To grapple with Wilkerson’s understanding of racism as a caste system, I turn to Langston Hughes, Twain, and Arundhati Roy.
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Tag Archives: racism
Caste in a Multicultural Democracy
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Ku Klux", Arundhati Roy, Caste, Dalits, God of Small Things, Huckleberry Finn, Isabel Wilkerson, Langston Hughes, Mark Twain, Origins Comments closed
Tim Scott’s Self-Debasement
Sen. Tim Scott’s self-abasement before Donald Trump brings to mind various “Uncle Tom” poems written by Black authors.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "All of Us Are All of Us", "robert", "Uncle Tom", Donald Trump, Harriet Beecher Stowe, James Baldwin, Langston Hughes, Lindsey Graham, Lucille Clifton, Tim Scott, Uncle Tom's Cabin Comments closed
Trump, “Vermin” and Terry Pratchett
In “Snuff” one of Terry Pratchett’s angriest book, the author takes on racism, ethnocentrism, and intolerance.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Art, Donald Trump, Fascism, intolerance, Snuff, Terry Pratchett Comments closed
Clifton’s Poem about a Lynching Victim
Yesterday was the 25th anniversary of a Jasper, Texas lynching. Lucille Clifton has a poem about victim James Byrd.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "jasper texas 1998", hate crimes, James Byrd, Jasper Texas, Lucille Clifton, lynching Comments closed
Morrison on the Death of Emmett Till
In “Song of Solomon,” Morrison has the men in the community grapple with what the death of Emmett Till means.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Civil Rights Movement, Emmett Till, Ron DeSantis, Song of Solomon, Toni Morrison Comments closed
Tony Bennett, WWII, and Race Activism
Learning about late singer Tony Bennett’s life has opened up new insights into my father, also a World War II vet and civil rights activist.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "The Greatest Generation", Civil Rights Movement, Scott Bates, Tony Bennett, World War II Comments closed
Pretending that Slavery Wasn’t a Big Deal
Unlike Faulkner, the Southern Agrarians claimed that African Americans weren’t an integral part of Southern culture.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Alan Tate, Andrew Lytle, Ares, Civil War, John Crowe Ransom, Michael Gorra, Southern Agrarians, Toni Morrison, William Faulkner Comments closed
Faulkner Understood How Racism Works
Faulkner helps me understand my past growing up in the racist south. Sadly, he’s still relevant.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Absalom Absalom!, Light in August, Oath Keepers, Proud Boys, William Faulkner Comments closed
Baldwin, Cop Sadism, and MAGA
In “If Beale Street Could Talk,” Baldwin captures cop sadism of the sort we also seen in Trump supporters.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Donald Trump, Fascism, If Beale Street Could Talk, James Baldwin, MAGA, sadism Comments closed