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CARMEN'S CORNER: Self-hate, Kills
- By Carmen Watkins
- Published 07/7/2009
- Editorial and Opinion
- Unrated
Carmen Watkins
Carmen Watkins is president and CEO of the African-American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Houston.
View all articles by Carmen Watkins
Almost without warning, a giant in the music industry is dead at age 50. Fans from across the world huddled to console each other and reconcile their joy for the music against their loss of the musician. It was as if the world in one day just went silent for an evening, eyes fixed on the remains of the King of Pop.
I was struck by those television commentators who attempted to paint a picture of how empty his death ended. They descriptively compared wealth and riches to the simplicity of the “white van” that carried his remains to the coroner as if the expectation would be that a limousine would be waiting instead. It appeared that even the usual talking heads on television were finally at a loss for words as well.
But there was a lot to talk about. We had been talking about it for years in our community. We would lead into conversations about Michael Jackson by clearly defining a time period of his achievements.
We described his music in two distinct time periods, “when Michael was Black” and “now.” We knew the lyrics and sang the along with the music, when he sang, “I’m Black, I’m White...” but even at that time, we didn’t expect the “now.”
We did see it coming; we all saw his death unfolding in front of our very eyes. His journey is of course the extreme of what happens to people with public faces.
The people around them begin to balance the value of their own self-interest over being honest with the person with the public face. It’s difficult of course, because you can be replaced, but at some long ago point in time, that was their role.
We saw what appeared to be endless procedures on his face and what must have been anorexic behavior patterns. We saw the bleaching of the skin, not all connected to “vertiligo.” We watched as what appeared to be a normal man … fight “growing up”.
It has often been that African-Americans have adopted and reinforced “self-hate.” We still carry the racial baggage from centuries ago. We still refer to each other by skin tone, nose and lip size and of course by hair texture. We prescribe a class value to all of the above and we still don’t get the connections between the physical, political, and economic setbacks faced by people throughout the African Diaspora and the impact it has on our community today.
For many, that’s just old stuff.
As we get ready to memorialize Michael, we need to have the conversation again, first at home with our children and then with others. “I’m talking about the man in the mirror ... .” Do you like what you see? Michael didn’t.
Carmen
I was struck by those television commentators who attempted to paint a picture of how empty his death ended. They descriptively compared wealth and riches to the simplicity of the “white van” that carried his remains to the coroner as if the expectation would be that a limousine would be waiting instead. It appeared that even the usual talking heads on television were finally at a loss for words as well.
But there was a lot to talk about. We had been talking about it for years in our community. We would lead into conversations about Michael Jackson by clearly defining a time period of his achievements.
We described his music in two distinct time periods, “when Michael was Black” and “now.” We knew the lyrics and sang the along with the music, when he sang, “I’m Black, I’m White...” but even at that time, we didn’t expect the “now.”
We did see it coming; we all saw his death unfolding in front of our very eyes. His journey is of course the extreme of what happens to people with public faces.
The people around them begin to balance the value of their own self-interest over being honest with the person with the public face. It’s difficult of course, because you can be replaced, but at some long ago point in time, that was their role.
We saw what appeared to be endless procedures on his face and what must have been anorexic behavior patterns. We saw the bleaching of the skin, not all connected to “vertiligo.” We watched as what appeared to be a normal man … fight “growing up”.
It has often been that African-Americans have adopted and reinforced “self-hate.” We still carry the racial baggage from centuries ago. We still refer to each other by skin tone, nose and lip size and of course by hair texture. We prescribe a class value to all of the above and we still don’t get the connections between the physical, political, and economic setbacks faced by people throughout the African Diaspora and the impact it has on our community today.
For many, that’s just old stuff.
As we get ready to memorialize Michael, we need to have the conversation again, first at home with our children and then with others. “I’m talking about the man in the mirror ... .” Do you like what you see? Michael didn’t.
Carmen