Q&A with Darryl Pinckney: The paradox of black visibility
Darryl Pinckney鈥檚 latest literary compilation places a historical lens on the most pivotal moments in black America. From his examination of race relations during Barack Obama鈥檚 presidency to his nuanced analysis of the Black Lives Matter movement, Mr. Pinckney鈥檚 vast knowledge and critical dexterity make him one of the most vital intellectuals of our time. He spoke recently with Monitor correspondent Candace McDuffie.
In the book, you discuss the notion of invisibility. Do you ever think that black people oscillate between invisibility and hypervisibility?
It鈥檚 a very strange and paradoxical situation because of course, in the culture itself, black people are very visible. It鈥檚 not that we鈥檙e merely invisible or even hypervisible 鈥� it鈥檚 that we鈥檙e confined, and then [we鈥檙e] troubling when we break out of these confinements, whether it鈥檚 physical or psychological. There鈥檚 always something about us that has to be 鈥渃oped with.鈥� I also don鈥檛 think hypervisibility is a fair term; I come from a generation that feels visibility has its own importance because it demonstrates that it鈥檚 possible.聽
Why We Wrote This
As black culture moves mainstream, questions of ownership and visibility surface. In a Q&A on these themes, African American writer Darryl Pinckney argues that America鈥檚 enduring racism has to do with fear.
You tackle 鈥淎fro-pessimism鈥� 鈥� the deliberate withdrawal of political and social consciousness by black people 鈥� in your book. Do you think it鈥檚 a coping tool?
Afro-pessimism can be described as an immediate verdict on American institutions, American systems, American history. It is a very fierce kind of judgment as well as a kind of armor: 鈥淚 cannot be hurt. I can鈥檛 be disappointed.鈥� It鈥檚 one thing to understand the mood of Afro-pessimism, but you have to put it in a larger context. It鈥檚 about how different the world is. In this era of climate change and underlying anxiety about resources, people are uneasy because certain traditional reliances are not there and democracy is slipping away. There needs to be a category that fits with the sense that all鈥檚 not right with the world 鈥� let鈥檚 not fool ourselves.聽
But why is this attitude so endemic in the black experience?
It鈥檚 a deep thing and it has its roots in how black people have felt excluded, exploited, and oppressed not just in relation to the U.S. but the West in general. There were civil rights movements for the past century that went with ideas of growth, development, transformational possibilities, a general sense that society moves forward by the measures of advancement 鈥� but that鈥檚 pretty much gone. If you think about it, late [James] Baldwin is a kind of Afro-pessimism where he鈥檚 sort of 鈥渢he scales have fallen from my eyes.鈥� But Afro-pessimism is a bit like passing [as white] 鈥� it solves your problem but it doesn鈥檛 solve the problems of black people.聽
What do you think about white authors writing about black culture?
There are so many voices that I wouldn鈥檛 be in favor of denying or stifling any of them 鈥� especially because I do know some white writers who know a lot about certain black things as anthropologists, musicologists, and historians. It鈥檚 also a feature of black culture; Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes were really frustrated that white writers could use black folks鈥� material and get their plays produced or their novels published while they struggled with the same material. They felt like [their culture] was being taken away.
But isn鈥檛 that still a valid concern?
We are getting past this utilitarian view of black culture, which is part of the pain of it entering the mainstream. The sense that we鈥檙e losing it, or its purity is at risk, or it鈥檚 going to be misunderstood, or people who have no business talking about it are going to start talking about it. There are two things going on: One is an ownership question and the other is a freedom of creativity question and the two can鈥檛 really be reconciled. A hundred years ago, slave narratives were not admitted or valued as historical evidence because they were biased. Accounting for bias, overcoming bias, or explaining it is the duty of the writing itself. There is good writing and bad writing; I would look for the good writers and not care about the ones who are bad. Bad writing has a falseness to it.
Despite all of our struggles and our advocacy and our resistance, black people are constantly stereotyped and subjected to racism. Why is this still happening?聽
It鈥檚 black anger people are still frightened of. Even Obama did that thing of tamping down the anger. But there鈥檚 bound to be more of it 鈥� I mean look where we鈥檙e headed. I think that ... people are afraid even after a black president. White people have always divided black people into two categories: black people they鈥檙e afraid of and black people they鈥檙e not. There鈥檚 the insult of that underneath it all. I鈥檓 tired of it, too, and there is no time off from it. But I don鈥檛 think I鈥檇 want to experience life on their side ... not at all. It鈥檚 an easy thing to say and a hard thing to explain.
