Community Checkup

Bloggingheads.tv has a pretty interesting conversation on their site between Randall Kennedy and John McWhorter, two authors who have had some pretty strong disagreements in the past (well, at least one). It’s a great video to watch because of the format of discussion. It’s not set up as a debate for the two of them to fight out their differences like we tend to see on cable news shows. Rather, the video is really just a conversation between two scholars who both take an interest in black culture (and they actually agree on most points here).

The two discuss a few of the topics that have been discussed here at CC, namely, the use of the sellout term and defining black culture. I’d love to keep those conversations going, so please do offer any comments on anything that stood out for you in the conversation.

You can watch the whole video here or you can watch specific aspects of it by following the links below.

Should we do away with the term “sellout”? (6:35)

Is it wrong to say that black people are good dancers? (5:51)

Rehabilitating Aunt Jemima and Uncle Tom. (3:25)

What happens after writing a book titled “Nigger”? (6:49)

Kennedy’s forthcoming book on “Good White People.” (3:30)

The two discuss Kennedy’s harsh critique of McWhorter’s book. (2:04)