Acting White: House Negro vs. Field Negro

So Al-Qaeda’s No. 2 guy to Osama bin Laden, al-Zawahiri, thinks President-elect Obama is a House Negro (slave). Interesting. Barely in the starting blocks, but he is already in the ‘house’. I guess the entire world is not an Obama fan after all. Nevertheless, it is an interesting choice of words and line of attack that this sworn enemy of the US now takes – and worthy of note.

As quick background, the pejorative label, historically applied by blacks to other blacks, generally designates un-challenged submission to white authority, and resignation to the pursuit of individual interest, to the detriment of one’s ethnic affiliation.

It is bold, but not unprecedented, for a non-African-American, to take such a familiar name-calling position. Recall that Ralph Nader did a similar thing when he questioned whether Obama was going to be an Uncle Tom, if he succeeded in getting to the White House. As with Nader, al-Zawahiri is attempting to stir an old racial pot to a present-day boil. I think he will fail, as did the irrelevant Ralph.

Neither Nader nor al-Zawahiri has standing to use the term. In fact, the nuance of its use is beyond most people, as assimilation of the factors of power and influence becomes more widely understood and accepted for advancement. See The Field Negro blog. Those who remain wedded to simple labels and tired strategies are tragically stuck. While this group rains violence, drop-outs, drugs, gangs, guilt and absolution onto themselves and the rest of the country, they take a pass on opportunity which immigrants, especially from Africa, leap upon to free themselves.

Now I too have been labeled a House Negro, by some, for having the audacity to call into question some black behaviors, or due to other associations with my country’s majority whiteness, including my time at Harvard. But it is these very associations that allow me and others leverage to reach both out and back. For instance, one of my company’s projects is developing a 400 megawatt power utility for the government of Ghana and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) – real black power.

Perhaps al-Zawahiri expects Obama to back down, or that blacks will not support the President-elect cast in this unflattering manner. He is wrong. One America.

James C. Collier

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