"Intelligent Black People" … an Oxymoron?

“Black” and “Smart” … an Oxymoron?

No. It is not an oxymoron. And anyone who even thinks such a thing should get some serious psychological treatment. Really – I’m not kidding. Perhaps 24 hours worth of television shows like “A Different World,” “The Cosby Show,” and a little bit of Carlton (“Fresh Prince of Bel Air”), Urkel (“Family Matters”), and a sufficient amount of “Obama” hype should help.

People who exhibit signs of needing this sort of treatment may not always be obvious to the naked eye (or ear, for that matter). For example, they may exhibit signs of sheer ignorance by stating to a black person, “Wow! You are so articulate!,” or “Well, you’re different,” or may even subtly allude to the fact that they are surprised that black people go to top-tier colleges and graduate schools. And you may be able to point them out in particular when they compare black people to famous television characters or politicians such as “Theo,” “Carlton,” “Condoleezza Rice,” “Colin Powell,” (and they most likely are now implementing “Obama” into their comparative vocabulary).

As a self-identified nerd from birth, I’ve always found the antiquated idea that “smart black people are the exception to the rule” quite amusing as well as far from any sort of truth, considering how I was surrounded by intelligent black people all the time, ranging from all different careers, educational backgrounds, and nationalities. However, there was no doubt that the media, on average, tended to promote the classic stereotypes about black people over and over again through music videos, television shows, as well as terrible movies that somehow made it to the silver screen. And let’s not forget the recent strange popularity of Flava Flav and “New York” from the show, “I Love New York” (and Flava Flav’s show as well). I therefore dismissed the media as an unfortunate and unaware institution that has not yet chosen to leave “blackface” in the past where it belongs.

I am therefore somewhat relieved that many people will have to challenge their notion about black people and intelligence with upcoming constant exposure to the next President of the United States, who won his position in large part due to his incredible intellect. And let’s be honest – there are plenty of men and women out there like Obama who have not risen to the same level of fame.

Perhaps now, when a card-carrying “Black People Are Smart?” individual decides to “compliment” a black person by claiming that he or she is “so articulate!,” perhaps the receiver of this “compliment” could remind the individual that the next President of the United States, his wife and their kids are intelligent as well – so get a clue. And stop watching Flava Flav.