Rev. Wright diagnosed with Jealous Negro Syndrome

My mother has long lamented black folks and "the crabs in a barrel syndrome." As we have watched the round the clock coverage (bordering on national obsession) of the Rev. Wright saga, she has found herself lamenting it more and more. For those who don't know, "crabs in a barrel" is a reference to the way crabs, when placed in a barrel together, behave with one crab trying to escape and another always trying to pull him back in, thereby ensuring that they both eventually meet the same horrible fate, (which will likely be on one of our dinner plates. )

A quick google search of "crabs in a barrel AND wright" produces countless results, which proves that my mother is not alone in believing that the Rev. Jeremiah Wright is the ultimate destructive crab.

While I don't have a medical degree, based on the symptoms Wright is exhibiting -- destructive rhetoric, narcissistic ranting, and a total disregard for how his actions impact others -- I would say that Pastor Wright suffers not only from crab syndrome, but from "JNS." Though not life threatening, JNS does wreak havoc on the lives of the sufferer, along with his or her loved ones and caregivers. As of yet, there is no known vaccine.

JNS stands for "Jealous Negro Syndrome."

I first became aware of the disease while sitting on a panel at Harvard Law School with Civil Rights veteran and mega-church pastor, Rev. Gerald Durley. When we were asked by one of the African-American students in attendance why some older civil rights-era luminaries had not only been standoff-ish, but blatantly hostile towards Barack Obama, and other younger elected officials such as Mayor Cory Booker, Durley did not mince words, declaring "Well you've got some jealous Negroes out there."

And there you have it, the ugly truth that no one likes to talk about, least of all Black Americans.

Discussions of a generational divide within Black America tend to cover cultural differences, such as debates over hip-hop, but most often they focus on the simple fact that some black Americans lived through segregation while others did not. But there has been very little discussion of the resentment that this difference in life experience has fostered, particularly among some older black men.

After being defeated by Artur Davis, a Harvard trained lawyer (and law school classmate of Barack Obama) former Congressman Earl Hilliard denounced what he saw as a new destructive force within the black community. No it wasn't drugs, or AIDS, but well-educated, young, black Ivy leaguers. Hilliard spoke of the distrust that he and some of his generational peers felt towards this new generation of leaders, saying:

"When [Davis] ran against me two years ago, we [Hilliard and some Congressional Black Caucus colleagues] were talking one day and started comparing notes. And we found out that Representative Ed Towns [Rep-NY] had a guy who had been to Harvard Law School, who had worked in the DA's office, who was running against him. We found out that Bobby Rush [Rep-IL] had a guy who had attended Harvard Law School, who had worked in the DA's office, who was running against him. And a guy who had attended Harvard Law School, who had just finished working in a DA's office, was running against me. You ask if there is a conspiracy. Yes and no. White folks know what Blacks they can use to turn against other Blacks. That is the reason why the person that replaced Gus Savage [former Rep-IL] was from Yale, the person that replaced me was from Harvard, the person that replaced Craig Washington [former Rep-TX] was from Yale, the person they are trying to replace Cynthia McKinney with is from Princeton, the persons that they tried with Ed Towns and Bobby Rush were Harvard."

The candidate who ran against Bobby Rush that Hilliard was referring to, was a man by the name of Barack Obama.

As silly as they may sound, Hilliard's comments are at least an honest admission of what some members of his generation have long quietly felt but never articulated--at least not publicly. Instead of celebrating the fact that there is an entire generation that has been able to attend, compete, and succeed in some of the nation's most elite institutions--from Harvard to the halls of Congress--there  is a quiet resentment that the Barack Obamas of the world are reaping the benefits of their generation's hard work, and it's just not fair.

Even among those who have endorsed Obama, there have been shades of JNS. Rev. Jesse Jackson, an early Obama supporter, famously accused Obama of "acting white" for his supposed lack of activism on the Jena 6 case. Not exactly the words you would expect to hear from someone who is supposed to be in your corner. While Rev. Wright had also been among Obama's earliest supporters, when presented with the opportunity to share the same spotlight and national stage as his younger, more famous, church member whose own audience and success has greatly surpassed his, Wright leapt at the opportunity, even if he had to land on Obama's back in the process.

It is unfortunate that there is a generation of men who had to crawl through hell on broken glass so that those of us who came after them--including Barack Obama--could walk through this country with our heads held high. But it would be even more unfortunate if they continue to allow JNS to destroy them, and in doing so destroy the hopes and opportunities that they fought so hard for our community to have.