Cornel West: The Fire of a New Generation
An excerpt of an interview with Dr. Cornel West 9 (C.W.)by NYT's George Yancy (G.Y.). Complete interview at the LINK.
G.Y.: But is it really possible to speak courageous speech while acting as the most powerful country in the world? Of course, we also have to admit the history of racism preceded Obamas tenure and will exceed it. My point is that there is a deep tension that exists for someone who desires to embody prophetic fire and yet be in charge of an empire.
C.W.: I think thats true for most politicians, actually. Now when it comes to the intellectuals who rationalize their deference to the politician, so they want to pose as prophetic even though they are very much deferential to the powers that be, they need to be criticized in a very intense way. Thats why Im very hard on the Obama cheerleaders, you see, but when it comes to the politicians themselves, it is very difficult to be a prophetic politician the way in which Harold Washington was or the way Paul Wellstone was or the way Shirley Chisholm was, or the way my dear brother Bernie Sanders actually is. He is a prophetic politician. He speaks the truth about wealth and equality. He speaks the truth about Wall Street. He speaks the truth about working and poor people being afterthoughts in terms of the kind of calculations of the oligarchs of our day. He shows that its possible to be a politician who speaks the truth.
Once you occupy the White House, you are head of the empire. Then you have a choice. Weve had two grand candidates in the history of the United States. Weve had Abraham Lincoln and weve had Franklin D. Roosevelt. Both of them are full of flaws, full of faults, full of many, many blind spots. But they pushed the American experiment in a progressive way, even given their faults. And thats what we thought Obama was going to do. We were looking for Lincoln, and we got another Clinton, and that is in no way satisfying.
Thats what I mean by, we were looking for a Coltrane and we ended up getting a Kenny G. You cant help but be profoundly disappointed. But also ready for more fightback in post-Obama America!
Bernie Sanders: "A politician who speaks the truth". I couldn't agree more.