No black America, you aren't the custodians of the diaspora’s experience and culture

Earlier this week, a friend put me onto a Hot 97 interview with Samuel L. Jackson where he spoke about the influx of black British actors in America. Indeed, many black British actors are experiencing stateside success and Jackson was somewhat aggrieved that this was taking the roles of his compatriots and peers. However, what I took umbrage with was the subtext of Jackson’s comments on his perception of the validity of the black British experience representing the diaspora. This was when talking about black British actor Daniel Kaluuya being cast in Get Out, a horror comedy about contemporary racism.

“I know the young brother who’s in the movie, and he’s British… There are a lot of black British actors that work in this country. All the time. I tend to wonder what would that movie [Get Out] have been with an American brother who really understands that in a way. Because Daniel [Kaluuya] grew up in a country where they’ve been interracial dating for a hundred years. Britain, there’s only about eight real white people left in Britain … So what would a brother from America have made of that role? And I’m sure the director helped. Some things are universal, but everything ain’t.”

Since it was aired, the interview has had plenty of media coverage, much of it surrounding Jackson's criticism of black British actors taking US roles (Jackson has sought to clarify his comments saying his criticism was more of the system than targeted at British actors). Nonetheless, that doesn’t change the fact that there was a clear undertone in Jackson’s utterances that he, like many African Americans, see themselves as the custodians of the diaspora’s experience and culture. Although, not only is that not a role they undoubtedly do not possess, given contemporary African American culture, one could argue they aren’t qualified to assume it either.

I like and respect Samuel L. Jackson. Despite some questionable roles, he has a solid body of work and cannot be denied as a talent and veteran within the arts and the black diaspora. But when it comes to talking about black British culture, identity and experience, it’s something he’s hugely ignorant to and therefore needs to fall back and pipe down because he has absolutely no idea what he’s talking about.

On interracial relationships in the UK, they are surely growing but the 2011 UK census showed 2.2% of the British population identified as mixed race while 86% identified as white. It’s hardly the erosion of the white race in the UK that Jackson alluded to. Furthermore, despite increased acceptance, interracial relationships are still somewhat a taboo in the UK which would suggest that the struggle of interracial harmony in the UK is very much present.

That struggle is compounded by the history of race relations in the UK. Black America doesn’t have a monopoly on the hardships of the diaspora when it comes to achieving equality and positive race relations. The British were responsible for the enslavement of millions of Africans; of whom many African Americans are descendents of. Then there was the subsequent British empire that replaced slavery with colonialism. Post World War 2, many blacks came from black majority colonies to settle in the UK, only to be met with hostility and abject racism that was the product of centuries of such attitudes in British society that are still present today.

As a result, British contemporary history is littered with race riots and unrest within the black British community. Notting Hill Gate in 1958. Toxteth in Liverpool in 1981. Brixton in 1981 and 1985. Broadwater Farm in Tottenham in 1985. The list goes on. Needless to say, the black British experience is absolutely no stranger to adversity. To suggest otherwise as Jackson has is unfounded and asinine. It’s part of our past and our present and we know just how real it is.

Jackson’s sentiments aren’t exclusive to him. There’s almost an African American ‘privilege’ that so many black Americans assume when it comes to being an authority on and an authentic representation of ‘blackness’. As a black British person who’s spent time in America, many African Americans are amazed that not only are you from the UK but that there are others like you. They feel your ‘blackness’ is perhaps less credible and less authentic because you aren’t from America and therefore can’t possibly have a valid black experience that would be akin to theirs. It beggars belief that a group that often considers itself an authority on the diaspora would be so ignorant to the diaspora beyond their own borders.

Black America undoubtedly has a troubled and anguished history itself when it comes to race relations which is well documented and arguably worse than that of black Britons when it comes to contemporary history. Just don’t attempt to reduce ours in articulating that we don’t know the struggle because we know it just as intimately as the rest of the diaspora.

Admittedly, generations of the black diaspora of yesteryear once looked to black America as a bastion of the culture. The Harlem Renaissance showcased black consciousness and promoted positive black identity and the influence of subsequent civil rights leaders transcended African Americans as its audience and inspired the diaspora as a whole. Yet that’s since changed, largely due to the lack of inspiration offered by black America and the disengagement that the rest of the diaspora has with it.

In contrast to the 70s, 80s, 90s and even early 00s, if you speak to black British youth today, they have little regard for or association with African American culture. The same goes for black French youth and the rest of the diaspora. America is no longer the stronghold it was once perceived for credibly representing the culture.

Even in representations of popular black culture such as music and the wider arts, African Americans are no longer considered to produce a quality product that represents the culture better than their peers elsewhere. Instead, black America has consistently diluted and damaged what were once authentic representations of the diaspora and some of the worst representations of the culture arguably come from black America.

It’s fair to say that no section of the black community has further bastardised the diaspora’s culture en route to aggressive commercialisation and monetisation than contemporary black America. Hence it’s difficult to refute the argument that black America doesn’t even deserve to be a custodian of the diaspora’s experience given the damage it’s already done.

I was discussing this very topic with some friends and commentators on the culture and we remarked on the plethora of African American celebrity endorsements of products that are ills for the community. This isn’t what Malcolm X, Martin Luther King et al wanted and black America has undone much of the work of such inspirational leaders who were rightly figures that the wider diaspora looked up to.

Black America isn’t without credible, respected and inspirational figures such as Cornel West and Dr Boyce Watkins. But America is also home to many modern day house negroes such as US Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson (who compared slaves to immigrants) and YouTuber minstrels and Trump acolytes Diamond and Silk.

“I don’t know, maybe the slaves came for a holiday and stayed to make America great again?”

Despite generations of hardship and inequality, it’s hard to see black America as a safe pair of hands and mouthpiece for the diaspora when such attitudes are present within their community. Don’t get me wrong, we have black British house negroes of our own but none as visible or vocal as those within America. What does that say about the dichotomised black American experience today?

Black America’s heritage is undeniable. Similarly, the African American experience is one that sears through the often painful narrative of the diaspora. Though this doesn’t give black America a right to assert itself as a custodian of the diaspora’s experience or to claim theirs as being more valid than that of the rest of the culture. To assume that role, black America has much work to do and statements like that made by Samuel L. Jackson suggest they’re the last ones to realise it.

What should we make of Bellew’s defeat of Haye?

I cannot recall when my prediction for a fight was more wrong than it was for David Haye vs Tony Bellew (bizarrely, my partner who has no interest in boxing correctly predicted the result during fight week so perhaps I should have listened to her). I’ve got a lot of time for Bellew; he’s got moxy and heart in abundance, a decent skill set (better than many give him credit for) and he can punch and take a shot. He’s a solidly good fighter in my opinion, but not an elite one. Hence I didn’t think he could do anything to neutralise what Haye would bring with speed, explosiveness, accuracy and a natural weight advantage.

Overall, I stand by my assessment of both fighters and prior to the fight I was confident of a quick KO of Bellew within 3 rounds. Though that prediction was far from realised and at no point in the fight did it look like it would be either. Furthermore, in retrospect, perhaps my assessment of Haye was based on the Haye of yesteryear; not the fighter who had an almost 4 year layoff with consequent ring rust, injuries and (excluding Bellew) has only fought substandard opposition since his return to the sport.

I conceded that Haye’s previous two fights showed us little of how good he still was because they presented such limited challenges in his opponents. And at the back of my mind that was a small question mark over Haye. Nevertheless, I thought it was just a matter of time before he caught Bellew with a big shot, smelt blood and went in for a trademark clinical finish. Yet from the outset, the ending I envisaged became increasingly elusive.

Haye began the fight clearly looking for that big shot but with some untidy and reckless work that reflected clear ring rust. There wasn’t anything clinical about his boxing in the first round that I scored in favour of Bellew. Haye experienced more success in subsequent rounds within the first half of the fight and I scored it accordingly. Although he wasn’t eclipsing Bellew how many expected and the Liverpudlian wasn’t fazed by him either. Bellew took some solid shots from Haye but soaked them up and came back with some of his own. So much so that while Haye was still the favourite for me at this point, I thought a knockdown (where he’d get up to come back and win with a stoppage) might have been forthcoming.

Then, in round six, and ahead on my scorecard, Haye succumbed to an Achilles injury (that was rumoured to be the reason why he made a trip to Munich during fight week) which was probably exacerbated by a poor choice of boxing boots lacking adequate support. At that point, it was clear that the fight was Bellew’s for the taking. In the eleventh round, Haye’s corner did the right thing and Shane McGuigan threw in the towel knowing that not only was his fighter unable to compete until the final bell but that he was unable to win.

We shouldn’t detract from Bellew’s win but unlike many of the casuals and the media, we should be measured in how it’s discussed. Yes, Bellew took Haye’s biggest shots in the first half of the fight and came back with his own. Yes, he wasn’t afraid to trade with an explosive puncher a weight above his own weight class. And yes, he was the victor. For that, we must commend him. Nonetheless, after round 6, Bellew was fighting a man effectively fighting on one leg and therefore unable to unload anything meaningful. While Bellew fought well, he alone didn’t beat Haye; Haye’s injury played its part too.

Bellew and Haye were magnanimous warriors in victory and defeat respectively and it shows why boxing is one of the greatest sports in the world. Boxing is the hurt business but in few sports would you get such vitriolic needle in the build up juxtaposed to such an extent with the sporting behaviour and mutual respect shown by Bellew and Haye. Boxing might be branded a barbaric sport by its detractors. But seeing Bellew help Haye (a man who had made beyond spiteful and offensive utterances to his opponent in the build up) to his corner, while eschewing his team’s efforts to celebrate, showed the level of class Bellew possesses. He isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but the man is a certified gent without a doubt.

Similarly, unlike Haye’s defeat against Wladimir Klitschko, there was no citing of his injury. He rightly gave Bellew unreserved respect and kudos.

So what now for both fighters? Three fights since the return from his layoff and we’re yet to see the Haye we once knew. Has that been purely due to the level of opposition and in his latest fight his injury? Putting the injury aside, the first six rounds against Bellew were his opportunity to show us otherwise and had we seen it, Haye would have likely won the fight. At 36, Haye is running out of time to prove that he can regain his position on the top tier of the heavyweight tree. Has Father Time caught up with Haye or has he just been unlucky? If it’s the former, it could be time to call it a day, safe in the knowledge that he has a legacy as a former unified cruiserweight champion and a former heavyweight champion.

Haye called for a rematch but apparently his team were lukewarm toward the inclusion of a rematch clause in the contract. However, it remains an option for Bellew who before the fight said that he would give Haye a rematch. Bellew has more options in being able to return to cruiserweight to defend his WBC belt or challenge for a heavyweight title as mooted by Eddie Hearn. He could even walk away from the sport having achieved more than he expected and presumably being financially secure.

Eddie Hearn too has shown himself to have played yet another masterstroke as a highly adept promoter with impeccable timing for his fights. He’s also surely full of glee that David Haye seemingly no longer presents any obstacle to the Sky hype machine peddling the story of Anthony Joshua as the world’s greatest heavyweight.

It’s opined by many that Bellew was Eddie Hearn’s fodder for Haye to not only gauge how good the latter was before a potential fight with Joshua but also to stall a fight with the current IBF champion should he get past Klitschko. If the old Haye is still there, he beats Joshua everyday of the week but based on the first half of his fight with Bellew, it’s a much more evenly matched fight.

Bellew deserves the utmost respect in victory and for his post fight conduct towards Haye. But let’s not make more of his win than we should given the circumstances. Haye and his team now need to ask themselves if the loss was a case of bad luck or the tap of Father Time upon Haye’s shoulder. It remains to be seen what the answer is but it’s a question that needs to be answered as Haye assesses his next move in (or out) of the sport.