A “peculiar” people
by James Clingman
“Peculiar” was used to describe God’s chosen people in the Old Testament, as well as the “believers” in the New Testament church. In both cases it meant “special” — very special. The term was amplified by other words, like “royal” and “chosen.” Many Black people lay claim to being special, the children of great ancestors who were the progenitors of all humankind, who educated the world from their deep vaults of African knowledge. That is indeed peculiar, special, and high-ranking. As my dear brother Ken Bridges used to say, “That be us, y’all.”
Unfortunately, we have acquiesced to Webster’s definition of “peculiar” rather than the old Hebrew and Greek definitions of the word. Today, “peculiar” means odd, strange, weird, irregular, abnormal, and atypical. Of course, another modern definition that fits somewhat with the old translation is “unusual,” but even that has its negative connotations in contemporary parlance.
I prefer to stay with the Biblical definitions; I prefer to think of ourselves as “peculiar” in the vein of positive attributes, such as eminence, strength, and excellence. It is sad to see how we have devalued those positive attributes by allowing ourselves to be defined and controlled by other people. We have succumbed to the stereotypical description of “peculiar” by straying away from and refusing to uphold the true meaning of what, who, and whose we are.
Look at the current political brouhaha between Pastor Jeremiah Wright and Barack Obama, the fire of which is being stoked by dominant media and talking heads on so-called “news” programs. They are defining and controlling us to the point that we have turned on ourselves, much like we did during the days of DuBois, Booker T., and Marcus Garvey. We are choosing sides in this political tug-of-war, as if we can win by being on either side. I don’t know when we will ever understand that we must have own side, our own political party, our own economic base in order to win.
If our votes are so powerful and we are such an important voting bloc, why are we always left out when the spoils of political victory are doled out? Yes, a few folks get good jobs and appointments; but by and large, Black folks get little or nothing. I just cannot believe that we, the “peculiar” people, are so naïve that we keep on falling for the same trick, over and over.
Our current political situation is untenable at best: We are between a rock and hard place, and we are dividing faster than a zygote. Most of the anger we feel has been generated by the usual suspects on television who dominate the evening news shows. After Pastor Wright’s sermon snippets were played ad infinitum, and after Obama decried a few of the things Wright said, it should have been over. But it’s not over until the media says it’s over, and you know whose media I am referring to.
They were calling Wright out, night after night, and playing those snippets at least 50 times a day. “Where is he?” they would ask. “Why won’t he come on our show and talk to us? Why won’t he make himself available to answer for his ‘hate-filled’ words?” they would say. Wright had retired and gone on vacation, but they continued to call him out. When he came out — and did what he has done for years now, speak his mind — he was vilified and pilloried by the press, which ultimately caused Barack Obama to respond and “disown” Wright in no uncertain terms.
Where do we go from here? Well, as Wright said, he is not running for office. Barack is, and he cannot (or will not) say anything that will indicate in the slightest way that he is not advocating for a so-called “color-blind” society.
How do we manage the reality of Wright’s words versus the idealism of Barack’s words? What is the proper Black perspective in this situation? Was Wright wrong, or was he wronged? Was Obama correct in his assessment and subsequent disowning of a man he had previously said he could no more disown than he could his grandmother?
There is certainly much to mull over as we draw closer to our day of political reckoning. As for myself, I believe that no matter who wins the election, Blacks will continue to lose, because we have not leveraged our collective and considerable political influence into real political power.
I believe we will lose because, as change looms on the horizon, the only folks who will have to change are Black folks. The system certainly will not change; after all, White people control that system, and they still comprise the vast majority of the population. They also hold an overwhelming percentage of the wealth of this nation. Do you really believe they are going to change to any significant degree?
Obama’s mantra of “bringing the country together” is certainly commendable, if he means what I assume he means. David Walker, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Ida B. Wells, Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. DuBois, Marcus Garvey, and even White men and women such as John Brown, Thaddeus Stevens, Mary Ovington, Susan B. Anthony, and William Lloyd Garrison could not do it; but many believe — or want to believe — that Obama can do it. We shall see.
In the meantime, for Barack to say that “all Americans were offended” by Wright’s remarks was absolutely incorrect. Those of us who consider ourselves the old-school “peculiar people” were not offended by a message snatched from the biblical historical record; we are not offended by a messenger who is unafraid to speak that message to Pharaoh, Ahab, Goliath, Sennacherib, the Pharisees, and Pontius Pilate. We are not offended by the messenger, but we are offended by anyone who suggests we kill that messenger.
James E. Clingman, an adjunct professor in the University of Cincinnati’s African American Studies Department, is former editor of the Cincinnati Herald newspaper and founder of the Greater Cincinnati African American Chamber of Commerce.
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