One thing that propelled me to attend graduate school was my wanting to explore what I saw as an inherent contradiction within the Black Power Movement in that they demanded liberation for all African Americans and preached and practiced subjugation of African American women. That some call for freedom and social justice while not realizing or checking their complicity in the oppression of others has puzzled me. Though my interest in the BPM waned, I still pondered this contradiction and see this as I read and interact with many White feminists. How can a truly liberatory feminism ignore issues of poverty, immigration, sex and sexuality, and/or race…? How can feminist truly interested in and dedicated to justice become angered or offended when their ignoring/ignorance of issues of poverty, immigration, sex and sexuality, and/or race…?

Who gets to pose critiques of white feminists and mainstream feminism?

Is this a generational problem?

Is the problem with three-dimensional people of color as opposed to representations of people of color as subjects in texts and studies

Is it the fear of saying the wrong thing and being called a racist that leads to silence?

Could you perhaps suggest a specific essay from the book? It would be a useful reference.

www.amazon.com/Presumed-Incompetent-Intersections-Class-Academia/dp/0874219221/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1363444311&sr=8-1&keywords=presumed+incompetent

I am also intrigued by how these episodes intersect with social media/online spaces. You would have thought that would generate more anonymous attacks, particularly for the more contentious comments. However, my experience is that many academics felt rather comfortable using their names and institutional affiliations, even when the comments they were leaving went beyond the bounds of what one would say in peer review or a conference setting. I’m not sure what to make of that, but it is interesting. Perhaps there really is no expectation of collegiality, online or off? Or we’re reproducing the same offline status hierarchies that stifle minority perspectives online?

I think this is interesting (and since I’m sitting here having a drink with Michelle, I can say she thinks it’s interesting too!). Michelle pointed out some new language we might think about in our discussion tomorrow: online disinhibition effect. (for more see here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_disinhibition_effect)