Michael Eric Dyson – What Truth Sounds Like

Dr. Michael Eric Dyson just might be the most important voices we have today. No wonder Jordan Peterson felt threatened by him in that debate last month.  Chuck Tackett opines.

In last week’s article entitled “Is White America Finally Opening Its Eyes,” I addressed the MSNBC’s town hall event that was called “Everyday Racism In America.”

The special was hosted by MSNBC”s news anchors Chris Hayes and Joy Reid. One of the panel speakers was a favorite of mine since the 1990’s when I first heard about him during my time at 90.1FM KKFI, Kansas City’s 100,000-watt listener-supported community radio station during the 1990’s to the mid-2000’s His name is Tim Wise who is an anti-racism educator and activist. Mr. Wise is White and doesn’t hold back when he is addressing White America on their racist crap.

In this article, I want to introduce you to another favorite of mine. Michael Eric Dyson. Mr. Dyson is an author, preacher, radio host, and professor of Sociology at Georgetown University. Professor Dyson has authored over 20 books. He has been described as a mixture of a “Princeton Ph.D.” and a child of the street, who makes great effort to never separate the two.

I love watching and hearing him speak. I love how he mixes popular music and culture to make his points relatable and fun when talking about very serious subjects. Recently, Professor Dyson was on “The View.” He tickles me when he talks. I want to say to him, “Dude, when are you going to catch a breath?” (laughing) Here is how Professor Dyson broke it down to the ladies of “The View” on his recent thoughts about what is happening presently in America.

Joy Behar expressed that former senator Rick Santorum said race relations got worse under President Obama. Professor Dyson responded:

“My God. The late great Gore Vidal said we live in the United States of Amnesia. This guy is taking that drug. What Barbara Streisand sang, ‘What’s too painful to remember, we simply choose to forget.’ So the reality is we’re living in a country that is addicted. We got a guy who gets up every morning and excretes the feces of his moral depravity into a nation he has turned into his psychic commode. He’s the Bigot-in-Chief and the Racist-in-residence. His inability to acknowledge the fact that there are differences between people who are against racism and people who are for it. People get confused. They say, ‘Well, all you Black people are racist too.’

“Let me tell you the difference between a racist and a bigot. A bigot is a person who makes idle of his commitments. All of us can be bigots. We have our pet peeves, i.e… I don’t like short people. I don’t like tall people. I don’t like people with polka dots, or folks who can’t drive, or a person of a certain racial identity.

“Racism presumes that you have the power to regulate my life to a living hell. That you have the legal apparatus to make me vulnerable and oppress me, to enslave me, to have Jim Crow, to have White water fountains and Black water fountains.

“Black people have a lot of prejudices and bigotry. But racism presumes a kind of systemic power that they have access to reinforce others’ lives to a living hell.”

Joy Behar then asked Professor Dyson about Kanye West’s recent remark concerning slavery on whether it was racist or bigoted. Mr. Dyson responded:

“It was an ignorant remark. The thing is, I love Kanye West. I talked to him about the fiasco, and I talked to his wife Kim. Here’s the thing. He admits now his mental illness led him to say slavery was a choice. There are other historians, other bigots, who have said so. There have been other racists.  We talk about Trump as if he is the inventor of post-truth. No, we have been post-truth since 1619 when we bought 20 people here from Africa and turned them into slaves. What we call progress, Native people call genocide. What they call the Confederate flag celebrating history, we call hate. So we have been arguing with the facts from the very beginning. But, we live in a country that is addicted to not being able to remember. They love history when it is about Thomas Jefferson. They love history when it is about Abraham Lincoln.

“But when it comes to race, can’t you people get over it? Now I am confused. You go and re-enact the Civil War whenever you get the chance, but when we talk about women who have been victimized by American democracy, when we talk about people of color, when we talk about Mexicans who have been mistreated, all of a sudden, let’s get over it.

“No, let’s not get over it, let’s get through it. The only way we can get through it is to get to it.”

Sunny Hostin replied that Kim Kardashian has been on “The View.” She seems helpful to Kanye West. Professor Dyson stated:

Next, Meghan McCain asked Professor Dyson that in his new book, he said that the belief that the Democrat Party relentlessly exploits Black support while neglecting Black interests is compelling and legitimate. Ms. McCain further elaborated that the number of Black voters dropped in the election of 2016. She then asked Professor Dyson what he thinks will happen in the mid-terms. Professor Dyson answered:

“Donald Trump is a wake-up call for all of us. I argued with Black people who claimed that there was no difference between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Slow down with that mace because you’re killing them. People would say, Hillary wasn’t likable. I told them she is not trying to be your girlfriend. She’s got a man. She is trying to run the nation. She has more knowledge in her little finger than this man has in his entire body.

“She also possesses the type of integrity, and we were doubtful of her? Look at this mendacious, relentlessly lying, bigoted, ill-informed person we have. He is the fleshy thesaurus of White supremacy reduced to one body. Yes, the Democrat Party has been problematic, but it has not been enough to drive me to people who not only ignore me but who don’t understand. The Republicans don’t understand they have an infield advantage. Black people are morally Conservative. even if they are politically Progressive. They go to church. They read the Ten Commandments. If the Republicans weren’t so racist, they could encourage Black people to be on their side.

“I am always arguing with Black people in church about Homophobia, about the place of women, I know that there are some deeply rooted Conservative values that need to be taken advantage of if Republicans weren’t so bigoted and racist. Not all Republicans, but there is enough of them who don’t speak up.

“Where are the Republicans when unarmed Black people are assaulted by the police? I want White folks to speak up. It is not a Black problem. It is not a women’s problem. It is an American problem.”

Ms. McCain followed Professor Dyson’s remarks on another question stating she didn’t understand how Trump got more Black votes than her father or Mitt Romney. Professor Dyson replied:

“13% of Black men voted for Donald Trump. Part of that is patriarchy and sexism. Black men too, believe it or not, belief in that cooked-over values of patriarchy also.

“But 54% of eligible White women voted for Trump. That’s the big mystery. What’s up Lucy? You got some explaining to do. I want to know why White women… a man who said he could grab it… Don’t blame hip-hop. We don’t grab it. We seduce it. We ask for it. We seek affirmative commitment. That’s what we do.”

Professor Dyson’s new book is entitled, “What Truth Sounds Like.” Michael Eric Dyson, Rep. Maxine Waters (aka) “Auntie Maxine” and Tim Wise to me are the Holy Trinity when it comes to brutal honest Americans that refuse to want to face here in the United States of Amnesia.

Chuck‘s Chat operates under an open authority. Opinions and comments are welcome. Send them to [email protected]