The Race Card Project– Productive or Reductive?

The Race Card Project opens up a unique manner of discussion on the subject of racial relations. TRCP allows writers–disclosed or revealed– to create a "race card", a 6 word entry describing their feeling or experience with racism throughout their life and community. The format allows writers and readers to get to the point without any fluff that might come with an argument on race, which is an effective benefit to this project. This project allows ideas to be spread and discussed that would not have been discussed formally before, and opens up a discussion in a typically more formal and respectful manner than the typical blog commenters are. Although there will always be trolls, the environment on TRCP seems to be more mature and professional, which was its intended purpose. I think that The Race Card Project is a great idea and that it could even be expanded more by created physical walls in public downtown areas where the cards would be printed off and posted and also allow the average passerby to write their own card. I think moving TRCP from the virtual world to the physical would double as an effective discussion on race and also as an attractive mural or piece of artwork.

Don’t Speak To Me In Arabic

I chose the race card "Dont' speak to me in Arabic" because it was a card I can relate to and have a bit of history with. In the card, Christine Abraham states "My mom is ashamed to speak Arabic in public in this post-9/11 world." Being Arabic, albeit just half, I have watched family members on my father's side who are full Lebanese be criticized for coming from an Arabic background in today's post-9/11 world. The author of this card, Christine Abraham, is from Santa Monica, California. Knowing that the LA area has a large Arabic population and that Christine's mother was still ashamed to speak in Arabic says a lot about our society. My feelings for this topic were summed up very well in the comments below. The majority of commentators agreed that it is a shameful assumption to automatically associate the Arabic language with Islam and terrorism. There are many Arabs who are not Islamic, like my family, and even so the Islamic religion has absolutely nothing to do with violence and terrorism. It is a sad assumption that exists in society. I hope that one day we can live in a country where the Arabs do not have to fear being innocently labeled as terrorists.

Gone Too Soon

I picked the song Gone Too Soon by Michael Jackson, a song dedicated to those lost in the AIDs crisis,  because I was curious about such a big epidemic that swept through our nation just 20-30 years ago. Looking back now, most of the opinions the general public had at the time about HIV and AIDs seem almost archaic. I never fully studied or understood the AIDs epidemic and social movement that followed, so I knew I wanted to pick a song about this movement that would also help me to better understand culture in the United States at this time. What makes Gone Too Soon so special is the video. The video is dedicated to Ryan White, a young boy who came in contact with AIDs through a medical needle, not through sexual intercourse. Ryan White was then banned from his public middle school because AIDs was such a taboo and castigated infection at the time in America. More than 5 years after the court cases and media scrutiny that followed Ryan White at the time, he passed away due to his infection. Michael Jackson befriended Ryan White after he was banned from public school and knew him personally, which is evident in the emotional reflection of the video. Instead of allowing Ryan White's tragic story to be passed along in the ever-changing news cycle, Michael Jackson created this tribute to remind America that AIDs can happen to anyone, and that it is nothing to take lightly.

Strange Fruit

Before beginning this semester, I had a brief understanding of the song Strange Fruit. This was due to Kanye West's sampling of Strange Fruit's chorus made famous by Billie Holiday on his recent song, Blood on the Leaves (West used Nina Simone's rendition). Even though West's cryptic Blood on the Leaves can be interpreted different ways, some underlying themes are race relations and recognition of the anti-lynching movement. Many may disagree with West's sampling of Strange Fruit for his own gain as the song is sacred to many, especially those who had past relatives involved in the civil rights movement. I can understand how some may find his sampling disrespectful, but I also think he is paying appropriate homage to a strong and necessary social movement—the 1940s anti-lynching protest. When Billie Holiday performed this eerie song, it drew attention from all over the country. If I can listen to Strange Fruit and have chills run up my spine, I can only imagine how listeners felt who were dealing with personal friends and family being lynched at the time. As covers of Strange Fruit continue to be made and as samples perdure, like that on Blood on the Leaves, the lyrics and haunting aura of Strange Fruit will live on to teach a history lesson that a textbook never could.