Dr. Cornell West

Dr. Cornell West, Too Smart

Dr. Cornell West spoke at Worcester State University on March 30, 2016. He is a difficult man to understand, but most philosophers are. He certainly stepped on everyone’s toes without any apparent concrete ax to grind.

At first Dr. West talked about love and how it will change the world. By love he means agape love or the love of human interactions and charity. He felt that this should be our primary motivation. He reminded me of a gentleman in Worcester who also says that his enemies will be swept away with this love.

Next Dr. West talked of integrity of the individual and how we should not succumb to the prostitution of ourselves for money and banality.

It was almost sermonlike.

Then toes started to get stepped on. He said many of the churches preached the gospel of prosperity or pray to God and you will get rich or free of material want.

He attacked President Obama, saying a Black President, a Black Attorney General, and a Black head of Homeland Security, and the racist cops still are not being punished.

Dr. West had a good word for Malcolm X whom he saw as an model of the redemption of the individual, a man who could change his life for the better in terms of social interactions and leadership.

The Constitution of the United took a hit. Dr. West pointed out that the Constitution made legal the exploitative nature of the political bosses of the American Revolution, codifying slavery.  His point as I understand it is those things that are legal are not always just; we should not fall into the trap of thinking legality equals Justice.

There was an irony I suppose in his analysis of Donald Trump. Dr. West sarcastically called Donald Trump “brother”. He said brother Trump was not yet a fascist.  Dr. West thought Trump to be an egotist who liked showing off how smart he is. The irony is that Dr. West seemed to be doing the same thing.

Unfortunately most of his audience was Worcester State University students who did not seem to grasp the shock values of the Dr. West’s assertions. The terms he used like “neo liberal” seemed to confuse many.

From my own experience terms used by contemporary college students like “intersectionality” go over my head as well.

Dr. West is in his sixties and a generational gap may be developing with semantics of the 1960s and 2010s. I heard some of the students leaving say that they wanted to cut through the crap and get to the message.

One of the things Dr. West does not have is a cause to fight for. He did not say he wanted to close down Guantanamo. He did not say he wanted $15 minimum wage. He did say he was for a general redistribution of power.

 When you do not have a cause,  speech becomes more philosophical or ethical.  It is like someone showing off how smart he is. 

What I learnt from Dr. Hampsch, one of my philosophy teachers at Holy Cross, is that Karl Marx changed philosophy when he said our job is to make history, not just to study it. That thought repeated itself as I listened to Dr. West.