'Climbing on the Backs of Others': A Critique of Randall Kennedy and Barack Obama’s Black Respectability Politics
623 Black Commentator (Oct. 1, 2015)
7 Pages Posted: 30 Jun 2020 Last revised: 9 Oct 2020
Date Written: October 1, 2015
Abstract
In an essay entitled “Lifting as We Climb: A Progressive Defense of Respectability Politics”—which appears in the October 2015 issue of Harper's Magazine—Professor Randall Kennedy of Harvard Law School defends what he terms “a sensible black respectability politics” and uses President Barack Obama as an exemplar. Responding to Professor Kennedy, I focus here on what I see as three shortcomings in his analysis. First, Professor Kennedy does not adequately distinguish between the consequences of private dialogue on respectability—the conversations that Black parents and elders have with children in their homes and other private spaces—and public respectability discourse perpetuated by prominent figures—most notably President Barack Obama. I argue that the latter is more harmful because it serves widely to marginalize African Americans, by reinforcing negative racial stereotypes in the public sphere. Second, Professor Kennedy misses the nuances of President Obama’s use of public discourse on respectability. I argue that President Obama himself does not reflect the negative stereotypes of African Americans held by many White people. His upbringing was very different from these stereotypic images, and his public persona is “counterstereotypic” in every sense—a hallmark of Black exceptionalism. Third, Professor Kennedy does not acknowledge the internal dissonance that successful African Americans already feel and that respectability notions tend to exacerbate. In conclusion, I question whether Black respectability really means “lifting as we climbing” or if it is “climbing on the backs of others.”
Keywords: Race, Respectability, Identity
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