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July 2, 2002
Review
Kara Walker's Rich X-Ray On Race 
"In 'The Emancipation Approximation,' a major recent work made up of 26 large-scale silk-screens, we see George Washington silhouetted in profile, stately and ennobled -- except that he is seated on the back of a naked black man, while a young female household slave kneels at his crotch. A neighboring image shows the matronly Martha Washington, half undressed and fondling her nipple as a laurel crown flies from her head." Washington Post
July 1, 2002
Sports
Can Lennox Lewis redeem the world of professional boxing? "Lennox Lewis, the current heavyweight champion, is a legit Brit. He is thirty-six and was born in England; he spent his childhood in the East End. But the story grows motley from there. Lennox was an adolescent in Kitchener, Ontario, won an Olympic gold medal for Canada, in 1988, and, since his parents are Jamaican, is, by his own description, "part Rasta man." Lewis speaks in what might be called High Plains-Cockney-Bob Marley, an accent rounded off by the influence of the high-rent precincts he now inhabits in Hertfordshire and Miami, to say nothing of the Concorde waiting lounge. Lewis, in other words, is a man of the fluid modern world. ...." The New Yorker
Review
A Brisk, Incisive Survey of Ignorance "Fredrickson establishes his definition of racism at the outset, though his tightest formulation comes later: Racism 'exists when one ethnic group or historical collectivity dominates, excludes, or seeks to eliminate another on the basis of differences that it believes are hereditary and unalterable.'" Philadelphia Inquirer
Review
Faiths that preach tolerance "Religion has always been a source of conflict and, as Christianity and Islam face a fresh crisis, Wole Soyinka suggests a new hope for peace - the 'secular deity'" Guardian Unlimited
Weblog
Bernie Mac Smacks a Nerve "Far from a Hollywood interloper, Mac is actually a regular at this salon, dropping by every week for a manicure when he's not filming 'The Bernie Mac Show' in Los Angeles. This ritual even inspired a bit on his sitcom. In one episode, Mac's upwardly mobile, stay-at-home dad is horrified to realize he's bonding with the white soccer moms at his wife's company picnic and retreats to the masculinity-affirming pep talks of his Asian manicurist. ('You're a strong black man, Bernie Mac,' soothes the nail technician.)" Free registration required. New York Times
The Stacks
W.E.B. Du Bois Papers Good resource. University of Massachussetts Library
The Stacks
Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection All sorts of historical maps. This link takes you to maps of Native Americans in the U.S. University of Texas Online Library
Political Animal
Two Cheers for Colonialism "Those who identify colonialism and empire only with the West either have no sense of history or have forgotten about the Egyptian empire, the Persian empire, the Macedonian empire, the Islamic empire, the Mongol empire, the Chinese empire, and the Aztec and Inca empires in the Americas. Shouldn't the Arabs be paying reparations for their destruction of the Byzantine and Persian empires? Come to think of it, shouldn't the Byzantine and Persian people be paying reparations to the descendants of the people they subjugated? And while we're at it, shouldn't the Muslims reimburse the Spaniards for their 700-year rule?" Leave it to D'Souza to give colonialism a positive spin. Chronicle of Higher Education
Political Animal
The New Mix "For years black women watched as black men men dated and married white women, gallantly strolling down the street with them or awkwardly bringing them to family reunions." Chicago Tribune
Site Seeing
Uncle Tom's Cabin "As an important Canadian historic site, Uncle Tom's Cabin will provide visitors with known facts and education on the life of fugitive slaves in the Dresden area. Focusing on the life of Josiah Henson, the site will demonstrate the growth in black people or any race through determination and perseverance. Through tourism revenues, Uncle Tom's Cabin Historic Site will be operationally self-supporting and contribute to the St. Clair Parkway Commission overall tourism efforts." Uncle Tom's Cabin Historic Site
The Stacks
Slavery Era Insurance Registry "'[I]nsurance policies from the slavery era have been discovered in the archives of several insurance companies, documenting insurance coverage for slaveholders for damage to or death of their slaves, issued by a predecessor insurance firm. These documents provide the first evidence of ill-gotten profits from slavery, which profits in part capitalized insurers whose successors remain in existence today.' SB2199 Sec. 1(a)." A good resource for those following the reparations debate or working on their genealogy. California Department of Insurance
Review
Can affirmative action be reconciled with liberal individualism? "In these and similar cases, Loury’s critical insight is that mistakes in perception lead to mistakes in judgment that reinforce the initial social stigma. Because each actor occupies a small competitive niche, it does not pay him to correct his errors. He can do little to alter the larger, entrenched patterns of social behavior, and he has no incentive to do so, given that his filtered observations are consistent with his assumptions." Reason Online
The Stacks
Nubia SIS Page "Nubia is the homeland of Africa's earliest black culture with a history which can be traced from 3100 B.C. onward through Nubian monuments and artifacts, as well as written records from Egypt and Rome." No telling who SIS is, but a pretty comprehensive site on Nubia. The historical information is interesting. SIS
The Stacks
Jump Jim Crow "An especially outrageous part of the codes permitted black children to be kept as unpaid "apprentice" labor. If black parents were decided to be unfit parents by the white authorities their children were bound over to white farmers--frequently their former owners--until the children reached the age of 21." Fairly extensive site. Nice set of links to other resources and basic information on Jim Crow. California Heritage Project
Political Animal
I Am a Racially Profiling Doctor "In practicing medicine, I am not colorblind. I always take note of my patient's race. So do many of my colleagues. We do it because certain diseases and treatment responses cluster by ethnicity. Recognizing these patterns can help us diagnose disease more efficiently and prescribe medications more effectively. When it comes to practicing medicine, stereotyping often works." Free registration required. New York Times
Beef-a-Real
My racist mother had to die "Riggier said that Beverly believed her daughter's attraction to black men was a reaction to her father's crimes: 'Bev said that maybe it's because her father shot those blacks and she's trying to rectify it by sleeping with blacks and coloureds.' Two months ago, Sabrina went in search of someone to kill her mother. She found Feza Mdutshane, 27. One morning in late March, Sabrina opened the door to Mdutshane and told him to wait quietly while she went to her mother's room to fetch her baby. She found Beverly putting on her make-up in her night dress. Sabrina picked up Tatum and walked out of the room as the killer entered. He slit Beverly's throat with a breadknife. Sabrina's only comment after the murder was: 'Are you sure she's dead?'" Guardian Unlimited
Review
Race & Inequality: An Exchange Loury begins his book by announcing his support for three “axioms” that will shape his discussion. These are, roughly, 1) that race is socially constructed, 2) that racially classified individuals have no common essence that can explain their superior or inferior social performance and achievement, and 3) that racial stigma is deeply ingrained and highly influential. First Things