"In 1915, The New Republic, still in its infancy but already an influential magazine of the Progressive movement, argued for residential racial segregation until Negroes ceased wanting to “amalgamate” with whites
Richard Rothstein, The Color of Law
—which is to say, ceased wanting to engage in relationships that produced mixed-race children. The article’s author apparently did not realize that race amalgamation in the United States was already considerably advanced,
resulting from the frequent rapes of slaves by white masters."
- Richard Rothstein, The Color of Law
Some kind of way some people always forget that.
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In 2017 in a brief essay I wrote for Yale Art Gallery, I mentioned that segregation continues in the U.S. beyound the 1954 Brown decision. The gallery's editorial and communications team challenged me on my use of the term segregation.
They told me the Brown decision ended segregation. They claimed segregation no longer exists. I told them I would like to live in that United States. I also noted that I am a historian who specializes in race.
I entered a long back and forth exchange with one editor to prove segregation exists. Yes, it was ridiculous. I noted types of segregation de facto and de jure. They eventually 'allowed' me to say de facto segregation exists.
Returning to Audre Lorde --
from Age, Race, Class, and Sex...
"Traditionally, in american society, it is the members of oppressed, objectified groups who are expected to stretch out and bridge the gap between the actualities of our lives and the consciousness of our oppressor.
Audre Lorde--
For in order to survive, those of us for whom oppression is as american as apple pie have always had to be watchers, to become familiar with the language and manners of the oppressor, even sometimes adopting them for some illusion of protection.
Audre Lorde --
"In a society where the good is defined in terms of profit rather than in terms of human need, there must always be some group of people who, through systematized oppression, can be made to feel surplus, to occupy the place of the dehumanized inferior."
Still thinking about this, espec in regards to being a Black feminist art historian & pushback I've experienced when I've discussed my experiences of racism.
Context- my suggestion that scholars & everyone call enslaved people "enslaved" instead of "slaves" as humanizing praxis
Right now I'm historical texts that identify enslaved people as "enslaved" and not as "slaves."
Stamped from the Beginning... by @DrIbram, In the Wake.. by @hystericalblkns, Humane Insight... by @DrProfBlackLady, Dispossessed Lives... by @Drmarisajf.
I'm not making a irrational suggestion. It's already a practice of some members of academia. I'd like to see more folks consider the ramifications of language. As I continue to learn how racism & colonialism has infected scholarship & common language, I adjust & I call shit out.