racial representation

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Obama's Nobel

October 9, 2009 in Africa, African-Americans, Barack Obama, Nobel Peace Prize, Obama Nobel, Obama Nobel Peace Prize, War in Iraq, colonialism, is racism dead?, memory, post-racism, race, racial representation, racism by John | 4 comments

So, the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded. And it goes to Barack Obama, which has now set off an avalanche of grousing and complaining and sarcasm from the right and left. At least we won’t have to talk about the Olympics not being in Chicago any longer. It is always noteworthy when the right and left pick up on the same talking points. Funny for teasing your friends on either side (hey, you and Fox agree!), but also instructive about larger cultural stuffs. Read the rest of this entry »

Gazing at Semenya

September 12, 2009 in Africa, Caster Semenya, Hottentot Venus, consumerism, masculinity, race, racial representation, racism, spectacle, sports, technology, transgender, xenophobia by John | 1 comment

Another then another story about Caster Semenya. First it was a visual impression and suspicion. Then it was blood tests or whatever. Now it is speculation about Semenya’s internal organs and genitalia. Terribly bitter and mean reporting, all of which sucked the joy out of a fabulously exciting performance in Berlin. My remark here, however, is not about how international governing bodies should deal with sexual identity or what counts as sexual identity and so on. That’s another issue and I’m not sure what to say about it, truthfully. Instead, I’m interested in what it means to be someone other than that governing body looking at bodies like Semenya’s. Read the rest of this entry »

Money, Race

September 12, 2009 in African-Americans, Annie Leibovitz, MC Hammer, is racism dead?, race, racial representation, racism, spectacle, whiteness by John | 3 comments

The New York Times reported on Friday that Annie Leibovitz arrived at an agreement to restructure her excessive loans. This is important for her, of course, and for many reasons. Chief among them, if we read reports anyway, is that this allows her to retain rights to her art. Great. I like that. I don’t much care for loans and interest and the kind of exploitation we find in conventional banking practices. But that’s another issue. I find the Leibovitz case instructive for what it says about race. Read the rest of this entry »

Post Election, Post Racism?

November 6, 2008 in African-Americans, Barack Obama, injustice, is racism dead?, justice, post-racism, racial representation, racism, whiteness by John | 9 comments

OK, so a long election cycle is over. I wondered if the chattering class – a class to which I aspire – would have much left to say. I mean, seriously, so much has been said already. I’m of course wrong. I should have known that the big and apparently only question would be raised: will this election lead people to say that racism is over?

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Goodbye Isaac Hayes

August 11, 2008 in African-Americans, racial representation by John | 4 comments

I’ve been reading the goodbye tributes to Isaac Hayes. I lived in Memphis for a handful-plus years and have, since I was a teenager, loved Memphis music. Hi-Records has always been by far my favorite, but the Stax sound is really the only thing in Memphis that can compare. So, I read the tributes to Isaac Hayes in search of remembrance of his place in that history. But that’s not what you find.

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The New, Dribble-friendly Elitism

August 2, 2008 in African-Americans, Barack Obama, Fox News, racial representation, racism, whiteness by John | 4 comments

Basketball versus bowling. Who knew it had such implications? I mean, seriously, when is the last time we talked about the Dream Team in the Professional Bowlers Association? Or even just saw bowling on television at a time other than 3pm on a Sunday? Turns out, this might be an important signifier in electoral rhetoric. How?

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Repairing, Apology

August 2, 2008 in African-Americans, Barack Obama, apology, election 2008, forgiveness, injustice, justice, memory, poverty, racial representation, racism, reparations, slavery apology by John | No comments

I’m really not enjoying the strange journey of race in the presidential election thing. I doubt many people are, save for the occasional Karl Rove, for whom it is a fabulous tactic – if you’re creative. I must admit to being surprised, though, to see the issue of reparations come up. It’s a nuanced and compelling issue, if one has the time to examine all of the folds. It’s about memory, state history, back wages, social justice, economics, the nature of representation, and so on. But that’s too much to ask. Turns out, sometimes a non-reparation actually is one.

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Family Souljah

July 15, 2008 in African-Americans, Barack Obama, Reagan, capitalism, consumerism, election 2008, ideology, racial representation, racism by John | 3 comments

I’m officially a regular blogger again, starting today.

I really have a small comment to make, but maybe one that has big implications. No matter, I guess, as only a couple of hundred will read this, though I feel compelled to say this because I care about things like reason. To start: I remember the original Sister Souljah moment. It confirmed what I thought then and have always thought: Bill Clinton was icky, cruel, and actually quite comfortable being anti-black. That’s why this primary season had me barely (if that) restraining “told ya” every time the news had Bill’s newest quip about Obama.

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Fear, Hope

March 28, 2008 in African-Americans, Barack Obama, Jeremiah Wright, Martin Luther King, colorblind racism, colorblindness, election 2008, injustice, justice, memory, racial representation, racism, whiteness by John | 4 comments

Reprinted from The Public Humanist. It is always a nice thing to see Socrates made contemporary. Or at least have something to say about about contemporary things, so I’m just so pleased to see Robert Meagher write this piece about fear and hope. The range – and so the possibilities – of human emotion is one of those perennial philosophical issues. And too much evidence points to the constant presence of fear, too little presence of hope. I find a small thread of both hope and fear in the same place these days: race and all those companion emotions.

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Keeping Company

March 19, 2008 in "A More Perfect Union", African-Americans, Barack Obama, apology, colorblind racism, colorblindness, confession, forgiveness, injustice, justice, memory, racial representation, racism, whiteness by John | 6 comments

I’ll add to the huge number of editorials and blogs on Obama’s “big speech on race.” I read the transcript and watched a bit of it, but not without some regret that it had come to this moment. Why did Obama have to give this sort of speech? Who provoked it and why? But it was provoked. No going back from that. And he gave what, to my mind, was a solid and actually quite brave account of his relation to all sorts of pain. Read the rest of this entry »

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