stereotypes

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[you can sing the title with the Beatles or w/ Slick Rick, depending on your mood]

I am sure you are well-apprised of what I am going to call “The Michelle Obama feminism challenge.” But just in case, Mirror on America did a very nice post last week, outlining some of the most notable sites of contestation, particularly as they’ve been crystallized in Debra Dickerson’s recent article in Slate, and Maureen Dowd’s syndicated op-ed piece, reproduced here from the San Jose Mercury News. Racialicious also has a great post outlining the Dickerson and Dowd articles (amongst others). It’s redundant to rehearse the Racialicious and Mirror on America points, so check them out!

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I didn’t want my students from Racial Passing to feel left out of the end of semester postings. We’ve just finished reading Percival Everett’s Erasure, so here is one for you– from Gawker, by way of Racialicious: “Blacks Terrorize Harvard Students”:

Last weekend, on the bucolic Quad at Harvard University–typically, the site of a casual game of Ultimate, or perhaps an afternoon reading of some Shakespearean sonnets before English class-an unusual and, to some, frightening scene was played out. There were people throwing things! And running! And jumping! And most scary of all, every single one of them was black. So the Harvard students watching from their dormitory windows, growing increasingly agitated at the sights below, did what any normal, white Harvard student would do when they saw a large, seemingly unruly group of black people: They called the cops! Read the rest of this entry »

I know it isn’t about me, but I have nontheless decided that Quentin Tarantino is trying to wear me out. Oh wait, it’s not just me, Angry Asian Man is tired too! It is about Tarantino’s self-indulgence, and I am becoming less and less sure what to make of it.

I am only thinking of Tarantino at all because, while dinking around to prepare for Kill Bill, I came across scans at AMPHA of Tarantino’s photo spread in the latest issue of GQ. As you can see, the pictures Read the rest of this entry »

As if to follow-up on my previous post on The Jim Crow museum, today I came across this slideshow by David Segal, over at Slate. It’s titled “Uncle Ben, CEO? The strange history of racist spokescharacters,” and it begins with the Mars company’s strange idea that Uncle Ben should be updated. So I guess that with a lot of hard work, you too can ascend from slave, to butler, to CEO.

O popular imagination, you give so much… but never really seem to take much away!

It’s a nice photo and video clip essay, so please check it out. Further, as a way of producing an online essay, girlpower people might also find this an appealing way to share thoughts on visual and audio culture (I am happy to show you how to make one).