The Definition Of A Sell-Out

This is an interview on NPR with Randall Kennedy. Don't know what I think of the interview. Kennedy is obviously quite sharp, but something about this doesn't smell right. I mean who are the people--and I mean in large numbers--who make the argument that various black folks are sell-outs. It's funny because the segment starts off with a critique of black people of not displaying sufficient race loyalty. I guess. Meanwhile the negro is coming off two dominating performances among black voters. I'm not sure what else people would want. In the face of those numbers it's weak to keep trotting out the occasional quote from Sharpton or Jesse as evidence of the main feeling among black America.

Anyway the tone of the whole thing bothered me. Where are the books on how this country, post-9/11, has very liberally accused lefties of "not being patriotic?" Isn't that just Americanese for selling-out? Hell, John McCain is catching hell right now for allegedly selling out conservatives. Meanwhile Mitt Romney gave a speech today in which he basically argued that Dems would sell out the country to terrorists. I'm sorry, but in the face of those sort of charges--the "I'm not meeting you on the playground" politics of black folks seems minimal.

It's just more proof that when white people do something, it's just normal human behavior. When black folks do it, it's the end of the world, like, "How dare you be a flawed human being??!!" At the end of the conversation I felt like I was just listening to a bunch of people who were just socially awkward, and were using the "not black enough" canard as a sub. Anyway, listen for yourself.