TEDWomen 2016
Brittney Cooper: The racial politics of time
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Cultural theorist Brittney Cooper examines racism through the lens of time, showing us how historically it has been stolen from people of color, resulting in lost moments of joy and connection, lost years of healthy quality of life and the delay of progress. A candid, thought-provoking take on history and race that may make you reconsider your understanding of time, and your place in it.
Brittney Cooper - Cultural theorist
With scholarship and incisive commentary that exposes the marginalized narratives hidden within "mainstream" history, Brittney Cooper writes at the vanguard of cultural criticism. Full bio
With scholarship and incisive commentary that exposes the marginalized narratives hidden within "mainstream" history, Brittney Cooper writes at the vanguard of cultural criticism. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
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What if I told you that time has a race,
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a race in the contemporary way
that we understand race
that we understand race
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in the United States?
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Typically, we talk about race
in terms of black and white issues.
in terms of black and white issues.
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In the African-American communities
from which I come,
from which I come,
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we have a long-standing
multi-generational joke
multi-generational joke
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about what we call "CP time,"
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or "colored people's time."
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Now, we no longer refer
to African-Americans as "colored,"
to African-Americans as "colored,"
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but this long-standing joke
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about our perpetual lateness to church,
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to cookouts, to family events
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and even to our own funerals, remains.
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I personally am a stickler for time.
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It's almost as if my mother,
when I was growing up, said,
when I was growing up, said,
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"We will not be those black people."
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So we typically arrive to events
30 minutes early.
30 minutes early.
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But today, I want to talk to you
more about the political nature of time,
more about the political nature of time,
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for if time had a race,
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it would be white.
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White people own time.
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I know, I know.
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Making such "incendiary statements"
makes us uncomfortable:
makes us uncomfortable:
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Haven't we moved past the point
where race really matters?
where race really matters?
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Isn't race a heavy-handed concept?
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Shouldn't we go ahead
with our enlightened, progressive selves
with our enlightened, progressive selves
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and relegate useless concepts like race
to the dustbins of history?
to the dustbins of history?
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How will we ever get over racism
if we keep on talking about race?
if we keep on talking about race?
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Perhaps we should lock up our concepts
of race in a time capsule,
of race in a time capsule,
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bury them and dig them up
in a thousand years,
in a thousand years,
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peer at them with the clearly
more enlightened,
more enlightened,
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raceless versions of ourselves
that belong to the future.
that belong to the future.
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But you see there,
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that desire to mitigate the impact
of race and racism shows up
of race and racism shows up
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in how we attempt to manage time,
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in the ways we narrate history,
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in the ways we attempt to shove
the negative truths of the present
the negative truths of the present
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into the past,
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in the ways we attempt to argue
that the future that we hope for
that the future that we hope for
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is the present in which
we're currently living.
we're currently living.
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Now, when Barack Obama
became President of the US in 2008,
became President of the US in 2008,
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many Americans declared
that we were post-racial.
that we were post-racial.
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I'm from the academy
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where we're enamored
with being post-everything.
with being post-everything.
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We're postmodern, we're post-structural,
we're post-feminist.
we're post-feminist.
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"Post" has become
a simple academic appendage
a simple academic appendage
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that we apply to a range of terms
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to mark the way we were.
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But prefixes alone don't have the power
to make race and racism
to make race and racism
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a thing of the past.
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The US was never "pre-race."
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So to claim that we're post-race when we
have yet to grapple with the impact
have yet to grapple with the impact
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of race on black people,
Latinos or the indigenous
Latinos or the indigenous
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is disingenuous.
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Just about the moment
we were preparing to celebrate
we were preparing to celebrate
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our post-racial future,
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our political conditions became
the most racial they've been
the most racial they've been
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in the last 50 years.
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So today, I want to offer to you
three observations,
three observations,
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about the past, the present
and the future of time,
and the future of time,
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as it relates to the combating
of racism and white dominance.
of racism and white dominance.
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First: the past.
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Time has a history,
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and so do black people.
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But we treat time as though
it is timeless,
it is timeless,
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as though it has always been this way,
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as though it doesn't have
a political history
a political history
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bound up with the plunder
of indigenous lands,
of indigenous lands,
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the genocide of indigenous people
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and the stealing of Africans
from their homeland.
from their homeland.
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When white male European philosophers
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first thought to conceptualize
time and history, one famously declared,
time and history, one famously declared,
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"[Africa] is no historical
part of the World."
part of the World."
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He was essentially saying
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that Africans were people
outside of history
outside of history
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who had had no impact on time
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or the march of progress.
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This idea, that black people
have had no impact on history,
have had no impact on history,
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is one of the foundational ideas
of white supremacy.
of white supremacy.
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It's the reason that Carter G. Woodson
created "Negro History Week" in 1926.
created "Negro History Week" in 1926.
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It's the reason that we continue
to celebrate Black History Month
to celebrate Black History Month
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in the US every February.
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Now, we also see this idea
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that black people are people either
alternately outside of the bounds of time
alternately outside of the bounds of time
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or stuck in the past,
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in a scenario where,
much as I'm doing right now,
much as I'm doing right now,
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a black person stands up and insists
that racism still matters,
that racism still matters,
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and a person, usually white,
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says to them,
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"Why are you stuck in the past?
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Why can't you move on?
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We have a black president.
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We're past all that."
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William Faulkner famously said,
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"The past is never dead.
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It's not even past."
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But my good friend
Professor Kristie Dotson says,
Professor Kristie Dotson says,
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"Our memory is longer than our lifespan."
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We carry, all of us,
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family and communal
hopes and dreams with us.
hopes and dreams with us.
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We don't have the luxury
of letting go of the past.
of letting go of the past.
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But sometimes,
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our political conditions are so troubling
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that we don't know
if we're living in the past
if we're living in the past
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or we're living in the present.
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Take, for instance,
when Black Lives Matter protesters
when Black Lives Matter protesters
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go out to protest unjust killings
of black citizens by police,
of black citizens by police,
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and the pictures that emerge
from the protest
from the protest
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look like they could have been
taken 50 years ago.
taken 50 years ago.
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The past won't let us go.
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But still, let us press our way
into the present.
into the present.
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At present, I would argue
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that the racial struggles
we are experiencing
we are experiencing
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are clashes over time and space.
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What do I mean?
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Well, I've already told you
that white people own time.
that white people own time.
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Those in power dictate
the pace of the workday.
the pace of the workday.
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They dictate how much money
our time is actually worth.
our time is actually worth.
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And Professor George Lipsitz argues
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that white people even dictate
the pace of social inclusion.
the pace of social inclusion.
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They dictate how long
it will actually take
it will actually take
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for minority groups to receive the rights
that they have been fighting for.
that they have been fighting for.
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Let me loop back to the past quickly
to give you an example.
to give you an example.
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If you think about
the Civil Rights Movement
the Civil Rights Movement
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and the cries of its leaders
for "Freedom Now,"
for "Freedom Now,"
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they were challenging the slow pace
of white social inclusion.
of white social inclusion.
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By 1965, the year
the Voting Rights Act was passed,
the Voting Rights Act was passed,
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there had been a full 100 years
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between the end of the Civil War
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and the conferral of voting rights
on African-American communities.
on African-American communities.
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Despite the urgency of a war,
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it still took a full 100 years
for actual social inclusion to occur.
for actual social inclusion to occur.
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Since 2012,
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conservative state legislatures
across the US have ramped up attempts
across the US have ramped up attempts
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to roll back African-American
voting rights
voting rights
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by passing restrictive voter ID laws
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and curtailing early voting opportunities.
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This past July, a federal court
struck down North Carolina's voter ID law
struck down North Carolina's voter ID law
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saying it "... targeted African-Americans
with surgical precision."
with surgical precision."
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Restricting African-American inclusion
in the body politic
in the body politic
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is a primary way that we attempt
to manage and control people
to manage and control people
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by managing and controlling time.
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But another place that we see
these time-space clashes
these time-space clashes
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is in gentrifying cities
like Atlanta, Brooklyn,
like Atlanta, Brooklyn,
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Philadelphia, New Orleans
and Washington, DC --
and Washington, DC --
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places that have had
black populations for generations.
black populations for generations.
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But now, in the name
of urban renewal and progress,
of urban renewal and progress,
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these communities are pushed out,
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in service of bringing them
into the 21st century.
into the 21st century.
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Professor Sharon Holland asked:
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What happens when a person
who exists in time
who exists in time
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meets someone who only occupies space?
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These racial struggles
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are battles over those
who are perceived to be space-takers
who are perceived to be space-takers
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and those who are perceived
to be world-makers.
to be world-makers.
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Those who control the flow
and thrust of history
and thrust of history
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are considered world-makers
who own and master time.
who own and master time.
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In other words: white people.
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But when Hegel famously said that Africa
was no historical part of the world,
was no historical part of the world,
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he implied that it was merely
a voluminous land mass
a voluminous land mass
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taking up space
at the bottom of the globe.
at the bottom of the globe.
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Africans were space-takers.
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So today, white people continue to control
the flow and thrust of history,
the flow and thrust of history,
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while too often treating black people
as though we are merely taking up space
as though we are merely taking up space
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to which we are not entitled.
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Time and the march of progress
is used to justify
is used to justify
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a stunning degree of violence
towards our most vulnerable populations,
towards our most vulnerable populations,
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who, being perceived as space-takers
rather than world-makers,
rather than world-makers,
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are moved out of the places
where they live,
where they live,
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in service of bringing them
into the 21st century.
into the 21st century.
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Shortened life span according to zip code
is just one example of the ways
is just one example of the ways
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that time and space cohere
in an unjust manner
in an unjust manner
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in the lives of black people.
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Children who are born
in New Orleans zip code 70124,
in New Orleans zip code 70124,
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which is 93 percent white,
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can expect to live a full 25 years longer
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than children born
in New Orleans zip code 70112,
in New Orleans zip code 70112,
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which is 60 percent black.
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Children born in Washington, DC's
wealthy Maryland suburbs
wealthy Maryland suburbs
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can expect to live a full 20 years longer
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than children born
in its downtown neighborhoods.
in its downtown neighborhoods.
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Ta-Nehisi Coates argues
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that, "The defining feature
of being drafted into the Black race
of being drafted into the Black race
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is the inescapable robbery of time."
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We experience time discrimination,
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he tells us,
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not just as structural,
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but as personal:
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in lost moments of joy,
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lost moments of connection,
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lost quality of time with loved ones
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and lost years of healthy quality of life.
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In the future, do you see black people?
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Do black people have a future?
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What if you belong
to the very race of people
to the very race of people
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who have always been pitted against time?
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What if your group is the group
for whom a future was never imagined?
for whom a future was never imagined?
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These time-space clashes --
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between protesters and police,
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between gentrifiers and residents --
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don't paint a very pretty picture
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of what America hopes
for black people's future.
for black people's future.
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If the present is any indicator,
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our children will be under-educated,
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health maladies will take their toll
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and housing will continue
to be unaffordable.
to be unaffordable.
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So if we're really ready
to talk about the future,
to talk about the future,
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perhaps we should begin
by admitting that we're out of time.
by admitting that we're out of time.
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We black people
have always been out of time.
have always been out of time.
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Time does not belong to us.
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Our lives are lives of perpetual urgency.
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Time is used to displace us,
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or conversely, we are urged
into complacency
into complacency
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through endless calls to just be patient.
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But if past is prologue,
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let us seize upon the ways in which
we're always out of time anyway
we're always out of time anyway
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to demand with urgency
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freedom now.
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I believe the future is what we make it.
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But first, we have to decide
that time belongs to all of us.
that time belongs to all of us.
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No, we don't all get equal time,
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but we can decide that the time
we do get is just and free.
we do get is just and free.
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We can stop making your zip code
the primary determinant
the primary determinant
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of your lifespan.
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We can stop stealing learning time
from black children
from black children
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through excessive use
of suspensions and expulsions.
of suspensions and expulsions.
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We can stop stealing time
from black people
from black people
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through long periods
of incarceration for nonviolent crimes.
of incarceration for nonviolent crimes.
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The police can stop
stealing time and black lives
stealing time and black lives
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through use of excessive force.
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I believe the future is what we make it.
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But we can't get there
on colored people's time
on colored people's time
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or white time
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or your time
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or even my time.
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It's our time.
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Ours.
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Thank you.
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(Applause)
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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Brittney Cooper - Cultural theoristWith scholarship and incisive commentary that exposes the marginalized narratives hidden within "mainstream" history, Brittney Cooper writes at the vanguard of cultural criticism.
Why you should listen
Brittney Cooper spends her days in conversation with college students about everything from feminism to hip hop. During her other waking hours, she uses digital platforms and blogging as a virtual classroom to incite her national readership to have more robust and honest conversations about racism, popular culture and how to take down the patriarchy. She is an Assistant Professor of Women's and Gender Studies and Africana Studies at Rutgers University.
Cooper's work and words have appeared on MSNBC, BET, NPR, PBS, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, TV Guide, New York Magazine, Salon.com, The Root.com and Al Jazeera America, among many others. She is a regular contributor at Cosmpolitan.com and co-founder of the Crunk Feminist Collective and blog. Cooper is author of two forthcoming books, Beyond Respectability: The Intellectual Thought of Race Women (University of Illinois Press 2017) and Never Scared: One Black Feminist's Refusal to Bow Down, Back Up, or Give In (St. Martin’s Press 2017) and editor of one co-edited volume, The Crunk Feminist Collection (The Feminist Press 2017).
Brittney Cooper | Speaker | TED.com