Longform Links - The Negro Queen, Patterson and Gay Rights, Surviving the Ivy
Womanist Musings - The Negro Queen
“Victor-Lévy Beaulieu, who has penned some 70 works of fiction, non-fiction, drama and poetry, referred to [Michaëlle Jean, Canada’s Governor-General] as “La Reine-Nègre” — or negro queen — in an editorial he wrote for an independent newspaper.” Unrepentant, he refused to acknowledge the racism in his statement. “It has nothing to do with racism,” he told The Canadian Press in an interview from Trois-Pistoles, Que. “It’s not the colour of her skin that I’m attacking, it’s her role and the way she assumes it. It’s the role of a reine-nègre.” Michaëlle Jean is committed to an integrationist approach to French Canadians. It is the idea of unity, versus Quebec separatism that apparently drove Victor-Lévy Beaulieu to attack her in this manner. He further went on to say, “At a certain point you have to call a cat a cat,” he said. “We showered them (roi-nègres) with gifts, jewels, clothes, cheap junk … and they said exactly what the colonizers wanted them to say.”
This from a man who is demanding respect for his culture. When he looked at Michaëlle Jean, he did not see the Governor-General, all he saw was a black woman that had an agenda that was different from his. Were he truly criticizing her political stance, he would have felt no need to reference her race. It was meant to lessen her accomplishments, and assert his privilege as a white male.
New York Times - How Governor Set His Stance on Gay Rights
Mr. Paterson, who two months ago was unexpectedly elevated to be governor of New York, has accepted gay men and lesbians since early in life. From his first run for office, in 1985, he reached out to gays and lesbians, and in 1994, long before gay rights groups were broadly pushing for it, he said he supported same-sex marriage. […]
In the interview, Mr. Paterson said he believes deeply that gay men and lesbians today face the same kind of civil rights battle that black Americans faced. He acknowledged that this position put him at odds with some black leaders, who bristle at such comparisons.
“In many respects, people in our society, we only recognize our own struggles,” Mr. Paterson said. “I’ve wanted to be someone in the African-American community who recognizes the new civil rights struggle that is being undertaken by gay and lesbian and transgendered people.”
Blackline - 9 Pearls of Wisdom for Conquering the Ivy League
Pearl #2: Beware of “You have so much potential”
If you are a minority, chances are you will run into a teacher who seems to like you a lot, and at this point they will make it their life mission to save you (kind of like Dangerous Minds). These teachers are extremely condescending and take it personally when you disagree with them in any way (you’re seen as fighting them, preventing them from helping you).In their minds, you grew up in a single parent shack, your mother works three jobs, and you have 10 brothers and sisters, rather than being a son of a physician and a lawyer. It’s one thing to be admired by your teacher, it’s another being their charity, because in the end all your other classmates will win the awards, and you will get a pat on the back. […]
Pearl #6: No matter what you do, you will always be seen as a product of Affirmative Action.
Get used to it. Whenever I walked around Columbia, I felt as though people were looking at me saying, “You’re lucky Lee Bollinger is our President or you wouldn’t be here.” At first it bothered me, then I was like, who cares? I’m here. And guess what? You better hope I’m not in the waiting room with you waiting to be interviewed. Because chances are, I might steal that job you wanted so badly.Pearl #7: If you’re black, stay out of conversations about the Middle East.
It doesn’t matter what your major or coursework is, if you are at an Ivy League school, chances are you are going to get into a class discussion about the Middle East. Stay out of it. It will only get you into trouble. It doesn’t matter how you feel about Israel or Palestine, let them argue about it. That’s not our fight.
Pearl #8: If you are a Republican, tell people.
People will only respect you more. They may pretend not to, but they will. Don’t ask.
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of 
DEAF FEMINIST PUNK!! wrote:
OH MY GOD. Yeah sure, attacking a black woman by calling her a “negro queen” is not racist. *rolls eyes* Who is that idiot kidding himself???
Gov. Paterson seems so decent. I am glad we have someone like him in politics. He’s not perfect, but he’s great.
as for “9 Pearls of conquering Ivy League,” that saddened me, but whoever wrote that is totally correct. I almost got accepted into Yale University last year for Drama School (one of the best in the nation) and I’m still determined to try to get into Yale again. So I’m preparing myself for that white Ivy League snobbery if I get in.
Posted 03 Jun 2008 at 8:19 am ¶
Daomadan wrote:
Mr. Paterson said. “I’ve wanted to be someone in the African-American community who recognizes the new civil rights struggle that is being undertaken by gay and lesbian and transgendered people.”
I’m grateful for Mr. Paterson, but for heaven’s sake…could he mention bisexual people too? Thanks for the erasure.
Also, not racist to call someone a “negro queen”? Beaulieu is an idiot.
Posted 03 Jun 2008 at 9:31 am ¶
Persia wrote:
Damn, I wish I’d read Pearl #2 when I went to college. That one applies across races, I think.
Governor Paterson seems to be doing pretty well. Not perfect, but I try to keep in mind that he’s gone from the ‘bucket of warm spit’ position to governor with not much preparation.
Posted 03 Jun 2008 at 9:59 am ¶
Nelson... wrote:
Wow, THAT’S what it takes to survive the Ivy League?
I’m glad I’m not smart/rich enough to get there in the first place.
Posted 03 Jun 2008 at 1:12 pm ¶
jvansteppes wrote:
Thanks for mentioning the Beaulieu story here!
I live in Quebec, though I should disclose that English is my first language and I was born in Alberta, though I did learn French because bilingual education was funded. I continue to be shocked by the racism that informs much Quebec nationalism among older generations Ironically, Jean has long been criticized by Anglos for her husband’s ties to the FLQ, she is scapegoated in every direction. Something tells me Beaulieu agreed with Jacques Parizeau [then Parti Quebecois leader] when he blamed ‘the ethnic vote’ for the failure of the 1995 referendum to separate.
Quebec nationalism is a sticky issue, especially because the French in Canada HAVE long been oppressed by the English, but racism frequently shows itself in extremely explicit ways and what troubles me especially is that its easy to blame immigrants of color for what is really frustration at the English and in many cases, capitalism.
Some separatists [not all though] use the term ‘pure laines’ [pure wool] to highlight what basically means pure blood status. Here in Montreal the white supremacists really like that word and its not hard to find links to nationalism in their arguments.
The experience of the native people in Quebec [Oka anyone?] is often completely overlooked by people who argue that the English colonized the French without acknowledging the fact that the latter helped the former in colonizing Aboriginal peoples in many respects, if not most [again, this does depend on context as well considering Métis history etc].
Last year’s ‘reasonable accomodation’ hearings, designed to allegedly help immigrants assimilate, ahem, ‘adjust’ to Canadian life was a ridiculously racist circus in which the government gave a soapbox to anyone and everyone who felt like spreading hysteria about Muslims etc.
Sigh.
Posted 03 Jun 2008 at 3:35 pm ¶
Christine wrote:
I’m at Yale right now, and in my experience peals 1, 3, 5, 6 have proven true. Minorities gathering groups probably does make some white people nervous, but I could care less about that. If they’re nervous that is a personal problem.
Posted 03 Jun 2008 at 3:42 pm ¶
Chica Dificil wrote:
He also DEHUMANIZED her by saying he was just caling “a cat a cat.”
Posted 03 Jun 2008 at 4:31 pm ¶
sylvie wrote:
these pearls of wisdom are blowing my mind, particularly #7. now that i think of it, i only really hear well-to-do white folks talk about israel/palestine. very heatedly, might i add.
Posted 03 Jun 2008 at 4:46 pm ¶
hupphupp&away wrote:
there are people of many different races/colors with close ties (familial or not) to conflict(s) in the middle east.
i wish support of gay marriage wasn’t the be all end all to demonstrating belief in equal rights for the lgbt community. i’m of the “beyond gay marriage” persuasion (check out beyondmarriage.org).
Posted 03 Jun 2008 at 5:32 pm ¶
Mike wrote:
@jvansteppes
Who or what is the FLQ?
The reference to the Canada’s Governor-General by race was hands down an attempt to degrade her, which is troubling considering that the French have enjoyed a reputation as being very progressive when it comes to race.
Posted 03 Jun 2008 at 7:35 pm ¶
jsb16 wrote:
Why isn’t Beaulieu sharing whatever he’s smoking? It’s clearly messing with his mind.
Gov. Paterson seems to be way cooler than anyone had any right to expect of a lifelong politician. I never voted in NYC, so I never had cause to look at his positions, but everything I’ve heard since he became governor is way cool.
I’m less sure about the Pearls. I mean, number 1 is definitely, absolutely true. The only people who aren’t insecure are the ones who are in desperate need of the humbling their professors will be only too glad to provide. Two is true, but at all levels, in my experience. Being a teacher’s “special project” just isn’t a good thing, whether it’s in elementary school or grad school.
Number 3… Can someone honestly tell me they’ve been in a college community where number 3 isn’t true? Heck, that seems to be the rule in most work environments, too.
Number 4: Oddly enough, when I was at Columbia (undergrad), minorities gathered in all sorts of exclusive groupings, with no visible fear about making the whites uncomfortable. I can’t comment about the situation in the grad schools, though.
Numbers 5&6: Yeah, people are… what was Will Smith’s line in MIB? “Dumb, panicky animals,” I think. Some people will think that all those dark folks are thinking about stealing their wallets and some people will think all those white folks are thinking about affirmative action. They’re about as likely, IME. At least among the undergrads when I attended, the most talked about versions of affirmative action were legacy kids and athletes.
I can’t really comment on #7. Believe it or not, the Middle East wasn’t the hot button issue when I was at Columbia that it is now. South Africa was closer, but I don’t think anyone actually took the pro-apartheid side of that debate.
Numbers 8&9… They’ve got to be grad school things, rather than undergrad. And not even all the grad schools…
Posted 03 Jun 2008 at 7:44 pm ¶
queerunity wrote:
governor patterson is a civil rights leader and hero
http://www.queersunited.blogspot.com
Posted 04 Jun 2008 at 12:11 am ¶
jvansteppes wrote:
Mike,
the FLQ or Front du Liberation du Quebec, was a militant group of separatists who exploded around 200 bombs in Quebec as a protest against English dominance over the French. They basically robbed banks [and in one amusing case, the office of Canada’s poorest political party, the centre left NDP] to support themselves.
The FLQ are best known for Canada’s ‘October Crisis’. In October of 1970 they kidnapped the British trade commissioner and the provincial minister of labour. Prime Minister Trudeau declared the War Measures Act [martial law] and clamped down very aggressively on all sorts of dissenters here. The Quebecois minister was eventually found murdered, while the 5 people who kidnapped the British tradesman were granted safe passage to Cuba in exchange for his release. [Interesting too considering Trudeau got on so well with Castro].
Actually a new group claiming to be the next generation of the FLQ just sent a communique last week claiming that they were going to bomb a metro station downtown to protest anglophones moving to the west end of Montreal. Nothing happened though.
My last note on the FLQ/Quebec nationalists will be ‘interesting’ to anyone part of the US civil rights movement: in 1967 one of their intellectual leaders, Pierre Valliéres, wrote a book titled ‘Les Negres Blancs d’Amerique’ [The White Niggers of America]. The book is an attempt to link the FLQ struggle with that of black Americans but ends up equating the two [and you thought LGB analogies were bad!]. I read it when I was 14 and in the words of my teenage self, WTF?
I’ve never found the French/Quebecois to be particularly better about race politics than the English, at least here, but emphasis is different. Racism in Quebec is heavily inflected with nationalist insecurity and we get a lot of media from France that is very Islamophobic on both the left and right. The English are just as bad, it’s just jarring in different ways and certainly there are awesome Quebecois people as well; we were far more vocal in criticizing the 2006 invasion of Lebanon and the war of terror than the rest of Canada…
Posted 04 Jun 2008 at 12:44 am ¶