of Syracuse University. In his article, “A Very Bad Reason to Vote for the Democrats,” Boyce says, “If you want my vote, you must address my issues…if you’re too busy to address my issues, I’m too busy to vote for you. Period.”
While that sounds reasonable, the logical question is, who does he suggest that we vote for, the GOP lunatics even the Republican voters don’t want? Or maybe he’s suggesting we just sit on our hands and let the lunatics vote themselves into office. Either way, that would be devastating to the black community.
With so-called intellectuals like these, the black community doesn’t need enemies. Thus, when the Treacherous Trio criticized Dr. Harris-Perry, that served as a ringing endorsement.
Eric L. Wattree is a writer, poet and musician, born in Los Angeles. A columnist for the Los Angeles Sentinel, the Black Star News, a staff writer for Veterans Today, he is a contributing writer to Your Black World, the Huffington Post, ePluribus Media and other online sites and publications. He also is the author of “A Message From the Hood.”
Mr. Wattree may be contacted at wattree.blogspot.com or Ewattree@Gmail.com
