Merry Christmas

By W. F. Twyman, Jr.

The day fast approaches. Who has been naughty and who has been nice? I will give all of my readers the benefit of the doubt/smile.

I offer as a Christmas gift a pleasant reminder of how far we have come in black psychology since the year 2006. All has not been gloom and doom over the years. Once upon a time and not too long ago, a black woman considered me out there. Why? Because I was open to the possibility that a smart black guy could be elected President of the United States. Enjoy and feel gratitude that racial life has advanced immeasurably since I wrote the following words on November 12, 2006 somewhere on a Metrolink train in Los Angeles County.

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[Note — essay drafted on November 12, 2006]

Yesterday, I became reacquainted with thoughts that serve no useful purpose. I struck up a conversation with an African-American woman, a Los Angeles County employee who works part-time as an agent. I admired her enterprise. As we talked, the conversation came around to politics. Years of experience with The Black Table and the Hunt for Black Identity prepared me for the prospect of inflexible thinking. Would her professional ambition reveal itself in her thoughts? Would we have a free wheeling exchange of ideas? Or, would I be disappointed with mantra about The Man?

            I got my answer in record time.

            “That’s wrong. How can you say that blacks should run for statewide offices? They (read The Man) won’t let us,” my seatmate said.

            “Look at Senator Barack Obama. He ran and won in Illinois. And Illinois is not a majority black state. I think we limit ourselves when we only run for office in majority-black districts,” I replied. To me, limiting your aspirations to majority-black districts guaranteed a cap on black political careers.

            “Barack? He was a fluke. That was luck,” she said. “And where did he come from?” “Hawaii,” I said. “That’s right. Hawaii. That’s not here,” she said pointing to the floor with solemn finality.

            “But it’s not just Obama,” I replied. “Look at the blacks running for Governor of Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Massachusetts. You have two blacks running for the U.S. Senate in Maryland. And Harold Ford, Jr. is running for the U.S. Senate in Tennessee. Don’t you see how you expand opportunities by raising your aspirations?”

            She had a familiar look of disbelief. I knew the look, a look that understood the universe as one of constraint. Blacks could only run in black districts because “they” wouldn’t let us do more.

            I knew I would not change her thoughts. She had known these thoughts for so long that they now comfort and reassure her.

            I left her with my story of Douglas Wilder. I told her how no one—black or white—felt Wilder could be elected Lieutenant Governor of Virginia in 1985. I believed because I believe in possibility. But none of my friends or classmates thought Wilder had a chance. When he won, his win was discounted as a fluke. When Lieutenant Governor Wilder ran for Governor in 1989, no one thought he could win. I did. And when he won, he showed that changing your thoughts about the possible can really change your world. My seatmate listened politely but, for her, Wilder was the exception that proved the rule.

            Lawrence Otis Graham, a writer and law school classmate, has criticized the U.S. Senate for its lack of diversity. I respect Graham. I love his writing about black history. Yet Graham’s critique is the easy challenge. Of course, the Senate is not diverse. The real dilemma is rooted in black thought. How do we change black thought so that more African-Americans are as comfortable running statewide as they are campaigning in majority-black districts? Change black thoughts and you will see a well-integrated Senate over time.

            The problem is an inability to see possibility statewide.

            There are other currents in black thought that suppress achievement. These thoughts are different from one another on the surface. But they share something in common with the lack of statewide aspirations. These thoughts are negative, not positive. These thoughts reject possibility. And these thoughts provide comfort and assurance because they are familiar. Let’s explore some of these thoughts. In doing so, we may better understand why and how black achievement remains a systemic problem in black intellectual life.

[And to enjoy the feeling of foresight, Barack Obama was elected President of the United States in 2008. Deval Patrick became Governor of Massachusetts. Erick Russell became State Treasurer of Connecticut. David Patterson became the Governor of New York. Corey Booker became U.S. Senator from New Jersey. Tahesha Way became Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey. Wes Moore became Governor of Maryland. Justin E. Fairfax and Winsome Sears became Lieutenant Governors of Virginia. Mark Robinson became Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina. Tim Scott became U.S. Senator from South Carolina. Raphael Warnock became U.S. Senator from Georgia. Juliana Stratton became Lieutenant Governor of Illinois. Laphonza Butler and Kamala Harris became U.S. Senators from California.]

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Conclusion: May you all have a Merry Christmas!