Is America 'A Black and Tan Fantasy'?

The struggle

I am an optimistic person much of the time. (An ‘Afro Optimist’ I like to say).

But after over 400 years into the American experiment and over 150 years after the end of chattel slavery, Black Americans still get shot down like dogs. Sometimes, you have to say — this is a mess. Forget it. Let it rot.

Jacksonville.

Buffalo.

Charleston.

That’s just a small sample involving hate-filled white supremacist shooters who think they are drawing blood for the sake of the white race. It is not old; it is absurd. And right now, we have some Republican presidential candidate, Vivek Ramaswamy (he is Indian-American), saying, among other things, that some Black people are more racist than the actual racists who maim, kill, and try to destroy lives. Ramaswamy, who is very rich, blames some African Americans for the racist acts wielded against African Americans.

I understand why he’s popular now in some circles. He speaks for many with bigoted and hateful views in America.

Black people and caste warfare

From 1955 to April 4, 1968, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. preached love and forgiveness. He preached unity. He preached Christian brotherhood and asked for his country to govern like the country’s founding documents say you are supposed to govern.

He was a man of peace. A man of love.

He was murdered. If you do some research on his murder in Memphis in 1968, it was a conspiracy, too. And he had half his face blown off.

His love received hate. His love was blown to bits.

Since his death, there has been a moral vacuum of leadership in America. Since then, no one has stepped into his space and put the country back on track to trying to be what it says it is on paper in its founding documents. The leadership doesn’t even pretend anymore to be just the opposite.

Millions of American citizens are moral and believe in peace and love. But they are not the leaders. The values of America today are mostly greed, violence, hate, racism, patriarchy, and misogyny. Protestors are tossed out of legislative bodies for protesting against guns and gun violence. And guns remain everywhere and available anymore. They are more important than the Bibles in America or clean water.

Governors are banning Black books. Governors are calling African-American history and culture — worthless. Governors and legislatures controlled by Republicans are perpetuating white supremacy as cultural control. They put barbed wire in rivers to stop people from entering the country as if they are wild, rabid beasts. It is sick.

Duke Ellington’s Fantasy

Despite my optimism, America is a Black-and-Tan fantasy right now. There is no movement on racism and the racist systems and ideologies poisoning people’s minds.

A “Black and Tan,” in America, was a social club decades ago where the races could mix and party together. That’s why they called them “Black and Tans.” These clubs were at various places in the U.S. Secretly, Americans, Whites, and Blacks met up and partied. Seattle, Washington, had one of the most famous Black and Tan clubs.

Duke Ellington, the jazz legend, wrote and recorded a jazz song called “Black and Tan Fantasy.” Many think Ellington’s song is about “The Cotton Club” in New York City (some say it is about an interracial love affair). Ellington’s orchestra played the club beginning in about 1928. Fats Waller, the legendary pianist who was the main feature at the club, told Ellington he was stepping away from playing the club. Ellington, he said, should try to get the gig. Duke Ellington got the gig and wrote “Black and Tan Fantasy,” one of his most famous songs.

But the Cotton Club in New York was not a true “Black and Tan.” It was a black and tan fantasy. At the Cotton Club, Black people were only allowed to serve drinks and entertain. They were second-class persons.

They could not dance on the dance floor. They could not party. It was a club for White patrons and Black service. Considering it was Duke Ellington writing this song, an intelligent young African American man from Washington D.C., Duke was clever and a statement on race, some say. But regardless of what he meant, the Cotton Club is an American metaphor.

When the Jacksonville shooting occurred, Republicans immediately invoked violence on Chicago’s South Side to sidestep the issue when they were asked about it. They do this over and over. It is one of their talking points. The talking point is this: when they ask you about racially motivated violence on news programs, invoke violence in Chicago on the South Side to change the topic. Donald Trump always did this; he was the country’s president.

Similar racist tactics emerged when George Zimmerman. Martin, a teenager, was trashed as a gang member and a thug in right-wing circles. This happens every time the police murder a Black person or someone allegedly in a position of authority.

George Floyd? — he was a heroin addict. Ahmaud Arbery — He’s a thief. It goes on and on and on. Joe Madison, the legendary talk radio personality, has often said that — in America, “Black people are undervalued, underestimated and marginalized.” Madison is almost always on point.

This is the manifestation of how the death of Black people in America becomes cannon fodder in the hateful atmosphere in some parts of the country. Politicians like Ramaswamy adopt the language of hate just like they suddenly believe in guns for anyone anywhere.

Many are not going along with it. Many are. Right now, though, there is little doubt America is a Black-and-Tan fantasy. We’ve got to get out of this club.

Listen to Black and Tan Fantasy here.

—

This post was previously published on Brian Gilmore’s blog.

***

Join The Good Men Project as a Premium Member today.

All Premium Members get to view The Good Men Project with NO ADS.

A $50 annual membership gives you an all access pass. You can be a part of every call, group, class and community.
A $25 annual membership gives you access to one class, one Social Interest group and our online communities.
A $12 annual membership gives you access to our Friday calls with the publisher, our online community.