The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age
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    Exploding the Myth: The Impact Of the Black Experience on This Black Man

    By Wattree on Mon, 03/24/2014 - 1:59am |

    BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE

     

    A PUBLIC STATEMENT TO ALL THOSE WHO ASSUME I'VE BEEN WOUNDED AS A RESULT OF THE BLACK EXPERIENCE:
    .
    Exploding the Myth: The Impact Of the Black Experience on This Black Man
    . 
    Ocean-Kat, you said,

    "I think you experienced discrimination as a black child in school and as a result you project those feelings onto most everything you see. Its a terrible thing that so many black children were made to feel stupid in school and terrible that prejudice still continues to this day. But you're a grown man with many accomplishments. Isn't it time you moved beyond that childhood discrimination."
    .
    Kat, you’re laboring under a grossly erroneous assumption here. Yes, I’ve felt anger and frustration over the stupidity of bigots. But I've NEVER felt any resentment or any other affects from the discriminatory traditions in this country other than a sense of profound superiority due to a lifelong recognition of the childishness and transparent insecurity from which bigotry stems. 
    .
    You've speculated about the downside of the affects of the Black experience, but now let us look at the upside.  Consider how reinforcing it must have been to my young ego to recognize that I was intellectually superior to everyone I met who engaged in discrimination and/or bigotry. And consider the practical side. I've spent my entire life having to outwit bigots. There's got to be some intellectual benefit from that, don't you think?
    .
    So I’m not the least bit bitter as a result of my background and experiences. On the contrary, I'm of the opinion that adversity has made me more, rather than less, so I wouldn't trade in my hood rat background to be the son of a billionaire, because it made me, me, and I'm convinced that most educated Black people of my generation feel that way - though, they might not let you know it.
    .
    I view the Black experience in America from the perspective of a detached human being observing the social interactions of an ant farm. While I don't like seeing people hurt or injured, every since childhood I have ALWAYS found the insecurity of bigots both fascination, and very instructive. It gives me an insight into people that I doubt you have. For example, I often observe (with great amusement) the lingering vestiges of cultural hubris here, among White people of good will, who would never consciously engage in bigotry or discrimination. Your naively erroneous assumption of how I think, and why, is a perfect example of that, and it’s laughable. You’ve been watching far too much television and/or reading too much pop psychology, my man.
    .
    There’s only one Wattree family in America. EVERYBODY with the last name Wattree is related to me. We immigrated to the United States from France, as an intact Black Family, during the time that the French abolitionists, Edouard Laboulaye, and sculptor, Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, conceived and sculpted the Statue of Liberty (Did you know that Lady Liberty was a freed slave, and has broken shackles at her feet?).
    .
    When my family arrived and settled in Minden, Louisiana (after the civil war), my great, great, uncle, Richard Wattree, established the Wattree School to educate free Black people, and he was responsible for educating many of the heads of some of the most prominent Black families in the state of Louisiana (and since we are a one-of-a-kind family, that can be easily researched on the net; simply go to Google and enter "Wattree School"), and since that time the professionals in my family have been dedicated to the education of Black people in one way or another. My daughter, Kaiumeka Wattree-Jackson, is currently a human relations specialist for her alma mater and the regional vice president of a college and university employees’ union, and many other Wattrees are scattered across this country teaching everything from kindergarten children through high school; others are working in positions of university administration. My son is a senior special agent with the Department of Justice, dedicated to eradicating drugs and street crime in America’s inner cities. So your inane assumption of the way I view the world and reality is just that - inane, presumptuous, and simplistic.
    .
    My woman is a public person, so she used to hate it when I referred to myself in my writings as a hood rat. So I wrote her the poem attached to the end of this missive to explain exactly how I feel about my background. It may enlighten you just as it did her. Now, she not only understands, but she approves. You see, Barack Obama is not the aberration that many people think. People like myself, Barack Obama, and many others, are cultural hybrids, and as we continue to grow in numbers, character, and vision, we’re going to become something to be reckoned with in this country.
    .
    Evolution is a wondrous thing, and adversity is nature's primary tool of effecting evolution. When man first appeared on Earth he as a necked ape. He wasn't as ferocious as the lion, as strong as the elephant, nor could he soar above danger like the eagle. He was completely vulnerable, much like the Black man has been in this country. But nature provided man with one weapon to address the adversity within his environment, the human mind. Now, as a result of the effective use of that weapon, man has developed the resources to slaughter the most ferocious lion, machines that can crush the strongest elephant, and vehicles that can easily soar far beyond the most determined eagle's domain. In fact, he's even left his home planet to explore other worlds. Well, I'm convinced that adversity is having the very same impact on many Black people.
    .
    Blacks have become bi-cultural. Educated Black people have not only attained the educational knowledge that governs their environment, but they also have a specialized knowledge that was necessary to develop in order to survive the adversity of a hostile environment.  Even as I write we can see it at work in Washington, D.C. If we look toward Washington, what we see appears to be one adult, Barack Obama, patiently dealing with a government filled with ranting, rave children, the GOP, engaged in a world-class tantrum. 
    .
    The American people intuitively had the good sense to keep Obama in place in the last election. Somehow they knew that he was exactly the right man, doing exactly the right job, at exactly the right time. And they were right, because President Obama is not governing this country based on the knowledge that he gained at Harvard. He's holding America together by utilizing the knowledge and insight that became necessary for him to attain and develop in order to survive the adversity of the Black experience in America, and that's extremely ironic.
    .
    So Ocean-Kat, you can spare me your condescending and paternalistic hubris regarding my history of being born Black in America, because I've benefitted greatly from every second of it. In fact, I wish you were here. 
    .
    The Hood Rat
    .
    I’m sure you know that I love you;
    You’re everything that I need.
    You fit the bill of all my desires,
    a perfect match for all of my dreams.
    You’re everything I’ve always craved,
    that luscious vision from across the tracks;
    that delicate flower,
    just beyond my grasp, and
    now here you are at last.
    *
    But what you ask is foreign to me;
    You need something that I'm not.
    You said, if I'd tweak my nature, just a bit,
    you’ll give everything you’ve got.
    *
    But that "tweak" you need is who I am;
    It's my essence, can't you see?
    You want to abolish the hood rat from my life,
    the very thing that makes me, me.
    *
    While a hood rat may seem trite to you,
    a hood rat’s what you see;
    So forget about what the other’s say -
    here’s what it means to me:
    *
    I’ve been brutally dragged through the pits of Hell,
    yet, managed to survive,
    well educated and fully functional,
    when I came out the other side.
    *
    I scrounged the lessons taught at Harvard,
    because knowledge, I found, was free;
    But Harvard can't teach the lessons I've learn -
    that knowledge is unique to me.
    *
    While they've heard the sounds of a mournful Trane,
    and Miles moaning in the night,
    not against the backdrop of hunger and pain,
    or injustice, hatred, and blight.
    *
    Yet, these are the things you want me to purge,
    and spurn the life I’ve led.
    Well, I’m sorry sweet thing, as much as I love you,
    the soul of a hood rat is my edge.
    .
     
    . 
    Religious bigotry: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like me - it's just that God does.

    Comments

    Well gee, lookie here. I post a short comment and you write me a whole blog of more than 12 paragraphs. That's really quite flattering. When you posted this on the other thread I didn't think it was worth responding to. But you're certainly determined to chat about it by posting a blog to me so I'll oblige.

    So how about we return it back to the context you so conveniently omitted.

      You claimed this is "expressing a sort of "in your face, I got this" kind of  competent defiance. Jazz musicians love this mode, because it thumbs it's nose at society. It's sort of our way of telling society to "Take your Black inferiority theories and shove 'em." 

    Since Chick Corea, a white jazz fusion musician, composed the tune and has been clear in interviews how and why he wrote it its clear that the song isn't thumbing its nose or claiming "Take you Black inferiority theories and shove' em."

    And the samba beat is latin. Latin cultures didn't develop their styles of music to give African Americans the ability to thumb their noses at society or to give them the opportunity to shout, "Take you Black inferiority theories and shove' em." So its not the rhythm.

    As for the style of improvisation you'll see blacks and whites, latinos and Japanese etc all improvising in this mode. Even in your clip there are a couple of white guys playing in this mode. Surely they're not all thumbing their nose or making a statement about Black inferiority theories.

    Its pretty clear that what you're feeling isn't coming from the song, the rhythm, the improvisations or the musicians. You must be projecting your feelings onto the musicians.I made the most logical guess, you're projecting feelings from unresolved childhood issues onto the music. Now if you're going to claim you don't have any unresolved childhood issues you're even less self aware that I thought. Everyone has some issues they haven't dealt with.

    If you have another explanation for such a gross misinterpretation of the message,  meaning, and emotional content of the music I'll be happy to give it a read.


    by ocean-kat on Wed, 03/26/2014 - 2:42am

    Kat, as I mentioned on the other threat, you've become irrelevant.


    by Wattree on Wed, 03/26/2014 - 6:53am

    So irrelevant, you posted a whole "take this in your face", inferiority-ridden "shove your Black inferiority theories" response to him?


    by PeraclesPlease on Wed, 03/26/2014 - 7:20am

    If irrelevancy means you're not going to write anymore blogs to me I'm all for it. Because I was quite happy ignoring this post when it was just a comment on some obscure thread. You're the one who had to take it to a blog post to coerce me into responding and wasting my time.


    by ocean-kat on Wed, 03/26/2014 - 3:46pm

    And interesting story, Wattree, thank you. I applaud your efforts and of course your writing style.  It's a shame you wrote it in response to something you saw as a slight. It might have worked better as a stand-alone story of your life and your family's accomplishments.

    Your reaction and your defense reminds me of our early days as women when we finally took control and became "liberated".  We did that whole defensive, in-your-face, let me tell you how smart we are, how worthy, how undeniably abused and misunderstood we've been.  We demanded respect by diminishing everyone else and consequently turned off a whole bunch of men who had been eager at first to help us.

    There are men and then there are men. Just as there are women and then there are women.  Gender can't be used as the basis for all grievances any more than race or religion can.  We humans don't fit that neatly into prefabricated slots.

      When we women finally settled down and concentrated on the actual places where abuses needed to be addressed, we realized that in many instances the battles we fight are battles being fought by all people.  While there are still many--mostly men--who want to hold women down, there are many more men who are out there fighting side by side with us to correct those abuses.

    It's the same with racial battles. They're all uphill and the challenges are frustrating, but there are people of all stripes who are ready to fight alongside you.  You are who you are, no better, no worse.  And so are the rest of us.

     


    by Ramona on Wed, 03/26/2014 - 10:12am

    Ramona,

    Much of what you’ve said is true. The only problem is, you’re not taking my audience into account. Much of what I write is directed at Black youth. So the impact is entirely different. I wasn’t the least bit interested in Kat. I just used him, and what he said, as a springboard to send a message to Black youth suggesting how they should view such encounters, and people. If you get the chance, read "An Open Letter to Richard, and Other Black Youth," that I’ve posted subsequent to this piece. I attached this piece to the bottom of it.

    What you don’t seem to get about me, Ramona, is I don’t concern myself with what other people think. Group-think is one of the major problems that we suffer from in this world. Now, that isn’t to say that I don’t care about other people, or don’t have any empathy for their feelings, but when it comes to thinking, I think for myself, and what other people think is meaningless to me. It’s called being an independent thinker. I draw wisdom from other people by what they DO, not what they say, because 99% of the time, people’s words are calculated to reflect who they want you to THINK they are, instead of who they ACTUALLY are, and what they want you to THINK they believe, rather than what they ACTUALLY believe.

    Even when I read the debates on this site. Most of the debates have absolutely nothing to do with the issues being discussed. There’s generally an underlying dispute that’s going on beneath the surface. That’s why with certain people, one can say the Sun is hot, and the other will come back with, "Well, not necessarily . . . Hot is a relative term." At times it gets absolutely silly. If I still smoked weed, I'd get high just to come online to be entertained and get my giggle on.

    So that’s what I look at when I read the comments, and I was doing exactly the same thing in my post to Kat, but in my case it went even farther - I wasn’t even speaking to the person that I was directing the piece toward. I was speaking to an entirely different audience. My family background didn’t have anything whatsoever to do with what Kat had said. In fact, I had to engage in intellectual contortions just to try to make it fit without it being so obvious. What I was actually doing was presenting my background to another audience so they would have some perspective on how to assess my words and opinion.

    You see, when Reagan flooded the inner cities with crack during his illegal war in Nicaragua, he effectively destroyed an entire generation of Black people. So many in the current generation are completely disconnected from their Black roots, culture, and wisdom. So I’ve dedicated much of my writings to filling in that gap. So for the most part, when I write, I’m not writing to White people. I’m trying to educate Black youth.

     


    by Wattree on Wed, 03/26/2014 - 4:40pm

    What you seem to forget is that when you post on dagblog and open your posts up to comments exactly zero of your readers are black youth.  If, as you say, you're presenting to another audience, I have to wonder why you would choose a site like this one when you know there is no such audience here.

    Why post here if you're not interested in what the people here have to say?  I'm not saying you shouldn't post here.  I often find your posts interesting and I often comment, but if you keep telling me you're not interested in what I have to say why on earth should I ever bother again?

    I'm sorry to say your arrogance has finally turned me off.  If you're only concerned with thinking for yourself then I would suggest you try writing only for yourself. 


    by Ramona on Wed, 03/26/2014 - 4:49pm

    Ramona,

    Dag is only one of several sites that I post to. Anything that I post here is all over the internet. I don’t post here for your comments. I post here to disseminate information, or provide material for people who like to read. It’s the same as when I write something for a publication. When I write a piece for a newspaper or a magazine, I’m not waiting around at my mailbox for fan letters. I just write the piece, and then move on to the next article. It’s up to the reader whether they decide to read or comment on it or not.

    As a matter of fact, another writer was reading what I quoted Kat as saying in "An Open letter to Richard," and after he finished laughing, he told me that he never respond to comments. He said, "I just write the piece and let them argue among themselves." And I’m seriously considering taking that very same tact myself - not only on this site, but on every site - because, like he said, "I’ve already said what I have to say"- and he has a very good point.

    Why waste your time with someone who’s more interested in venting than writing - and that’s what many people use the internet for - venting. They routinely come online everyday just to vent their anger at the world. Many of these people are just angry and unhappy people who NEED someone to fight with. So why waste my time with such people when I could be writing or doing something else I enjoy? And it has nothing to do with arrogance. It's simply a matter of motivation. Some people write because that's what they do, and other people write as part of a bonding process. I'm among the former.

     


    by Wattree on Wed, 03/26/2014 - 7:34pm

    Dagblog is a public forum, not a newspaper or a magazine.  We post here with the expectation that we're participating in a conversation.  That's what a forum is. If you see Dagblog as just another place to dump your posts with no feeling for what we do here, you're in the wrong place. 

    It's not up to me to tell you your posts aren't welcome here but it is up to me to decide whether they're worth my time.  They're not.  I find your explanations insulting to us all and I no longer care what you think about anything.


    by Ramona on Wed, 03/26/2014 - 7:35pm

    Comment removed.  TOS violation.


    by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 03/26/2014 - 4:57pm

    Curious what brought that on - we're dealing with someone who says he doesn't care what others think because he's not even writing to the audience here...

    What you don’t seem to get about me, Ramona, is I don’t concern myself with what other people think. ... what other people think is meaningless to me...I was doing exactly the same thing in my post to Kat... I wasn’t even speaking to the person that I was directing the piece toward. I was speaking to an entirely different audience. ...What I was actually doing was presenting my background to another audience so they would have some perspective on how to assess my words and opinion.

    elsewhere he notes he's writing to black youth on another blog, just kinda cross-posting this writing here for some reason.

    thus my satiric take addressing the citizens of Borneo. oh well, wasn't that funny anyway.


    by Anonymous PP (not verified) on Wed, 03/26/2014 - 7:09pm