Comments on: On Swimming Pools, Harvard Arrests, and Flash Point Racism

By: kizzmm

kizzmm — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 04:21:59 +0000

My nephew just asked me to read this to him out loud… I told him how monumental, meaningful and amazing this post was to me.

By: kizzmm

kizzmm — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 23:21:00 +0000

My nephew just asked me to read this to him out loud… I told him how monumental, meaningful and amazing this post was to me.

By: Mainstream media & the spectacle of racism « Bandung 1955

Mainstream media & the spectacle of racism « Bandung 1955 — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 18:09:34 +0000

[…] Paris, Sodini, the rise in white supremacist activity—could be accused of being preoccupied with “flashpoint racism,” or emphasizing spectacles in order to challenge the mainstream media’s focus on racism as […]

By: NicciSurtees

NicciSurtees — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 04:41:52 +0000

I think Cambridge professors are above the law.
When I, a white woman, have been stupid enough to lock myself out of my home I contact a locksmith and at quite a cost I get a housecall from the locksmith. But then I don't have VIPs for friends.
Policemen are used to being treated rudely, even by the President of the United States, but I find it very offensive.

By: aussiebach

aussiebach — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 23:41:00 +0000

I think Cambridge professors are above the law.
When I, a white woman, have been stupid enough to lock myself out of my home I contact a locksmith and at quite a cost I get a housecall from the locksmith. But then I don’t have VIPs for friends.
Policemen are used to being treated rudely, even by the President of the United States, but I find it very offensive.

By: NicciSurtees

NicciSurtees — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 22:41:52 +0000

By: On Swimming Pools, Harvard Arrests, and Flash Point Racism at Racialicious - the intersection of race and pop culture

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 15:00:34 +0000

[…] By Guest Contributor dumi, originally published at Uptown Notes […]

By: Skip Gates on Lincoln and race

Skip Gates on Lincoln and race — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 21:38:41 +0000

[…] I have no desire to further discuss the situation but Dr. Lewis over at Uptown Notes does a great job discussing why race dialogues can’t only be centered around buzz incidents like this one. Check it out. […]

By: hannajane

hannajane — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 20:54:06 +0000

You can add being profiled while being black at the pool at The Palazzo Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. My son was accused of setting a fire in the restroom because they said they were looking for a “black man”, no other description given, and he was the only person of color at the pool. Security supervisor went so far as to tell me that he had been to Africa and it's a nice place to visit. WTF!! Was he trying to tell me to go back to Africa or was it like saying my bet friend is black so I would not think my son was profiled?

By: hannajane

hannajane — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 19:54:00 +0000

You can add being profiled while being black at the pool at The Palazzo Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. My son was accused of setting a fire in the restroom because they said they were looking for a “black man”, no other description given, and he was the only person of color at the pool. Security supervisor went so far as to tell me that he had been to Africa and it’s a nice place to visit. WTF!! Was he trying to tell me to go back to Africa or was it like saying my bet friend is black so I would not think my son was profiled?

By: marthaawade

marthaawade — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 19:53:53 +0000

Well done. Your writing is beautiful and intelligent in the way you explain our "post-racial" world. I am SO going to RT this =)

Marty
@wadecreate

By: hannajane

hannajane — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 18:54:06 +0000

By: marthaawade

marthaawade — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 18:53:00 +0000

Well done. Your writing is beautiful and intelligent in the way you explain our “post-racial” world. I am SO going to RT this =)

Marty
@wadecreate

By: marthaawade

marthaawade — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 17:53:53 +0000

Well done. Your writing is beautiful and intelligent in the way you explain our "post-racial" world. I am SO going to RT this =)

Marty
@wadecreate

By: dumilewis

dumilewis — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 19:46:00 +0000

UrInaRacist- Thanks for the shout out. I definitely think it’s important to figure out how to express these complexities on the frontlines (e.g. places like the classroom). I know your research, that you gave me a heads up on, is going to give us a lot more understanding about how youth understand racism. Which reminds me i need to send you a piece i did on how you understand race.

Alex- I got a “love this” from the most critical political scientist i know, now that means i’m pretty much not able to write anything else less i lose that accolade ;) nah, for real, thanks. and yeah the twitter thing is pretty cool.

By: dumilewis

dumilewis — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 18:46:26 +0000

UrInaRacist- Thanks for the shout out. I definitely think it's important to figure out how to express these complexities on the frontlines (e.g. places like the classroom). I know your research, that you gave me a heads up on, is going to give us a lot more understanding about how youth understand racism. Which reminds me i need to send you a piece i did on how you understand race.

Alex- I got a "love this" from the most critical political scientist i know, now that means i'm pretty much not able to write anything else less i lose that accolade ;) nah, for real, thanks. and yeah the twitter thing is pretty cool.

By: Alex

Alex — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 17:10:00 +0000

love this! by the way i think its so cool how you are able to track the comments via twitter as well!

peace.
a.

By: Alex

Alex — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 16:10:53 +0000

love this! by the way i think its so cool how you are able to track the comments via twitter as well!

peace.
a.

By: urinnaracist

urinnaracist — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 18:47:00 +0000

The (re)call to arms is much needed and appreciated. The greatest challenge I face as an educator is to facilitate youths’ recognition of the power imbalances they witness and experience on a daily basis as manifestations of racism, sexism, homophobia, abilism, etc. Post-raciality is not helping open eyes to those injustices that cannot be explained away by individual choices and traits ( a la the procedural bureaucracy we know too well from an early age but come to accept as business as usual). Thanks for the inspiration. As I continue to explore how to overcome this challenge in our classrooms, I’ll continue to tun here to share and be inspired. PEACE

By: urinnaracist

urinnaracist — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 18:47:00 +0000

By: dumilewis

dumilewis — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 18:05:00 +0000

And your thoughts are well welcomed brotha. I think cases like Oscar Grants are just the examples of this. Folks have not paid attention to the trial or advocated, at a mass scale, for community boards on police etc. The grassroots work is happening, but not wide enough and the legislative pressure is not big enough. I had a whole conversation yesterday about “waiting” to pressure Obama and other politicians. I’m beginning to be convinced that Black folks are the only ones hell bent on waiting. In fact MLK’s book “Why We Can’t Wait” needs to be mandated reading. Thanks for the read and response.

By: nativenotes

nativenotes — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 17:54:00 +0000

It’s interesting how you discuss flash points, how they flare brightly and dim quickly. Think back to the Bart incident where Oscar Grant was murdered, the energy was amazing surrounding this injustice for about 1 week. Why, because that was blatant and overt racism, a horrible choice by the officer which can be seen as the exception and not the rule. Never mind that police brutality happens everyday in predominantly black neighborhoods in not just urban areas but suburban and rural as well.

Structural inequalities — that’s not a buzz word and unfortunately in the society in which we live that is hard to describe to whites who have privilege and also blacks who are disenfranchised. It’s not immediate enough, people start thinking your stifling them with conspiracy theories.

I agree that the dialogue has to be furthered, but I will add that an agenda has to be moved along as well. An agenda to get justice by way of legislation that exposes and corrects the institutionalized racism. I see us doing this on a grassroots level, engaging all of the community members affected. Putting pressure on local politicians and developing a solution to the problems we are discussing. We have to find new ways to get the people involved, so that we have a strategic voting bloc of taxpayers. Black voters have to understand quid pro quo, we are constantly giving our votes away for nothing, we need our agenda to be implemented for our votes. Just my thoughts.

By: dumilewis

dumilewis — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 17:05:52 +0000

And your thoughts are well welcomed brotha. I think cases like Oscar Grants are just the examples of this. Folks have not paid attention to the trial or advocated, at a mass scale, for community boards on police etc. The grassroots work is happening, but not wide enough and the legislative pressure is not big enough. I had a whole conversation yesterday about “waiting” to pressure Obama and other politicians. I'm beginning to be convinced that Black folks are the only ones hell bent on waiting. In fact MLK's book “Why We Can't Wait” needs to be mandated reading. Thanks for the read and response.

By: nativenotes

nativenotes — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 16:54:08 +0000

It's interesting how you discuss flash points, how they flare brightly and dim quickly. Think back to the Bart incident where Oscar Grant was murdered, the energy was amazing surrounding this injustice for about 1 week. Why, because that was blatant and overt racism, a horrible choice by the officer which can be seen as the exception and not the rule. Never mind that police brutality happens everyday in predominantly black neighborhoods in not just urban areas but suburban and rural as well.

Structural inequalities -- that's not a buzz word and unfortunately in the society in which we live that is hard to describe to whites who have privilege and also blacks who are disenfranchised. It's not immediate enough, people start thinking your stifling them with conspiracy theories.

I agree that the dialogue has to be furthered, but I will add that an agenda has to be moved along as well. An agenda to get justice by way of legislation that exposes and corrects the institutionalized racism. I see us doing this on a grassroots level, engaging all of the community members affected. Putting pressure on local politicians and developing a solution to the problems we are discussing. We have to find new ways to get the people involved, so that we have a strategic voting bloc of taxpayers. Black voters have to understand quid pro quo, we are constantly giving our votes away for nothing, we need our agenda to be implemented for our votes. Just my thoughts.

By: Racism in Cambridge: Harvard Prof. Gates Arrested | racismreview.com

Racism in Cambridge: Harvard Prof. Gates Arrested | racismreview.com — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 13:31:44 +0000

[…] good sociological analysis on this case (and others) from City College Prof. Dumi Lewis, here. addthis_url = […]