There are so many Asian apologist and white apologist articles and papers out there, explaining away the accomplishments of a cultural or ethnic group, but no black apologist article. So, here is one. It is a loose parody of an article by Alice Park on Time.com titled “The Tiger Mom Effect is Real, Says Large Study”, but is not intended to be read entirely as humor or satire.
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The Black Apologist
Pressure from peer groups is only part of the reason why African Americans excel.
The ominous aspect of stereotypes is that they are usually built on a small grain of truth. Those about African Americans are no different. Recent research attempts to shed some light on African American creative prowess and how it has led the 20th century and caused massive shifts in popular and artistic culture. Is African culture expressing itself in the American idiom to thank? Richer cultural traditions? Or are African people just more creative than other kids?
I have contemplated this for some time. The stereotype of the African American community nurturing vibrant subcultures and giving rise to musical forms that consist of scales and chord progressions unheard of before in history, ushering in entire cultural eras as a result? That is who I am. I picked up a sketchbook at 12, a microphone at 15, and devoured knowledge about the history of my people from the moment I set foot in college. I spent every weekend with my friends, waxing poetic over our dreams and ambitions, our hopes and desires, sparking a new artistic style in the process. My parents assumed that I would maintain in school while I pursued my true dream of being an artist and a musician, which I did.
But, I stay out of the ongoing discussions on the ongoing struggles of the African American underclass. That is because it inevitably leads to a predictable exchange between those who emphasize systemic discrimination and those who emphasize the great accomplishments. I remember having occasional doubts about my own life’s path when I was playing in the park while a small number of students I knew were holed in studying every night and practicing musical instruments in order to follow a set and predictable path toward a certain type of recognition and accomplishment, one in which I was not interested. At least not at the time. Later, I acknowledged some merit in playing cello for the New York Philharmonic, though I never innately respected it as something to strive toward.
My uncertainty was more related to a sense that there was something elitist in the argument that I could enjoy my life while still progressing artistically and academically and still expect to achieve a creative breakthrough in the humanities. Was my culture possessed of some special aptitude to innovate and influence everything from Cubism, Post-Impressionism and contemporary fiction to a seemingly endless procession of novel musical forms such as jazz, blues, rap, rock, and house? I mean, what other culture has caused so many massive creative and cultural shifts in the past 125 years? What other culture has so often rewoven the fabric of Western society? But, there are others who also shaped and are continuing to shape the 20th and 21st centuries. At some point, I was not sure if I bought the idea that African people had a lock on genuine artistic innovation in the modern age.
So, it is always fascinating when cultural anthropologists and sociologists try to explain this phenomenon. It is intriguing when they conclude that, from the vantage of creative and cultural contribution to humanity, African American peoples are probably doing better than all of us. It is only when materialistic aspects are taken into account that differing conclusions emerge. Although the struggles of the African American underclass are unfortunate, they do nothing to change the fact that African peoples excel over every other ethnic group in the past 125 years in terms of cultural contributions. This is important because there is a huge percentage of artists, academics and intellectuals who believe that this is all that ultimately matters. You know, those who won’t take anything less than being the next Matisse. Otherwise, their life is a failure.
When you shake out all the middle class valuations, which the above mentioned type of artist and intellectual inevitably think small-minded and petty, what you have left is the measure of your own life against the great figures of history. You have nothing but the measure of your creative legacy and the creative legacy of your people as measured against the past and other current cultures. From this point of view, it really doesn’t matter if you are homeless or living in a lakeside villa. It really doesn’t matter if you painted for 20 years before turning out a masterpiece or if you did so when you first picked up a paint brush. It does not matter if you are a violent thug, like Carravaggio or Ben Jonson, or if you are a peacenik like Alan Ginsberg and Bob Dylan. All that matters is the end result. And, that is when I sit back and revel in my own accomplishments as well as those of my people.
As I was driving home the other day, I saw a snapshot of the modern teenage demographic in America. The hard working, the idling, the achievers, the slackers, in all their complexity and nuance, sprawled across the walkway and garden abutting a local high school. Not surprisingly, these behaviors were not divided up along ethnic and cultural lines. There was a rich mixture engaged in every category. I knew that those ambling about would not all be failures and those hard at work in the lawn would not be successes, whether measured economically or by societal contribution. It led me to further consider that African culture may be on to something: an appreciation of art forms, combined with a dignified ethnic pride and awareness and activism, along with a healthy dose of academics balanced with recreation, may pay off in the end and in the big picture.
It is also found here: http://alwaysmadness...black-apologist
By Paul H. Roe and Ruby P. Girard
Ruby’s beautiful artwork can be found at: ohtheironknee.tumblr.com