Putting White Under the Light

I have been in highly, highly charged political situations in which everything revolves around these boxes and these labels, like "microaggression," "white privilege," "intersectionality." Most people don't know what those terms are! We assume that people know thes...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:In these times 2015-09, Vol.39 (9), p.32
Main Author: Gwee, Karen
Format: Magazinearticle
Language:English
Subjects:
Documentary films
Immigration
Journalists
Race
Vargas, Jose Antonio
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:I have been in highly, highly charged political situations in which everything revolves around these boxes and these labels, like "microaggression," "white privilege," "intersectionality." Most people don't know what those terms are! We assume that people know these things and we get this holier-thanthou attitude, like, "I know more than you, I'm more caring than you, because I know the correct language." No! That for me has been the most humbling thing of the past four years traveling around this country, realizing just how disconnected we are. It's huge. If you think the tax code is complicated, try studying the immigration code. It's a complex issue that we boil down to simple talking points. That is partly why we haven't been able to move forward, because people think they know what the issue is already. [Donald Trump] talks about the border and doesn't even contextualize with the fact that nearly 40 percent of the people who are here illegally didn't cross that border-they overstayed their visa. Since 2007, the number of undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. has dropped by 1 million. The lowest rate of illegal migration from Mexico to the United States is happening right now. Donald Trump doesn't want to mention it, because it would defeat his purpose-but why can't the media focus on it? Isn't that our job? I thought O'[Malley] did better than [Bernie Sanders], and Sanders in particular was a little tone deaf. He thought he could go in there and give the same stump speeches he's been giving all across the country. News of Sandra Bland's death broke days before Netroots Nation. For many black people in this country, that was a very urgent, personal, direct thing. And Sanders and O'Malley were up there giving talking points. The humanity and the urgency of it was lost.
ISSN:0160-5992