renouncing whiteness

Wojtek Sokolowski sokol at jhu.edu
Wed Nov 22 11:27:27 PST 2000


At 12:48 PM 11/22/00 -0500, Doug wrote:
>How does the white race go about abolishing itself? I heard a story
>once about Ted Allen getting into a cab and having the driver address
>him in a conspiratorial, racist fashion as a fellow white person.
>Allen denied he is white. But whiteness isn't a matter of
>self-identification alone, is it? It's how you're treated throughout
>your life. What is to be done?
>

As Paul Gilroy eloquently argues (_Against Race : Imagining Political Culture Beyond the Color Line-) whiteness/blackness is a debilitating state of mind. I feel sorry for people who cannot transcend that pathetic framework of Amerikun political discourse.

A few weeks ago I talked to a black female activist from South Africa at a meeting devoted to measuring different forms of volunteering. Despite the politcal nature of the subject, I was greatly impressed by her matter-of-fact approach and professionalism - no bitching, moaning and racializing everything so characteristic of many US-ers. That prompted my agreement with Norman Finkelstein's thesis that US political discourse tends to be driven by grievance manufacturing industries controlled by ethnic groups.

wojtek



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