[FRIAM] Natures_Queer_Performativity_the_authori.pdf
Steve Smith
sasmyth at swcp.com
Sat May 8 01:25:33 EDT 2021
I find "wokeism" or "wokeness" or "woke" to be a caricature of something
important, but perhaps a little intractable, for me at least.
I have doubled down on paying attention to the BLM activities and
probably watched every minute of the Chauvin trial, trying to grasp what
the real and deeper fundamental issues actually are (hidden under a few
layers of misdirections by the strongest proponents on both sides).
<another one of my Very Too Long; Don't Expect Many To Read Rants>
I am happy with the process and outcome for the most part and hope we
are turning a new chapter on both Systemic Racism and Police Abuse, and
especially the cross product of the two. I liked the quotes that it is
"not Justice, but it IS Accountability". After the other officers on
scene and the whole department who must have tolerated (if not
sanctioned) the likes of Chauvin (and Tau?) for years have been brought
to some Accountability, I'll believe that there is some Justice, at
least in Milwaukee. There are dozens of other outstanding cases with
similar profile to be addressed (and more coming all the time) before I
would feel like "Justice" as been approached, much less achieved. And
while it is almost exclusively African American people under abuse in
the limelight, I know we need the *other* oppressed groups who also
suffer inordinate police-abuse to have similar accountability before we
have "Justice" on a broader scale.
My whole life, I've tried (and surely failed) to have enough empathy to
not only make room for, or tolerate "all kinds" but when I can find
enough common ground or appreciation as my own "other" to their "other"
to be supportive in some way or another, including trying to help change
the systemic issues involved, not just my own personal behaviour or of
those in my immediate circle.
I grew up in the multicultural milieu of various "Hispanic" and "Native"
subcultures mixed with (mostly) late comer "whites". I have never
lived among enough African American or Asian American or really any
other (pick a cultural/regional/ethnic group) to NOT experience members
of those classes exclusively as *individuals*. Reviewing my
grade-school and high-school rosters I see just slightly more "Hispanic"
surnames than otherwise. I had precisely 3 african-american
schoolmates in high-school (out of 300ish), one was geeky enough to be
in my friend group, one was our star athlete/student and *everybody*
wanted to be his friend, he probably doesn't remember my name. The
third was missing a hand at the wrist and had a chip on his shoulder and
tended to pick fights with anyone he could get away with it. I like all
three of them, though the last one could be difficult to be around when
he was looking for someone to exercise his angst with, we tolerated one
another well minus one or two incidents in 7th grade.
The "Hispanics" I went to grade-school with were roughly grandchildren
(or great-grandchildren) of direct descendants of Spanish colonists who
arrived after the Pueblo Revolt and settled in the Socorro area and
became Mexican citizens after the revolution, then hopped 100 miles east
after the US Cavalry rounded up (and killed off) the Apache living in
the region in US Territorial days, a few of the older generation still
spoke only Spanish. The self-identified as proud descendants of Spanish
Colonizers (but distanced from the violence of the Conquistadors). While
there was some awareness of race/culture (virtually all Hispanics were
Catholic, virtually all Whites/Natives were not). There were plenty of
marriages between the two "groups" and the teachers, county officials
and (few) merchants were represented by both groups evenly.
The "Hispanics" I went to high school with were almost exclusively the
(great)grandchildren of the flourishing Mexican culture who woke up one
day after the Gadsden purchase to abruptly be US Citizens. Most of
them had grandparents and aunts/uncles/cousins living in the adjacent
border town that was really the primary settlement when the line was
drawn and a (3 string barbed wire) fence was strung. Their parents were
significantly the merchant class in town though some were professional
(doctors, dentists, lawyers) class, there was not a huge distinction
between the two. They preferred to be called Mexican (maybe
Mexican-Americans but they didn't seem to feel the need for the
hyphened, "Mexican" was a point of pride, not dismissal or slur). They
rejected "Latin", "Chicano" or "Hispanic".
The Native Americans in both contexts were also small enough in number
that I knew them only as individuals... but the difference was that
their roots were in nearby-ish communities. While I might have heard
people refer to them as "those Indians", mostly that was not the
case. Among the mostly Navajo/Hopi/Zuni/Apache I knew through that
time, I can't say didn't know a single individual that I didn't both
like and call a friend. In College (Northern AZ, University) I
encountered a number of Native Americans in passing who I didn't know
personally and there *was* a racial bias held by some of the locals (but
nothing I detected from the students who came from elsewhere, at worse
they elevated them as "noble savages" which is it's own problem).
When I am thoughtful enough to use " Dine' " instead of Navajo or
Apache, my Dine' friends seem to appreciate my effort though I still
feel required to hyphenate ("Dine' pause Navajo" or "Dine pause Apache")
because I'm pretty sure they consider themselves distinct and in fact
seem to appreciate it if I acknowledge *which* Apache band they come
from (when I even know). The only Navajo I've had acknowledge they
care to have called out distinctly, are the Alamo Band. My Tewa
friends seem to appreciate that I know which pueblo they are from, but
also seem to appreciate that I know that they have a strong identity
with the Tewa language culture, as much as the Saints their villages
were named for by the Spanish Catholics (Ildefonso, Juan, Clara, etc.).
Half of the people I knew growing up were women. I saw the gender
disparity more than I saw racial/ethnic/cultural/religious disparity.
I didn't like the slight or hidden asymmetry of "women's" and "men's"
roles. But in semi-subsistence cultures (I believe) where there is not
a lot of room for wasted human potential, men could not afford to treat
their women too badly... they really, really needed them to carry the
load they can't. Though this characterization reflects the asymmetry
that was there. Somehow men *were* presumed to be "primary" and
women/children adjunct/secondary. My parents were not particularly bad
in this way, but there was definitely some generational assumed
"dominance/deference", though it was *very* common in the subculture I
saw for the women to have priority control over the family finances.
They balanced the checkbook and kept a budget and made sure there were
savings to fall back on. The man may bring home the only or larger
paycheck (or proceeds from farm/livestock sales) but the woman was
likely the one to "keep the books" and execute most of the purchasing
decisions. Virtually all of the girls I went to school with were
"cowgirls" if not "tomboys" and could/did saddle/groom their own horses
if not (in a few cases) shoe and worm them. My mother had a number of
friends who were "ranch widows"... enough younger than their husbands to
inherit a working ranch in their 40's/50's when their (male-dominant
cowboy) husbands died of hard living (tobacco, exposure to elements,
accidents) in their 50's/60's. These ranch widows ended up running
(small) operations with one to a few male "hands" working for them.
They had been working alongside their husbands (and maybe their fathers
before that) and knew what they were doing, and likely did a share of
the outdoor/hard work themselves, even if they *also* would have my
mother in for tea in a well-kept house. My father did his damnedest to
give my sister as much support and direction as he did me (from my
perspective) but he *did* condescend in ways that I believe blunted
her. As he helped her learn a variety of "men's work" skills, his
praise came down to "you are really good at that.... for a girl". My
mother was pretty capable herself (my grandparents being subsistence
farmers in KY with my grandmother working alongside my grandfather when
she wasn't cooking) but my father was dead set on making sure my sister
was able to change a tire, check her oil, hammer a nail, mow a lawn,
etc. And my mother was dead set on making sure *I* could cook a meal,
do my own laundry, wash dishes, windows, and floors. I cannot express
(though this Mother's day is a good opportunity) how much I valued that
as I came of age and was NOT seeking a "traditional wife" who would then
cook, clean, sew, offer praise for me.
I will acknowledge that *one* of the cohort I grew up with (2 years
younger) grew up to take his wife and children out of this world in a
murder-suicide presenting the worst face of the "male dominant" pattern.
So I was *puzzled* as I encountered the 60's 70's culture wars that were
*entirely legitimate* in the larger world and *did* have a muted version
in my own. It took me a long time to come to appreciate that the Equal
and Civil Right's movements were NOT "much ado about nothing"... I had
more awareness of the gender equality issues, and when I *saw* the kind
of poverty that "people of color" suffered in urban or ??? areas, I was
intellectually sympathetic to their plight (the American Indian Movement
and the United Farmworker's Movement were more recognizable to me than
the various African American issues, just because of my familiarity).
In my 30s I began to travel to Urban centers (Boston, Baltimore, DC,
NYC, San Francisco, LA, Seattle) where there *were* a lot more
non-White/Hispanics and I saw the kind of poverty that many (not all)
were relegated to, and I knew *of* the prejudicial circumstances (such
as redlining, etc) that lead them into those situations and I came to
realize that while my (often very poor) friends/neighbors growing up
could put any spare time/effort they had if they were under-employed
into a garden or chopping firewood or patching their adobe walls (none
of which required anything more than manual labor), the urban poor had
virtually *nothing* to do to apply their spare cycles to that was
obviously productive. So what did that leave them to do about their
circumstance besides either "give up" or "act out"? I know that this
is overstating and that plenty of urban poor *do* find a way to better
their circumstances, I guess I just realized (maybe for the first time)
how poverty can be much more soul-crushing than I knew it to be, and how
it *can* lead pretty directly to addictions and crime.
So am I "woke"? I'd say I did wake up a *little* when I made that last
leap of perspective. The BLM protests of this year and the
*never-ending* stream of police abuses against African Americans, made
me realize that my default around race-equity is to retreat to what I
know (the issues of equity around Native and Hispanic populations)
because I feel mostly impotent to help much in this problem. My vote
for the last 20 years has gone to progressive causes exclusively and the
20 before that I declined because I felt incompetent.
Glen busted me more than once when I've used the phrase Politically
Correct or "PC" with what I believe was *his* strawman understanding of
what I meant. At the time, his admonition was "what is wrong with
calling people what they want to be called?". I didn't defend myself
in that position, because I am completely fine with calling people what
they ask me to call them, assuming I can figure that out quickly enough
to avoid censure. I don't know that I have ever had anyone confront me
with getting that wrong *for themselves*, but I did encounter plenty of
(almost exclusively White, though usually Female) people (in the 80s
mostly) confront me for "using the wrong name" for someone. I had the
great-good-fun of being "schooled" by people who had self-appointed to
police my language. My "Hispanic" or "Spanish Descendent" friends from
grade school, and my Mexican (or Mexican American) friends from High
School were *never* under *any circumstances* to be called anything
*but* "Latino" (or for a period Chicano). My Indian (or more aptly
Apache/Zuni/Hopi/Navajo/Tewa) friends were *only* to be called "Native",
"Native American", "Aboriginal" (for a short period), or "First Peoples"
(more rare). My best Native friend (Lakota) is happy to be called
Native but he grew up as an Indian, as a Red Man, and is proud of both
of those (now considered to be slurs), he's old enough (my age) to have
good ears and thick hide. He knows by context and tone of voice if
someone uses either of those words if they are being rude or dismissive
and he knows if they are not. I tried hard to simply "go with the
flow" from the "Negro" to "Black" or "Colored" to "African American" and
"Person of Color" that has evolved over my lifetime. Best I can tell,
"Negro" is the only term that is fully deprecated and "Black" and
"Colored" both seem a little archaic to me now. For better or worse I
almost never have a need to refer to the fairly few "African American"
friends I have as anything but their names. Abraham is from Kenya
(he's Kenyan, not Black, not Colored, not African American, not even
African, he's Kenyan), Darryl is old and wise and a fixture in the
communities we both run in, and doesn't need any description other than
his name), nobody needs to know that he is African American who doesn't
know it because they know him... I think it is racist when anyone
(including me here) even bothers to point it out.
Back in the day, it seemed not to matter if I tried to explain myself OR
shrug it off, the only acceptable response too often was deferential
compliance with a dash of contrition. I tried to be polite and
thoughtful in my responses and every once in a very long while I would
get a different response like, "oh... I never thought of/knew/realized
that..." I never (that I can remember) accused anyone of being PC or
Politically Correct, but I *did* probably think it often and maybe nod
my head in agreement (gently) if someone else said it. Maybe that
made me a racist/bigoted a$$h0l3 (at least in their minds?). Maybe I
should have found a better way. But I didn't.
Back to "woke". I have dozens of privileged (White, mostly female
again) friends who are acutely attuned to "being woke" and when they
take it beyond their own personal growth path, it verges on what I
complain about above with PC. I, like my friend, am old enough and
have thick enough hide to know that when they think they need to correct
me on something I do or say, that I can often recognize when their need
to do that is more about their deal than it is about mine and I can
smile and nod politely and put their "advice" in my hat and spend a
little time considering it later. Every once in a while I feel like I
DO learn something that helps me be more properly empathetic and
understanding. I learned all the detail (about what people want to be
called) I describe above *by* listening and watching AND being told
those things. I probably had to have a dozen of my new "Mexican"
friends correct me when I tried to call them "Spanish Descendants" or
Hispanics before I "got it". I still have to listen closely for nuance
as I try to navigate the pronouns in the QT of LGBTQ and while haven't
been confronted by "getting it wrong" by anyone I do think I've heard
people make a point of repeating what I should have heard the first time.
I feel very sorry for those who spew anti-PC/anti-Woke rhetoric (e.g.
Fox/Tucker-Carlson) as if it is a weapon to be wielded. It seems very
self-destructive. In spite of feeling a (mostly) innocent casualty of
the efforts to help the angry/judgemental/dismissive/prejudiced among us
into some level of awareness that they don't *have to be* angry
a$$h0les, I am glad that energy has been out there, even if some of the
most vocal proponents of it can be people struggling with their own
inner demons and needing to work it all out in public by
angrily/dismissively correcting others who may very well be more tuned
in than they are. I do beieve that my
black/brown/red/yellow/female/queer friends are better off today than
they were 40 years ago, and in particular my daughters enjoy a MUCH
better experience of being women than I believe my mother, my sister, my
partners did in the same phase of life. Glen's making the point that
my very use (in other missives) of "PC" can be *mistaken for*
apologetics for Racist/Bigoted behaviour (my characterization) , was
useful to me. Maybe I'll find out if I've "got it (more) right" yet.
By the way, I'm pretty used to being called a "Privileged White
(Heteronormative) Male" (as a slur) and I AM trying to take ownership of
that term back, understanding that it includes actually *taking
ownership OF* the privilege that I might have (partly inherited by
whiteness and maleness, but also other things which might not be as easy
to identify on visual inspection). Where I *am* in fact significantly
privileged by those inherited (or lucked into) characteristics, then
what can/should I do with that privilege? It's a life's study, I'm old
but I'm not done yet. The default, I find, for most of us seems to be
roughly "squander it" if not "wield it roughshod". I'm thankful that
across the generations I am in touch with (down to, but not much
including Millenials), I feel I find many among the "white male
privileged" who are providing *some* good examples of how not to
"squander" or "wield", including a few notable examples here (if you
know who you are, then I'm probably not talking about you <grin> ). I
also (fortunately) have a few women and a few (under) privileged friends
of many stripes who sometimes help me expand my understanding and
empathy with their grace.
<to be continued, never-ending-rant>
On 5/6/21 2:05 PM, thompnickson2 at gmail.com wrote:
>
> Glen,
>
>
>
> I was trying to start small . think you are flat out wrong, by the
> way: I think the principle that “You do not get to say who I am” is
> deeply entrenched in the principles that 538 listed.
>
>
>
> I am grateful for the list. Let's work with it a bit. See below.
>
>
>
> Nick Thompson
>
> ThompNickSon2 at gmail.com
>
> https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Friam <friam-bounces at redfish.com> On Behalf Of u?l? ???
> Sent: Thursday, May 6, 2021 1:23 PM
> To: friam at redfish.com
> Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Natures_Queer_Performativity_the_authori.pdf
>
>
>
> No, that's not a principle of Wokeism. It may be a reactionary
> misunderstanding of what's being said. (More likely it's an absurdist
> strawman, intended to help you *avoid* hearing what's being said.) But
> if you listen closer, you might actually hear what's being said. This
> article does a pretty good job of listing the drivers:
>
>
>
> https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-ideas-that-are-reshaping-the-democratic-party-and-america/
> <https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-ideas-that-are-reshaping-the-democratic-party-and-america/>
>
>
>
> " 1. The United States has often not lived up to the ideals of its
> founders or the notion that it is an “exceptional” nation that should
> be a model for other countries. Because the U.S. has disempowered its
> Native and Black populations and women throughout its history, America
> has never been a true or full democracy*/[NST===>Agreed. Furthermore,
> the myth of exceptionality arises just because we have had land to
> expropriate, and native Americans, African Americans, and immigrants
> to exploit. See “These Truths” and “1493”<===nst] /*. *//*
>
> 2. White people, particularly white men, are especially advantaged
> in American society (“white privilege”).
>
> */[NST===>Agreed<===nst] /*
>
> 3. People of color in America suffer from not only individualized
> and overt acts of racism (someone uses a racial slur, for example) but
> a broader “systemic” and “institutional” racism.
>
> */[NST===>Agreed<===nst] /*
>
> 4. Capitalism as currently practiced in America is deeply flawed,
> giving way too much money and power to the wealthy. America’s economy
> should not be set up in a way that allows people to accumulate
> billions of dollars in wealth.*/[NST===>Yes, but the focus on
> Billionaires tends to absolve the millionairs among us (weath, not
> salary) from responsibility.<===nst] /*
>
> 5. Women suffer from systemic sexism.
>
> */[NST===> Agreed, but we have to decide if women are different or not
> and what to do about it.<===nst] /*
>
> 6. People should be able to identify as whatever gender they
> prefer or not to identify by gender at all.*/[NST===>Really? Are you
> sure. If there are no gender roles, than what exactly does gender
> mean? There is surely some weird contradiction here. <===nst] /*
>
> 7. The existence of a disparity — for example, Black, Latino or
> women being underrepresented in a given profession or industry — is
> evidence of discrimination, even if no overt acts of discrimination
> are visible.*/[NST===>Yes, and a large effort should be invested in
> tracking these disparities, and the new ones that will inevitably
> arise, and countering them, but see below …<===nst] /*
>
> 8. Black Americans deserve reparations to make up for slavery and
> post-slavery racial discrimination.
>
> */[NST===>Absolutely NOT! We start in the middle, and we start now.
> We counter the discrimination that we have right now. Bugger the
> sins of our foreparents. <===nst] /*
>
> 9. Law enforcement agencies, from local police departments to the
> U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, are designed to defend
> America’s status quo as much as any public safety mission. When they
> treat people of color or the poor badly, they are working as they are
> designed. So these agencies must be defunded, abolished, disbanded or
> at least dramatically changed if the goal is to improve their
> treatment of people of color and the poor.
>
> */[NST===>I am tantalized by the suggestion that the actual Idea of a
> modern police force grows out of the “paterollers” of the South<===nst] /*
>
> 10. Trump’s political rise was not an aberration or a surprise.
> Politicians in both parties, particularly Republicans, have long used
> racialized language to demean people of color — Trump was just more
> direct and crude about it. And his messages resonated with a lot of
> Americans, particularly white people and conservatives, because lots
> of Americans have negative views about people of color, Black people
> in particular."
>
> */[NST===>Agreed<===nst] /*
>
>
>
>
>
> On 5/6/21 12:07 PM, thompnickson2 at gmail.com
> <mailto:thompnickson2 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > One of the first principles of Wokery is that I get to say what you
>
> > call me, right?
>
>
>
> --
>
> ↙↙↙ uǝlƃ
>
>
>
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