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Love Isn't Enough is a blog about parenting and race.
The editorial team at Love Isn't Enough is comprised of Tami Winfrey Harris, Sarah, and Julia. You can email us at team@loveisntenough.com.
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There is going to be a documentary airing on the national geographic channel tonight (9pm and again at midnight) about the KKK. I don’t know what to expect in terms of the quality of the documentary, but the advertisement definitely caught my attention and I plan to watch it. I think even those of us who are very well aware of and sensitive to institutionalized racism can sometimes forget how these most radical forms of racist ideology are also still alive and well and should not be ignored. I admit when I think and talk about racism, the KKK is simply not the first thing to come to mind. This is because it seems like an overly simplistic or stereotypical way of thinking about racism and I feel strongly that it is important to NOT define racism exclusively this way (but to be aware of its more subtle and arguably more dangerous manifestations). That said, I think the danger in this type of thinking is that the KKK (and other groups like them) are truly very real and it would be a mistake to not stay at least marginally informed about what is going on there. For me, catching a commercial for this documentary was a reminder of that, and I wanted to share.
My 9 yo son, Keyshaun, and I finished the graphic novel American Born Chinese. We stayed up late on Christmas reading the book, a gift that was purchased at an early Kwanzaa event. We finished it last night. Keyahsun exclaimed, “I love this book!”. He then promptly turned back to the first page and looked up at me and said, “Please read the first chapter again… You know you want some quality time together.”
We both highly recommend this book. For more info about the author, Gene Luen Yang, visit http://www.humblecomics.com/images/comicsedu.gif
Speaking of the KKK here is a rare picture of a young J. Edgar Hoover:
http://www.jfkmontreal.com/john_lennon/graphics/j_edgar_hoover.jpg
Interesting that he hated blacks, civil rights, gays and minorities and did not file a birth certificate until he was 43…
@Mollie – that is some *expert* manipulation from your son!
@Mollie- I’m 26 and I loved it too. LoL.
And what is it about books written by white authors with plots based in asia (or make-believe asia) that reeks of a foreign-interpretation of the culture? Asian culture fed to me from a caucasian lens. Exotic, stiff, full of weird rules, where women are still flowers to be oppressed??? I swear, every asian-fiction I read has oppressed women. Hello-many asian cultures were matriarchy’s long before emperors. No wonder people think asians are always angry, honor-bound, and full of confucious sayings. What garbage. I can’t believe the good reviews they get on amazon.com. I’m so disgusted. THIS is what you think I am? THIS is what you think my beautiful culture is. Well, shit.
Do white people write about black people this way?
I’m lashing out, I know. I’m thinking of specific books, some garbage, some treasured, all written by white authors. I haven’t yet found a great fantasy about asian culture (Avatar: The Last Airbender was fun tho). I AM waiting for a Larissa Lai book to land in my mailbox that sounds promising: “When Fox is a Thousand.”