Sunday, April 20, 2014

Tony Lindsay Presents... bell hooks

Writing Beyond Race: Living Theory and Practice by bell hooks reports on the battle fought by cultural critics, progressive thinkers, and scholars from the left against white supremacist thought. hooks writes that many  have grown weary of the battle and believe that America’s political system will always be an “imperialist white supremacist capitalist patriarchy.” However, bell hooks feels the battle is not lost, but, she argues that white supremacist thought is at the root of American racism, and that no substantial conversations concerning race can occur without understanding how white supremacist thought influences racism.  

She writes:
If everyone in our society could face that white supremacist thinking is the underlying belief system informing nearly every aspect of this nation’s culture and habits of daily life, then all our discussions of race and racism would be based on a foundation of concrete reality. Everyone could move away from the us/them dichotomies which promote blame and prevent us all from assuming accountability for challenging and changing white supremacy. Unless we make a conscious effort to change thought and action by honestly naming all the myriad ways white supremacy impinges on daily life then we cannot shift from a politics of hate and create a new foundation based on a revolution of love. (12)
bell hooks believes that white Americans are influenced by white supremacist thought; the thought that white people are superior due to race she feels permeates the white American consciousness. It is this thought that leads to white privilege, segregation, and even a discontinuity among people fighting to end racism. This is largely due to white supremacy being an unconscious thought for many. hooks argues that many support white supremacist thought without knowing it:
Significantly, despite class differences, as a group, white people (whether consciously or unconsciously) maintain some degree of bonding despite diversities of standpoint. White supremacist thinking continues to be the invisible and visible glue that keeps white folks connected irrespective of many other differences. Politically, white supremacist thinking was created to serve the purpose. Imprinted on the consciousness of every white child at birth, reinforced by the culture, white supremacist thinking tends to function unconsciously. This is the primary reason it is so difficult to challenge and change. (3)  

The unconscious functioning of white supremacist thought is also a problem for blacks and other people of color, and it begins in childhood:
While there is discussion of white children’s negative imprinting around race, it is equally true that black children and other children of color may have similar imprints that come from either images they have seen or stories they hear. Most folks have heard about the doll study, where black children choose white dolls over dolls who look like themselves because they have learned white is better. (13)

Chapter by chapter, bell hooks identifies how and the avenues in which the demeaning thinking of white supremacy works to maintain the racially skewered status quo of American society. In the sixth chapter titled ‘Interrogating: The Reinvention of Malcolm, X,’ she uncovers an attack on the image of Malcolm X, who has risen to icon status among American youth.

His popularity, as a black man who spoke of black independence and black love of self and high self-esteem as opposed to blacks wishing they were white, was directly against white supremacy. Malcolm’s strong black male image has been attacked by repeated reports of a single homosexual act which works to deconstruct the iconic image that American youth have come to revere. hooks writes:
Conservative critics, white and black, who dwell on Malcolm’s sexuality aim to depoliticize him by slyly suggesting that he was just another brother on the down low (i.e. posing as straight, screwing females to cover up his homosexual appetite). Since much African American youth-based pop culture mirrors the homophobic values of this imperialist white supremacist capitalist patriarchal society, to inform this group that their “shinning black prince” was really a queen in disguise is a character assassination aimed at both promoting homophobia while simultaneously encouraging this group to denounce Malcolm X, to no longer see him as a champion of black manhood but as an enemy. If this accomplished, Malcolm X’s life and experience will no longer serve as the catalyst for youth of all ages and all colors to come to critical consciousness and radical politicization. (79) 

Media, specifically movies, hooks feels is another contributor to spreading the white supremacist thought; she offers the surprising example of Crash; a  movie that Americans view as honestly portraying race relations in the country. hooks argues that the film is detrimental to any conversation about race:
I am startled when black people tell me that Crash talks about race in a new and different way. It simply does not. . . In Crash, the images of black people are poorly executed clones of the images of blackness depicted in Quentin Tarantino’s film Pulp Fiction and in black exploitation films.(108)
            Later in the text, she continues with:
Sadly, Crash is a film folks are using to engage in a public discourse about race and racism, but ultimately it’s a conservative discourse the public hears from the conservative right. The message is that racism is not real- prejudice is real and everyone has these feelings or that it is natural for people who differ based on race or nationality to be in conflict. (115)

hooks does not leave the reader in the dismal state of mind that America is doomed to forever be an “imperialist white supremacist capitalist patriarchy.” She believes that love with enlightenment will conquer the hatred of racism and white supremacist thought. However, to bring about change the country must realize that the acorn of racism in this country is white supremacist thought. Once this is understood, Americans will begin to see beyond race and honestly be able to begin conversations concerning race in America. 
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Tony Lindsay is an award-winning author and adjunct professor at Chicago State University. His book ONE DEAD DOCTOR was chosen by Conversations Book Club as one of its Top 100 Books of 2012. Lindsay was named Conversations Author of the Year 2012-2013.  His new book EMOTIONAL DRIPPINGS is available now on Amazon.com. He can be reached on Facebook at www.facebook.com/tony.linssay2.

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