Letters to the Editor
banyantree
Published Letters: 184 Editor's Choice: 3
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@ weeping
[Read the article: How much will white racism hurt Obama?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]First, I too try to avoid use of the word "meme," so I appreciate your referencing it in a bit of self-conscious tongue in cheek editing.
Second, as I was writing my earlier message to you it occurred to me that I, actually, do no believe that it is necessarily important to have a Noah's Ark approach to everything, including this.
So, I do not presume to suggest that having AAs writing Salon articles is, by definition, of ultimate importance to solving the issue of the myopic redundancy of ideas, challenges, concerns and strategies we confront and churn ad nauseum at Salon.
To engage any group at that level solely (as in , "we have a black female staff writer") is so sixties (I know, I was there, albeit a bit of a babe) and runs the risk of communicating a shallow political message that does not necessarily get us to the perpspective in print we seek. Identity policies + bad politics = disaster.
I do know, however, that the prism through which each of us has lived and viewed the world profoundly shapes our current perspective on all aspects of our lives.
So, I would love to read from guest columnists of different backgrounds who bring their own value structure and method of communicating to their writing. Some, not all, of those perspectives should be from black folks who are engaged in disciplines that are not necessarily about being black, but whose blackness impacts the manner in which they organize parts of their lives..(whatever the hell that means!).
That, I believe, is the value of having black folks (and others) write about some of this stuff.
Example: Some years ago, afer the Kerry/Edwards loss, I was talking to a pretty high level political operative about the PA numbers. This guy (white) kept saying that the D's didn't get enough of the soccer mom suburban vote. I responded that the D's needed to register more voters in urban areas and refashion their policy agenda, i.e., reach out to new, young, marginalized,, etc. constituencies- the folks they left behind...
My perspective was borne out of what I'd seen and observed in Phila., as filtered through the prism of my experience.
Neither of us was completely right, nor wrong. For the record, the guy insisted he was correct, and attempted to dismiss my perspective totally (but that's another story).
It was all about perspective...Obama's winning because he brought a different perspective to the traditional strategy.
Anyway, this is really convoluted, and I have contradicted myself at least twice, but I hope you get the gist of it.
These, by the way, are merely the musings of a petit bourgeois Northeastern U.S. female, who happens to be primarily of AA racial ancestry, i.e., black, and who insists that in this day and age, it still means something.
Ciao.
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@weeping...catching up on reading
[Read the article: How much will white racism hurt Obama?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]through the postings since I walked away from my computer hours ago, and just got around to responding to you.
Anyway, I agree that Salon has addressed issues around race in a flaccid, shoddy, passive-aggressive manner.
I insist that power, i.e., Joan's need to control the discussion, is what stands in the way of any real dialogue.
To allow a person to provide a perspective different from her own, on a subject as fraught as race, would diminish the value of her perceived contribution and standing on that matter.
As you point out, Joan has previously flashed her bona fides on the topic and feels empowered to do the talking on all sides of the issue, for everybody, thus avoiding any distractions from her meme (couldn't resist)..
She is the expert on the topic of race at Salon.
It is a total avoidance and maintenance of power at all costs approach.
Very early '60's- patronizing to a sickening degree. I was there and I didn't miss it ( a reference to an old Berkely joke...).
Good night..