As Katia mentioned last night, black commentators like Cornel West and Julianne Malveaux took Barack Obama to task for not paying more tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. on the 45th anniversary of his “I Have a Dream” speech.
The two academics, West and Malveaux, guested on Tavis Smiley’s PBS show (the New Yorker’s Kelefa Sanneh profiled Smiley in early August), and were asked whether or not they thought Obama delivered:
Malveaux responded, “Not at all. My heart’s broken, actually. I hoped to hear more about King… That he could not mention the name of Martin Luther King Jr., that he was reduced to some preacher from Georgia, was a disappointment.”
Cornel West said: “It’s clear that when you run from history, run from memory, it’s hard to be empowered to change history to create a better future and to build on memory so that this becomes a great memory itself in the future.”
A few minutes later, Malveaux added: “Reverend [Jesse] Jackson has said there’s a baton that has been passed from Dr. King to Reverend Jackson to Barack Obama. … But I think the brother dropped the historical baton, even if he carried the policy baton.”
Ta-Nehisi Coates, at the Atlantic, rightly takes them to task for failing to look past the “kissing of the ring” outlook. Here’s his defense of the light MLK reference in Obama’s speech, which I think is very well articulated:
Half the reason for having John Lewis, for having the film of MLK, for having MLK’s kids is so that Obama is free to focus on winning the election. I don’t think you do that by making the speech a paean to MLK—God bless him. How many votes is that going to get you? When you’re on the battlefield, you don’t pause put down your sword and shield to praise God for allowing you the privilege of being there. Do that after the battle’s won.
Robert Caro’s excellent New York Times op-ed on Wednesday argued (as others have) that if Thursday night’s moment had its roots in any historic speech, it was “the one that made Martin Luther King cry”—Lyndon B. Johnson’s 1965 address to Congress introducing a voting rights act. And in a different take on Coates’s thought, Caro suggested that the documentation of the historic moment occurs not on the strength of rhetorical references, as West and Malveaux would have it, but on the rather unassailable strength of its own unfolding.
It was truly disappointing and frustrating to hear West and Malveaux deliver such arrogant and obtuse criticism over Obama's failure to pay sufficient fealty to their grand sociological narrative.
After such an impressive speech, delivered in a rich historical context that was quite ably and extensively developed by the DNC, one has to wonder if Drs. West and Malveaux were really on the same planet.
Perhaps they were attempting to maintain their independence as academic critics. Maybe they feel threatened. I don't know -- but their reactions were simply bizarre given the circumstances.
Posted by Pete on Sat 30 Aug 2008 at 03:08 PM
Pete,
I absolutely agree with your comments. Several days have passed since the West and Malveaux interview, and I'm still wondering what it was they were trying to accomplish.
Obama delivered a solid speech. He focused on the key issues and policies that are going to help get him elected. Right now, that's the most important thing he can do.
Posted by Carlita on Sun 31 Aug 2008 at 09:38 AM
Pete, I too totally concur with your postion. As an African American of 60+ years who lived through and contributed to the Civil Right movement, I too understand the historical significance of Barack Obama's accomplishment, but he is trying to become president of America, not president of Black America. While many think if he wins he should focus of Black ills, the fact is he has to focus on ALL of America's ills which will in the process address our concerns. I know there is a desire given the history of this country for the first Black president to "get back" for all the evil given us, a theory seemingly encouraged by Drs. West and Malveaux in their arrogant statements. It ain't gonna happen folks!o
Posted by Bill on Mon 1 Sep 2008 at 01:03 PM