[IBARW] Links
As I mentioned a few days ago, it's International Blog Against Racism week, a.k.a.
ibarw, from August 4 through August 10.
To start out (well, technically that Tim Wise article was starting out, but shh!), here are links to some of my old stuff. While at William and Mary I wrote several species dealing with race 'cause, well, for the most part I write for publication when I'm angry and WM gave me plenty to be angry about (and while they aren't from within the past year, since this is my first year doing IBARW I figure it's legit. to post the links here). Incidentally, I wasn't the only one at WM who wrote about racism, and some of the other articles in the Progressive are good, so feel free to not go directly to the page of the PDFs with my stuff but instead to browse a bit.
"Diversity Initiative Passed; Opponents Use Flawed Logic", countering several reasons commonly given for not taking action against systemic racism.
" I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" (see page 7 of the PDF), a tangential piece that doesn't deal with race but does deal with systemic discrimination against religious and cultural minorities and the resulting pressure to assimilate.
"Wretched Republicans", in which I point out that a white person telling a black person how the latter should vote based on the former's understanding of racial issues is insulting, and doing it at a speech by the head of the NAACP is especially insulting.
"Learning Curve", about privilege, and probably my favorite of the things of mine I'm posting here.
" The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: William and Mary's Faculty Homogeneity" (see page 5 of the PDF), points out the intersectionality between race and gender.
And, because laughing at ourselves can open us up to seeing things from other perspectives (not to mention just being fun!), two humorous songs:
National Brotherhood Week by Tom Lehrer (some of the references are dated but the message is still highly relevant) is a classic. IMHO the person doing the pictures missed the point with the line about New Yorkers and Puerto Ricans as I'm pretty sure it's intended to refer to treatment of Puerto Rican immigrants (and images related to the current anti-immigrant efforts would have been more apropos). The song is U.S.-centric, but I stumbled across this British-centric version if anyone's interested.
And here's Everyone's a Little Bit Racist by Avenue Q. I'd only heard it before searching for it just now, but was unsure whether to be amused or disturbed that the characters are all wearing utterly stereotypical clothing (the Jewish guy has a sweatshirt with writing across the front, the black guy has a tool belt, the Asian woman has a kimono-like robe, and the unspecified but, given that her name is Kate presumably WASP, character has a nice white shirt and a skirt). For the song, it's totally hilarious, but if they're in those outfits the whole show, I'm seriously disturbed.
ibarw, from August 4 through August 10.
To start out (well, technically that Tim Wise article was starting out, but shh!), here are links to some of my old stuff. While at William and Mary I wrote several species dealing with race 'cause, well, for the most part I write for publication when I'm angry and WM gave me plenty to be angry about (and while they aren't from within the past year, since this is my first year doing IBARW I figure it's legit. to post the links here). Incidentally, I wasn't the only one at WM who wrote about racism, and some of the other articles in the Progressive are good, so feel free to not go directly to the page of the PDFs with my stuff but instead to browse a bit.
"Diversity Initiative Passed; Opponents Use Flawed Logic", countering several reasons commonly given for not taking action against systemic racism.
" I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" (see page 7 of the PDF), a tangential piece that doesn't deal with race but does deal with systemic discrimination against religious and cultural minorities and the resulting pressure to assimilate.
"Wretched Republicans", in which I point out that a white person telling a black person how the latter should vote based on the former's understanding of racial issues is insulting, and doing it at a speech by the head of the NAACP is especially insulting.
"Learning Curve", about privilege, and probably my favorite of the things of mine I'm posting here.
" The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: William and Mary's Faculty Homogeneity" (see page 5 of the PDF), points out the intersectionality between race and gender.
And, because laughing at ourselves can open us up to seeing things from other perspectives (not to mention just being fun!), two humorous songs:
National Brotherhood Week by Tom Lehrer (some of the references are dated but the message is still highly relevant) is a classic. IMHO the person doing the pictures missed the point with the line about New Yorkers and Puerto Ricans as I'm pretty sure it's intended to refer to treatment of Puerto Rican immigrants (and images related to the current anti-immigrant efforts would have been more apropos). The song is U.S.-centric, but I stumbled across this British-centric version if anyone's interested.
And here's Everyone's a Little Bit Racist by Avenue Q. I'd only heard it before searching for it just now, but was unsure whether to be amused or disturbed that the characters are all wearing utterly stereotypical clothing (the Jewish guy has a sweatshirt with writing across the front, the black guy has a tool belt, the Asian woman has a kimono-like robe, and the unspecified but, given that her name is Kate presumably WASP, character has a nice white shirt and a skirt). For the song, it's totally hilarious, but if they're in those outfits the whole show, I'm seriously disturbed.