Due Process!

In class this week we had a structured class discussion on Whiteness and Privilege. During the discussion the sense of uncomforted was tremendous because of the touchiness of the subject. Every individual was asked to choose three things from that could be related back to from "28 common attitudes". 28  common attitudes is based off of the "Common Racist Attitudes and Behaviors" ,"That indicate a detour or wrong turn into white guilt denial or defensiveness". As I read the 28 common attitudes it began to spark a small flame from within as well as having to discuss theses issues openly among the class. The flame was ignited by the enormous feeling of despair as an African American , to know that whiteness itself is the biggest privilege to have and you are one who does not get to experience the gratification of being white always sturs up something within.

Privilege was defined in class as " An invisible package of unearned assets that I c count on cashing in each day , but about which I was  "meant" to remain oblivious". Whiteness in lecture was described purporting to be both nothing and everything. In the 28 common attitudes the one that became the most relatable to me was Due process. Due process in the common 28 attitudes depicts the "Lady of Justice" as being colorblind, also it further explains the difference in interaction with the police force among African Americans and non African Americans.

Recently the news has been flooded with stories surrounded around the brutality and injustice that African Americans have to face from police officers. In my opinion police officers were designed to help not harm people no matter what the color of their skin may be. Mike Brown, Sandra Bland, Trayvon Martin are all very popular names that have been heard throughout the media, all of these deaths related to police brutality whose cases received in my sole option no justice, because we still live in an era of Whiteness. A study done by mappingpolicevionce.org shows that African Americans are three times more likely to be killed by police then any other race. Proving that the police officer's have changed from a being known as hero's to now being known as harmer's.

As an African American woman it terrifies me to think if I am ever stopped alone by a white police officer that I might not make it home. In the due process overview from 28 common attitudes it mentions how whites tell there kids to just be polite and everything will be just fine, while on the other end of the spectrum it would terrify my mom to even think of an officer stopping me, because of the things she has seen in the news. It amazes me to think how different the world really can be through the eyes of someone else. The feeling of being so privileged so care free, having the sole ability to be worry free.

Whiteness is truly a privilege but to be black is an accomplishment. No one person is better then the next and due process law  balances the power of law and the land and protects the individual person from it. Meaning everyone is entitled to justices , so my question is when will WE ALL get that?

"Heritage Not Hate"

The Confederate flag gained national attention early summer of last year when Dylann Roof took it upon himself to attempt to ignite a full-blown "race-war."  The basement of Emanuel African Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina became the scene of a horrible mass shooting perpetrated by Roof. Roof murdered nine African-Americans, who had gathered in the basement for Thursday night Bible study.  The ferocity of his crime was fueled by blatant and unflinching racism.  But many might claim that his ultimate goal of inciting a war between the races failed.  What exactly does a "race-war" mean?  What would it entail? And what does the Confederate flag have to do with it?

In the Confederate flag, Dylann Roof found personal justification for the horror of his actions.  Social media depicts the young man posing with the Confederate flag, holding a gun.  The individual nature of his crime has allowed for many to write off his interpretation of the Confederate flag as mired in his own personal opinion.  This young man was simply projecting his own mental instability onto the Confederate flag.  However, I argue  that Dylann Roof understood the truth of the Confederate flag, in its entirety.  A truth that the American people choose time and again to cast off and ignore.  

I understand that this piece of 'national news' is not particularly new.  But the casual regularity with which I encounter Confederate flags on a daily basis here in Tuscaloosa will never cease to amaze me.  

Dylann Roof cannot be as "mentally unstable" as those who blind themselves so that they may lay claim to the Confederate flag as "heritage not hate."  The simple act of placing a Confederate flag bumper sticker on the back window of a car belies the simple act of walking into a predominantly African-American Bible study with the intention of inciting a "race-war" and point-blank shooting everyone in the room.

Failing to incite a "race-war" ultimately means that Dylann Roof failed to incite a widespread violent response.  Violence inflicted in the name of racism and white supremacy is nothing new.  Roof sought to coax racial violence from the rhetorical shadows and into the hard, physical light of day.  In doing so, he hoped that his actions might evoke backlash so violent as to justify his motives in the first place.  The "race war" already exists and it is entirely one-sided.  

Once again, I know that this is not currently receiving mass attention in the media.  But it is for this very reason that the insidiousness of this symbol drives me to question it's "invisible" role in everyday life.  Ta-Nehisi Coates wrote: "The mettle that it takes to look away from  the horror of our prison system, from police forces transformed into armies, from the long war against the black body, is not forged overnight.  This is the practiced habit of jabbing out one's eyes and forgetting the work of one's hands.  To acknowledge these horrors means turning away from the brightly rendered version of your country as it always has declared itself and turning towards something murkier and unknown" (Between the World and Me, 98).

Please feel free to share in what ways, if any, you disagree with the assertions that I have made in this post.  How can symbolic rhetoric, such as that of the Confederate flag, be transformed to maintain the comfort of middle America?  What other symbols are at work in popular or regional culture and how do they serve to perpetuate damaging ways of thinking abut race in America?

If you would like to read more on the subject:

 http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/21/us/dylann-storm-roof-photos-website-charleston-church-shooting.html?_r=0

 http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/06/take-down-the-confederate-flag-now/396290/ 

   

Formation

                  Happy Black History Month, guys! This week, we focused on How Race Is Made and Ethnic Notions. Between race feeling and race thinking, I believe that there is a lot to discuss with a specific event that took place last Sunday. February is the one month a year dedicated to reminding us to remember the history and events that African Americans have lived through. This past week, Beyoncé performed at the most watched sporting event of the entire year, the Super Bowl. During half time, Beyoncé debuted her song “Formation” and took the audience through a visual time machine. From her powerful lyrics, to the performers thought provoking attire, and their formation, this song’s contribution to the remembrance of black history was crystal clear.

                  So, I’ll give you guys some background on the song in case you haven’t heard it or seen the music video. 1) Beyoncé’s lyrics are KICK A**! This song is basically a tribute to how she became the person she is today, where she came from, and the extremely important events in black history that should never be forgotten. 2) The symbolic imagery and rhetoric in her music video is loud! Between the dancing formation, the reference to the Black Panthers, and postbellum “free” slave attire, she is expressing what seems to me to be her identity as an African American from the South. Now that I’ve explained why I think Beyoncé’s song is clever and expressive, let me tell you about what did NOT sit with me well at all.

                  Tomi Lahren, a television host, posted a video about her ‘final thoughts’ and concerns with Beyoncé’s performance. Right off the bat Lahren says, “First it was ‘Hands up, don’t shoot’, then it was burning down buildings, then it was looting drugs stores, all the way to #OscarsSoWhite, and now even the Super bowl halftime show has become a way to politicize and advance the notion that black lives matter more”. Let me start of by saying, already in that first sentence that she voiced, I already disagree with her. Where does she get off by assuming that this performance was organized to convey and send a message that black lives matter more? (let’s remember, the movement is called “Black Lives Matter”, not “Black Lives Matter More”.

Lahren’s entire video was a rant on how this song “wasn’t about equality, it’s about ram-riding an aggressive agenda down our throats and using fame and entertainment value to do so”.  To be quite honest, she seems to have race feeling and race thinking down pretty well. She’s opinionated and clearly not afraid to express that. But really? Come on, why wouldn’t Beyoncé use the fame and the power she holds to send message to her audience. A message that says, “I’m African American, I’m proud, and I want you all to remember what we lived through and remember to love yourselves”. She has the freedom to address that and I definitely do not believe that should be seen as having an ulterior motive to “overthrow white domination” (as Lahren puts it). Overall, Tomi Lahren’s video was something that I couldn’t disagree with more and I believe she is a prime example of someone who has race thinking and race feeling embedded in them so deeply, that she is blind to the real purpose of Beyoncé’s song.
(Side note: This Saturday night after I had already uploaded this post, SNL did something incredible! They came out with a hilarious skit and showed the ridiculous reactions that Beyonce was getting from white people. Take a look for yourself here: The Day Beyonce Turned Black)

Do you all agree with how my reaction to Tomi Lahren's video? If yes, please explain as I would love to hear your thoughts about it too. If not, explain as well, because maybe I took it the wrong way and maybe you all understand where she might be coming from. How does SNL's skit ring true when making light of white people's reactions to "Formation"? What affect do you believe race thinking and race feeling could hold when it comes to watching Beyoncé’s video?

--Gabby Castriota

Tomi Lahren

Formation

Queer Like Me?

     With the concerns of the #OscarSoWhite issues growing, many feminists have expressed the sentiment that the movie industry is not only overwhelming white but also overwhelming straight. There is not only bias against those who are people of color but those who identify in anyway as queer. While many Black films have been snubbed at the Oscars, a queer-themed movie has never won, and only two actors have won Oscars for playing queer characters that lived throughout the entire movie. Even seeing as it is 2016, this probably came as no surprise to anyone.

      While queer roles and representation exist in visual media, it is often stereotypical and cater to the straight gaze. Queer people aren't seen as people or made with queer audiences in mind; they only exist to embody tropes and symbols and mediating stories through the more "acceptable" perspectives of outsiders. Queer characters are often a footnote in the stories of their straight counterparts, and in their own stories even, they are either deranged, dead, or doomed as if their identities forces the world to constantly punish them. In the ways that people of color are often delegated to roles in movies about their past sufferings or movies that only illuminate the skewed and outdated stereotypes of their people, queer people can not exist in media outside the cookie cutter positions that society has made for them. Any effort to do so is either ignored or belittled.

     These visual representations of queer people begs questions explored and applied to black people in the film Ethnic Notions: if all queer people aren't like that, why do we pretend in movies and television shows that this is the only representation of them that is needed? Why does this say about those who readily create and consume this media? As a queer person, the pervasions of these representation only hurt our community; we don't see these people or roles as relatable, and we then began to see them as fictional and valueless which only serves to excuse and justify the violence, harm, and exclusion that happens to us.

     Personally, I think queer representation is just as necessary as black representation seeing as I am both. There is not one that exists more readily than the other; I cannot only be just black or just queer. Those identities are constantly intersecting. However, there needs to be more representation. Without proper representation in my youth, I was left to think that either my identity was invalid, disgusting, and unwanted, and it wrecked severe havoc on my self-esteem. The idea that I'm still supposed to relate the tired stereotypes that only existed to belittle me in the past is insulting. Maybe that is the message that the mainstream media wishes to invoke, but I reject that notion and do not wish for any queer or black person to grow up with these pervasive beliefs.

     In the vein of How Race is Made, how do you feel the senses, physical and metaphorical, have defined our modern day representations of queer people in visual media?  What is the harm, if any, of these representations? Do you think the struggles of queer representation and representation for people of color have the same needs? Are they even necessary?

-Kristal Williams


(Inspired by this post)