Segregation is back, baby! In an August 18 New York Times audio essay, Blow asked his fellow black Americans to return to the South to “significantly increase their own political power.” There is no way to truly have power in the country if you do not also have access to state power. And there is right now no state in the country where Black people are a majority, and not one where they are projected to be a majority. And that powerlessness is something that I detest.
It seems like you are mischaracterizing Blow's position when you say he thinks "people who look like me must have power." Rather, he thinks people who share the experiences and values and the awareness of what it is like to be black in America must be represented in power. The argument begins with the premise that blacks do not currently have power equal to their share of the population. There is the argument that blacks have faced unique experiences and continue to face discrimination and as such they need people who know about and care about the issues they face in power. You may disagree, but at least consider his perspective.
Aug 29, 2023·edited Aug 29, 2023Liked by HistoryBoomer
The opera based on his book was a huge hit....I didn't get to see it.
I can't think of anything that would destroy Black people's power more than moving and filling up 2 or 3 states.
My sense is that Blow's fear is in fact the ascendancy of Hispanics, whose population could grow to dwarf that of Blacks. (Already almost 1 1/2 times as large.) But in his salons, that can not be admitted....so he reaches for White.
I firmly believe the best way to decrease racism is to promote natural integration. Connect over shared interests and beliefs, focus less on cosmetic differences.
Another fine piece of writing, Carl! It's tempting to respond with something cynical about what appears to be a suggestion unlikely to yield positive results for those who'd follow it, but I don't think many black Americans (especially those living in the north) are going to give up their current lives, pack up, and move to the south based on one person's suggestion just because he's also a black American. Segregation, whether legal or voluntary, is an idea unbefitting a notably prosperous and multi-cultural society in the 21st century. Seventy-five years ago, in the pre-Civil Rights Era, American voters overwhelmingly rejected Strom Thurmond's segregationist platform when he ran for president. The idea that modern white Americans are united by our skin color, and seek to exclude Americans of other skin colors is a conspiracy theory, the bitter irony of which is that it harms those who fall victim to believing it true FAR more than it hurts white Americans.
I just finished watching an entire interview where Blow explains his idea perfectly with the example of how Liberals/Hippies did the same thing in Vermont around the time of the Vietnam War.
It's not about segregating, it's about consolidating power. White people don't have to be separate for black people to have a majority.... that's your fear talking.
If black people leave an area, they won't be there. The people left behind will be white. That will make white people separate. I'm not thinking of the places where black people are moving to, I'm thinking of the places they will be leaving.
It seems like you are mischaracterizing Blow's position when you say he thinks "people who look like me must have power." Rather, he thinks people who share the experiences and values and the awareness of what it is like to be black in America must be represented in power. The argument begins with the premise that blacks do not currently have power equal to their share of the population. There is the argument that blacks have faced unique experiences and continue to face discrimination and as such they need people who know about and care about the issues they face in power. You may disagree, but at least consider his perspective.
Also in your thought experiment about racial takeovers of states, I wonder if Asians wouldn't end up being a majority in California.
The opera based on his book was a huge hit....I didn't get to see it.
I can't think of anything that would destroy Black people's power more than moving and filling up 2 or 3 states.
My sense is that Blow's fear is in fact the ascendancy of Hispanics, whose population could grow to dwarf that of Blacks. (Already almost 1 1/2 times as large.) But in his salons, that can not be admitted....so he reaches for White.
I firmly believe the best way to decrease racism is to promote natural integration. Connect over shared interests and beliefs, focus less on cosmetic differences.
Another fine piece of writing, Carl! It's tempting to respond with something cynical about what appears to be a suggestion unlikely to yield positive results for those who'd follow it, but I don't think many black Americans (especially those living in the north) are going to give up their current lives, pack up, and move to the south based on one person's suggestion just because he's also a black American. Segregation, whether legal or voluntary, is an idea unbefitting a notably prosperous and multi-cultural society in the 21st century. Seventy-five years ago, in the pre-Civil Rights Era, American voters overwhelmingly rejected Strom Thurmond's segregationist platform when he ran for president. The idea that modern white Americans are united by our skin color, and seek to exclude Americans of other skin colors is a conspiracy theory, the bitter irony of which is that it harms those who fall victim to believing it true FAR more than it hurts white Americans.
WRONG!
I just finished watching an entire interview where Blow explains his idea perfectly with the example of how Liberals/Hippies did the same thing in Vermont around the time of the Vietnam War.
It's not about segregating, it's about consolidating power. White people don't have to be separate for black people to have a majority.... that's your fear talking.
What am I afraid of?
If black people leave an area, they won't be there. The people left behind will be white. That will make white people separate. I'm not thinking of the places where black people are moving to, I'm thinking of the places they will be leaving.