A Salon article explores how some of white supremacism’s rise can be traced to rage over having had a black president. Quoting Ellison’s “Invisible Man,” it makes the case that the right couldn’t really see Obama.
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Tag Archives: racism
Poetry Helped Feed Robert E. Lee Myth
Herman Melville and Julie Ward Howe, although anti-slavery, unfortunately wrote poems which helped mythologize Robert E. Lee, whose statues have become symbols of white supremacy. And indeed, Lee was a white supremacist.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Lee in the Capitol", "Robert E. Lee", Civil War, Herman Melville, Julie Ward Howe, white supremacism Comments closed
Mosley & Du Bois: Art as Propaganda
In a visit to our college, novelist Walter Mosley was asked to respond to a W. E. B. Du Bois passage about art as propaganda. Mosley said that, if his art is true, it will indeed function as propaganda in that it will overturn racial stereotypes.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Criteria of Nego Art, Devil in a Blue Dress, racial stereotypes, W. E. B. Dubois, Walter Mosley Comments closed
Trust in God, Argue For Justice
This Raymond Foss Purim poem reminds us that Queen Esther can be seen as standing up for oppressed people everywhere. The poem is particularly relevant in these dark times.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Standing Up Like Esther", discrimination, Esther, Raymond Foss, white nationalism Comments closed
Hughes Dreams the Real American Dream
Langston Hughes’s “Let America Be America Again” is a powerful riposte to President Steven Bannon and Co.’s “Make America Great Again.” Poems like this one can play an important role in resistance against the Trump administration.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Let America Be America Again", Donald Trump, Langston Hughes, Make America Great Again, Michael Anton, Steve Bannon, Trumpist, white nationalism Comments closed
Read Poetry To Keep Hope Alive
Literature that just shows us the grim truth of reality without the possibility of hope calls into question the whole enterprise. Much great literature frames reality in such a way that we can see new possibilities for ourselves.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Some Keep the Sabbath Going to Church", "Speech to the Young", Audre Lorde, Emily Dickinson, Gwendolyn Brooks, Langston Hughes Comments closed
We Benefit When We Check Our Privilege
Do be blind to one’s privileges is to live in a world of shadows and phantoms, as Ralph Ellison and Lucille Clifton both make clear. Life if much richer if we identify our blindnesses and engage with people as three-dimensional beings.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "wishes for sons", Invisible Man, Lucille Clifton, Ralph Ellison, white privilege Comments closed
Morrison: Where America Went Wrong
Toni Morrison’s 2008 novel “A Mercy” seems to start with a promising vision of America before everything goes wrong. It’s as though she starts with the optimism of the Obama years and then predicts the Trump backlash.