Cornel West - professor of Afro-American Studies and Religion at Harvard University - Interview

Progressive, The, Jan, 1997 by John Nichols

Q: It seems at this point that the secular left is uncomfortable with the left tradition within communities of faith. Outside of the African-American community, there appears to be a sense that there is something weak, perhaps even distasteful, about a faith-based progressivism. Why?

West: The leftist tradition in the modern West has been deeply secular. Therefore, persons of religious belief, persons of religious sensibility, feel as if they are childish, feel as if they are primitive, feel as if they are behind. The badge of refinement and sophistication is one of secular sensibility.

One finds this also among artists and bohemian communities, and it's understandable because there's been a certain historical trajectory that has led to this. At the same time, we have to realize that the roots of this are in a particularly historical moment--when Marx himself was writing, he couldn't get a member of the Lutheran clergy to join the German Social Democratic party, and so he, understandably, said, "Look, there's no possibility of religion being a progressive force if that's the case."

But we have to recognize other historical traditions, as well. We've got a black tradition, we've got Nat Turner, we've got Frederick Douglass, we've got Sojourner Truth, we've got Martin King, we've got Garvey--all of them deeply religious folks.

Q: Let's talk about the Million Man March, which you supported. A year after the march, can you see a lingering impact?

West: It's hard to measure the impact. On the one hand, you had 1.7 million black men who voted in the 1996 election and who didn't vote in 1992. The Million Man March probably contributed in a significant way to that.

Similarly so, on a qualitative level, there's a different kind of spirit among a lot of the brothers on the ground, on the street, in terms of a sense of possibility. That cuts across ideology and politics, so it is hard to specify for progressives, but any time you have a sense of possibility among a group like black men, who are very, very much a part of the class of subordinate peoples, you have some raw material for movement and momentum.

At the same time, the march generated a hell of a discussion, a hell of a debate in black America about whence the rise of black people, whence the struggle against white supremacy, and that's very important. There were also serious reflections on, and interrogations of, Minister Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam--with a lot of different voices, most of those voices full of insights, a few of the voices full of knock-down convincing arguments. And they go from the secular left to the religious progressives to folks who are noncommittal but are deeply concerned about black suffering.

The discussion that's followed the march has been rather open-ended, and in some ways symptomatic and reflective of very, very deep levels of confusion in the black community. And, of course, it has highlighted the profound crisis in black leadership.

Q: Do you believe that Minister Farrakhan has used the opportunities presented by the Million Man March's success as effectively and responsibly as he could have?