I agree, Ed. And this is not the first time I have found his material way off base.
Thanks for this and for all of your great missives, Blase activism wrote: > Am I the only one having trouble buying what this guy is selling? > > "Crash" has a flawed analysis of racism? Maybe. It minimizes white racism? > Could be. But, white supremacist???? That is going overboard rhetorically. > > How do you get from saying that non-whites are sometimes bigoted, to being a > white supremacist? You may disagree with both positions, or think they're > wrong, or bad, but the two positions are not identical. A professor of all > people ought to know that. > > I bet Don Cheadle and the other fine actors in this movie would be surprised > to > find they acted in a white-supremacist movie. I bet Oprah Winfrey would be > shocked to learn she endorsed white supremacism. > > A white supremacist is a guy in suspenders, boots and Nazi regalia. Or, you > could stretch a point and say that a white supremacist is someone who redlines > poor neighborhoods, fights affirmative action, abolishes bilingual education > and editorializes against Black History Month. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I > don't think the moviemakers did anything like that. > > I think Jensen is just miffed that they didn't make the movie the way he would > have liked it made. > > No wonder nobody takes the Left seriously anymore. Thanks a lot, Professor > Jensen. > > >>ZNet Commentary >>Crash March 24, 2006 >>By Robert Jensen and Robert Wosnitzer >> >>"Crash" is a white-supremacist movie. >> >>The Oscar-winning best picture -- widely heralded, especially by white >>liberals, for advancing an honest discussion of race in the United States -- >>is, in fact, a setback in the crucial project of forcing white America to >>come to terms the reality of race and racism, white supremacy and white >>privilege. >> >>The central theme of the film is simple: Everyone is prejudiced -- black, >>white, Asian, Iranian and, we assume, anyone from any other racial or ethnic >>group. We all carry around racial/ethnic baggage that's packed with unfair >>stereotypes, long-stewing grievances, raw anger, and crazy fears. Even when >>we think we have made progress, we find ourselves caught in frustratingly >>complex racial webs from which we can't seem to get untangled. >> >>For most people -- including the two of us -- that's painfully true; such >>untangling is a life's work in which we can make progress but never feel >>finished. But that can obscure a more fundamental and important point: This >>state of affairs is the product of the actions of us white people. In the >>modern world, white elites invented race and racism to protect their power, >>and white people in general have accepted the privileges they get from the >>system and helped maintain it. The problem doesn't spring from the >>individual prejudices that exist in various ways in all groups but from >>white supremacy, which is expressed not only by individuals but in systemic >>and institutional ways. There's little hint of such understanding in the >>film, which makes it especially dangerous in a white-dominant society in >>which white people are eager to avoid confronting our privilege. >> >>So, "Crash" is white supremacist because it minimizes the reality of white >>supremacy. Its faux humanism and simplistic message of tolerance directs >>attention away from a white-supremacist system and undermines white >>accountability for the maintenance of that system. We have no way of knowing >>whether this is the conscious intention of writer/director Paul Haggis, but >>it's emerges as the film's dominant message. >> >>While viewing "Crash" may make some people, especially white people, >>uncomfortable during and immediately after viewing, the film seems designed, >>at a deeper level, to make white people feel better. As the film asks us to >>confront personal prejudices, it allows us white folk to evade our >>collective responsibility for white supremacy. In "Crash," emotion trumps >>analysis, and psychology is more important than politics. The result: White >>people are off the hook. >> >>The first step in putting white people back on the hook is pressing the case >>that the United States in 2006 is a white-supremacist society. Even with the >>elimination of formal apartheid and the lessening of the worst of the overt >>racism of the past, the term is still appropriate, in ideological and >>material terms. >> >>The United States was founded, of course, on an ideology of the inherent >>superiority of white Europeans over non-whites that was used to justify the >>holocausts against indigenous people and Africans, which created the nation >>and propelled the U.S. economy into the industrial world. That ideology also >>has justified legal and extralegal exploitation of every non-white immigrant >>group. >> >>Today, polite white folks renounce such claims of superiority. But scratch >>below that surface politeness and the multicultural rhetoric of most white >>people, and one finds that the assumptions about the superiority of the art, >>music, culture, politics, and philosophy rooted in white Europe are still >>very much alive. No poll can document these kinds of covert opinions, but >>one hears it in the angry and defensive reaction of white America when >>non-white people dare to point out that whites have unearned privilege. >>Watch the resistance from white America when any serious attempt is made to >>modify school or college curricula to reflect knowledge from other areas and >>peoples. The ideology of white supremacy is all around. >> >>That ideology also helps white Americans ignore and/or rationalize the >>racialized disparities in the distribution of resources. Studies continue to >>demonstrate how, on average, whites are more likely than members of >>racial/ethnic minorities to be on top on measures of wealth and well-being. >>Looking specifically at the gap between white and black America, on some >>measures black Americans have fallen further behind white Americans during >>the so-called post-civil rights era. For example, the typical black family >>had 60 percent as much income as a white family in 1968, but only 58 percent >>as much in 2002. On those measures where there has been progress, closing >>the gap between black and white is decades, or centuries, away. >> >>What does this white supremacy mean in day-to-day life? One recent study >>found that in the United States, a black applicant with no criminal record >>is less likely to receive a callback from a potential employer than a white >>applicant with a felony conviction. In other words, being black is more of a >>liability in finding a job than being a convicted criminal. Into this new >>century, such discrimination has remained constant. >> >>That's white supremacy. Many people, of all races, feel and express >>prejudice, but white supremacy is built into the attitudes, practices and >>institutions of the dominant white society. It's not the product simply of >>individual failure but is woven into society, and the material consequences >>of it are dramatic. >> >>It seems that the people who made "Crash" either don't understand that, >>don't care, or both. The character in the film who comes closest to >>articulating a systemic analysis of white supremacy is Anthony, the >>carjacker played by the rapper Ludacris. But putting the critique in the >>mouth of such a morally unattractive character undermines any argument he >>makes, and his analysis is presented as pseudo-revolutionary blather to be >>brushed aside as we follow the filmmakers on the real subject of the film -- >>the psychology of the prejudice that infects us all. >> >>That the characters in "Crash" -- white and non-white alike -- are complex >>and have a variety of flaws is not the problem; we don't want films >>populated by one-dimensional caricatures, simplistically drawn to make a >>political point. Those kinds of political films rarely help us understand >>our personal or political struggles. But this film's characters are drawn in >>ways that are ultimately reactionary. >> >>Although the film follows a number of story lines, its politics are most >>clearly revealed in the interaction that two black women have with an openly >>racist white Los Angeles police officer played by Matt Dillon. During a >>bogus traffic stop, Dillon's Officer Ryan sexually violates Christine, the >>upper-middle-class black woman played by Thandie Newton. But when fate later >>puts Ryan at the scene of an accident where Christine's life is in danger, >>he risks his own life to save her, even when she at first reacts >>hysterically and rejects his help. The white male is redeemed by his >>heroism. The black woman, reduced to incoherence by the trauma of the >>accident, can only be silently grateful for his transcendence. >> >>Even more important to the film's message is Ryan's verbal abuse of >>Shaniqua, a black case manager at an insurance company (played by Loretta >>Devine). She bears Ryan's racism with dignity as he dumps his frustration >>with the insurance company's rules about care of his father onto her, in the >>form of an angry and ignorant rant against affirmative action. She is >>empathetic with Ryan's struggle but unwilling to accept his abuse, appearing >>to be one of the few reasonable characters in the film. But not for long. >> >>In a key moment at the end of the film, Shaniqua is rear-ended at a traffic >>light and emerges from her car angry at the Asian driver who has hit her. >>"Don't talk to me unless you speak American," she shouts at the driver. As >>the camera pulls back, we are left to imagine the language she uses in >>venting her prejudice. >> >>In stark contrast to Ryan and his racism is his police partner at the >>beginning of the film, Hanson (played by Ryan Phillippe). Younger and >>idealistic, Hanson tries to get Ryan to back off from the encounter with >>Christine and then reports Ryan's racist behavior to his black lieutenant, >>Dixon (played by Keith David). Dixon doesn't want the hassles of initiating >>a disciplinary action and Hanson is left to cope on his own, but he >>continues to try to do the right thing throughout the movie. Though he's the >>white character most committed to racial justice, at the end of the film >>Hanson's fear overcomes judgment in a tense moment, and he shoots and kills >>a black man. It's certainly true that well-intentioned white people can >>harbor such fears rooted in racist training. But in the world "Crash" >>creates, Hanson's deeper awareness of the nature of racism and attempts to >>combat it are irrelevant, while Ryan somehow magically overcomes his racism. >> >>Let us be clear: "Crash" is not a racist movie, in the sense of crudely >>using overtly racist stereotypes. It certainly doesn't present the white >>characters as uniformly good; most are clueless or corrupt. Two of the >>non-white characters (a Latino locksmith and an Iranian doctor) are the most >>virtuous in the film. The characters and plot lines are complex and often >>intriguing. But "Crash" remains a white-supremacist movie because of what it >>refuses to bring into the discussion. >> >>At this point in our critique, defenders of the film have suggested to us >>that we expect too much, that movies tend to deal with issues at this >>personalized level and we can't expect more. This is evasion. For example, >>whatever one thinks of its politics, another recent film, "Syriana," >>presents a complex institutional analysis of U.S. foreign policy in an >>engaging fashion. It's possible to produce a film that is politically >>sophisticated and commercially viable. Haggis is clearly talented, and >>there's no reason to think he couldn't have deepened the analysis in >>creative ways. >> >>"Crash" fans also have offered this defense to us: In a culture that seems >>terrified of any open discussion of race, isn't some attempt at an honest >>treatment of the complexity of the issue better than nothing? That's a >>classic argument from false alternatives. Are we stuck with a choice between >>silence or bad analysis? Beyond that, in this case the answer may well be >>no. If "Crash" and similar efforts that personalize and psychologize the >>issue of race keep white America from an honest engagement with the >>structure and consequences of white supremacy, the ultimate effect may be >>reactionary. In that case, "nothing" may be better. >> >>The problem of "Crash" can be summed up through one phrase from the studio's >>promotional material, which asserts that the film "boldly reminds us of the >>importance of tolerance." >> >>That's exactly the problem. On the surface, the film appears to be bold, >>speaking of race with the kind of raw emotion that is rare in this culture. >>But that emotion turns out, in the end, to be manipulative and diversionary. >>The problem is that the film can't move beyond the concept of tolerance, and >>tolerance is not the solution to America's race problem. White people can -- >>and often do -- learn to tolerate difference without ever disturbing the >>systemic, institutional nature of racism. >> >>The core problem is not intolerance but white supremacy -- and the way in >>which, day in and day out, white people accept white supremacy and the >>unearned privileges it brings. >> >>"Crash" paints a multi-colored picture of race, and in a multi-racial >>society recognizing that diversity is important. Let's just not forget that >>the color of racism is white. >> >>Robert Jensen is a journalism professor at the University of Texas at Austin >>and the author of The Heart of Whiteness: Confronting Race, Racism and White >>Privilege. He can be reached at [EMAIL PROTECTED] Robert Wosnitzer >>is associate producer of the forthcoming documentary on pornography "The >>Price of Pleasure." He can be reached at [EMAIL PROTECTED] >> > > > > > > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------------- > LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network > --------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Unsubscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > --------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Subscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > --------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Digest: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > --------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Help: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > --------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Post: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > --------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Archive1: <http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn> > --------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Archive2: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > --------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Yahoo! 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