Black Star Gate in Accra, Ghana.
2,112 words
In one of my recent items, I contrasted the biased Afrocentric narrative, which is hip now and popular with many schoolteachers these days, with a rather frosty counter-narrative informed by visitor reports from tribal regions. The latter is biased too, which I did acknowledge even if a bit flippantly, as it put a pretty harsh spin on things. That ignited an intense debate about how far traveler reports to tribal regions could be trusted (more…)
1,063 words
Although he was a supporter of President Obama, Henry Louis Gates Jr. did the President no favor when Gates made a scene and was arrested by a Massachusetts cop in 2009. Obama unwisely commented on the matter and had to hold a “beer summit” to smooth things over later. The cost of Gates’s temper tantrum was staggeringly high: In no small part due to their racial animus, Gates (and the President) turned a minor misunderstanding into a national firestorm, all during a massive economic crisis and while Obama was trying to navigate his health care reform through Congress. (more…)
Lothrop Stoddard
3,364 words
Lothrop Stoddard (1883-1950) was, in many respects, decidedly a man of his times. Like many intellectuals of his generation, he devoted the bulk of his writing to the nascent field of social science, hoping to harness the discipline not only to explain the past and present, but also to affect positive changes in the future. He can accurately be surmised as a disciple of Madison Grant, who was himself the intellectual progeny of Arthur de Gobineau by way of Houston Stewart Chamberlain. (more…)
Jewish entertainer Al Jolson in blackface
9,872 words
This essay provides an overview of the history of the black-Jewish relationships in the twentieth century. The record shows quite clearly that Jewish organizations as well as a great number of individual Jews contributed enormously to the success of the movement to increase the power of blacks and alter the racial hierarchy of the United States. I also discuss the more difficult question of how to understand Jewish motives in the black-Jewish alliance. (more…)