Authenticity vs. Sincerity

The Godfather of Soul is dead. Hard to believe but there you have it. As John D. MacDonald wrote, the sandbar starts to get pretty narrow. Egads! Just look at what we're left with!

Will Brown be remembered only for his music? I hope not. His music belonged to the now yet his vibe echoed loudly into Afro-Futurism. Brown gave no less than Miles Davis, the ultimate space brotha, new energy and new direction coming out of the sixties. Bootsy Collins tutored under Brown for years and brought his learning to bear on George Clinton and his myriad of funk satellites.

Brown was a man who didn't just preach civil rights; he lived it. He was a black man self-made in America and he was mindful of his life every day and every night. Brown was authentic because he lived free on his own terms. And in living that life, he inspired millions.

This morning, the great Orlando Patterson, in a NY Times guest column that should be made permanent, discusses the difference between the quixotic quest for authenticity in the United States and the dearth of sincerity in public life. Patterson notes that people who go looking for "authenticity" often end in deep doo doo. Stephen Colbert calls the same thing "truthiness" - feeling over reason, no matter what. That's why Bush is in the White House and fans of James Frey have yet to abandon him. Their stories just seem "right".

Patterson though was discussing how people deal with bigotry in America. If, as he suggests, we're all bigots deep inside, then we have to figure out how to behave in public. Patterson is what can only be called an existential sociologist; he believes people are responsible for their life and we need to study how people make choices in life. He quotes Shakespeare to put forth a dramaturgical model of life: "All the world's a stage." If you act civil, you will be civil, no matter what you're thinking. Everyone takes on roles everyday which require different kinds of face paint. Rather than trying to find some sort of simple, unified, true identity (cue the psychoanalysts) that is static no matter what, Patterson suggests we make and re-make ourselves in the artful and tasteful navigation of the complexity of life in a modern society. Find the fat repulsive? Think Blacks are vulgar? Keep your thoughts to yourself and do unto others as you would have them do unto you. If the action is sincere, that's enough.

This to me is where the next Civil Rights movement, if it's going to happen, has to begin.