Let me first admit that I didn't attend this week's talk by Vernon Robinson. It wasn't laziness that kept me away, though it was a conscious decision, undertaken after substantial research. Originally, I'd planned on going, mostly because of a Student Digest entry by the College Republicans. "Vernon Robinson," it crowed, "has nothing more in common with Jesse Jackson than a good tan!" I, like many others, was shocked at the statement. How could anyone presume to compare racial identity in America with something that is largely a fashion statement?
Well, it turns out that Robinson prides himself this way. His website actually coined the phrase, apparently. After explaining that Bill Clinton is a "serial rapist" and that Jesse Jackson is a "race hustling poverty pimp," he declares, "I am proud to say that the only thing I have in common with Jesse Jackson is a good tan!" His point is, it turns out, that Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton don't "speak for all black people," which is certainly a fair position. What is remarkable, however, is that Robinson's message both to and for African Americans, is that his own view of his racial identity is similar to a superficial, temporary changing of skin pigmentation.
After reading this and several other of his positions (http://vernonrobinson.com), he seemed just anachronistic and inflammatory for the sake of attention, rather than thoughtfully radical. I don't begrudge anyone the right to attend, but I did not find anything intellectually provocative or intriguing about Robinson's positions or overarching ideology. His rhetoric is so excessive as to render him uninteresting.
Still, his approach to racial identity is intriguing. What does it mean to be African-American, if not simply to share a common skin pigmentation? Is it simply a cosmetic characteristic? Does it have actual political implications? Is it determined by historical forces and tradition? No one person has all the answers to these questions, and as a young Caucasian, I am certainly not eminently qualified to comment on how it feels to be African-American.
However, from my perspective, I think it likely that there is something more substantial. Race is as much a social phenomenon as it is a physical one. Each individual in the United States develops an identity based upon the associations of which he or she perceives him or herself to be an element. Each American finds meaning in their individuality by virtue of being a member of the nation, albeit to varying degrees. Being a member of a given race within the United States automatically carries with it certain associational qualities.
Each of us at some point encounters the diversity of the United States in a very personal way. We find ourselves suddenly faced with an unfamiliar situation, an individual or a group of individuals that looks nothing like us. African Americans in the United States face systematic and comprehensive forces which build a very real association between those who share this racial heritage.
Being black in the United States means to receive a largely different set of reactions from others each time that the individual acts. It means to receive similar responses to others who share the same heritage. This common bond implies much more than that which exists between beachcombers and dedicated tanning enthusiasts. Sure, when they interact with society, their perpetual tan factors in, but there is no longstanding history of discrimination and violence against individuals with bronzed bodies. African Americans in the United States, however, share such a history, and to deny that their common experience connected with it is irrelevant or outdated is to ignore our current situation as a nation.