On the coffee table – ‘Sellout’

This is a great book that provides an insightful and even-handed look at the use of the word “sellout” by some African-Americans against other blacks.

Kennedy is personally qualified, as he notes near the end of the book. Besides being a professor at Harvard Law and the author of previous black sociology/studies type books, he has himself been a target of the “sellout” moniker more than once.

At the beginning, Kennedy explains that the word is used as part of efforts to maintain racial solidarity. He then notes that other groups use similar tactics, and later in the book draws some parallels to the gay/lesbian community.

But, for groups in general and black in general, this raises new questions that Kennedy tackles.

What are the defining points of the community, and here, specifically, the black community? And, who are the guardians and gatekeepers?

On the former question, Kennedy says it is, without a doubt, affirmative action. He then devoted an entire chapter to exploring how this rubber hit the road with Clarence Thomas.

Kennedy isn’t afraid to point fingers at many black “guardians” for merely engaging Thomas on his point of view, rather than any evidence he may have for it. He links this to the larger problem of black “guardians” writing off black conservatives in general. He makes clear that wrestling with an opposing point of view on empirical grounds does not necessarily mean agreeing with it.

No. 2, after affirmative action, from how I read Kennedy, he would probably say is interracial marriage.

And No. 3, quite relevant today with Barack Obama and Tiger Woods, is racial identity. Kennedy defends an ABC reporter a year ago asking Obama about how he identified himself, in part by referencing Woods’ “Cablinasian” self-designation.