Touré on the role of race in a 'post-black' culture
Author to speak at Pratt about African-American identity
Dec 09, 2011
The Baltimore Sun
December 03, 2011
By Mary Carole McCauley
A man with salt-and-pepper hair stood recently in front of the Enoch Pratt Free Library, glaring at an oversized poster promoting a reading Monday night by the cultural critic Touré from his new book, "Who's Afraid of Post-Blackness?"
"Post-blackness?" muttered the African-American man, spitting out the word as though it had curdled in his mouth. "Ain't no such thing."
It wasn't at all clear whether the man on the street would be attending Touré's talk, though the author hopes he does.
That indignant response was just one example of the lively conversation that Touré generates wherever he goes, whether he's opining about parenthood, hip-hop, the presidential aspirations of Republican businessman Herman Cain, the Grammy nominations or, in his most recent book, what it's like to be a member of the black middle class in 2011.
The author makes it clear that he's using the term "post-blackness" to ask questions about racial identity, by which Touré means being rooted in the legacy of African-American history without also being constrained by it.
He's not turning his back on his heritage as a black man, and he's not suggesting that racism has disappeared from American society. Far from it. But Touré doesn't want to be told by anyone — white or black — that he is prohibited from participating in certain activities because of the color of his skin.
"I love being black, and I love the black community," Touré says.
"But I might also want to go sky diving, or go to see Baryshnikov at the ballet or go see a movie that isn't talking about blackness. I don't want to be told that I shouldn't because 'black people don't do that.'
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Dec 09, 2011
The Baltimore Sun
December 03, 2011
By Mary Carole McCauley
A man with salt-and-pepper hair stood recently in front of the Enoch Pratt Free Library, glaring at an oversized poster promoting a reading Monday night by the cultural critic Touré from his new book, "Who's Afraid of Post-Blackness?"
"Post-blackness?" muttered the African-American man, spitting out the word as though it had curdled in his mouth. "Ain't no such thing."
It wasn't at all clear whether the man on the street would be attending Touré's talk, though the author hopes he does.
That indignant response was just one example of the lively conversation that Touré generates wherever he goes, whether he's opining about parenthood, hip-hop, the presidential aspirations of Republican businessman Herman Cain, the Grammy nominations or, in his most recent book, what it's like to be a member of the black middle class in 2011.
The author makes it clear that he's using the term "post-blackness" to ask questions about racial identity, by which Touré means being rooted in the legacy of African-American history without also being constrained by it.
He's not turning his back on his heritage as a black man, and he's not suggesting that racism has disappeared from American society. Far from it. But Touré doesn't want to be told by anyone — white or black — that he is prohibited from participating in certain activities because of the color of his skin.
"I love being black, and I love the black community," Touré says.
"But I might also want to go sky diving, or go to see Baryshnikov at the ballet or go see a movie that isn't talking about blackness. I don't want to be told that I shouldn't because 'black people don't do that.'
Read More