opinion
Why Blacks Didn’t Celebrate Bin Laden’s Killing
U
nderstandably, the killing
of Osama bin Laden
unleashed strong emotions
among Americans – relief, satis-
faction, fears of retribution,
denial, and even exuberance.
But, there was something dis-
tasteful about the raucous celebra-
tions that took place outside the
White House, in Times Square and
at Ground Zero. The late night
news coverage gave us a one-night
affair of fists pumping in the air,
jubilant cries of “USA! USA!,”
and demonstrators singing that
famous post-game victory song
“Na Na Na, Hey, Hey, Hey, Good-
bye!”
The next morning, a Muslim
Community Center in Portland,
Maine reported that it had been
attacked by graffiti artists
overnight. Scrawled across the
base of the building, which serves
mainly Somali Muslims, were the
words: “Osama Today, Islam
Tomorrow” and “Long live the
West.” Those hateful words under-
score the fact the war on terror is
not over. And, neither is the war
on ignorance and hate.
naacP
Stacey Patton
A week later, American Muslims
have been given a chance to
respond with a mix of relief, anxi-
ety, and perhaps naïve hope that
anti-Muslim sentiment will let up.
There has also been a great deal of
media buzz about whether or
not the public celebrations
among a small minority of
people were appropriate.
One obvious point that has
been missed in the commen-
tary is that those celebrations
were mostly devoid of Black
people. The fact is that in
Harlem and the Black sections of
Brooklyn there were no sponta-
neous gatherings full of chanting,
cussing, flag waving, chest bump-
ing, carousing, and singing with
strangers. There was no loud col-
lective orgy of national pride and
triumphalism in any other Black
public squares across America.
Now, why is that?
It’s not that Black Americans,
whose patriotism is often under-
valued, do not feel some of the
same emotions as those who took
to the streets last Sunday night.
Our quiet response speaks to our
long-held understanding of what
struggle is – our domestic struggle
as a marginalized community is
ongoing. We know that the war is
not over and that neutralizing
Osama bin Laden was a goal but
to this fact. In fact, Black
America’s rather solemn response
is actually congruent not only to
the President, but of most White
Americans.
I have to give the majority of
White America its due. Those frat
party celebrations overwhelming
do not represent the norm reaction
among most Americans, many of
whom have been vocally critical
of those spectacles. A
plethora of outspoken liber-
al voices have aptly
described what those scenes
really represent – oppor-
tunistic pockets of America
that see bin Laden’s death
as a reason to boost
American exceptionalism
and to reclaim hegemony on the
world stage at a time of domestic
instability and uncertainty.
Yet some pundits have that the
raucous celebrations aren’t a bad
thing and that their triumphant
nationalism is somehow healthy
for our national psyche.
Garrett Quinn, a writer for the
Boston Globe, illustrates my
point:
African Americans well
understand the
destructive impact of
ignorance and hate
only as part of a war that is not
over.
Perhaps Black America took its
cue from President Obama’s cool-
ness about the ordeal. He did not,
unlike his predecessor, descend
atop a naval ship and declare
“MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.”
Thursday’s ceremony and quiet
conversations with those directly
affected by the 9-11 attacks speak
“As Americans we’ve been
down and out for a few years. The
economy is in the tank, we’re
involved in three wars, we’re in a
severe budget crisis, and for the
first time we are uncertain about
our future as the world’s lone
superpower. This victory over our
national enemy gave us a moment,
however brief, to thump our
chests, wave our flags, and shoot
off fireworks. It gave us a moment
to carouse with strangers and sing
songs in crowded public spaces.
Public Enemy Number One was
vanquished and it was time to cel-
ebrate and feel good about our-
selves. And there isn’t a damn
thing wrong with that.”
Thankfully, our President, Black
America and most of White
America see it differently. The
“triumphant nationalism” and
arrogance is coming mostly from
armchair pundits who haven’t set
foot on the battlefield or near a
uniform. For the rest of us, we are
resolute in our understanding that
the struggle continues.
Stacey Patton is a writer for the
naaCP legal Defense.
The New Black Awakening: It’s Reparation Time
Y
ou get your freedom by let-
ting your enemy know that
you’ll do anything to get it
- Malcolm X
So, where were all Malcolm’s
fans on Thursday, May 19, when
the faithful celebrated the 86th
anniversary of his birth? Each
year, people dedicated to the prin-
ciples Malcolm X championed
gather in Westchester County,
New York at his Ferncliff
Cemetery gravesite, although
many profess to embrace
Malcolm’s teachings, the sad truth
is that the actual number of practi-
tioners are few. It’s regrettable that
so few Black Americans define
“freedom” the way that Malcolm
did. African Americans have fall-
en prey and acceptable of
America’s institutional racism. In
America and every country that
benefitted off the backs of slaves,
descendants of slaves continue to
allow themselves to be held at bay
regarding reparations.
Ask yourself: “If Malcolm were
alive today, would he be “for” or
“against” reparations? Or, if you
are a “Mainstreamer” ask yourself
if “the freedom” Malcolm spoke
of was “freedom to associate and
assimilate with Whites?” There
needs to be an awakening among
those Blacks with mainstream
mindsets about the importance of
reasoning and rallying for repara-
tions compensation. Until now,
Blacks have allowed themselves
to be bamboozled by an illusion of
inclusion in American society.
Mainstream forces keep most
Blacks’ minds off the daily doses
of racism they experience and
cause us to focus the energy we
should be using toward our free-
dom on the symbolism of keeping
Obama in the White House.
Instead of striving toward the
freedoms
Malcolm
sought,
“Mainstream Blacks” are happy to
entrust traditional institutions to
look out for our interests. Given
the frightening state of affairs in
the White world, mainstream ori-
b usiness
e XcHange
William Reed
ented Blacks have to admit that
nothing is improving for Black
people in general. Just when
“Black Mainstreamers” thought it
was safe to sneak out of the strug-
gle, a movement called Exodus
Two emerged. The movement
promotes a new philosophy for
Blacks “to rise up and act in our
own behalf.”
Our current level of “empower-
ment” is not working for us, so
instead of continuing to allow
White peoples’ interest to deter-
mine our agenda, Blacks need to
take a “timeout” from the main-
stream and make time to make a
difference in our own communi-
ties. If we continue to blend in,
our race will literally rot in the
ghettoes of America. Whether you
live on Malcolm X Boulevard, or
in a gated community, it’s time to
represent descendants of the slave
trade against the injustices that
destroyed Blacks and their for-
bearers’ lives. Isn’t it time that
concerned Black Americans admit
that nothing is improving for us
under this system? This system
was built based on Blacks provid-
ing free labor. It’s also time we
each demonstrated on behalf of
the descendants of slaves and
against the U.S. government for
its complicity in the slave trade
and the impoverishment, misery,
distress, and bigotry that contin-
ues to this day.
Isn’t it time to make the
American and European govern-
ments accountable for stealing
human beings off of the continent
of Africa and enslaving them for
400 years? The debt from that
period is simple: more than 100
million Blacks lost their lives, at
the same time; White-run nations
that acquired wealth and power
from one generation to the next
continued to thrive; while slaves
and their descendants lived in
wretched chattel squalor. Sadly,
most Blacks seem satisfied with
this status quo.
Newly awakened Blacks could
be an enabling force during the
upcoming months and years by
scheduling local lectures and
study groups on reparations. The
Exodus Two movement’s goal
seeks passage of a bill for repara-
tions. Toward that end, Exodus
Two is mounting two public ral-
lies: the first on June 15, begin-
ning at 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., in front of
The United Nations in New York
City. The second rally will be held
on June 20, beginning at 6 a.m.
until 5 p.m., on the steps of U.S.
Capitol. It’s time to get on the list.
E-mail: Yehudah ben Yaacov at
MilzAhead@aol.com or Tziona
Yisrael at Afraqueen@aol.com.
william reed is available for
speaking/seminar projects via
Baileygroup.org
Week on the Web
because of pedophil-
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question the validity
of the report … in
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Shuttle Endeavour is
now on its final mis-
sion in space… in
“Breaking News”
Bumbling FBI agents
have left behind doc-
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investigation at the
site of an anti-war
activist’s home after a
raid … in “National News”
Local theatre mas-
ters BaseRoots are
performing a choral
exploration of the
African Poetic line-
age … in “Music Reviews”
A report says that the tens of thou-
sands of abuse cases by Catholic
priests weren’t because of the
church’s celibacy requirements or
Mt. Hood Community College’s presi-
dent makes some compelling argu-
ments for tuition equity … in
“Opinion”
www.
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may 18, 2011 The Portland and Seattle Skanner Page 5