The Ghost of Cornel West (Michael Eric Dyson article/long read)

[valet]

http://www.newrepublic.com/article/121550/cornel-wests-rise-fall

Thoughts?

 

[valet]

Excerpt:

Sharpton, lacking the leeway that derives from a leader’s violent death, had instead to kill his persona; the rabble-rousing and inflammatory style of his early days is gone. West remains an elite academic and can hardly be said to have ever been a true outsider, given his position in the academic elite and the upper reaches of the economy, but he hungers to be seen as rebellious. In truth, West is a scold, a curmudgeonly and bitter critic who has grown long in the tooth but sharp in the tongue when lashing one-time colleagues and allies.

The irony is that, as highly charged as his criticism has become, West is, in some ways, not that different from Obama. The president has long wished to be the grand architect of bipartisanship, the conciliator of left and right, the bridge between conservatives and liberals. West used to fancy himself a similar figure; at least he did when he was riding high on best-seller lists as a progressive icon. West sought to account for the suffering of black America by steering between the arguments of conservative behaviorists and liberal structuralists. He thought it was important to acknowledge self-inflicted injuries as well as dehumanizing forces. As Stephen Steinberg, a sociologist at Queens College, has argued, West set himself up as “the voice of reason and moderation between liberals and conservatives,” as the “mediator between ideological extremes.” Obama has similarly argued that black folk must cultivate moral excellence at home and in the community even as he admits the government must help fight black suffering.

 

[No1]

Excerpt:

Website will not work for me. I cannot read the article for some reason. Honestly, @Walt this looks like you ghostwrote it.

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

 

[tmonster]

sub

 

[mamba]

 

[mamba]

It's going to get ugly in the post Obama age. These Black leaders are going to be scrambling.

 

[Red Shield]

It's going to get ugly in the post Obama age. These Black leaders are going to be scrambling.

With Jesse and Al pretty much out of the picture. shyt will get messy in that black national "leadership" class.

 

[Kritic]

corporations paying a negro to go against another.. then sit back and enjoy the fukkery

 

[Jello Biafra]

Aside from his being charmed by Bill Clinton, West tends to criticize every president and powerful leader of the 2 party system. He called Hillary a war criminal just last fall.

Sure he was probably personally hurt by the Inauguration snub and he has a certain amount of attention whoring that all pundits are guilty of but I still enjoy watching/reading his work.

And I also think he tends to go harder on criticizing Obama because he (rightly) perceives all the rest of the black political pundit class on the Left doing nothing but carrying water for the President and not criticizing him at all.

 

[Grizzly]

I just started reading this but him starting this article talking about Obama says a lot

I can almost guarantee someone got in his ear and persuaded him to do this

 

[mastermind]

I agree with most of what Dyson said.

A lot of this has been said for years.

Plus West been shytting on Dyson for a minute.

Both are loud mouths tho, but I actually agree with a lot of what West says but he is clearly personally hurt.

 

[No1]

Aside from his being charmed by Bill Clinton, West tends to criticize every president and powerful leader of the 2 party system. He called Hillary a war criminal just last fall.

Sure he was probably personally hurt by the Inauguration snub and he has a certain amount of attention whoring that all pundits are guilty of but I still enjoy watching/reading his work.

And I also think he tends to go harder on criticizing Obama because he (rightly) perceives all the rest of the black political pundit class on the Left doing nothing but carrying water for the President and not criticizing him at all.

Reading what work? That is one of the points of the article. Dude does not produce any scholarship anymore. You also said "besides being charmed by Bill Clinton." Bill Clinton was the last Democratic president. It's not exactly hard to go hard on Bush.

 

[AV Dicey]

It's going to get ugly in the post Obama age. These Black leaders are going to be scrambling.

it will pale in comparison to the coming Obama/King wars.
A commenter's theory on black intellectuals and liberal plantations vs Obama using white liberals to his advantage is so crazy it might be true

 

[zerozero]