Cornell West: Thumbs up or Thumbs down?

[IdaBriggs]

I am in discussion about him and am under the impression he is an educated outspoken advocate for the African American community, but have been told that he is offensive to many Democrats. I know his famous book Race Matters was absolutely groundbreaking, but that was twenty years ago.

I am a Bernie supporter, and I am unsure if this is simply standard Bernie/Hillary we-have-to-disagree-because-primary.

Thoughts, please?

[brush]

1. Not good. Seems an intentional swipe at Obama.

Guess Sanders can't help attacking anything connected to the "Democratic Party Establisment", as he calls it.

[Gothmog]

2. Cornel West is a horrible choice for platform committee

[1StrongBlackMan]

47. I suspect it was his attempt at being inclusive ... and his choices are really limited.

[bettyellen]

3. Cornell compared Obama to George Zimmerman and likened him to house slaves. He loved PBO

until he realized he was not going to be the prominent advisor he had hoped for. Turned on him at the inauguration- before PBO got to do a damned thing. Childish and self serving. Hope he does not embarrass Sanders too badly.

[IdaBriggs]

10. What are his stances, other than "rude to PBO"?

Are they inappropriately viewed in the AA community?

[firebrand80]

18. It's his language

It's not about criticizing Obama, many have respectfully done so.

Black people get defensive about Obama, whether they agree with him or not, because of the unfair treatment he gets from the right. The things West has said is just way over the line, and are as bad or worse than things said on the Right.

Not to mention the fact that such language should be beneath an academic.

[IdaBriggs]

21. The use of the "n" word is not one I associate with education.

People being casual or talking "street" while goofing, maybe, but not as an acceptable part of public discourse. I have to say I wonder why he went there. Did he ever apologize or clarify?

[firebrand80]

23. Not that I know of

I believe he chose his words very carefully to draw attention to the statement.

Showmanship is kinda his thing, which I find annoying.

[IdaBriggs]

24. Much appreciation for the information!

[JI7]

4. the problem with west is the offensive things he said about Obama , doesn't have much to do with

hillary or bernie other than people who think he would help get black support for candidates and were wrong.

[IdaBriggs]

11. Thank you -- is this a "truth to power" situation where he was

disappointed in false hope, or a great opportunity for publicity by being a jerk? Did he have any legitimate critiques?

[SaschaHM]

5. The dislike of West among AAs and Dems because of the..

way that he has treated Obama started way before Bernie got in the race. I was honestly surprised when Bernie brought him on board because many AA Dems cannot stand the man.

[IdaBriggs]

12. Thank you. Is he a "real" activist? Is he respected in any circles?

Or is he seen as a self promoter?

[uponit7771]

36. last

[FrenchieCat]

6. Word salad ivory tower shit talker....

Who thinks he's a poet. The fact that Bernie picked him for anything says more about Bernie than all of the Wall Street noise he's made! Disgusting picking someone who knows not better than to disrespect cause he can't have it all his way! Sickening, really.

[IdaBriggs]

14. Are his "asks" reasonable in addressing issues experienced by the AA

community? Did he feel "betrayed" because he expected "more" from Obama? Or is he just taking advantage of being free to critique someone who is actually doing something? (Were they friendly prior?)

[JustAnotherGen]

17. No he felt betrayed because

He wasn't invited to the Inauguration.


Dyson says it best:
https://newrepublic.com/article/121550/cornel-wests-rise-fall-our-most-exciting-black-scholar-ghost

Cornel West’s rage against President Barack Obama evokes that kind of venom. He has accused Obama of political minstrelsy, calling him a “Rockefeller Republican in blackface”; taunted him as a “brown-faced Clinton”; and derided him as a “neoliberal opportunist.” In 2011, West and I were both speakers at a black newspaper conference in Chicago. During a private conversation, West asked how I escaped being dubbed an “Obama hater” when I was just as critical of the president as he was. I shared my three-part formula for discussing Obama before black audiences: Start with love for the man and pride in his epic achievement; focus on the unprecedented acrimony he faces as the nation’s first black executive; and target his missteps and failures. No matter how vehemently I disagree with Obama, I respect him as a man wrestling with an incredibly difficult opportunity to shape history. West looked into my eyes, sighed, and said: “Well, I guess that’s the difference between me and you. I don’t respect the brother at all.”

My tacit agreement with Dyson -
focus on the unprecedented acrimony he faces as the nation’s first black executive; and target his missteps and failures. No matter how vehemently I disagree with Obama, I respect him as a man wrestling with an incredibly difficult opportunity to shape history.

I don't care what happened to Carter, LBJ, FDR, Kennedy, Clinton -


What he (Obama) has gone through is unprecedented.

Yet we are all supposed to step and fetch for Corny?


At this point - count me among the people who don't care. He didn't rub shoulders when he lived in Princeton, he certainly doesn't now.

[IdaBriggs]

22. Wow! Thank you for sharing that!

It is interesting that Bernie is inviting such a "political outsider" into the "inner circle".

[JustAnotherGen]

27. Political Outsider?

Or apt 'capitalist'?

[EffieBlack]

38. He hasn't asked for anything for the AA community. He's pissed because Obama didn't give HIM props

[La Lioness Priyanka]

26. +1

[Number23]

7. He was awesome when he sold out to be in that Matrix movie. He's been a colossal embarassment ever

since.

[IdaBriggs]

15. Okay, I did not know that and ended up looking him up --

Love it! (I am a science fiction/fantasy fan, so cameos are awesome - if I were famous, I'd do it, too!)

[rbrnmw]

8. He has been disliked for a long time before Bernie

He's been dissing President Obama since he took office practically.

[IdaBriggs]

16. Legitimate complaints? As in, truth to power? Or just jumping on

taking advantage of being a black activist criticizing a black president?

[kwassa]

34. Personal jealousy.

Obama put West and his friend Tavis Smiley out of business. They saw themselves as the leading spokesman for black Americans. They appointed themselves to this position, and got very upset when they discovered they were being eclipsed. Cornel has never forgiven Obama for not worshipping at his feet.

[bettyellen]

40. I remember reading there was some event the two of them expected BO to attend and he skipped it....

I think it was something Smiley organized before the election. And then for West at least, there was the debacle about tickets to the inauguration. So, yes- personal crap.

[1StrongBlackMan]

48. The event was Tavis' ...

annual The State of the Black Union. I fell in the thick of the 2008 primary, and President Obama sent Michelle in his stead.

[JustAnotherGen]

9. Less talk and more action

He has been talking out of his ass since 2008.

I always find that black activists who talk too much and write too much and make too much money off of "systemic oppression" are not eager for change.

What's the difference between Reverend Al and Jessie Jackson and this guy?

They had the brass to run for President.

Then along comes Obama who actually won.

[IdaBriggs]

13. Thank you! I think I am starting to see the big picture.

[firebrand80]

19. I haven't forgotten the cold shoulder Obama got

from black "leaders" in the beginning.

They didn't get on board until it was clear that they were not speaking for the community they claimed to represent.

[Coolest Ranger]

20. This was a slap

in the faces of those of us who support President Obama.

[uponit7771]

35. +1

[La Lioness Priyanka]

25. there were many qualified black people who didn't say Obama was 'niggerized'

"Too many black people are niggerized," West said Monday on CNN. "I would say the first black president has become the first niggerized black president."

This was a slap in the face to Obama, the first black president.

I was appalled at this pick.

I'm not black though, so I'll let actual black people speak but I personally found it revolting.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

32. I believe it was intentional.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

33. could also be cluelessness

[EffieBlack]

39. He's not clueless

Not by a longshot

[1StrongBlackMan]

49. As I said ... His choices were limited ...

and I'll add here, Killer Mike and Spike are back in the studio.

[YoungDemCA]

54. He also has said some anti-Semitic remarks

“(Obama) feels most comfortable with upper middle-class white and Jewish men who consider themselves very smart, very savvy and very effective in getting what they want."

Also, he one called President Obama "a Rockefeller Republican in blackface."

[Starry Messenger]

28. I'll be watching the C-span broadcasts of the platform committee meeting

The byplay between West and Rep. Elijah Cummings should be fascinating.

Others in the thread have expressed my other opinions on this.

[Jackie Wilson Said]

29. Most of this sudden love by white folks for West, no surprise.

Most just want to use him as a way of beating on Obama or supporting Bernie.

This is where I lost my faith in the guy



Dont know how to link to it, but it is a tweet by West

Brother Bernie and Brother Trump are authentic human beings in stark contrast to their donor-driven opponent

[vdogg]

30. Wish I had ten thumbs. They'd all be pointing down.

Can't stand the dude. Every time I see him I want to drop kick my tv.

[SidDithers]

31. Is Cornel West even a Democrat?...

The DNC shouldn't allow a non-Democrat on the Platform Committee for the Democratic Party.

Sid

[1StrongBlackMan]

50. Why not? ... They allowed one to run for the nomination!

[EffieBlack]

37. Cornel West was once a respected scholar, but that was a long time ago - now he's a laughingstock

In the past 15-20 years, he has squandered his reputation with shallow, silly, poorly written diatribes masquerading as "scholarship" - work that would not earn a young assistant professor an invitation to return to the school next year, much less tenure as a full professor. He is seen as a joke in academic communities, which is why he spends most of his time going around giving speeches at rallies and marching in protests rather than doing any actual teaching or scholarship.

Cornel West is viewed in most circles as a charlatan and a buffoon who is taken seriously only by people who don't know any better (and who don't know many black people) and believe that a loud-mouthed black man throwing around big words is "deep" and that being obnoxious and disrespectful is "speaking truth to power."

The fact that Sanders has embraced this fool and put him on the Democratic Platform Committee doesn't speak well for him.

[Digital Puppy]

41. That about says it all.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

43. This

[1StrongBlackMan]

51. LOL ... How do you REALLY feel? ...

and that being obnoxious and disrespectful is "speaking truth to power."

Well ... it's their style.

[PragmaticLiberal]

42. Cornell West

Here are some links on why many in the AA community have issues with West.

It's not just "because we don't want to hear criticism of President Obama" as some DUers have stated.

It's not the criticism but what we believe to be in part his motivation.





http://www.thenation.com/article/cornel-west-v-barack-obama/


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/13/cornel-west-msnbc-black-hosts-sharpton-harris-perry-obama_n_2121549.html

[forjusticethunders]

44. Cornel West is a living, breathing embodiment of everything that is wrong with the modern "Left".

[1StrongBlackMan]

52. +1.

[1StrongBlackMan]

45. Count me as a ...

And it has nothing to do with who he supports in the Democratic primary.

[IdaBriggs]

46. I appreciate all of the people who have responded in this thread.

I feel like I have a better handle on the personality involved. I hope he does right by the honor he has been given. I have family I worry about driving-while-young-black-male, so I am especially anxious that some of the egregious civil rights violations and police abuses get addressed YESTERDAY.

[Mary Mac]

53. Because Zimmerman

Worst surrogate ever.

[hibbing]

55. Thumbs down n/t

[TheKentuckian]

56. Thumbs up for me but then I don't care if he is scathing toward Obama

because sometimes Obama deserves it regardless if he gets a ton of racist bullshit.

I get the pile on factor but too bad too sad, goes with the territory. The pass because assholes are such nasty shit fountains is not something I buy.

I also believe that the insistence on framing West's issues with Obama as driven by some petty personal slight is a device to justify a refusal to process any substance and indeed automatically disregard it not only from West but anyone.

The St. Bernard stuff is also silly unless sainthood and worshiping now is bestowed by actually being left of political center and not being wrong ALL the time. Maybe ahead of the curve on occasion. It isn't his fault that soooo damn many of the rest can't compare to better than solid even if not spectacular.

[Coolest Ranger]

57. Thumbs down

He is a joke to our community. No one takes his behind serious.

[lib87]

58. Disliked Since 2008

I appreciate the effort of having a well known AA surrogate but I just think the campaign got bad advice to use West.

[uponit7771]

59. down