I defended Thomas Sowell in the pit on this thread http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=72568&pagenumber=2 On reflection, it seems to me that he is arguably the leading Balck intellectual in America, and perhaps in the world. Another good candidate would be David Blackwell, co-creater of a field of mathematics called Dynamic Programming.
I may be prejudiced in favor of these two men, being politically conservative and having had the good fortune to hear Blackwell lecture at U.C. Berkeley.
So, I invite posters to submit and support your candidate for the top Black intellectual.
You can’t have “one” leading black intellectual, as there are so many kinds of “intellectuals.” Left-wing, right-wing, political, literary, even comic. I suppose you could break it down into these categories, but still, your idea of an intellectual and mine might not coincide . . .
I like Ralph Wiley and Stan Crouch, although the latter sometimes gets roasted for his anti-hip hop rants and neo-conservatism.
Sowell has always struck me as an opportunist. “Golly, if I, as a black man, start writing from the right-wing lunatic point of view, I’ll have the field entirely to myself!”
Why not go down to your local independent bookshop, hit the “Black Studies” section (which is, unfortunately, where books of belles lettres written by Af-Ams all get stuck), pull a few volumes, and make your own decision?
Word, minty, although I would be more comfortable describing Gates as “my favorite black intellectual” or something like that. (Patricia J. Williams is no slouch either, IMHO.) I think the significance of “leading” in this sense is extremely hard to determine: does it mean the person with the most publications, the most prestigious position, the most powerful position, the closest access to those in power, or what? december, would you kindly sharpen the focus here by giving us examples of other types of “leading intellectuals”? Who, in your opinion, is the leading white intellectual, the leading Asian intellectual, the leading Jewish intellectual?
Excellent points, Kimstu. I figured “prominent Harvard professor” and “lots and lots of books, scholarly articles, and occasional op-ed pieces, plus a pretty cool series of specials on PBS” qualified for “leading.” As for “black,” I just figured that s/he had to be sombeody known primarily for work with intellectual issues of special importance to the African-American community. In that respect, Clarence Thomas and Thomas Sowell just don’t qualify.
I would most certainly NOT consider even contributing to this thread if naming a leading “black” intellectual required distinguishing among intellectuals based solely on the color of their skin. I trust that was not december’s intention.
Minty, the mention of mathematician David Blackwell in the OP should have made my meaning clear. If you believe there is something wrong with the topic, would you please state your complaint in a straightforward manner?
Classifying people on the basis of race only serves a legitimate purpose when race is itself an inherent aspect of the issue at hand. When race is not an inherent aspect of the issue, creating separate categories for each race races serves no purpose other than dividing people up based on the color of their skin.
Race is not relevant to one’s status as an intellectual.
I sort of agree with you, Minty, It’s too bad, in a way, that people get categorized by race when race is irrelevent. And, yet, there’s great significance to minority group heroes, both within the group and for the general populace.
E.g., Albert Einstein, Michael Jordan, Sandy Koufax, John F. Kennedy, Ichiro Suzuki, Arthur Ashe, and Madame Curie are heroic figures in areas not inherent to the group they belong to. However, they serve as positive examples for how their group is perceived, by members of their group and by the general public.
Ah, but most of the people you list there are role models and heroes, in large part, because of their achievements in the face of discrimination. As such, their race/religion/etc. is a legitimate consideration, for it is relevant to the discrimination that made them admirable.
It’s perfectly legitimate to admire a person for overcoming discrimination. It is illegitimate to use race alone as a criterion for hero status.
Legitimate: Jackie Robinson is my hero! He overcame terrible discrimination from owners, players, and fans to become the first black major league player ever, conducting himself with dignity and grace while becoming one of the best players ever.
Illegitimate: Babe Ruth is my hero! He’s the greatest white baseball player ever!
december:And, yet, there’s great significance to minority group heroes, both within the group and for the general populace. […] they serve as positive examples for how their group is perceived, by members of their group and by the general public.
Hmmm, so the working definition of “leading black intellectual” here is “the black intellectual who best serves as a positive example for how their group is perceived”? I’m still kind of puzzled as to how we’re going to rank on that scale. (It also seems like a rather peculiar use of the term; for example, Michel Foucault is frequently described as one of the “leading intellectuals” of the twentieth century, but would he also be generally considered one of our most positive role models?)
I think minty’s probably right; there’s no real point in trying to identify “the leading intellectual whose skin happens to be black.” In fact, it’s not really possible to debate about who should be considered “the leading intellectual” of any type unless we have some kind of coherent definition of “leading intellectual”. Without that, all we’ve really got here is one of those “who’s your favorite” threads, and it probably belongs in IMHO.
I certainly agree that Jackine Robinson is a hero. However, he wasn’t on my list precisely because that’s NOT the point I wanted to make. The people I listed weren’t particularly famous for having overcome discrimination (Jordan, Koufax, Ichiro, Einstien), although several were amoung the earliest of their group to be successful in that field (Curie, Ashe, Kennedy).
Your Babe Ruth example is clever, but it’s different for minorities. My parents wanted me to become another Einstein, and a lots of other Jewish boys of my generation had the same expectation. (If my parents were still alive, now dissapointed they would be to find me posting to the STMB, instead of revolutionizing physics!) How many Black boys dream of being another Michael Jordan? In my opinion, it would be good if Black children were raised with more examples on Blacks of high intllectual achievement.
I agree with Kimstu and Minty that there’s no definition of “leading intellectual.” However, I was seeking a focus on African-American intellectuals. I appreciate all the names that have been submitted. These constitute a useful reading list.
Perhaps one possible way to make this into a debate would be to ask which Black person you would you most want you child to be intellectually inspired by? Under that definition, I’d choose David Blackwell. He’s the clearest mathematics lecturer I’ve ever heard. The most complex proofs seemed simple when he explained them.
Like there’s some sort of quota system for heroes? As long as race is the only criterion that separates one potential group of heroes from another, race is an illegitimate consideration. I would no more search for a “black intellectual” as a role model than I would a “white poet” or a “Puerto Rican athlete” or a “Chinese economist.” Sheesh, can’t we just drop all the damn labels instead qualifying every category of achievement with a useless reference to race?
Incidentally, Einstein is quite well known for having triumphed over discrimination–remember, he had to flee Nazi Germany in the 1930s. Considering the state of American anti-Semitism in the years after his arrival here, he almost certainly faced discrimination here as well, although I haven’t read any biographies that would provide examples. Same thing probably goes for Sandy Koufax in 1960s baseball–see the excellent “Life and Times of Hank Greenberg” documentary for details on anti-Jewish sentiment in baseball in the years before Koufax showed up.
Minty – Are we arguing just for the sake of arguing?
*Originally posted by minty green *
**I would no more search for a “black intellectual” as a role model than I would a “white poet” or a “Puerto Rican athlete” or a “Chinese economist.” **
Something tells me Minty isn’t Puerto Rican or Chinese.
Incidentally, Einstein is quite well known for having triumphed over discrimination
No doubt, but ask anyone what the name “Einstein” suggests. Epitome of brilliance. Theory of relativity. Atomic bomb. e = mc^2. Nature of light.
“Overcoming discrimination” would be way down on the list, along with inventing a refrigerator with no moving parts (jointly with Leo Szilard).
**Same thing probably goes for Sandy Koufax in 1960s baseball–see the excellent “Life and Times of Hank Greenberg” documentary for details on anti-Jewish sentiment in baseball in the years before Koufax showed up. **
Yes, Greenberg had to deal with anti-Jewish sentiment. By the time Koufax showed up, bigots had juicier targets.
