A Naipaul and a Black Panther?

"Jim Jones, never an original man, was dealing in a common currency. On the day when Huey Newton was talking to those Boston students, the ideological irresponsibilities of a promiscuous decade were coming home to roost in Jonestown."

One of the strangest but most intriguing parts of Shiva Naipaul's Journey to Nowhere: A New World Tragedy, written about the Jonestown Massacre, is an interview with Huey P. Newton of the Black Panthers. Yes, Shiva Naipaul's famous brother met C.L.R. James, as well as attending a GOP convention featuring former Black Panther Eldridge Cleaver, so Vidia has met some prominent black radicals, but Shiva Naipaul struck me as more sympathetic to the plight of those on the receiving end of white supremacy. Certainly no leftist, Shiva Naipaul is critical of the posturing and bearing of arms by the Black Panthers, and even goes so far as to insinuate the extremist and alarmist rhetoric of Huey Newton and Angela Davis, talk of genocide and extermination of blacks, partly legitimate considering the racial backlash and failure of the Civil Rights Movement and Great Society to address poverty, actually fueled support for Jim Jones (Angela Davis herself allegedly supported Jones). The argument, if I may so crudely summarize, is implausible or at best, an exaggeration, but it may partly explain why so many black Americans joined Jones in Guyana and were willing to believe in him. Why not, if, as white and black radicals were saying, white America was hell-bent on destroying black America and the reality of living conditions for poor blacks were so horrific. That said, Shiva Naipaul is far too harsh on Huey P. Newton and does not seem to understand or concede to Newton that blacks patrolling the police is itself a radical act. Carrying guns and adopting militant titles and names is too much for Shiva, and morally or politically irresponsible, but perhaps that reflects Shiva's own political biases.

Despite the flaws and "blindspots" of Naipaul's understanding of race and the Black Panthers in the US, I actually enjoy his travel writing. He is witty, possesses an endearing sense of humor (in one of his other books, he jokes that he prefers the genial criticism of a West Indian who suggests Vidia actually writes Shiva's books for him!), is more perceptive than one would realize on issues of culture or race, but avoids the disturbing negrophobia of his brother. Despite sharing an 'Afropessimistic' attitude at times, Shiva occasionally shocks the reader by alluding to the dehumanizing way Europeans spoke of Africans, shares jokes about being cheated by a Kikuyu shoeshine boy, recognizes the ingenuity of Swahili civilization, and even has some insightful commentary on culture and identity in Australia. I think I prefer his travel writing to that of his brother...