When you dig down to the nitty-gritty, there’s not much new or substantial in the ongoing beef that Princeton University’s public intellectual Cornel West picked with President Barack Obama. It’s an old-school game of “playing the dozens,” albeit an erudite version for an Internet-savvy audience. Back in the day, Black kids on the playground woofed at each other, issuing verbal taunts and insult-laden rejoinders. “Your momma so skinny, she could hula-hoop with a Cheerio,” one wit might say. Then, came the reply: “Oh yeah, well, your momma so fat, her school picture was an aerial photograph.”
For the most part, the insults tossed around are meant to be good natured and entertaining. And, of course, they were never to wander far from the unarticulated propriety established by those who enjoy the game. The fun stopped if anyone crossed the line with a cutting remark that sliced too deep or proved too humiliating. Typically, such an infraction resulted on one or both players suffering a bloody nose or split lip.
A week ago, West played the dozens on President Obama. In an interview with Truthdig blogger Chris Hedges, the loquacious philosopher described a personal and political pique with the president. “I think my dear brother Barack Obama has a certain fear of free Black men,” he said. And, he called him “a Black mascot of Wall Street oligarchs and a Black puppet of corporate plutocrats.”
Did West cross that line?
Perhaps he has, if the resulting reaction in the blogosphere serves as the game’s referee. But I’m a bit more charitable toward West. Sure, West’s bottom-line complaint about the President’s policies (or lack thereof) that specifically address the dire situations in many Black communities is worthy of public debate. And, yes, the good professor went awry in linking his personal issues with his public critique.
But the real issue here is a gross fear among some progressive leaders that such attacks have—or will have—a bearing on the President or his ability to get re-elected. Fear not. Judging by the silence from the White House, Team Obama doesn’t seem the least concerned about the food fight that’s raging among the intelligentsia seated at the Black dining table in the Ivy League faculty lounge. Indeed, the President just left Ireland, where he jested about his “O’Bama” Irish ancestry.
Why? Well, just like schoolyard games, no one who matters really cares about the taunts and insults tossed around like bubble gum and candy. So Professor West didn’t get tickets to the inauguration and his hotel doorman did. Big whoop! Endless invective over this trivia makes a sideshow of supposedly earnest public policy discourse. In this case, one played by well-educated and highly compensated media stars.
