A Conversation

Not long ago, Professor Jerry Hough of Duke University was chastised for his racial insensitivity.  He had written a newspaper column in which he argued that Black names symbolized a lack of desire to integrate into the larger society.  This opinion was roundly lambasted—including by his own school.

This reminded me of nothing so much as the treatment once doled out to Daniel Patrick Moynihan.  Like Hough a social scientist, Moynihan had alleged that the Black family was endangered.   With an illegitimacy rate of about 23 percent, it was not providing the emotional support its children needed.

Nowadays, with 72 percent of Black children born out of wedlock and roughly 42 percent of all American babies so conceived, Moynihan has been vindicated.  We may not know how to solve this problem, but at least we admit it is a problem.

This is possible because Moynihan is safely dead.  His reputation can be resurrected because his critics do not have to admit, to his face, that they were wrong.  Hough is not so fortunate.  He is alive and, therefore, the target of outraged critics.

How often have you heard pious liberals and super-heated race hustlers demanding a national conversation about race?  We are told that unless we address this issue, it will fester.

But then someone like Dr. Hough comes along and says something that is inconsistent with the conventional wisdom.  Almost reflexively, such a person is condemned for insulting African-Americans.  What was said was so offensive that it must immediately be rescinded.

How then is this a conversation?  If only one set of socially approved ideas can be put on the table, this is a monologue, not a dialogue.  It is a harangue intended to chasten the politically incorrect.  Resorting to “expletive deleteds” does not encourage candid exchange.

That which is necessary—but rarely occurs—is for both sides to present their evidence.  What reasons did Moynihan—or Hough—have for coming to their conclusions?  Unless these are provided a fair hearing, it is impossible to evaluate their validity.

So let us examine what Dr. Hough claimed.  Do African-American names symbolize a lack of desire to join the American mainstream?

For starters, there can be little doubt that many Black first names are unique.  Large numbers are creatively spelled and/or faux African in construction.  Moreover, they are easily recognized as attaching to someone of African decent.

Once upon a time, most American Blacks had Anglo-Saxon first names.  With the advent of the civil rights movement, however, this changed.  A desire to celebrate their African heritage took hold.  There is noting wrong with this, but doesn’t suggest an Africanized identification?

Yet there is more evidence.  At roughly the same time, Black college students began demanding separate dormitories.  They did not want to be drowned in a sea of white faces, but to retain their own identity.

Or how about the Boston University professor who is currently recommending that Blacks buy only from Blacks.  She is not alone in insisting that African-Americas must get ahead by sticking together.

Perhaps this is justified.  But doesn’t it indicate a discomfort with integration?  Don’t these attitudes embrace the idea of separation?

Nonetheless, it is possible that separation is a necessary step on the road to integration.  Still, I am not suggesting that Blacks must immediately jettison their cultural traditions.  Cleaving to one’s uniqueness may actually improve one’s self-esteem, such that one can more readily deal with differences.

What I am saying is that we will never eliminate our racial tensions if we are not honest enough to discuss them openly.  Dr. Hough may be wrong.  This is not the issue.  Rather the question is should he be shouted down without examining his thesis?

When even a major university, such as Duke, goes on record as effectively opposed to freedom of speech, we are in deep trouble.  Sanctimonious uniformity is no substitute for frank debate.  Nor is it a precursor to social harmony.

Melvyn L. Fein, Ph.D.

Professor of Sociology

Kennesaw State University