Perhaps you’ve read about the Indonesia Obama impersonator Ilham Anas. Reading about him reminded me of a post on Sociological Images pointing out our president’s strong resemblance to his white grandfather: “I tried a little experiment in class. I put up a photo of adult Obama and I had my students make a list of what characteristics made him identifiably Black, in their view. Every one of them put on their list his nose, lips, and hair, and several made comments about his ears or just that ‘the combination of all his facial features’ was ‘clearly’ Black.
Then I brought up the photo of Dunham next to the photo of Obama. It led to a really interesting discussion. Because my students think of Obama as Black, they saw all his features through that racial lens. It was obvious to them that he had ‘Black’ facial features. After viewing the photos next to one another, they talked about how the two men look very similar, but their facial features seem ‘clearly’ Black on one person and ‘clearly’ White on the other.” It’s an interesting discussion. I’m rooting for Radhika Desai on Top Chef because she’s my sister’s doppleganger and I once met a Chinese woman who had uncanny resemblance to my mother. Do you have a cross-racial lookalike?
“Anyone who has played D&D has spent a lot of time talking about race – ‘Racial Attributes,’ ‘Racial Restrictions,’ ‘Racial Bonuses.’ Everyone knows that different races don’t get along – thanks to Tolkien, Dwarves and Elves tend to distrust each other, and even non-gamers know that Orcs and Goblins are, by their very nature, evil creatures. Race is one of the most important aspects of any fantasy role-playing game, and the belief that there are certain inherent genetic and social distinctions between different races is built into every level of most (if not all) Fantasy Role-Playing Game” – Race in Dungeons and Dragons. (via.)
“In the previous year, nearly twenty defendants in other Baltimore cases had begun adopting what lawyers in the federal courthouse came to call ‘the flesh-and-blood defense.’ The defense, such as it is, boils down to this: As officers of the court, all defense lawyers are really on the government’s side, having sworn an oath to uphold a vast, century-old conspiracy to conceal the fact that most aspects of the federal government are illegitimate, including the courts, which have no constitutional authority to bring people to trial.” – Washington Monthly. (via.) “None of these arguments had a prayer of overturning the charges. But they had an impact nonetheless. They made a long, complex trial longer and more complex still. Seeking the death penalty is rightfully arduous–it requires legal justifications for the penalty itself, enhanced scrutiny over jury selection, an additional penalty phase after a conviction, and so on. Conspiracy charges create further legal burdens.”
NYT reports on an NEA census: “Among artists under 35, writers are the only group in which 80 percent or more are non-Hispanic white.” Tayari Jones responds, “A question worth thinking about is whether this means times are good or hard for writers of color. On the one hand being so darn rare makes us attractive, or at least it does, theoretically. But on the other hand, the scarcity suggests steep challenges.”
Ta-Nehisi Coates is a great writer. He’s filling in for Matt Ygelsias this week. Go check out his piece “This is How we Lost to the White Man” in The Atlantic if you missed it.
-
A collection of interesting ideas curated by
Joanne McNeil. About ➚
Sponsors
