Glaude, Taylor discuss race and democracy

“Black liberation” describes a world in which African-Americans can live in peace without the constant threat of social, economic and political woes, Assistant Professor in the Department of African American Studies Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor said in a discussion on Thursday.

African American Studies Department Chair Eddie Glaude explained that throughout history, movements against racial inequality led by African-Americans in the U.S. has always been followed by calls for law and order or a radical backlash. He explained that black people are “socialized” into a value gap, citing his own childhood experiences, which he believes to be common experiences of black children in the U.S.

The value gap is the root cause of underachievement and the wealth gap in this country, he said, and noted that white supremacy, by fusing itself, into the black conscience, perpetuates the value gap as well.

To close the value gap, Glaude said, we need to challenge the white fear that impacts our behavior. Firstly, there must be a revolution of values. Secondly, there needs to be a changing of racial stereotypes.

Finally, one must change fundamental constructions, such as the pillars of neoliberalism, narcissism and selfishness, which have historically restricted economic prosperity.

“We stand at the precipice,” Glaude said. “A revolution begins not with trying to elect the celebrity of Bernie Sanders, a revolution begins with our ability to see that this world can actually be different. That the most vulnerable, the most marginal, can be brought to the center."

Taylor noted that a gap exists between equality before the law andactual freedom from oppression, duress, coercion or threat of harm. Historically, freedom in the United States has been fraught with economic inequality and unchecked injustice, she said.

The U.S. has entered a new period of black protest, black radicalization and the birth of a new black left, she said.

Taylor also expressed that black expectations have not been met during the Obama administration.

There were three key moments during the presidency in which Obama’s response disappointed many members of the Black electorate, particularly Black millennials, Taylor noted. These three key moments were the execution of Troy Davis, the killing of Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman’s subsequent acquittal.

The #BlackLivesMatter movement has pulled previously marginalized issues, such as mass incarceration, into the forefront, and yet, Taylor argued, a lot of the focus has been superficial, narrowing the struggle down to changing police treatment of African-Americans.

“What is it about a society that produces a racist, brutal police force that is trained on black communities?” Taylor asked. “Not only what does that say about that particular police force, but what does that say about our society in general?”

Get the best of ‘the Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

The discussion was planned as a conversation between Taylor and Glaude mediated by African American Studies professor Imani Perry.

At the beginning of the lecture, co-owner of Labyrinth Books Dorothea Von Moltke announced that Perry had decided late in the afternoon to withdraw from participating. According to Von Moltke, Perry was afraid that her participation might deflect attention away from her colleagues' works, in light of controversy surrounding her arrest in early February.

Perry pled guilty to speeding and driving this past Monday at the Princeton Municipal Court.

The conversation, titled "Eddie Glaude, Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor & Imani Perry in Conversation— Race and Democracy in the U.S.: Black Thought in the Hour of Chaos," took place in Labyrinth Books at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday.