links for 2009-06-26
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"Ultimately Huynh incorporated Asian-influenced flavors into his final meal in hopes of revealing his 'authentic' (ethnic) self to the judges. As Huynh tried to express 'soul,' his (aired) image shifted from a technically efficient, ultra-competitive, and unlikable Asian to a more humbled Asian eager to take advantage of American opportunities available to him and other immigrants, making one blogger conclude, 'he seemed to…acquire social skills in front of my eyes.' "
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"Of course, Spike Lee’s movie “Bamboozled” implied that this type of stereotypical Black-man-as-happy-man-child-entertainer trope is still alive and well. He’s been criticized for his portrayal, of course, but it’s food for thought."
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"As I mentioned the other day in my post about Obama’s Cairo speech, there’s a misguided notion that the Palestinians know nothing of nonviolence."
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"Likewise, Sarkozy's prospective burqa ban has significant feminist support, including the backing of the feminist group Ni Putes Ni Soumises, or Neither Whores Nor Doormats, which has its roots in France's Muslim ghettos. It's worth taking the position of Ni Putes Ni Soumises seriously, since the struggle against Islamic fundamentalism has been, for them, a matter of life and death. Like the Somali-Dutch feminist Ayaan Hirsi Ali, their activism serves as a crucial corrective to multicultural pieties.
Ultimately, though, there's no evidence that most burqa-clad French women regard themselves as oppressed. "
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"When it became clear that the boy’s face we had loved had become the face of a man who didn’t love himself; we judged him. We tore at him and he fell apart. He was living proof of the impact of our rabid pop culture, an early sacrifice to the new mechanisms of fame which allow no privacy, no time to learn, no mistakes."
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"During the 2008 election, 38 percent of blacks surveyed thought racial discrimination was a serious problem. In the new survey, 55 percent of blacks surveyed believed it was a serious problem, which is about the same level as it was in 2000."
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"The word went out that Garnier’s hostesses should be BBR — “bleu, blanc, rouge” — the colours of the French flag. The expression is widely recognised in the French recruitment world as a code for white French people born to white French parents, a court was told, in effect excluding the four million or so members of ethnic minorities in France. "
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"While the United States struggles with its race problem with a white majority and South Africa has a Black majority, I found this made little difference in terms of the psychological pathology of so many white people."
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"Daniel Larison noted last week that with a slightly different spin or simply some more information, Mousavi would not look as favorable to the West. Will Wilkinson’s latest posts on the “vanity dressed up as elevated moral consciousness” of Twitter avatars strike me as extremely perceptive. "
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of
L wrote:
One more link – about immigrants murdered in Arizona. The 911 recording is pretty intense.
http://presente.org/campaigns/flores_911?revisit=1
Posted 26 Jun 2009 at 1:29 pm ¶
Slush wrote:
On South Africa and racism, I thought that was a pretty good article with a very nice degree of self-reflection, but the author (whom I also respect a lot in general) should have gotten himself out of Cape Town.
If you want to see embedded white supracist attitudes in South Africa, Cape Town is the place to find it, for sure.
Not that it’s gone elsewhere, I just think it’s worse in Cape Town.
Posted 26 Jun 2009 at 1:40 pm ¶
AQUILOGY wrote:
To robert jensen’s defence, he noted that he have been to other places besides cape town but I do agree though certain people’s assertion that Cape Town is more of a european country than an african a bit overbearing.
Posted 26 Jun 2009 at 2:29 pm ¶
Seattle Slim wrote:
I’m really feeling ni putes ni soumises. -
Posted 26 Jun 2009 at 6:07 pm ¶
Brandon wrote:
@L: holy crap, that was a disturbing 911 clip. It makes me sick to my stomach that anyone can pull the trigger on a 9-year old.
Posted 27 Jun 2009 at 2:34 pm ¶
Ishtar wrote:
I’ve lived in Cape Town all my life and I’ve never felt that Cape Town is more European than African. I spent about 18 months living in various places in Europe and I never once saw a resemblance to Cape Town.
Maybe if you hang out in trendy places like Camps Bay you’d think that Cape Town is European but in my opinion, Cape Town has a vibe all of its own. What people seem to forget is that the millions of Coloureds living in Cape Town (and the Western Cape) are not European and we represent the majority in this province. I’m sick of being told we’re more European than African.
Posted 29 Jun 2009 at 2:43 am ¶
Mary wrote:
The Top Chef article was interesting to read in light of a lot of hatred that Debbie Lee on The Next Food Network Star is attracting. I can’t tell you how many blogs/fansites I’ve been on where she gets bashed for not choosing between Southern and Korean cuisine. As if she’s being “dishonest” somehow by trying to do both.
Posted 29 Jun 2009 at 2:15 pm ¶