Spoilers Ahead. Orange is The New Black has attracted–not unjustifiedly–some flak for its powerful and painful fourth season: it has been accused of being ‘trauma porn for white people,’ and of having ‘failed the Dominican community.’ Still, the show has provided some powerful drama in those thirteen episodes, largely by throwing off any pretensions thatContinue reading “Orange Is The New Black And The Privatization of Prisons”
Tag Archives: racism
The NRA On The Dallas Shooting
The National Rifle Association has issued the following statement in response to the shootings in Dallas: Today is a great day for the Second Amendment, that everlasting guarantee of our right to bear arms and take them up against a tyrannical government. For months and years now, we at the National Rifle Association have watchedContinue reading “The NRA On The Dallas Shooting”
Brexit, Shmexit: Schadenfreude And How The Old Eat The Young
Old habits die hard. I like watching England lose: in soccer and in cricket mainly, but I’ll admit to cheering for Napoleon too. (I morbidly continue to study the Battle of Waterloo, hoping again and again that that damn fool Grouchy will show up.) English self-destructiveness–think David Beckham during the 1998 World Cup, and theContinue reading “Brexit, Shmexit: Schadenfreude And How The Old Eat The Young”
Justice Hugo Black, The Ku Klux Klan, And The Trump Candidacy
In 1914, Hugo Black–a future Supreme Court Justice–was elected solicitor, or district attorney in Birmingham, Alabama. He lobbied to improve prison conditions for both black and whites, and even published a report on coerced confessions. As a trial lawyer, he had successfully represented a black man who had been imprisoned twenty-five weeks beyond his originalContinue reading “Justice Hugo Black, The Ku Klux Klan, And The Trump Candidacy”
James Baldwin On A White Policeman’s Eyes
In James Baldwin‘s If Beale Street Could Talk (Bantam, New York, 1974) Fonny, a young black man, is in jail for rape–his supposed victim’s eyewitness identification is probably mistaken; ‘outside,’ his pregnant girlfriend, Tish, wonders about the policeman, Bell, who arrested Fonny. Bell had wanted to arrest Fonny for assault ever since he had violentlyContinue reading “James Baldwin On A White Policeman’s Eyes”
RIP Muhammad Ali: Once And Always, The Greatest
Muhammad Ali was the first Black Muslim American I heard of. Before his name entered my immature consciousness, I did not know Americans could be Black or Muslim. (This revelation came to me during a classroom trivia quiz; ‘Muhammad Ali’ was the answer to the question ‘Who is the world heavyweight champion?’) It is hardContinue reading “RIP Muhammad Ali: Once And Always, The Greatest”
‘Straight Outta Compton’ And Ambivalence
A couple of weeks ago, I finally watched F. Gary Gray‘s Straight Outta Compton, the cinematic biography of N.W. A. (More accurately, I saw the ‘Unrated Director’s Cut,’ which features an additional twenty minutes not found in the theatrical release.) Since then, many tracks from the N. W. A, Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, and EazyContinue reading “‘Straight Outta Compton’ And Ambivalence”
Angela Davis On Reparation, Reconciliation, And Prison Abolition
In Are Prisons Obsolete? (Seven Stories Press, New York, 2003, pp. 106) Angela Davis writes: It is true that if we focus myopically on the existing system–and perhaps this is the problem that leads to the assumption that imprisonment is the only alternative to death–it is very hard to imagine a structurally similar system capable of handling such a vastContinue reading “Angela Davis On Reparation, Reconciliation, And Prison Abolition”
Paul Ryan Wants A Fig Leaf From Donald Trump
Over at The Nation John Nichols makes note of Paul Ryan’s undignified ‘dance’ with Donald Trump: Ryan says he is “not ready” to formally endorse Trump’s unpopular presidential candidacy. Trump says he is “not ready” to embrace Ryan’s unpopular austerity agenda. But after speaking with Ryan, Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus says the speakerContinue reading “Paul Ryan Wants A Fig Leaf From Donald Trump”
Lessons From A Skeptic About Hobbes
During my first semester of teaching philosophy, in my class on Hobbes and social contract theory, I introduced my students to the usual excerpts from Leviathan: the passages in which Hobbes describes the severely attenuated and impoverished life that awaits those who live in a state of nature, how this creates the need for a sovereign maintainerContinue reading “Lessons From A Skeptic About Hobbes”
Samir Chopra 