The media circus surrounding Bishop Eddie Long's supposed sexual trysts and their impact on the consumption of black sexual identities is still at category 5 - black mandingo status. Oprah's show, which may have been recorded before the Long drama even took hold of the national media's attention, added to this whirlwind of attention that casts not only African American men but African American gay men into a deeper pigeonhole of a victimizer with sexual insatiability.
What is even more fascinating is how the media's depictions have constructed an archetype of a down low black male predator that poses a greater threat than the heterosexual African American male body. Down low stereotypes blend two major fears - the general fear of the black male body and homophobia. I intentionally use "the" because of the accepted practice of making the black man a monolithic being incapable of digressing from any preconceived notions of black masculine identity.
The down low "predator" is made hyperaware within African American circles. This was made especially prevalent with Oprah's guests J.L. King and his wife Brenda. I don't know how I really feel about King except for "ehh."
My first introduction to King was back in 2003 during a convocation my sophomore year at Albany State. Before King's book, down low connoted a secret, heterosexual affair that R. Kelly got his ass whooped about. He gave a talk about sexual awareness and attempted to address questions about the down low. I remember King vividly because he rolled a condom down his arm as a demonstration of how condoms don't break, much to the horror of some of my classmates and the humor of others. Any kind of seriousness was quickly dismissed afterward. The conversation completely broke down. Many folks left with the same "what the hell" look on their face that they came in with.
Here's my hangup with King: what exactly is he advocating? How is he contributing to the eradication of this problem? King is one of the primary people to profit from this "phenomenon" and continues to do so nearly a decade after coming out to America through a book deal.
What is extremely disheartening about the (lack of) constructive discourse surrounding down low activity is how profitable it is. Aside from King and King's ex-wife Brenda, it has been increasingly visible and capitalized upon in pop culture ( The Boondocks and an episode of Law and Order:SVU immediately come to mind), literature (E. Lynn Harris arguably jump started his career with down low narratives), and social-political commentary. While today's Oprah was heart wrenching, the woman Bridget B.'s interview and her primary reason for being on the show was the $12 million dollar settlement she received after being infected with HIV because of (the orientation of?) her ex-husband's outside sexual activity. There was little discussion about ways to prevent these occurrences as well as the spread of AIDS. Any opportunity to advocate a solution was severely underutilized.
We live in an increasingly awkward social climate desperately attempting to cling to a fast unraveling social hierarchy stratified by traditional perceptions of gender and race. The responses to these social-cultural shifts are increasingly violent and disturbing. With the recent explosion of queer expression into mainstream American culture and social practices there needs to be an equivalent action to address the concerns surrounding the queer body, gay culture, and gay social concerns. The fusion of non-heteronormative culture with mainstream America should be respected and not reduced to a profitable social fad.
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