hey, "sciencegeek"!!

sciencegeek: I responded to your comment [on the "Racism in the Elevator" blog -- and:) I accidentally deleted the video for that blog:) but I will respost it when I get a chance] -- sorry, it took me so long to post a comment -- the teaching is all-consuming! Peace and Revolution:)

**Is a critique of white woman's racism (or any critique of oppression) be effective if it *does not* use sexism? Absolutely. Like you, I believe that the most useful critiques of oppression *do not* use oppression to advance said critique.

For example:

Racism in the Elevator (a satire or a "sad but true")

The first time I saw this video clip -- I found it hilarious. Not hilarious in the "it infused my Soul with bliss" kind of way -- but hilarious in a "this situation is so regretfully real, black men are generally powerless to stop it, and the rage born of that sense of powerlessness to effectively combat and defeat white supremacy is soothed by scaring the shit out of this ignorant white women" -- even if it only happens in a fictional space.

The sexism used to offer up this racial critique *did* give me pause.

I laughed, I enjoyed the clip -- I enjoyed seeing the racist white women being ridiculed -- but I kept thinking: "Shouldn't the sexism here bother me?"

Since, this is a forum where I hope all people will be blatantly honest with their views with the goal of contributing, at least, to my intellectual growth and manifesting the (perhaps naive) hope that readers may gain a new perspective on an issue that encourages them to think and act resistively -- think and act in a way that reduces their complicity in the oppression of others -- to that end, I will continue to be honest about my views, my feelings.

And the way I think and feel about this film is complex.

Because, in general, I support anti-racist practices.

And I do not support sexist practices.

But the sexism against a racist white women here does not bother me. Specifically, a man of color's sexist speech in response to a racist white women, who is herself representative of how many white women in the U.S. respond to black & Latino men in semi-public spaces like the elevator.

The sexist rhetoric here does not bother me because the sexism is a situation specific response to a brand of racism that is so unthinkingly routine in many white women's lives. I don't think the sexism here is necessarily or actually *oppressive* to white women -- because I don't believe black men have the institutional power to oppress white women.


Most black men live in predominantly black communities. Black men that live in predominantly white communities or communities that are truly multi-racial do not wield the kind of power that would permit them to oppress white women en mass (i.e., the power of government, the power of law, etc.,). In other words, black men *do not* wield the power and privilege to oppress black men on an institutional level.


In majority black communities, black men can and do oppress black women and other women of color in the communities in which they live as well as the rare white woman in the communities in which black men live. Again, it is not possible for black men -- as a group -- to use sexism to oppress white women -- as a group -- that is, black men (as a population) do not have the institutional power to oppress white women (as a population).


Although, it is possible for individual black men to use gender/sexism/masculinity to oppress individual white women. But is that what is happening in this elevator scene when this black men refers to the white woman here as a "a stupid white bitch" for "clutching her purse" when he enters the elevator?


At best, for me -- the answer is "yes" and "no."


The sexism here is used to reclaim the humanity and manhood that is potentially/ideologically stripped from this individual black men -- and black men, in general -- when this individual white woman -- and white women, in general -- project the racist fantasy onto black men that objectifies them as primitive/savage black beast rapists. This racist "rape" fantasy at once hypersexualizes and hypermasculinizes black men while also reducing them to a mass of animal impulses.


So, the sexist speech becomes a cathartic expression for viewers -- of many races -- who are tuned into/conscious of this pervasive brand of racism -- a racism that is frequently expressed in the behaviors of white women -- but also in the behaviors of women of color both black and non-black, particularly middle and upper class women of color.


(Re: black middle & upper class women's fear of black men -- and black women, girls and boys -- Unfortunately, I know this fear intimately, because, in the past, I have responded in similar ways to black folks minding their own business -- in my case, it was the impulse to lock my car doors -- and then I reminded myself that, I too, am black and the fear I felt was both classist and internalized racism. This classist and racialized anxiety also preceded my gendernonconformist/butch days -- when I cut off my long, straightened hair(or fried and colonized hair depending on your perspective), white people began to read me as a black man and so I entered another complicated world structured, in part, by my gender identity, sexual identity, race -- white folks' responses to my social identities -- and white heterosexist supremacy).


My struggle to reduce my complicity in classism (or the involuntary and voluntary economic oppression of people who are homeless and/or living in no and low-income communities) and completely liberate myself of my own internalized racism is one reason why I expect other people who have internalized racism -- especially white people whose racism benefits them -- to willingly and truthfully admit, routinely interrogate, and work on purging themselves of their own personal racism. Because, in order to end institutional racism -- existing, self-conscious white allies -- folks who don't only think about and discuss racism when it is convenient for or beneficial to them -- but white folks who think about, discuss, and act against racism when it is most inconvenient for them to do so -- these white allies would need the help of other white people willing to commit themselves to the hard work of combatting institutional racism en masse -- I would love to see that day come. Because with the will and daily recognition of one's collusion (or participation) in racism and other forms of oppression -- a person can change. They can become an ally in the struggle against oppression.


When a person changes -- we get closer to changing the context also.

Sarah Silverman is unapolegetically racist (& her white fans love that about her)

"Young black men and Jewish 'nanna's' are the same because:"

they both like to wear track suits.

"they both say, 'Yo' -- well, actually, one says, 'Yo' in reverse ('Oy')."

"they both like 'bling.'"

"all their friends are dying."

(oh, yes she did!)

"He's circum-supersized"


**I would be interested in any comments on the "in-group" humor -- deliberate mobilization of anti-Semitic stereotypes Ex. the "large nose") about Jews, so please leave me a comment!!!

"Our Deepest Fear"

A clip from the film "Coach Carter" featuring a speech called "Our Greatest Fear" by Nelson Mandela -- and given here by actor Rick Gonzalez.

Gonzalez's rendition of Mandela's speech marked the 3rd point in the film where I choked up (for real).

The film also stars Samuel L. Jackson, who plays Coach Carter.

Learn more about the real Coach Carter here. 

Ken Carter is an amazing person, who did an important, extra-ordinary thing that all of us are capable of doing -- he gave a shit.

And then he acted on his deepest, moral convictions.

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine as children do. It's not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own lights shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

Abelism is never funny.

Unfortunately, I can't upload this horrifyingly unfunny image into this blog entry.

An image of a white man, an athlete whose where's a brace he uses to walk, run and jump.

This man is participating in what looks like a long jump competition.

He is not named. The sport in which he participates is not identified. 

His geographic location, degree/s, jobs, interests...

What we are told, though, is that he's a "fuckin' cheater."

Above a photo of this person mid-jump is the phrase "fuckin' cheaters."

See the image here -- http://melodyspaghetti.blogspot.com/2008/10/fuckin-cheaters.html

I used to use the word "lame" to describe what I didn't like about a person, a behavior, an event... And then my partner schooled me on a few things... schooled me on the power of language and the privileges of the able-bodied -- and that word -- that word used to denigrate people with disabilities is not one that I use anymore.

And I am still learning. I have a lot to learn. And that shames me.

[Please note: I don't view guilt or shame as inherently counter-productive feelings -- guilt and shame can represent one's acknowledgment of the enormous power and privileges they access simply because of they are able-bodied and/or U.S. American and/or middle-class (and I am all of these things -- well:) I'm an "Americanized" Jamaican citizen whose been in the U.S. for a VERY long time). Guilt and shame can discourage a person from learning more about oppression, they ways in which they benefit from the oppression of others, and ways to resist/reduce their complicity in oppression. For me, though, guilt and shame are motivational sentiments -- I use my guilt and shame as tools for denting and cracking the walls of the master's house... I add my tiny dent to that of millions of people living -- and resisting -- in the territory that is now called the "United States," people who took a "crack at it" before me, and 100s of 1000s who continue to take a swing at the master and his excessively big fuckin' house.]

The import of abelist/oppressive language resides in it's connection to -- the masking affect it has with regard to abelism -- that is, the historical, systematic and institutional oppression of people with disabilities.

I am still learning about abelism, how I benefit from it, and the way it operates in the U.S.

I do understand, however, that my language -- my words -- have immense power.

The power to desensitize.

The power to deter.

The power to deny.

The power to desensitize, deter consciousness raising about, and deny the ubiquity and seriousness of the oppression of people with disabilities -- a form of oppression that I participate in by virtue of (thoughtlessly) accessing the privileges attendant to being able-bodied.

Please, teach me -- tell me what you know about abelism.

Post links to websites, list books/articles etc.,.

Thank you.

McCain: the vote won women the right to motherhood!!

Lifted from -- http://womenagainstsarahpalin.blogspot.com/

"And I am especially proud to say in the week we celebrate the anniversary of women's suffrage [that she is] a devoted, a devoted wife and mother of five."

—John McCain introducing Sarah Palin

is this the women's bathroom?

so I pointed to my tits.

It's been that kind of day, you see.

I'm teaching two tremendously time consuming, yet rewarding freshman writing class. So far, I've found that the less sleep I get -- the less control I have over my mouth and how it chooses to express itself politically and resistively.

I'm in the bathroom -- as black and butch as God made me:)

In walks a young white woman.

I purposely avoid making eye contact with her -- which is my way of shielding myself against what I experience as the daily assaults of heterosexist-sexist-racism or racist-sexist-heterosexism -- 

(or any combination of the 3 oppressions -- the effort to accurately hyphenate my experience of oppression is difficult to do because it's hard for me to tell exactly what social identity someone is reacting to or what oppression someone is targeting me for because my various social identities (and that of everyone else on planet earth) are immutably convergent. 

So, in situations like the one I will return to discussing soon:) I'm always left wondering if I would have been more recognizably female if I were a white gender non-conforming woman. 

I can't help but wonder how much race influences a person's interpretation of my gender identity/gender expression because, historically, in the United States, queer women of color have been perceived as "mannish" or more stereotypically masculine than white queer women precisely because white females have been held up (even worshipped) as idyllic models of femininity. 

In the U.S., to be feminine was/is to be white -- period. 

Women of color, particularly black women (or women perceived as "black") whether heterosexual or queer were considered masculine -- were considered nonwomen, which made it acceptable for them to put to work in the fields in the slave South. (White women were regarded as "too good" -- or too white -- for field work or any kind of public manual labor. Poor and working-class white women did do field work/manual labor, of course, as indentured servants, as hired hands, as domestics -- white farm women of all classes did manual labor but that was not to be talked about -- not on a wider societal level -- because a white women "forced" to do "dirty" work with her hands was taken as emblematic of her white father's or white husband's failure to fulfill his patriarchal duty as the successful, hardworking "breadwinner" whose wife should not do any kind of wage work and/or manual labor).

Back to the bathroom story:)

So, this young white woman enters the bathroom -- I don't make eye contact with her.

She walks towards one of the bathroom stalls as I wash my hands.

I turn away from the sink to leave the bathroom and she says to me: "Is this the women's bathroom?"

I look at her... and point to my breasts.

She says, "Oh!!! I'm sorry!!!" and more of that... as I leave the bathroom.

I've been asked the gender question many times -- so many times I couldn't recall them all. I've been asked non-verbally with confused or scared gazes --only from white women.

One time a white woman left the bathroom and "told on me" -- a woman barged into the restroom so loudly I heard the doors swing open. She yelled, "Is there a man in the woman's bathroom! Is there a man in the woman's bathroom!" I wrapped up the thing I entered the bathroom to accomplish:) and slowly -- nervously -- exited the stall. I said, "I am a woman."

The experience was mortifying.

So mortifying that most of the time I completely avoid multiple stall public bathrooms, so I don't have to deal with the embarrassment and awkwardness of having to tell someone that I'm a "girl."

I know.

I shouldn't be embarrassed. 

At least, that's what logic tells me.

Women look all kinds of ways. I'm a woman. I should be able to enter a bathroom without being stared at, ridiculed -- without becoming the target of someone's hostility and without having to feel uncomfortable.

But, I still go out of my way to avoid the situation. If I'm not with a more stereotypically looking partner/girlfriend/date/friend, then I will go without using the bathroom for such a long time that hurts my bladder.

So, today, having had very little sleep and another 24 hours of sleepless paper grading ahead of me -- I got angry. And I pointed to my tits.

It doesn't end there though.

On my way home to a loving Femme (hey girl;)

I'm buying wine in a liquor store and an employee decides to follow me around.

The liquor store by the way is located in the "white" side of a several blocks that divide said white folks from an overwhelmingly Latino/as and African American community.

After a few minutes of the employee standing near to me -- near enough that he moves closer when he sees me pick up a small bottle of brandy (a very steal-able size I imagine) -- as I become increasingly ticked off, I say to him, "I'm not going to steal anything, dude."

Startled (that "the negro" speaks) he replies, "What?"

I specify my grievance based query: "Do you follow all customers around or just the black ones?"

He says, "What are you talking about"... uttered those words and trying so hard to mean them... but he just sounded nervous...scared...surprised.

I look him in his eyes and say, "Nothing -- I'm talking about nothing."

I walk away and say, "If you're going to follow customers around the store, then follow all of them -- not just the black ones"... there's a bunch of white women in the back of the store -- why aren't you watching them?

I make my way to the back of the store -- the employee waits, then walks to the back of the store as well -- but he doesn't make eye contact with me. He grabs a case of pumpkin beer and returns to the front of the store. I hope it is shame that stopped him from looking at me the entire time I was in the store...

Pissed.

so pissed.

Walking around the store considering whether or not to spend my money there. 

I decide to spend my money in the store but not without having a conversation with the owner first. I put several bottles of white wine on the check-out counter (they were having a 20% of cuz it's Wednesday sale:) and ask the him the same question as I asked the store employee: "Do you tell your employees to follow all the customers around or just the black ones?"

He gave me the same confused look -- "Wha -- no, no, we don't do that..."

We go back and forth a couple times before I stop him from denying that I was racially profiled as a potential thief and I say to him: "Listen -- just listen to me -- because I am this close to walking out that door without buying this wine. I know that he was watching me shop -- following me because I'm black. That's not ok. If he's going to follow someone he should follow the white people too -- look at all those white people in the back of the store -- nobody's watching them -- why? White people are far more likely to steal from you *precisely* because they don't get followed around your store -- nobody's watching them!"

He says, "Listen, I know, where near [insert university title], the students come here and steal --"

I cut him off again, and say, "Yes, I know that college -- I teach there. And I don't deserve to be followed around a store when I'm shopping because your employee believes that black people are criminals. Please ring up this stuff please."

Silently, he rings up my wine and bags the bottles.

After a fairly long silence, "He hands me a small bottle of cognac and says, "I'm sorry."

I consider his offering -- I consider the racism.

And I think about what it means to be "compensated" with a $4 bottle of alcohol... Does it mean that he really heard me? Or does it mean he wants me to return ready to spend another $70 in his store...

I settle on the hope that he is motivated by both intentions.