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As a sci-fi storyteller, the late Professor Derrick Bell made an excellent social theorist. And my pasty-white pink-collar self is not exactly qualified to discuss the philosophical merits of critical race theory and its applications at Ivy League law schools. But Professor Bell had many fans among us white-bread feminists in the 1970s/1980s, and some of us were sad that he wasn’t more widely memorialized last year just because Steve Jobs was sucking up all the available media attention. Now we’ve been given the chance — required to make a proper response — to the farcical Breitbartling BigNothing.Com “reveal” that Professor Bell and the man who is now President Obama once participated in the same rally for racial and feminist equality. Here’s a comment from David Swerdlick’s post at The Root on how “Breitbart’s Site Got Barack and Bell Wrong“:
progwoman
I’m not surprised that Obama hugged Derrick Bell. So many people responded that way to him. If a sweeter man walked the earth, I don’t know about him. Yes, he was “controversial,” unafraid to take unpopular stands, but he walked the talk, leaving behind several lucrative jobs on principle. And he extended a helping hand to so many students of color and whites as well. Women in particular. Breitbart wouldn’t have dared attempt to smear Obama with his association with Professor Bell while Bell was alive. I can assure you Breitbart’s memorial will not be a fraction as well attended as the one held for Bell at Riverside Church. This man was beloved, and it makes me really angry to read the innuendos about his character.
Even those of us who never met the man loved him, because he actually listened to women, which at the time and in his milieu was practically unheard of. There were plenty of male feminists around, but too many of them specialized in “Let me explain to you ladies what you don’t understand about your own experience” or “Thank Gaia that I have been chosen to save you poor oppressed women from your own lack of enlightenment; now shut up while I tell you how to act”.
But Derrick Bell was a cynic in the ancient classical tradition. He knew that racism (and sexism) is not a decorative embellishment that could easily be cut away from the fabric of American life; it is a thread woven into that fabric, warp to the weft of our picture of the Shining City on A Hill. He did not expect the public habit, conscious and otherwise, of valuing ‘whiteness’ over ‘all other colors’ (and men, especially straight men, over all other genders and gender preferences), to be extinguished in his lifetime, or probably his grandchildren’s. And yet he still felt himself required to combat racism and sexism, not just by making his life’s work teaching and encouraging younger generations, but by literally putting his professorial role at risk by demonstrating that he held his values more important than his career. Although he never threatened to burn anything down, his stubborn refusal to understand ‘how things are done’ gave him a reputation among the Intellectual Elite as a “firebrand”… because what was the use of acquiring valuable academic creditionals if it didn’t teach one how to rationalize self-protection at the expense of social justice?
The Harvard protest that sparked “Hug-gate”, however misunderstood by this week’s wingnut-wurlitzer professional agitators, is entirely representative of Derrick Bell’s philosophy and mission:
… Bell reentered the debate over hiring practices at Harvard in 1990, when he vowed to take an unpaid leave of absence until the school appointed a female of color to its tenured faculty. At the time, of the law school’s 59 tenured professors, only three were black and five were women. The school had never had a black woman on the tenured staff.
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Students held vigils and protests in solidarity with Bell with the support of some faculty. Critics, including some faculty members, called Bell’s methods counterproductive, and Harvard administration officials insisted they had already made enormous advances in hiring. The story of his protest is detailed in his book Confronting Authority.
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To detractors, Bell’s lament about Harvard amounted to a call for the school to lower its academic qualifications in the quest to mold a diversified faculty on the campus. However, Bell argued that academically able faculty were being ignored, and that critics of diversity invariably underplay the value of a faculty that is broadly reflective of society. More importantly, Bell argued that the credentials demanded by institutions like Harvard perpetuate the domination of white, well-off, middle-aged men. As he commented in the Boston Globe, “Let’s look at a few qualifications–say civil rights experience … that might allow [a chance at a tenured teaching position for] more folks here who, like me, maybe didn’t go to the best law school but instead have made a real difference in the world.”
Professor Bell didn’t insist that Larry Summers Derek Bok step down as Harvard’s president. He didn’t demand that a bunch of grad students (like then-law review editor B. Obama) risk their own futures by leaving their positions if Bells’ thoroughly worthy and honorable goal wasn’t met. He simply chose to offer his own comfortable faculty position as a bargaining chip. And when (predictably) Summers Bok refused to accept that the world was changing and that Harvard Law was, gracefully or not, going to change with it… Derrick Bell walked away from Omelas.
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The Fat Kate Middleton
Thank you for being here, Anne. I would never have known this, but for you. And I am so jealous of those who knew Derrick Bell … and could even hug him. What a wonderful, wonderful human being he was.
Professor
President Obama once met and shook hands with the Pope, so what does that make him (Obama)? A child molester and/or a nazi?
Laura
Thank you again and again. Your morning article started me off with tears, and now I have them again. The Omelas title is perfect.
muddy
I am sad to say that I never heard of Professor Bell until this video came out. When I saw it I was initially struck with what a kind face he had. I have been glad to learn more of him since then, thanks for writing this.
Egg Berry
Although that wasn’t a bad idea.
HyperIon
Thank you.
Daaling
There you clowns go again letting the right wing media set the narrative. None of you would be talking about this video which has been out there for years if it wasn’t for their latest smear campaign.
You people will NEVER learn. You will take the bait EVERY SINGLE FUCKING TIME. I am embarassed to call my self a liberal when I have to be associated with idiots like you all here.
The Fat Kate Middleton
@Daaling: And so you knew all about what a great person Derrick Bell was and how Obama supported him, and wrote about it whenever you could? I have to admit – as a troll, you’re one of the better ones.
moonbat
Thank you for this information, AL, and for the elegant literary comparison. Dr. Bell sounds like a truly wonderful scholar, person, and example for his students and for the rest of us.
The Fat Kate Middleton
And furthermore … were we all supposed to be madly researching any bad shit we could find against Obama, and then responding to it? Sheesh.
Cowbelle
@Daaling: Oh no. You won’t associate with me. I’m heartbroken.
Egg Berry
It must be a really sad life to be filled with so much hate for random people on the Internet.
hilzoy
@Egg Berry: Actually, Summers wasn’t President at the time, iirc.
Egg Berry
@hilzoy: i was just going by what Anne Laurie wrote.
4tehlulz
@Daaling: And yet, you’re here.
Joel
Apropos of nothing, but I was actually listening to NPR at some god forsaken hour in the morning and they were discussing the very term “Shining city on the hill”. Apparently it never existed. The appropriate context is.. well let me dig out the transcript..
Worth a thread in its own right…
Svensker
I always loved Le Guin and especially that story. Thanks for a neat post.
West of the Rockies (formerly Frank W.)
One of the reasons I keep coming back to Balloon Juice is the literary references. Ursula K. Leguin is alive and well in Oregon — not sure if she’s still writing much. “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” is an engaging story.
As for the Derrick Bell freak-out by some on the right, have we on the left ever been so collectively pin-headed on some issue in the last ten years?
Jimbo316
I heard about Prof. Bell and read some of his stuff. I didn’t know about the association with Pres. Obama, though it’s completely logical. The Breitbart cultists will soon disappear as they represent a furious hatred that is invariably all self-consuming.
The Fat Kate Middleton
@4tehlulz:
Thanks for bringing me down. Why can I not ever, ever just respond like this?
Anya
AL, Lawrence Summers was president of Harvard from 2001-2006. I think he was a tenured professor at the time (1992) but was not the president.
Polar Bear Squares
There was a time I thought, as a black man, you know, get a job, get a house, get married, stay out of trouble, don’t play the race card (hate that fucking term), be nice to people, control your anger, listen to both sides and voila! they might accept me as one of their own. As a real American. You know. One of those god-fearing special salt-of-the-earth folks Bible Spice keeps talking about.
But the more I see this smearing of a good and decent man (Prof. Bell) I get the feeling .. that will never be attainable. The bar is set too high. Not only do I hafto achieve all that aforementioned crap, but I hafto be a good obedient conservative who sits by and allows them to insult black folks who have the temerity to support diversity.
A new boogeyman is introduced almost damn near everyday. Sandra Fluke. Henry Gates. Derrick Bell. Do I have to constantly refresh my page on the book of faces to realize the new person I get to hate today?
Man eff that. Put me down with the radicals. They seem a lot more inclusive. And its a lot less stressful looking at the newest cat/dog pic than directing my anger at an ever-expanding cast of people everyday.
The Fat Kate Middleton
@Polar Bear Squares: Fucking amen. I can’t decide whether I need to throw up or cry.
middlewest
I saw Space Traders in college and thought it was clever satire, but a little over the top. How naive. Time has shown Prof. Bell was, if anything, too generous to white Americans. The aliens wouldn’t have to offer anything so magical or extreme to get what they want.
Mnemosyne
@Polar Bear Squares:
When the whole Gates kerfuffle happened, I had just finished watching his PBS miniseries, “Faces of America” (available streaming online!) and I could not get over the fact that Henry Louis Gates was now supposed to be a scary scary angry black man. His nickname is Skip, fer chrissakes! He’s, like, five-foot-four! How could that cop have possibly felt threatened?
And then I remember that we live in America, where a black Harvard professor can still be “put in his place” by a white cop.
debg
@Svensker:
Me too. I’ve actually got a kitty named for her.
El Cid
@middlewest: “We offer you gift certificates for pizza and wings.”
nellcote
@Joel:
Sarah Vowell wrote a whole entertaining book about it called The Wordy Shipmates. Recommended btw.
Nutella
@Joel:
Anyone who’s ever been to Winthrop would agree with that.
Winthrop MA, that is.
Canuckistani Tom
@Mnemosyne:
Have you seen his series ‘African American Lives?’
Series 2 is here
http://www.youtube.com/user/allblack33?feature=watch
Polar Bear Squares
@Mnemosyne:
I mean, dude, I’m a relatively law-abiding person. But I got baggage. I used to listen to Public Enemy. I used to wear an African medallion. I’ve gone to an anti-Iraq War or two. There exists many facebook photos of my drunk or in the process of drinking.
I say this because I get that people like Obama, Gates and Bell spend most of their time advance the cause. What’s the cause? That would be the cause of being a Respectable Negro. The kind that will make a conservative rethink their position when the Great Wingnut Revolution comes and all of us are sent to re-education camps. The “I’m-not-racist-because-I-know-Polar-and-he’s-good-people-type.”
But if these dudes are not only unacceptable but, like, totally radical, them I’m fucking doomed. I have no fucking shot. At all. If Gates deserves to get arrested for mouthing off, then I deserve to get tasered until I shit starbursts.
Marc
Nicely done Annie. I remember Bell too, and he was truly unusual. He was painted as some sort of impractical idealist, of course, and his SF book was not well received in the press. But his stand on principle at Harvard really impressed me.
Ben Cisco
@Polar Bear Squares: Thanks for this. Sums up my feelings on the subject perfectly.
Tone In DC
@Polar Bear Squares:
I’m late to the thread. Still, gotta like this.
g
@Mnemosyne: Skip Gates was perhaps the first person outside my family to see my son two weeks after he was born. A pure coincidence; of all my husband’s colleagues, we happened to encounter him first while strolling on the street. Nonetheless, he was as kind and as congratulatory to a pair of young parents as anyone could be, and I will always remember him fondly for that. That anyone could feel threatened by him – especially an armed officer of the law – is unthinkable.
Ruckus
@Polar Bear Squares:
Late night reading here.
What you said.
As a minority you do everything right, never miss a step and it really doesn’t matter. Being less than polar bear white is the issue. It’s always been the issue.
Of the 3 every day people that I’ve known and consider heroes 2 were black men I worked with, one of whom taught me more about life than my parents. I owe a lot of who I am to this man who befriended this polar bear white boy and opened his eyes to the humanity that I like to aspire to. I don’t think I’ll ever understand racists. Been trying to for about 50 years. Still no clue. What inspires them to hate?
Ivan Ivanovich Renko
@Polar Bear Squares: THAT has been the single biggest lesson I’ve learned from the last three years.
The bastards will NEVER accept me; they will never accept my accomplishments; they will never have any respect for me or anyone like me.
My heat-of-a-supernova rage stems from the knowledge that I fell for it. I fell for the whole “pull yourself up by the bootstraps, work hard, and you too can partake of the American Dream.”
Bullshit. It is all bullshit. If a man like Barack Obama, who raised himself up “by his bootstraps” to become a bestselling author, a senator, a President– if a man like that can have his every single accomplishment in life questioned– what the fuck about an ordinary fucking schlub like me?
I’ll tell you. Malcolm had it right- “What do white people call a black man with a PhD? ‘Nigger.'”
Darkrose
@Polar Bear Squares: I think I get a pass on being a Respectable Negro because of the whole lesbian thing. I hope so, anyway. Trying to be an RB ™ drove me into a nervous breakdown at the age of 25; after that, I just quit trying.