COLOURED PEOPLES TIME: A Cultural Phenomenon

COLOURED PEOPLES TIME: A CULTURAL PHENOMENON

Black people always seem to be late and, in fact, have been late so often and so predictably that they themselves have coined a term for it: CP Time, Colored People’s Time. CP Time is usually spoken of in tones of the profoundest dismay (by Blacks who lament their brother’s “irresponsibility that will hold us all back.”) or of an outraged complacency (by whites who see this habitual lateness as yet further instance of our don’t-give-a-damn attitude, “but really, what can you expect?”)

Black World, Negro Digest, December 1972

There are a number of factors that strike me about the passage above. The article was published in a magazine created by Johnson Publishing, who still produces publications like Ebony and Jet today; I question just how progressive the attitudes of these publishers have become since its first publication in November 1942. A lot has happened since then; the African American Civil Rights Movement (1954-68), Apartheid in South Africa (1948-94), and the murder of Stephen Lawrence (1993) are a few examples of events that have shaped our modern opinions about race and identity. I was three months from celebrating my first birthday when Stephen Lawrence was murdered while waiting for bus; I was already a toddler when the South African General Election of 1994 marked the end of the legal segregation of race between whites and blacks. I’d like to believe that these ordeals feel distant from me but in truth, they are quite the opposite; they are strangely familiar and uncomfortably overlap into the realms of my existence and school of thinking.

The essay entitled Ellison Gordone and Tolson: Some Notes on the Blues, Style and Space was written by Ronald Walcott and begins with The Prologue of Ralph Ellison’s The Invisible Man. There are many variations of the this concept of cultural tardiness ie Indian Standard Time, Liberian Standard Time, but this article will specifically look at the bad punctuality evident in those of African origin. Walcott discusses about the African American’s understanding of time and space, arguing that ‘CP Time is actually an example of Black people’s effort to evade, frustrate and ridicule the value-reinforcing strictures of punctuality that so well serve this coldly impersonal technological society.’ I do not agree or disagree with this statement but I recognise the underlying object in Walcott’s examination of the black motive: rebellion—or what psychologists identify as ‘passive resistance.’

You can perceive the black psyches propensity to revolt in Walcott’s suggested point that ‘they themselves’ or we ourselves ‘have coined’ the phrase and not an oppressive regime. CP Time is our creation; it is our version of Frankenstein’s monster; our own handiwork that sounds beautiful in theory but is monstrous in reality. The hit single Stronger, is a song off of Kanye West’s album entitled Graduation (2007). As Kanye raps over the electronic composition of the track, he says something foretelling:

"You should be honoured by my lateness"

The musician uses his lack of punctuality to define his personality. Kanye describes Stronger as an emancipation, using the song to express his frustration over his past mistakes. The song champions the resolve an individual develops when faced with adversity; the chorus refrain paraphrases Frederich Nietzsche’s famous dictum: ‘What does not kill him, makes him stronger.’ The speaker is depicted as the black victim and somewhat prisoner-slave, who is not only breaking free from the oppression of his past, but is defying the expectations of his critics. Time, or rather, being on time is personified as an act of conformity and another form of black slavery enforced by the white oppressor. I have no doubt in believing that a number of us from the black community have thought something similar to Kanye’s lyric when planning to turn up late to an event—even if it was on a subconscious level. But the truth of the matter is, bad punctuality is devaluing and never uplifting. Tardiness doesn’t kill you, but it makes you weaker. Some argue that CP Time proves that people of African origin are not conscious of time. Stronger’s socio-politically charged lyrics reveal that black people of African origin are fully aware of time and time-keeping; it’s just that some of us, if not most of us, choose not to abide to its regulations. Why? Could it be that a long, dark collective history of submitting to the institutions of slavery and colonisation, has generated a type of black consciousness that continues to rage against the European notions of time-keeping? Quite possibly. But I’ve always questioned how much my day-to-day decisions are influenced by the repercussions of the slave trade. It sounds silly to say: ‘I choose to be late because I refuse to be treated like my forefathers, who were slaves to the white man’s time schedule.’ And yet the idea is not completely implausible.

I do not remember the first time I came across the term CP Time but I recognise just how much it has affected my personal growth and understanding of the world. I confess, I have a tendency to be late to almost everything; I have even received a number of disciplinarys at my workplace for bad time keeping. And yet I have continued to show up late to work. It’s embarrassing and exasperating to find yourself continuing to do something you loathe. The compelling words of the apostle Paul come to mind:

For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.

I always thought that my lateness stemmed from a lack of proper planning; If I planned to prepare my lunch the night before and iron all my work clothes on the weekend then I would not have to spend 20 minutes of my time in the morning looking for tuppa-wear or hastily smoothing over creased shirts with iron burns. However, bad organisational skills is not the root of the problem; the origin of the issue begins in my thinking. I have friends and associates of African origin who are always on time; lateness is not an option for them because they don’t make it one. In most cases, these friends of mine jokingly lament over my bad punctuality. I was recently invited to a birthday party and turned up when everybody were getting ready to go home. I had come straight from work but still had not given myself enough time to arrive at the venue. The supervisor of the restaurant refused to let me in so I ended up eating in Nandos. An invitation about the birthday event was communicated to me beforehand so there was opportunity to reschedule my hours at work, but the thought to plan didn’t come to me until after I showed up.

Planning is important but the individual mind-set is key to creating good habits. And the consistency of good habits are key to taking me to a higher level of personal growth and success. In other words, lateness is the enemy of progress. T.J Holmes is a Black American journalist who communicates his anxiety with the black community in professional settings:

"This hurts to admit, but I often pause when considering doing business with black people or black companies, based on my experiences… I find myself doing exactly what I've urged executives and managers in my business not to do: let preconceived notions, stereotypes or biases get in the way of hiring or promoting African Americans."

CP Time is regressive and damages the outside perceptions of the black community. Walcott narrates the outcome of this so called passive resistance to be one that ironically keeps the black man imprisoned in the ‘outraged complacency’ of ‘the white man’ who stereotypically expects nothing else from the I ‘don’t-give-a-damn attitude’ of the black individual. More importantly is the understanding that lateness transcends racial identity and strikes the very chord of our human nature. 1 Samuel 15:23 states that ‘rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry.’ Effectively, CP Time is a form of witchcraft; we know lateness is wrong, we know lateness in unproductive and yet we continue to practice it. Why? Perhaps it is an expressive pursuit for power or an arrogant need to control the environment around us? Either way, we justify what we accept even if what we accept is wrong. T.J Holmes states:

"…based on experience and based on our embrace of CPT, it doesn't really feel like a stereotype anymore. It feels like the truth."

By Kelechi Iwumene.

Bibliography

- Ellison Gordone and Tolson: Some Notes on the Blues, Style and Space, Ronald Walcott, - Black World, Negro Digest, December 1972. - Black History Month: An Explanation of CP Time By Your Very Delayed Guest Book Editor, Baratunde Thurston, The Blog, Huffington Post, Posted April 2010. - Stronger, Kanye West, Graduation, 2007. - It’s Time to Quit Operating on C.P Time, The Root, T.J Holmes, Posted March 2014. - The Holy Bible, New International Version. - www.wikipedia.org.uk.

Images:

- Black World Magazine. www.blog.art21.org.uk - Civil Rights, www.wikipedia.org.uk - Kanye West, Graduation album cover, www.genius.com - T.J Holmes, www.huffingtonpost.com

F7 | LIFESTYLE.