An entirely unsurprising poll shows that sixty-seven percent of the registered Republicans in the US support the current administration’s policy of separating children from their undocumented immigrant (or asylum seeking) parents at the border. (Those children are then imprisoned in cages in concentration camps with no plans for their release or reunification with their parents.)Continue reading “The Republican Base’s Malevolent Algorithm”
Tag Archives: racism
Confessions Of An American Ambien Eater, By Roseanne Barr
I here present you, courteous net surfer and peruser of the productions of bloggers, with the record of a remarkable period in my life: I trust that it will prove not merely an interesting record, but useful and instructive too. That must be my apology for breaking through that delicate and honourable reserve which restrains us fromContinue reading “Confessions Of An American Ambien Eater, By Roseanne Barr”
On Getting Stopped For ‘Shoplifting’ In Barnes And Noble
Some fifteen or so years ago, shortly after beginning my professorial employment at Brooklyn College, I stopped in at a Barnes and Noble store at Fifth Avenue and 18th Street in Manhattan; then, and perhaps even now, for I’m no longer sure it still exists, this ‘branch’ was the largest B&N store in New YorkContinue reading “On Getting Stopped For ‘Shoplifting’ In Barnes And Noble”
The New York Times’ Op-Ed Page Is An Intellectual Dark Web
The New York Times Op-Ed page has been an intellectual dark web for a long time. Few corners of the Internet can lay claim to both Thomas Friedman and David Brooks, two of the most widely ridiculed, mocked, and parodied ‘thought leaders’ ever to have deigned to grace us swine with their pearls of wisdom;Continue reading “The New York Times’ Op-Ed Page Is An Intellectual Dark Web”
Rereading Native Son
I’ve begun re-reading a book (with the students in my philosophical issues in literature class this semester) which, as I noted here a while ago, made a dramatic impact on me on my first reading of it: Richard Wright‘s Native Son. Thus far, I’ve read and discussed Book One with my students (on Wednesday lastContinue reading “Rereading Native Son”
That Elusive Mark By Which To Distinguish Good People From Bad
In Journey to the End of the Night, Céline‘s central character, Ferdinand Bardamu is confronted with uncontrovertible evidence of moral goodness in Sergeant Alcide–who is nobly working away in a remote colonial outpost to financially support a niece who is little more than a perfect stranger to him. That night, as Bardamu gazes at the sleeping Alcide, nowContinue reading “That Elusive Mark By Which To Distinguish Good People From Bad”
Gide’s Immoralist And The Existential Necessity Of The Colony
The immoralist at the heart of André Gide‘s The Immoralist, Michel, does not travel just anywhere; he travels to French colonies like Algeria and Tunisia; the boys who he meets, is attracted to, and falls in love with, are not just any boys; they are Muslim Arab boys. He is old; they are young. He is white;Continue reading “Gide’s Immoralist And The Existential Necessity Of The Colony”
On Being Both ‘Bad’ And ‘Great’
Recently, in response to Richard Seymour‘s essay on Winston Churchill in Jacobin–one whose tagline read “Churchill was no hero — he was a vile racist fanatical about violence and fiercely supportive of imperialism,” I wrote the following on my Facebook status page: Indians have known this and said this forever. Hopefully, now that a whiteContinue reading “On Being Both ‘Bad’ And ‘Great’”
The NYPD Tells Us What They Think Of Brooklyn College Students
This is most decidedly a storm in a tea-cup, but it is a most revealing one. The New York City Police and their friends at the New York Post do not like the concern expressed by some Brooklyn College students about the presence of police on their campus: Brooklyn College is kowtowing to cop-hating studentsContinue reading “The NYPD Tells Us What They Think Of Brooklyn College Students”
The Boycotter’s Guide To The NFL
Should you or should you not boycott the NFL? Let’s review the cases for and against. For: if you boycott the NFL, you will be supporting the civil rights protest conducted by Colin Kaepernick–one underway since last year when he began taking a knee during the playing of the American national anthem before NFL games;Continue reading “The Boycotter’s Guide To The NFL”
Samir Chopra 