“The Black press was never intended to be objective because it didn’t see the – the white press being objective. It often took a position. It had an attitude. This was a press of advocacy. There was news, but the news had an admitted and a deliberate slant.” - Phyl Garland
COMMENTARY - This quote from Phyl Garland serves as the tagline on my blog for a reason. It is a personal reminder of why I do this work. It also elucidates the radical shift in how I envision my work as a public intellectual and journalist. This work is about advocacy. More than ever before, my work is about balancing other perspectives with “a deliberate slant.”
My reporting on the tense relationship between Durham County Manager Wendell Davis and Durham County Commissioner Heidi Carter, the duplicitous leadership of former Board Chair Wendy Jacobs and the unsettling attacks against Davis from People’s Alliance and Durham Association of Educators, is out of my duty to protect the souls of Black people.
It matters when a white controlled press provides voice to the maintenance of white supremacy. It matters when this is done under the illusion of a progressive agenda. It matters even more when the seeds of institutionalized racism and implicit bias taints the ability to see beyond layers of assumptions.
Protecting the souls of Black people is challenging work when juxtaposed against institutions weaponized by white privilege. The entitlement of generational wealth, syphoned to support powerplay aimed at eradicating the advances of Black men and women, demands a critical response. This is soul work.
The nuance of this battle requires more than a casual gaze. Underlying truths are often dismissed by journalist prone to embrace the credibility of white sources. The ambush of Davis’ reputation follows a blueprint rooted in centuries of strategic play. It demonizes the Black person’s character. It utilizes the voices of Black allies to rebuke claims of racism. It uses a Black person’s success to invalidate solidarity with other Black people. It arms other marginalized communities with evidence of prejudicial treatment. It seeks to divide with challenges to claims of a Black agenda.
Recently, I was interviewed by a white journalist. I found the interview to be deeply unsettling. In that moment, I pondered the wisdom of the journalism code of ethics. My ears were set keen to the nature of the journalist’s questioning. I took it all in knowing the bias of the reporter was oozing to the top.
I have heard nothing from Carter that sounds out of order – the journalist says. The interaction between Carter and Davis is no different than what I have seen in other cases – the journalist says. Isn’t it true that Davis released his letter to the press to influence the election – the journalist pressed me to answer? This is not a case of racial bias – right? Members of the board have every right to challenge the manager like this – right? Isn’t it their obligation given they were voted in to do just that – right?
This is when culture defines context. It is what makes the work of journalism a consistently moving reality. The failure of this journalist, and many white reporters, is in framing an interpretation of truth from a position of white privilege. Privilege fails to concede the cruelty of double-standards. The pain of rhetoric involving a Black person’s high pay with no mention of the white person’s pay. The call to honor the needs of Black and brown poor people while surviving on the interest of generational wealth. Crying on the behalf of Black children while disrespecting the work of Black people.
How we measure truth is the work of anti-racism. Journalism can be a tool of transformation. It can also be complicit of stabilizing the grip of white supremacy.
My work involves listening to what I cannot hear with my ears. The souls of Black people are speaking. Some are still with us. Others have taken the journey with the ancestors. The lives of Black people are intertwined like a quilt telling a story of survival.
How we tell that story is part of the journey. The soul of Black people is protected when we tell the story the right way.
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