Cornel West Got 9/11 Backwards

The artist Jack Whitten witnessed 9/11 — you can hear him saying “holy shit!" in what I believe is the only video of the first plane hitting the World Trade Center. He would produce this massive, moving piece, made with blood and oil, about it. See my “My 9-11 and Jack Whitten's”.

With today being 9/11 and Cornel West’s candidacy getting some play over the last few days, I thought I’d re-up my piece “Cornel West and the ‘Niggerization of America’.” I have only seen clips of his recent interview with Jimmy Dore. From what I’ve seen they both had serious lapses, but the big story to me is that West is remarkably oblivious to what might be called “liberal fascism”. There are two fascisms, logrolling off each other. I got into this in my piece “Dueling -- or Logrolling -- Apartheids.”

Cornel West, now running for president, in July of 2004 gave a speech that was played over and over on “Democracy Now!” and Pacifica.

It was part of his backing the candidacy of Ralph Nader.

He argued:

Since 9/11, America has had the blues. First time in the history of the nation all Americans feel: unsafe, unprotected, subject to random violence and hated. Vast numbers of white American citizens don’t know what to do because they never been hated. They never been unsafe. Never been unprotected. Never been subject to random violence. Well, you know what? To be a nigger in America for 400 years is to be unsafe, unprotected, subject to random violence and hated. So now, America’s niggerized. Got the blues.

He said some worthwhile things in his speech, but this is a remarkable thesis.

Especially from someone who is a highly acclaimed analyst on “race in America”.

9/11 didn’t “niggerize” the US.

To be a “nigger” in any typical sense is to be hated for no good reason whatsoever.

To niggerize is to embrace the heresy against humanity that is racism.

The heresy against obvious science. We can all breed together. We are all one race.

9/11 — unless you think it was a complete inside job — was a murderous attack on the Empire and the citizens of the Empire.

It — and the false flag anthrax attacks which quickly followed — also had the effect of empowering the Empire.

They instilled fear in the US public. And that fear was weaponized if not planned for that purpose.

But to compare it to the relentless targeting of groups who have actually been niggerized — especially by July 2004, after the invasion of Iraq — is an incredible distortion.