There exists an undeniable truth that people of color, Mexican immigrants and the poor have deliberately been relegated not merely to marginal status in the U.S., but also have been pushed into a dispensable underclass, Cornel West affirmed. The evidence is in the U.S. spending on military actions and activities compared with that of K-12 and higher education.
It is in the continued removal of rights among communities such as those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender.
It is in the continued overrepresentation of people of color in the prison systems, the underrepresentaion of such populations within the nation's university system and the glaring statistic of 20 percent of U.S. children living in poverty with higher percentages when children of color are considered.
"This is the richest nation in the history of the world. That is a moral disgrace. Young people are 100 percent of our future," West said, speaking to a full audience at the University of Arizona's Centennial Hall April 1.
Considered on of the great thinkers of our time, West welcomed speaking in Arizona, the "epicenter for the struggle for human rights in the Untied States." He dedicated his talk to the late Manny Marable, a dear friend of West who was a historian and civil rights activist, who passed the morning of his talk in Tucson.
West, whose talk was part of the "Borders to Democracy" series, quoted Socrates -- "The unexamined life is not worth living" -- and said inequity exists and continues to exists because so many people are afraid to die.
"What does learning how to die? It is mustering the courage to deliberately examine who you are," said West, a Center for African American Studies professor at Princeton University. This requires wrestling what it means to be human "from the frivolous to the serious" and experiencing the full catastrophe, he said, referencing Jon Kabat-Zinn.
'When things get dark and disparaging, you sit there and you wrestle with them," West said.
"It is any time you give up a dogma or a prejudice or a predisposition. There is no development without dying inside," West said, adding that no one person is free or can choose to opt out of this process. "We need to focus on the courage to think critically" and to speak the truth -- the real truth of people's lives and experiences, not "a deodorized discourse."
It was West's attempt to unsettle and unhouse the audience; to bring about an emotional and intellectual rift -- one necessary to shake individuals out of their dormant thinking and into a more elevated and truthful humanity. This, he said, is what is necessary to create a more loving, compassionate and respectful of wisdom.
For his beliefs, West said he has continually been accused of going against America. But, he said, "I am not anti-American, I am anti-injustice."
He wants the same for the nation of people. Yet people are blind, self-consumed and preoccupied with superficiality, spectacle, status -- "weapons of ma
ss distraction," West said. "You can't get critical consciousness staying connected every minute of the day on superficial things," he said. "The only way we shatter our sleepwalking is to be unsettled."
West charged the audience with being truly human -- grounded in the Earth without arrogance, having love and compassion for their fellow humans, especially those of color and who are poor, and in living a life that persistently and deliberately counters injustice even in the face of retaliationon. "We need more misfits," he said, adding that no one has a monopoly on morality or knowledge.
"It does not matter what color you are, it is about the love you have in your heart," West said, though he does not promote colorblindness.
"That is the only way American will repair itself," he said. "It's not about tolerance, but respect."
Tohono O'odham National Chairman Ned Norris Jr. introduced West, saying he hopes that voices of visionaries like West would continue to spark inside of others a strong desire to rise up against injustice and inequity.
Norris closed the event with a special gift for West: A basket woven by Doris Hose, one of its tribal members, of materials on the nation's land. Embedded in the basket was the image of a turtle, signifying "its capacity to cope with stress and adversary."
West's lecture was sponsored by the Tohono O'odham Nation and numerous UA offices. They are: African American Student Affairs, Asian-Pacific American Student Affairs, Chicano/Hispano Student Affairs, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning Affairs, Native American Student Affairs, Student Service Fee, The University of Arizona BookStores, Women's Resource Center, Office of the President and the Dean of Students Office.
