I am arguing endlessly with my youngest brother on the topic of race and I want to give up. I want to say: Dear C., While I know you are a mixed Creole, and I know you want everyone to recognize you as such, I also know that where you are living, most people do … More Merrily Going ‘Round
I am going home for a few days and I can hardly believe it. Here is California, Here I Come recorded by the California Ramblers, also known as the Golden Gate Orchestra, in 1924, the same year it was written: Al Jolson sung it famously in blackface, in 1946. I do not approve of the … More California Ramblers
Clinton has, to be sure, faced a raw misogyny that has been more out in the open than the racial attacks on Obama have been. But while sexism may be more casually accepted, racism, which is often coded, is more insidious and trickier to confront. Clinton’s response to “Iron my shirt” was immediate and straightforward: … More Invisible Racism
Of course I like the name Shahrzad very much and am considering adopting it myself. In Arabic class my name was Ouidad but Ouidad is now a hair salon in New York and I am not. Here is Shahrzad: “The record of the feminist movement worldwide shows that the struggle for liberation is multidimensional, with … More Shahrzad Mojab on “Muslim” Women and “Western” Feminists
The concept of citizenship is apparently difficult. Many people do not know what it is. They are nationalistic and they want immigrants, for instance, “to know our language and our culture, to understand our form of government and our laws.” Yet they tend not to believe in the rights of “man” and citizen. Daniel Brook’s … More The Idea of Citizenship
It is the weekend, so we will sing. WWOZ, that is, W-Wizard of Oz, plays a lot of traditional jazz in the morning and I have discovered that this is the very best music for grading. One moves along in regal manner, striding right down the hill toward graduation. I think of the St. Augustine … More Dr. Michael White
As we know, I aspire to work at a learned profession, in a professional atmosphere, as part of a smart and energetic team, and to have a certain degree of autonomy. That is not at all an accurate description of the academic jobs I have had, and I am pointing this out since there may … More I Might Really Become an Investigative Journalist!
“Now I am working as a server at that new fine dining restaurant in the country. I can tell it is a strange little town. Everyone working in the kitchen is Black and they never speak first. If they have something they want to say to you or ask you, they stand near you until … More Overheard at the Pool
Please see Patricia J. Williams on the DOE report, “A Test of Leadership: Charting the Future of U.S. Higher Education.” Here is an excerpt from the article, with a key quotation from the report: “Student achievement, which is inextricably connected to institutional success, must be measured by institutions on a ‘value-added’ basis that takes into … More On Academic Freedom and the Spellings Report
E. John Savoie, the state commissioner for higher education, has an excellent editorial in the Times-Picayune against HB 199, which would allow concealed weapons to be carried on university campuses. Read it, make its contents known, and mine it for talking points when you convince your friends to write their representatives, as you already have, … More The Reconstruction Party
coldhearted scientist وداد 