Editors Note: This post started off as an unpublished twitter thread on 2/7/19. Due to the high likelihood of twitter censorship, I decided to publish as a medium post instead.
As a second-generation northerner, I’ve always been fascinated with the movements of African people in this country. Patrilineally, I can trace my roots as far back as 1784, to the Gullah people in Savannah, Georgia. Matrilineally, I can get as far back as Alabama, but no origin date.
I’ve dedicated much of my adult life to the intense study of Black political formations, over the past 100 years. As such, my critiques of the nascent #ADOS movement are not founded in black twitter emotionalism, but rather a sober assessment of its political viability.
I think it’s important to clarify that the political genealogy of ‘Black Nativism’ extends far beyond Yvette Carnell, and Antonio Moore. While they are the most widely known proponents of, current day, Black nativist thought, their major contribution to its political lineage has been the creation of the #ADOS hashtag.
For those of us who have been following the political developments of this conservative strain of Black political thought, you will immediately recognize Dr. Claud Anderson as the father of 21st Century Black nativism. Over the years, there have been numerous Pan African scholars that have maintained a principled critique of the limitations of Dr. Anderson’s ‘POWERnomics’ philosophy.
Neither Yvette Carnell or Antonio Moore have presented any new findings, that haven’t already been discussed ad nauseam by Dr. Anderson. Where the two camps differ is in their solution to the problem. Dr. Claud Anderson advocates for group economics, and multiracial voter blocs, as a means
Yvette Carnell and Antonio Moore advocate for a ‘New Deal-type’ democratic socialism. The @BreakingBrown duo is building a movement around the idea that a redistribution of wealth, targeted towards descendants of American slavery, can be achieved through electoral politics. The principal thesis of their argument is that Black people should make demands of government to fulfill the debt obligation that is owed to Native Black Americans. According to Yvette, and Antonio, black people should not be forced to rely on ‘group economics’, or a ‘Do for self’ philosophy, when they are citizens of the American republic.
The challenge becomes, making demands without the ability to physically, or economically enforce them, is an act of empty political rhetoric. At best, it represents a gross misunderstanding of how racism and power function; at worst, it is an act of political negligence, and a complete disregard for an entire body of knowledge that has already debunked the political efficacy of Negro American nativism.
When we examine the historical record, a clear picture emerges of the natural relationship between the reactionary elements that propelled Trump to the white house, and Yvette Carnell’s Negro American patriots. These two groups have long served as America’s proverbial rats in a sinking ship. Trapped in an economic trough together, the unlikely duo draw closer during times of severe economic uncertainty.
The one area you can count on their disparate politics converging, is the issue of foreign immigration. This is why Ann Coulter — a woman whose first words after the announcement of the George Zimmerman acquittal were, “Hallelujah!” — can come out in full support of the #ADOS movement, and suggest improvements for the name.
This, Negro American-White American,
In fact, prior to the Bolshevik revolution, almost all Black leaders in America toed the line on the anti-immigration policy, with one exception: when it came to Black immigrants. It is widely known that Booker T. Washington used his hard won political capital to torpedo the 1915 immigration bill, due to the African exclusion measure.
Despite this history, the winds of nativism are at their strongest during the period immediately preceding a breakdown in capitalism. It is during these times, when the reactionary strain of Black nativism is willing to partner with the most reactionary forces of American society, under the guise of American protectionism.
Such was the case during the 1920s, when the Ku Klux Klan unleashed a nationwide “America First” initiative, to halt immigration from Asia, southern Europe, and eastern Europe. In the excerpt below, the author points out Du Bois’s critique of the descendants of slaves, who quickly locked arms with the descendants of slave owners, in the name of Americanism.
Immediately after the 1929 crash, this reactionary alliance dissolved. White Americans were given a “New Deal,” and Black Americans were left to “sink, suffer, and die.” We saw a similar occurrence during the period leading up to the 2008 market crash. Black Americans had entered into alliance with known white supremacist organizations, to prevent immigration. Immediately after the Obama bailout, Black Americans were rewarded with 8 years of police lynchings.
These patterns are unchanging, and all signs point to an approaching market crash in the coming decade. The political formation of Yvette Carnell’s #ADOS is not an intelligent response to market forces, nor is it anchored in a deep historical knowledge of Black liberatory ideologies. It’s reactionary nature is evident, by the growing number of American Flags appended to social media bios to signal membership in the slave-identified American movement.
#ADOS is uncritical of itself, and as such, lacks the ability to see the irony in their critiques of other African colonial groupings (i.e. Jamaicans, Haitians, Nigerians, Ghanaians, etc.). This entire movement is an emotional response to two specific factors:
The latter point, is the main cause behind Yvette Carnell’s, and Dr. Anderson’s call to abandon all hope for pan African unity. History has shown us that black people within the same country will be hostile to one another, to protect their individual economic interests. #ADOSTribalism is nothing more than hyper-individualism on a societal level, and a return to the politics of Black division.
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This article was originally posted on Medium. It is reposted here with the permission of the author, Omowale Afrika. Read the original here.
