Speaking with
James Earl Jones
By Dorothy Davis
Recently we joined
James Earl Jones at the Oxonian Society. Brilliantly speaking
on “The
Color of Delusion,”he
wove together events of his life, ruminations on the ironies
of “racism,” and the tough philosophy forged from
their collision.
Born in Mississippi,
raised in Michigan, Jones early “realized
that people of every color could be racist, could be victims
of racism.” This was due to his “part Cherokee-Choctaw
grandmother who had
a double edged contempt for White folk
and is the best example of racism that I know.”
He encountered racism
in college. “There weren’t
many black fellows at the University of Michigan—In response
to a paper I wrote, a professor called me in. I had spelled
simplicity ‘simplisity.’ ‘Why are you trying
to be someone you’re not?’ he said. ‘You’re
a dumb Son of a B—who doesn’t belong at a university!’—I
had no idea how to respond to such deep seated racism.”
“The study of DNA undermines racist theory,” he
said. “There is more variation within a group than between
groups. African-Americans’ ancestors
left Africa more recently. Racists believe those whose ancestors
left Africa 40,000 years ago are superior to those whose ancestors
left 400 years ago. But we are all African. We are African-Hungarian,
African-Swedish or African-Irish like some of my ancestors.” Yet
people are racist. “Why doesn’t proof matter?”
His pragmatic response to racism is just to blow it off.
When asked about who
his mentors were in life, his response was surprisingly, “No
one.”
James Earl Jones has starred in such films as Star Wars (Darth
Vadar), The Lion King, Clear and Present Danger, The
Hunt for Red October, Cry, the Beloved Country and The Great
White Hope, for which he received an Oscar nomination. (And
should have received the Oscar. Catch it this month on PBS
and see for yourself.) You may also know him as the hopping
(not hip-hopping) spokesperson for Verizon. #
Go to www.oxoniansociety.com
for more information. Voices and Silences is James Earl Jones’ autobiography,
recently updated with an epilogue and available in paperback.
