Jonathan on St. Petersburg: White Fear of Black Rage (From The Comments)

In response to Jonathan, I was bemoaning the paucity of analysis in the blogosphere concerning the story in St. Petersburg covered in my two previous posts, when Jonathan posted a second comment which reads the whole story as a display of white American culture’s fear of Black rage.

You know, Benjamin, it seems to me that this story is also about a knee-jerk, centuries-old fear of BLACK RAGE or the presumption of BLACK RAGE (emphasis added).

I’m currently teaching a course in INTRODUCTION TO AFRICANA STUDIES and the white students (the class is mostly white) will accept nothing less than cool, detached rhetoric. We are now moving into a unit on racism, slavery and political economy. I produce commentaries that explain elements of my pedagogy. This shows them the design behind my performative pedagogy. I want them to get a radical, bird’s eye view of a teaching practice in motion.

However, these commentaries also give me a chance to formally address matters that arise in lecture/discussions and video screenings.

Here’s what my latest commentary on the role of BLACK RAGE said (and I often think of the role of beligerence and biting nastiness in our developmental process when we are not being listened as children or as adults) . . . (emphasis added)

The rest of Jonathan’s comment continues at a tangent to the story in St. Petersburg, but is nevertheless a valuable opening into the historical and symbolic dimensions of how African Americans and white Americans experience and express racism. It is also a window into Jonathan’s sophisticated approach to teaching. His students are truly fortunate.

Hungry BluesBen Greenberg’s Weblog