I got an email this past weekend from the African-American Business and Contractors Association (AABCA), which isn’t happy with general contracting firms that fail to hire African-American subcontractors and workers. The AABCA is threatening to “shut those projects down by any means we feel that are necessary.”
This kind of thing is par for the course in this region. What caught my eye, though, was the vernacular used by the email's author, Makal Ali: “We can’t allow you to pick and choose African-American contractors of your choice because in doing so, you will pick, as you always have in the pass [sic], those Uncle Toms and Auntie Mammie Niggers whom you habitually put in place so all the money comes back to you. That game is over with!!!!!"
I’m not insulted by the terms he used. Being a 50-year-old black person who can remember most of the 1960s and all of the '70s, the word “nigger" doesn’t bother me in the least. It still will fly out of my mouth when I am around black friends; I’m not ashamed to admit it.
AABCA’s blast comes on the heels of state Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal calling black politicians who favor local control of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department “house slaves.”
On WGNU 920 AM last week, she said, "What these plantation owners like Rex Sinquefield are doing is using some of their house slaves that are elected in St. Louis.” She added, "I’m off the plantation."
Hey, I might not agree with her, but I hear what she is saying loud and clear.
Board of Alderman President Lewis Reed says she should lose her seat in the legislature. I say Reed doth protest too much.
Chappelle-Nadal's comments hit a nerve. Affronted black people never seem to say, “I’m not a 'Tom' or a 'house Negro'” when they are challenged. That would be the first thing I said, not how insulted I am by the choice of words.
A lot of things make me laugh, and near the top of the list are the late Richard Pryor's comedy routines. I repeatedly hear the word "nigger," and I don’t care. Words can only do as much damage as we let them. Black people have bigger problems than being called out of name—especially when it is a fellow black person letting loose on them.
Commentary By Alvin Reid
