Racism in the elevator; misogyny in the video production room.

I just came across a video I’m pretty sure was intended as a statement of anti-racism. I’m also pretty sure its intention fails. More than that, I think it’s one huge step backwards. I hate writing anything critical of any attempt at anti-racism. It’s hard to put yourself...

July 15th, 2010 | African Americans, Culture, Featured, Pop culture, Talk About Race, Women | Read More

Joel Stein, we are not laughing: The South Asian legal community responds

Humor writer and journalist Joel Stein’s recent piece in Time Magazine, “My Own Private India,” has received a lot of well-deserved criticism. Indeed, one of the (only) good things to have come out of the fiasco of Stein receiving a public forum in which to express his “sense of loss and anomie”...

July 7th, 2010 | Pop culture, Talk About Race | Read More

Race is Sexy. Sex is Racy. Now “Get Lost”

Race is sexy. And sex is racy. Is it any wonder that our society seems fascinated, obsessed even, with their combination? Consider the latest photo shoot by Mikael Jansson titled Let’s Get Lost, in the current issue of Interview Magazine. The photos are edgy. They’re sexually charged,...

May 17th, 2010 | Culture, Pop culture | Read More

Anita Blake and the Magic Negro

Move over Buffy Summers. If you’re on top of the latest vampire gossip, you already know that Anita Blake is the hottest vampire hunter in town. Be careful, Bella Cullen. If Anita Blake gets on the case, you might wind up dead…or in bed. One really can’t predict such things with...

May 3rd, 2010 | Culture, Pop culture | Read More

Are the fangs real? Vampires as racial metaphor in the Anita Blake and Twilight Novels

They’re physically powerful and move with an unusual combination of grace and speed. They’re sexually seductive, in a forbidden sort of way, and dangerous-even the well-mannered, law-abiding ones are, at their core, threatening. They’re monsters, ever ready to prey and feed...

April 12th, 2010 | Culture, Featured, Pop culture | Read More

Separate, Half-price, and Definitely Not Equal: Black Barbie Politics, Continued

It looks like the only way to discuss Mattel’s race politics is to forgo intellectual analysis for talking to these dolls in person. In a recent Root.com article, Black Ballerina Teresa talks back not about her new look or set of friends, but about the fact that she’s being sold at a radically lower...

March 31st, 2010 | Pop culture | Read More

Putting this Year of “Firsts” in Perspective

I know the Oscars happened a week ago, but I’m still nagged by some of the larger implications of the event. The general controversy has been covered here and elsewhere. What I would like to do is highlight the limited scope of people of color throughout the history of the Academy Awards. My intent...

March 17th, 2010 | Culture, Pop culture | Read More

What “Precious” tells us about images Of blackness

Originally published on NewsOne Image is everything. Whoever said that was apparently right, especially in the Los Angeles area, home of the movie industry, the recent Academy Awards and the annual Wadsworth Elementary School Black History Month parade. All have been in the news lately highlighting...

March 11th, 2010 | Pop culture | Read More

On John Mayer’s ‘Hood Pass’: A moment of clarity

“Clarity” is one of my favorite John Mayer songs, and given the troubling comments in his forthcoming interview with Playboy Magazine, a little clarity is what we all need. Mayer’s broad cross-over appeal has been construed by some as a “hood pass.” Laudably if inelegantly, he rejects such...

February 16th, 2010 | Culture, Pop culture | Read More

Light skin, camera, action: Animating race

The ways in which Hollywood amalgamates – albeit uncritically and not always consciously – entertainment and pedagogy is necessary for any discussion around race on the big screen. When it comes to animation, this becomes an even larger issue. Walt Disney has long lent itself to a tradition...

February 12th, 2010 | Culture, Featured, Pop culture | Read More

John Mayer’s longing for blackness is a”Very” wide-open window into U.S. race relations

If you haven’t yet seen John Mayer’s interview with Playboy, well, all jokes about “reading Playboy for the articles” aside, you really should just pause here and check it out, because the interview is really very “very”. Trust me, this will make sense once you read...

February 12th, 2010 | African Americans, Featured, Pop culture | Read More

Multiculturalism is for sale: What exactly are we buying?

Originally posted on Between The Lines in Psychology Today. On the surface, multiculturalism seems a little like apple pie: It’s American and seemingly everyone wants a piece. No wonder, then, that corporations are trying to sell it to us, one slice at a time. A short time ago, my wife and I took...

January 5th, 2010 | Culture, Pop culture | Read More

The racial politics of Avatar pt. 2

This is the second of a two-part series examining the racial politics of Avatar. In my previous post, I argued that Avatar’s racial politics are more complex and more progressive than critics have given it credit for. It is also the case, however, that the film has some noteworthy sociopolitical...

January 4th, 2010 | Culture, Pop culture | Read More

The racial politics of Avatar

Originally posted on Between The Lines in Psychology Today. Avatar is so visually stunning it seems almost a shame to break it down and analyze the micro components. I saw it in 3-D, and a day later, I still recall the sensation of being surrounded by grasses and ferns in the jungle and ducking my head...

December 30th, 2009 | Culture, Pop culture | Read More