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Prophetic Reflections: Notes on Race and Power in America (Beyond Eurocentrism and Multiculturalism, Vol. Two)
Book by West, Cornel
254 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1993
104 people want to read
About the author
Cornel West
152 books1,219 followersCornel Ronald West is an American scholar and public intellectual. Formerly at Harvard University, West is currently a professor of Religion at Princeton. West says his intellectual contributions draw from such diverse traditions as the African American Baptist Church, Marxism, pragmatism, transcendentalism, and Anton Chekhov.
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November 9, 2024
INTERVIEWS AND ESSAYS THAT PROVIDE UNIQUE INSIGHTS
Author Cornel West wrote in the Introduction to this 1993 book, “We live on the brink of a new wave of social activism in America… As I travel across the nation I sense a deep hunger and thirst for a more compassionate country---one in which public service supersedes private opulence… and the common good prevails over group xenophobia. My aim in these two volumes is to present in clear, succinct and primarily SPOKEN language a prophetic vision of what is worth fighting and dying for as this century comes to a close… most of them are uncut speeches and interviews… they are efforts to connect in a more intimate way with fellow citizens in a conversational mode---much like a prophetic black preacher soliciting response from an open-minded yet suspicious congregation. The basic end is not to arrive at one correct solution to a myriad of problems, but rather to forge bonds of trust and to mutually empower one another to face the tragic facts of the past and present and respond to them … The principal theme … is how and why we must go beyond eurocentrism and multiculturalism in order to keep alive prophetic thought and action in our time.”
In an interview with NPQ, he states, “America has always been both deeply xenophobic and a land of relative opportunity… Today, there are approximately 100 black colleges that educate one out of every two African-American students. And these colleges perform an important role in American society because they are accessible to black working people. They credentialize a group that would not ordinarily have access to colleges. But these institutions remain separate from the predominantly white elite institutions in that they cannot provide access---through connections or prestige of credential---to elite corporate institutions in this society.” (Pg. 10-11)
He continues, “Race is one very crucial and undeniable variable in American society but it is inseparable from economic class and gender… [Shelby] Steele talks about self-help, self-esteem and individual initiative as opposed to group consciousness and group action for blacks. But the Business Roundtable doesn’t operate individually… There is no reason why working people, or black people, or women or anybody else should not be able to balance individual initiative with collective action. They go hand in hand.” (Pg. 14)
He explains in another interview, “I myself am certainly deeply influenced by Kierkegaard, deeply influenced by Dostoyevsky, by a host of persons preoccupied with the meaning of life and the absurdity of the human condition. At the same time, I am also preoccupied with the struggle against injustice, institutional and personal forms of evil, and I see that similar to Lukacs’s quest for freedom. So the quest for meaning in the Kierkegaardian tradition and the quest… that comes out of a Marxist tradition, does establish some parallel between my own pilgrimage and that of Lukacs.” (Pg. 49)
He continues, “If I am in any way prophetic, a prophet without metaphysics, what I mean by that is that I am fairly historicist in my own formulations about how we go about understanding the Real and the Truth, and hence I am talking more in terms of tradition and community than I do simply of truths and facts. So you are absolutely right, I have a VERY strong anti-metaphysical bent.” (Pg. 51)
Later, he clarifies, “the thing about sacrificial love is that it has no metaphysical foundation… It is simply a leap that we make in our short lives that gives it so much meaning and infuses it with so much significance. It is a dangling experience… in addition to my Pascalian sensibility, I have a deep Chekhovian strain… [Chekhov understands] that we are able to love, care, and serve others… but we are able to do that with there being no deep faith in life or human nature or history… Now, as a Christian, I do this against the backdrop of certain narratives… the synoptic Gospel narratives, but again there is no metaphysical understanding.” (Pg. 68-69)
In another interview, he says, “My own left Christianity is not simply instrumentalist. It is part a response to those dimensions of life that have been flattened out, to the surface-like character of a postmodern culture that refuses to speak to issues of despair, that refuses to speak to issues of the absurd. To that extent I still find Christian narratives and stories empowering and enabling.” (Pg. 91)
In an essay on ‘Black Radicalism,’ he says of Cedric Robinson’s interpretation [in ‘Black Marxism: The Making of the Black Radical Tradition’] of Richard Wright, “Robinson’s attempt to view Wright’s Bigger Thomas in ‘Native Son’ as anticipating Frantz Fanon’s work in ‘The Wretched of the Earth,’ is… unconvincing---especially given the fact that Bigger murders not only the white woman Mary but also his black girlfriend Bessie. There is no move toward community but rather an atomistic assertion which negates any belief in affecting the powers that be through collective action with oppressed peoples. There are no such depictions of any such black collective agency in Wright’s corpus… Furthermore, Robinson’s silence regarding Wright’s later writings on African nationalism and black power---both devalued and demystified by Wright as props for the petty bourgeoisie---renders his argument even more vulnerable. In sort, Robinson lauds a Richard Wright I simply don’t recognize…” (Pg. 174-175)
In another essay, he observes, “Christian identity [must] not become a fetish. On the one hand, Christians must uphold their Christian identity while entering social movements and political organizations. On the other hand, a Christian should not become so preoccupied with one’s Christian self that it separates him/her from the social struggle.” (Pg. 193)
He says of Jesse Jackson, “If he didn’t have the churches, he would have very little organization because what he has the ability to do---given his tremendous charisma and eloquence---is bring folk together quickly, and then after the speech… pick up. To be able to create an organization that will stay together and work day by day and week by week---it’s hard to do. His organization [is]--a mile wide by an inch deep.” (Pg. 211)
The two volumes will be of great interest to anyone studying West and his ideas.
Author Cornel West wrote in the Introduction to this 1993 book, “We live on the brink of a new wave of social activism in America… As I travel across the nation I sense a deep hunger and thirst for a more compassionate country---one in which public service supersedes private opulence… and the common good prevails over group xenophobia. My aim in these two volumes is to present in clear, succinct and primarily SPOKEN language a prophetic vision of what is worth fighting and dying for as this century comes to a close… most of them are uncut speeches and interviews… they are efforts to connect in a more intimate way with fellow citizens in a conversational mode---much like a prophetic black preacher soliciting response from an open-minded yet suspicious congregation. The basic end is not to arrive at one correct solution to a myriad of problems, but rather to forge bonds of trust and to mutually empower one another to face the tragic facts of the past and present and respond to them … The principal theme … is how and why we must go beyond eurocentrism and multiculturalism in order to keep alive prophetic thought and action in our time.”
In an interview with NPQ, he states, “America has always been both deeply xenophobic and a land of relative opportunity… Today, there are approximately 100 black colleges that educate one out of every two African-American students. And these colleges perform an important role in American society because they are accessible to black working people. They credentialize a group that would not ordinarily have access to colleges. But these institutions remain separate from the predominantly white elite institutions in that they cannot provide access---through connections or prestige of credential---to elite corporate institutions in this society.” (Pg. 10-11)
He continues, “Race is one very crucial and undeniable variable in American society but it is inseparable from economic class and gender… [Shelby] Steele talks about self-help, self-esteem and individual initiative as opposed to group consciousness and group action for blacks. But the Business Roundtable doesn’t operate individually… There is no reason why working people, or black people, or women or anybody else should not be able to balance individual initiative with collective action. They go hand in hand.” (Pg. 14)
He explains in another interview, “I myself am certainly deeply influenced by Kierkegaard, deeply influenced by Dostoyevsky, by a host of persons preoccupied with the meaning of life and the absurdity of the human condition. At the same time, I am also preoccupied with the struggle against injustice, institutional and personal forms of evil, and I see that similar to Lukacs’s quest for freedom. So the quest for meaning in the Kierkegaardian tradition and the quest… that comes out of a Marxist tradition, does establish some parallel between my own pilgrimage and that of Lukacs.” (Pg. 49)
He continues, “If I am in any way prophetic, a prophet without metaphysics, what I mean by that is that I am fairly historicist in my own formulations about how we go about understanding the Real and the Truth, and hence I am talking more in terms of tradition and community than I do simply of truths and facts. So you are absolutely right, I have a VERY strong anti-metaphysical bent.” (Pg. 51)
Later, he clarifies, “the thing about sacrificial love is that it has no metaphysical foundation… It is simply a leap that we make in our short lives that gives it so much meaning and infuses it with so much significance. It is a dangling experience… in addition to my Pascalian sensibility, I have a deep Chekhovian strain… [Chekhov understands] that we are able to love, care, and serve others… but we are able to do that with there being no deep faith in life or human nature or history… Now, as a Christian, I do this against the backdrop of certain narratives… the synoptic Gospel narratives, but again there is no metaphysical understanding.” (Pg. 68-69)
In another interview, he says, “My own left Christianity is not simply instrumentalist. It is part a response to those dimensions of life that have been flattened out, to the surface-like character of a postmodern culture that refuses to speak to issues of despair, that refuses to speak to issues of the absurd. To that extent I still find Christian narratives and stories empowering and enabling.” (Pg. 91)
In an essay on ‘Black Radicalism,’ he says of Cedric Robinson’s interpretation [in ‘Black Marxism: The Making of the Black Radical Tradition’] of Richard Wright, “Robinson’s attempt to view Wright’s Bigger Thomas in ‘Native Son’ as anticipating Frantz Fanon’s work in ‘The Wretched of the Earth,’ is… unconvincing---especially given the fact that Bigger murders not only the white woman Mary but also his black girlfriend Bessie. There is no move toward community but rather an atomistic assertion which negates any belief in affecting the powers that be through collective action with oppressed peoples. There are no such depictions of any such black collective agency in Wright’s corpus… Furthermore, Robinson’s silence regarding Wright’s later writings on African nationalism and black power---both devalued and demystified by Wright as props for the petty bourgeoisie---renders his argument even more vulnerable. In sort, Robinson lauds a Richard Wright I simply don’t recognize…” (Pg. 174-175)
In another essay, he observes, “Christian identity [must] not become a fetish. On the one hand, Christians must uphold their Christian identity while entering social movements and political organizations. On the other hand, a Christian should not become so preoccupied with one’s Christian self that it separates him/her from the social struggle.” (Pg. 193)
He says of Jesse Jackson, “If he didn’t have the churches, he would have very little organization because what he has the ability to do---given his tremendous charisma and eloquence---is bring folk together quickly, and then after the speech… pick up. To be able to create an organization that will stay together and work day by day and week by week---it’s hard to do. His organization [is]--a mile wide by an inch deep.” (Pg. 211)
The two volumes will be of great interest to anyone studying West and his ideas.
February 25, 2016
Cornel West has spent much--if not all--of his academic career exploring and enumerating several points of concern: inequality (racial, yes, but inequality of all stripes), injustice, and the systems that perpetuate inequality and injustice. Prophetic Reflections is a succinct distillation of those ideas.
However, this is not a strictly polemical text. Section II, for example, demonstrates West's comfort and familiarity with academia. Perhaps this shouldn't be surprising, but if anyone is familiar with West's public persona, then I suspect my point is clear. Too often when speaking as a public intellectual, West dips into easily-quotable platitudes. At times, that happens here as well. However, Section II is unique and refreshing in this respect because West behaves and speaks more like an academic. The chapter on Lukács is particularly thought-provoking.
On several occasions, West also explains and justifies how he marries Evangelical Christianity with Marxist theory and analysis. Much to my surprise, West is persuasive and sincere in these moments.
However, this is not a strictly polemical text. Section II, for example, demonstrates West's comfort and familiarity with academia. Perhaps this shouldn't be surprising, but if anyone is familiar with West's public persona, then I suspect my point is clear. Too often when speaking as a public intellectual, West dips into easily-quotable platitudes. At times, that happens here as well. However, Section II is unique and refreshing in this respect because West behaves and speaks more like an academic. The chapter on Lukács is particularly thought-provoking.
On several occasions, West also explains and justifies how he marries Evangelical Christianity with Marxist theory and analysis. Much to my surprise, West is persuasive and sincere in these moments.
August 17, 2011
West dares to speak truth to power in a way few, if any, other intellectuals do in the public sphere today. This collection of interviews and lectures from about 20 years ago is just as relevant, if not more so today, and it's a great way for anyone unfamiliar with West to get a sense of his thinking. Well versed in American pragmatism, Christian faith, and the Marxist tradition, West unifies the traditions in this must read for any leftist.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews