Cornel West & The Neoliberal Response to Race

(cross-posted on dagSeoul's Tumblr)

I just finished listening to Sam Seder's interview with Eddie Glaude, chair of the Center for African-American Studies and the William S. Tod Professor of Religion and African-American Studies at Princeton University. They spoke specifically about Cornel West's provocative criticism of President Obama in his recent interview with Chris Hedges. I think Seder and Glaude handle the controversy the way I've been thinking about it and succinctly discuss the issues I'd write about here. In fact, it's what I was planning to write about today.

I've been steaming mad ever since Ed Schultz tried to scold West after which he brought on Melissa Harris-Perry to list Obama's achievements as President and say that because 85% of black Americans support Obama maybe we should shut up and trust their judgement.

Some of you will understand the neoliberalism when you see it.  If not, you should spend an afternoon reading the ample literature on neoliberalism and race. Articles are very easy to find via a google search, though you have to watch out for weird right wing crap that litters the search.  Harris-Perry's response and call to support Obama is an entirely uncritical, unwarranted, populist, knee-jerk, pointless, and powerless response to power. (I'm really mad at her. Can you tell?) The US has catered to neoliberal discourse about race (ie, reverse racism) for many years now, maybe most vociferously since the early 90s. According to Harris-Perry, I gather we're suppose to continue to cater to that shallow understanding and manipulation of racialized politics. In her words, only black people can understand and sympathize Obama.

William Faulkner has a line that I think explains much of the racist culture in the US about mules and the way whites and blacks handle them. I can't find which novel it's in.  He developed the conceit in many stories and novels, though, so maybe you'll recognize it if you're familiar with his work. The image is based in the white gaze and involves white folks wondering why black folks are so talented at handling mules. The scene I'm thinking of involves white folks wondering why black folks talk to mules--they're struck that black men and mules can hold meaningful conversations. Only black folks can truly understand a mule. It's one of many moments of casual, Southern bigotry in his works that so accurately betray how racism is integral to the power structure in society. It's what we like to call crystal clear.

Harris-Perry's assertion to Schultz--maybe we should trust black people and their understanding and support of Obama--is the same sort of stupid bigotry. Not that Harris-Perry is a bigot. She casually uses the white power structure to illustrate Cornel West as the Obama workhorse who stubbornly stepped out of line with his criticism of the POTUS. West should know better because he's black. Schultz's scold is patronizing: don't you know what you're doing to Obama? Harris-Perry is used as his warrant.

I don't expect anything different from Ed Schultz. He's an ass. And he consistently implements neoliberal tropes in his populist rhetoric. I expect more from Harris-Perry. I think she took advantage of a situation where she was asked by Ed to offer a solid counterpoint to West's provocative opinions. Instead of discussing the subtlety of West's argument contra Obama, she took advantage of the stupid white framework of Ed Schultz's show and conflated West's personal opinion of Obama's snub (which exists) and his precise, accurate, powerful rebuke of Obama's failure to help poor and powerless brothers and sisters.

I don't think it's worthwhile to shame her because she knows what she did. I think it's important to point out that neoliberal responses to race permitted her response. A smart host would have asked her why she wasn't willing to take West's personal statements and political statements as two separate things. Why wasn't she willing to accept that the Obama administration has consistently taken the progressive left to task for not falling in line behind him, to support without criticisms his policies.  Moreover, why should we ignore that Obama has rejected his progressive agenda?

Harris-Perry's response is good for ratings because it wallows in good old American bigotry. If you want a nuanced discussion that is both honest and well-intended, check out Sam Seder's discussion with Eddie Glaude. You won't be let down. I promise. If I wasn't already a member of his show, this episode would have made me become one.

Materials:
1. Neoliberalism and race. Research it; read about it. It's relevant. Basically, the problem with claims of reverse racism; how white power turns (versifies) discussions of itself on you (the person--any person--speaking to white power,) back to you, and then blames you for it.

2. My William Faulkner reference. On his use of the mule in his fiction. You have to have read Faulkners novels to get a good sense of my point, but I think I clearly made my point.

3. Ed Schultz and Melissa Harris-Perry. Ed Schultz is a moron. I think the longer his show continues, he becomes more clearly moronic. I imagine he has viewers because he follows Rachel Maddow. (Not that Maddow hasn't descended into performance over substance, but that Schultz is all blowhard.) First, he has the audacity to bring on West to scold him as if he's some uppity black man. That was demeaning, patronizing and, for me, almost impossible to watch. I don't know why West tolerated it. Schultz wasn't listening to a thing he said. (Schultz never listens to anybody.) Second, he used Harris-Perry as the black person who'd justify his white, neoliberal logic. Harris-Perry has an editorial out there that you can read, or you can watch her discussion with Schultz. It's awful stuff, in my opinion. I offer my critique of her opinion above.


Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

4. Sam Seder and Eddie Glaude discuss the controversy on The Majority Report. Please support The Majority Report. It's a great show in search of membership. We need to support good left wing media. Seder's program is independent and looking to stay that way.

In Solidarity: UNIDOS Take Over Tucson United School District Meeting

"Our education is under attack. What do we do? Fight back!"

Watch these amazing students stand up for their rights.


Write to the Tucson Unified School District :: You can watch the video and learn about the concerns students have. Maybe you can let the TUSD know what you think about it. Perfect time to email all politicians and superintendents and schools and board members. Much of their info is going to be online. Force them to respond to the kids' demands.

UNIDOS 10-point resolution on ethnic studies:

1. We want our ethnic studies classes to continue to meeting core social science requirement;
2. We want the repeal of HB 2281;
3. We want ethnic studies programs to expand everywhere, from K-12 to university;
4. We want no school turn-arounds, no school closures and full support for Rincon and Palo Verde high school communities;
5. We want a TUSD governing board that is accountable and will stand up for all students;
6. We want an equitable education for all;
7. We want an immediate end to all racist, anti-immigrant, anti-indigenous policies;
8. We want full compliance with our civil and human rights;
9. We want Attorney General Tom Horne, state Superintendent John Huppenthal and Governor Jan Brewer immediately removed from power;
10. We want local control of our education.

Vote on Future of TUSD Ethnic Studies Rescheduled for May 5th.

The kids united will never be divided.

Stuff I like to read

As I get back into gear, here is a blog worth reading:

Stuff White People Like To Do

dagTopics: On Foreigners Treating Korea Like a Zoo

about "dagTopics" Through controversy and conflict and good debate, we learn from each other. I post something about my life here in Seoul. I add a little commentary that presents my point of view. Though I'm always trying to be clear and focused, I'm not always settled about how I feel about the issues. Those issues that bug me and that I think are profound enough to share, I'll post as open topics under the title "dagTopics". My hope is that I can discuss the issues with friends and strangers. As long as the comments aren't from trolls or flamers, all will be welcome.

In comedy, there's a significant difference between laughing at someone and laughing with them. The problem is magnified when the way we classify people--sex/gender, class, and/or race--is foregrounded within comic situations. Comedy can be oppressive, even when we're just out to get a laugh. The foreigner-authored video below, from Seoul, shows exactly how oppression works in humor: if the man is the joke, and he is in this example, it's oppressive. And I'd say, in this case, racist. And that will likely piss off the people who are a part of the video because it's more than apparent that they're absolutely unaware about how offensive it actually is. And I'd say, tough, because they should be more aware and they should care about it.

I've had it with people who are incapable (because they don't care to be more responsible) of understanding how offensive and bigoted some of their behavior ends up being. There is a two-fold response from my foreign friends in these situations. First, they like to point out how they are with Koreans. "You know, we were with Koreans and they didn't have a problem with it" is a typical argument. Second, folks will point out that they weren't intending to be oppressive. (In addition, somebody is sure to write about how bigoted Koreans are in the comments following this post. So, a third response is always that the subjects are bigots, too.)

I'm tired of hearing foreigners defend offensive behavior; saying "I'm with Koreans" is just as dumb as saying "Some of my best friends are black/gay/Mexican/[insert commonly oppressed person's class.]" My UK and US friends know better: they would never be permitted to make that bullshit claim at home. Why is it permissible here?

It's embarrassing for me to watch this video and think that these folks felt that filming an old man enjoying himself in a park near his home and mocking him is funny. I say they think it was worth doing because they published the video for everyone to see. That it was something that might make people laugh, well that annoys me even more.

What is it in this video that we are supposed to laugh at or with? Why laugh at or laugh with? Well, try this. Watch the video with the sound off and then with the sound on. With the sound off, there's nothing much to find offensive. The video might seem a little intrusive. But the old guy is dancing in public. We don't know the author's intention and, I'd argue, it's not worth it to guess. With the sound on, however, the whole purpose and intent of the video become part of the viewing experience: from the exaggerated laughing and filming the people laughing to the sexual quip at the end about being turned on, the entire narrative is framed at the expense of the man. The joke is him. Not the dancing. Not something happening around him. Nothing coincidental. It's staged to show the white people laughing at and mocking the Korean man. In addition, I know that Koreans were present at this scene and with the foreigners making the video. Where are they? Why are they not shown mocking the man? (I can answer that but I don't think you need me to.)

The fact is, the folks aren't sharing a moment with the old man that is genuinely humorous; they are mocking him in order to actively and aggressively create a comic moment. And this is where racism becomes an issue. And what 할아버지 (harabeoji: grandfather) is doing isn't by any stretch of the imagination odd. It is humorous, I suppose. I'd smile and laugh, for sure. So, don't get me wrong.

I'm trying hard to make the point that the audio does something to what we're supposed to find funny, changes the innocent humor in an old man dancing in a park to a more critical humor that examines the man himself, and it laughs at his expense because of who he is.

Quite frankly, I find the video rather disturbing and unfunny. I never have been comfortable with using a video camera in this manner. Nevertheless, without the banter, the video is funny and rather candid. It captures something real, possibly poignant. The video is engaging because of what somebody did with a mundane moment. It's a 28 second primer in how photography is never innocent.

I think you'd have to be naive and precious not to understand that this clip is offensive. Yet, I see foreigners in Korea acting like this all the time: turning on a camera to capture a Korean doing something while pointing and laughing at the Korean. I have to admit that my knee-jerk reaction is to beat the shit out of the dumb white person. In the US, I'm surrounded by unconscious bigotry everyday. Not your institutionalized and structural problems that people ignore, but your outright racist behavior that your friends insist you ignore. I never have ignored it and I'm not about to start now. Fortunately, I can write. I'd hate to put my future in jeopardy simply because a couple of my foreign friends are haters.

I realize all foreigners in Korea aren't white. But it'll come as no surprise to my readers that the yelling, screaming and mocking groups of foreigners are usually white. Will it?

Here's the video. If you haven't watched it and want to, I can show it to you offline. I removed the video per the authors' request. Continue to use the comments to discuss.

Kicking Against the Pricks

Reports: SKorean Internet addicts let baby starve - Boston.com

Posted using ShareThis

When something awful happens in Korea, awful enough to make the news--police killing protesters, sexual predation, parents killing their children, a President committing suicide--the entire culture seems to participate in a collective and public embarrassment and dread regarding answering what it means that something that awful could happen in Korea. They don't want to talk about it; it puts everyone into a real funk. It's an entirely different response to similar and more common incidents in the United States, where I feel Americans expect such spectacles and especially on the evening news. I was about to ask a Korean colleague about the Internet Addict story the other day and found myself pausing suddenly and changing the subject. I realized that I was only asking because I wanted to make her uncomfortable. I was a little shocked at my motivation.

When considering the seedy United States, Koreans hear old and new stories about lynchings, rapes, fathers killing their families then killing themselves, an increasing number of convicted sex offenders, and rampant drug addiction. Anything spectacular happens in the US, and I will be asked about it over lunch. My interviewer will study my response with a subtle yet shocked expression as if to say, Really, you seem all right but what's wrong with you guys? (Lately, the questions have been about health care. Why don't you want everybody to have health care?)

Not that I'm bothered for a moment that Koreans believe Americans are perverts. So much of this is based on naive acceptance of gossip as fact, and I'm kind of the example that proves otherwise. On the other hand, the history of Americans in Asia, and Korea in particular, is far from exemplary. Sure many of us are doing good work here, but that's not enough to change the overall perception of the US and American culture. And judging from the activity I've witnessed here, it wouldn't surprise me to find out that my Korean friends think we're childish and self-centered snobs. I've heard as much, but with an apology because I'm not that way but America seems like it is. Add to the suspicions that we are, in fact, the most militaristic nation, consistently driven to protect economic interest through participation in foreign wars and maintaining a militarized presence in many countries, and you know it's safe to say that you'd have to be a jingoistic prick to not sympathize with their lack of trust and faith.

Anyway, I have to admit that Americans are often treated like the perverted 14 year old down the street who the parents tolerate but keep at a distance because they think he's been humping their dogs while they work. Or, at least that's how I sometimes feel about the stares I get from women, grandmas, and old men while I'm walking around town. Many of my friends complain about how we're perceived, but it's going to take a long time for Koreans to collectively decide there's true value in global multiculturalism and to learn to reform the nationalist spirit with which it shelters its racism and racists.

I would be a little more interested in my fellow expats' complaints if included in them were, for example, any compassion for other workers, other immigrant laborers who live here and are truly oppressed, like say the thousands of Chinese who live in close to abject poverty in my Gu, who slave away in Seoul's restaurants. But this is representative of a general disconnect white Americans have from the reality of oppression. White folks love to complain about how they are treated while ignoring the horrible oppression of others. Throw them an orphan to cuddle or an old comfort woman to cry about on weekends and they're back to complaining about racism at Monday night dinner. The excuse for complaining ad nauseam being that nobody should be treated this way. I hate the "least of all me" mentality most: the notion that we are to be treated well because we are here habit.

I don't buy it. I think it's easy to look at Koreans in Korea and criticize their failures at understanding what multiculturalism is all about. It's easy, not because Korean society is so monolithic, but because Americans fail at achieving the benefits true multiculturalism can provide a diverse society. We fail at it, yet we expect Korea to open it arms to us and provide with access to its culture without expecting us to assimilate and while permitting us to appropriate.

This story about the baby who starved while her parents were playing a video game where they were raising a virtual child has scandalized Korea and Koreans. They abhor stories like this and are extremely embarrassed by them. I was in a devilish mood the other day and thought about going around asking folks about it, teasing them I guess, like they ask me about American embarrassments. But I checked that little devil and let the temptation pass. Who needs another white guy telling them that their country has problems? Especially when I am one their problems.

Moments in American Multiculturalism

Jay Leno reminds us that there's truth in comedy:


Thanks Everything is Terrible!