So, About Black Academics and the Great white Fraud...

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• published: 17 Jun 2015
• views: 10706

Last video on this woman, and it is going to revolve around Black academia/elitism, white femininity, and respectability politics. I think that a lot of the defense that we are still seeing, even as this woman's story has unraveled, has to do with the fact that she is not just a white person, with white privilege, but that she is also a white WOMAN and an academic. Many people, Black and white, see her as a delicate thing to be protected; as pure, innocent, childlike, and completely unaware of her actions. (This is reflected in language being used to defend her, like calling her detractors 'mean.') white femininity is rooted in concepts of innocence and purity, so it is not surprising that many people have adopted the stance of, 'She's not so bad,' 'She didn't know what she was doing,' and 'Black people are just being mean to her.' Black/white racism in this country is often framed around Black male + white male relations, while the racism of white woman is often swept under the rug or explained away under the guise, 'She is a woman, so it can't be that bad.' People are also utilizing her 'good work' and association with the NAACP as a way to excuse her lies, as if her being an academic somehow balances the scales. While youth leaders and other organizers not affiliated with recognized orgs or movements CONSTANTLY have to prove themselves to get their work recognized, this white woman gets the benefit of the doubt because she is affiliated with certain 'respectable' orgs and schools. This is respectability politics. She does NOT automatically get a pass because she works for an institution that you have heard of; even respectable institutions/workers make mistakes, can be wrong, or can be bad people. Lastly, I think a lot of Black academics and elites are hesitant to challenge her *Blackness* because, on a lot of levels, they identify with her. Many of these people went to the same schools as her, attended the same classes as her, went on to join the same organizations as her, and even do the same work as her. It is clear that many of these Black people who are defending her, and who are having difficulty even challenging her, feel like to challenge her 'Backness' would be to challenge their own Blackness. Many of the concepts of Black academia and Black elitism revolve around white supremacy and approximation to whiteness. They go to certain schools, get certain jobs, and live in certain neighborhoods, all as a way to ascertain their closeness to white people and, by extension, their own self-worth. These people are suffering from internalized racism, anti-blackness, and inferiority complexes. Many Black academics have often also felt disconnected from the Black community (due to stereotypes that intelligence and greatness are 'white' things), so they look at an accomplished white woman in blackface and they see themselves in her, and her in them. They have truly bought, 100%, into ideas of white supremacy, and they spend their whole academic lives trying to escape stereotypical *blackness* and redefine it. And doesn't that sound familiar? Thanks for watching. Links: 'Pressure the government of the Dominican Republic to stop its planned "cleaning" of 250,000 black Dominicans:' https://petitions.whitehouse.gov//petition/pressure-government-dominican-republic-stop-its-planned-cleaning-250000-black-dominicans 'White Femininity: Race, Gender & Power:' http://www.amazon.com/White-Femininity-Race-Gender-Power/dp/1552663523 'Normative White Femininity: Race, Gender and the Politics of Beauty' (pdf): http://journals.msvu.ca/index.php/atlantis/article/view/429/422 'State Passes Law to Legalize Shooting Police:' http://thefreethoughtproject.com/state-passes-law-legalize-self-defense-police/#ZYrAfyQZJZPXgJc8.99 'Congress Just Passed A Law Requiring Police Departments To Count How Many People They Shoot:' http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/12/12/3602641/congress-just-passed-a-bill-that-could-change-the-game-on-what-we-know-about-police-shootings/ 'Congress decides to get serious about tracking police shootings:' http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/12/11/congress-decides-to-get-serious-about-tracking-police-shootings/ 'Democrats Plan Police Body-Camera Legislation:' http://www.rollcall.com/news/democrats_plan_police_body_camera_legislation-239551-1.html 'Haitian Workers Facing Deportation by Dominican Neighbors:' http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/17/world/americas/migrant-workers-in-dominican-republic-most-of-them-haitian-face-deportation.html?_r=0 'The bloody origins of the Dominican Republic’s ethnic ‘cleansing’ of Haitians:' http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2015/06/16/the-bloody-origins-of-the-dominican-republics-ethnic-cleansing-of-haitians/ 'Dominican Republic to be 'Socially Cleaned' in two days:' http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/06/14/1393198/-Dominican-Republic-to-be-Socially-Cleaned-in-two-days