Comments for Theory . Culture

Comment on Obama’s Nobel by Klee Shay Smith

Klee Shay Smith — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 20:17:23 +0000

The speed with which the amnesia sets in is remarkable! What spirit was released into the world when he was elected? How is this dismissed so easily? The brokering of treaties and the establishment of settlement territories are just about meaningless when set against the democratic achievement realized in Obama’s presidency. This vivified the world. What ideas, what possibility came to minds when he took reigns of the great hegemon? These fruits will be harvested in the decades to come. Those cats in Norway understand something about history.

Comment on Murderously My Family by Theory . Culture · Columbus and Memory

Theory . Culture · Columbus and Memory — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 21:40:11 +0000

[...] years ago, I posted this reflection on Columbus Day. I was prompted to the reflection in part by an ongoing tiff with the very idea of Columbus Day, [...]

Comment on Obama’s Nobel by Ox Owens

Ox Owens — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 19:20:33 +0000

Obama is a representative of a major majority of the world that decided it was time to move on from and against centuries of violence. He is a symbol of human unity and because of that he is a symbol of peace. Why not dress him up that way? No matter what he does in office all that will be remembered in 20 years time was that he was black and African and we will all look back fondly and appreciatively of those two facts. Lets not down-play them now and award them later.

Comment on Obama’s Nobel by Priya Gopal

Priya Gopal — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 16:35:17 +0000

Sorry, earlier comment has typos, please use this.

With respect, this is a most odd piece. It seems to suggest that Obama should be given the Peace prize (which has a specific remit), essentially for being black and African. No. What history has taught us is that simply having black and African leaders is not a blow against the Middle Passage, or colonialism, or exploitation. In many ways, that is a white fantasy: that a black man ‘allowed’ to come on board spells the end of past violence. (The main point of Fanon’s Pitfalls of National Consciousness). This is how the Tories in Britain manage–brandishing their Asian or black members. ‘They like him in Africa’–that’s a good reason to give him the PEACE prize? Mr Congeniality, maybe, but not the peace prize.

The piece is also deeply contradictory on pragmatism and America-centrism. It suggests that Obama can’t do anything singlehandedly (itself a pragmatic argument) and one must be realistic about the complex terrain. Fine. But then what are we rewarding him for? For being American, black and not Bush? What could be more America-centric than giving every other American diplomat or president the Peace Prize.

What really disturbs me about this piece is its condescenscion masquerading as serious political analysis about race and colonialism?

Comment on Being Bad: Iraqi Edition by Christy

Christy — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 16:54:57 +0000

Reminds me of a little Ani from back in the day.
“some chick says thank you for saying all the things I never do / I say the thanks I get is to take all the shit for you.”

Comment on Money, Race by Christy

Christy — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 16:52:00 +0000

I’ve thought about this over the last few days, and I actually think it may be a high-brow/low-brow divide. If Toni Morrison were losing the rights to all her life’s work, I have a very strong feeling the press would be equally sympathetic.
I actually don’t care that much for Leibowitz, but I find her situation shocking. My maid question, “How could she be so dumb? She seems so commercially successful, maintaining a level of celebrity only slight less than her subjects.”
And just to complete my thought, you’ll find plenty of carnivorous spectacles featuring white folks who fucked it all up on VH1.

Comment on Money, Race by Sezin

Sezin — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 09:22:54 +0000

Thank you for this post. I was also troubled by how the media approached Ms. Leibovitz’s situation but I hadn’t figured out how exactly to present my issues with it. You’ve done it perfectly. I look forward to reading more of your thoughts.

Comment on Gazing at Semenya by Kate

Kate — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 17:50:58 +0000

Great (and scary) parallels. Feminist and queer theorists have a habit of making trans and intersex people serve as examples for our own theories, in that instrumental way women have been used by lots of male theorists. Pick up any book about transgender issues, and it will most likely start with a detailed story about an individual. I understand the impulse, but the actual people we’re talking about–in this case, Semenya–disappear and their bodies become game for incredibly invasive voyeurism and use.

I find Jacob Hale’s rules for non-trans people writing about trans issues really helpful in thinking about how to talk about people who aren’t ourselves: http://sandystone.com/hale.rules.html

Thanks for the post.

Comment on Money, Race by Kate

Kate — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 17:03:23 +0000

Great post. The notion of complex personhood–Patricia Williams(?)’s seemingly common sense argument that other people are complicated and have ranges of feelings and experiences and beliefs, just like we imagine “we” do–is so much harder for people to seriously grasp than it seems like it should be on first glance.

Glad to have you back to blogging!

Comment on Post Election, Post Racism? by Nick

Nick — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 05:19:37 +0000

“Racism is no longer a major problem in the United States.”

This kind of statement doesn’t appear to be any different from any other statement of empirical observation. Thus it is fair to ask: what are the truth conditions for this statement?

The problem you’ve touched on is an interesting one. The people who thought racism was a huge problem before the election and are not rethinking that position are the people for whom “Racism is no longer a major problem in the United States” has no truth conditions. That is to say, it is meaningless, literally meaningless, because it could not possibly be true. (The same holds, of course, for those who didn’t and still don’t consider racism a problem.)

Presumably one of the conditions that would satisfy the statement is “A black president is a plausible idea.” Checking that box does not mean that the problem is solved or even that it is close to being solved, but it does serve as a reminder that anti-racism efforts must be directed towards real and thinkable goals.