Exotic by Suheir Hammad

Thought I'd share this poem:

exotic

suheir hammad

don't wanna be your exotic

some delicate fragile colorful bird

imprisoned caged

in a land foreign to the stretch of her wings

don't wanna be your exotic

women everywhere are just like me

some taller darker nicer than me

but like me but just the same

women everywhere carry my nose on their faces

my name on their spirits

don't wanna

don't seduce yourself with

my otherness my hair

wasn't put on top of my head to entice

you into some mysterious black voodoo

the beat of my lashes against each other

ain't some dark desert beat

it's just a blink

get over it

don't wanna be your exotic

your lovin of my beauty ain't more than

funky fornication plain pink perversion

in fact nasty necrophilia

cause my beauty is dead to you

I am dead to you

not your

harem girl geisha doll banana picker

pom pom girl pum pum shorts coffee maker

town whore belly dancer private dancer

la malinche venus hottentot laundry girl

your immaculate vessel emasculating princess

don't wanna be

your erotic

not your exotic

Personal Accounts

So I am pulling personal accounts from internet message boards. This one is from a Dave Matthews Band fan website, Nancies.org, where they were sharing their reactions and stories to the film Crash. I chose this film as a starting point for discussing personal accounts because I found that I had different opinions and perspectives on this award-winning film. I think while it acts as a great springboard for conversations about racism, that it took too many shortcuts with the storylines to really allow the messages to sit with the viewer. It is easy to divorce yourself from the expressions of others, because, as I mentioned in my definition, it seems outside ourselves, so we are not culpable.

"Just got back from seeing this and I agree with everything you said and would like to add a little of my own thoughts.

Living in Los Angeles, you see every conceivable race, nationality and religion represented...and while we walk amongst each other we don't really understand that much about one another.

The most moving story for me was with the hispanic father of the little girl. He was a hard working family man with integrity and discipline. He was intelligent and had the character to accept that he could not change the world but he could be the best father and husband possible. He did not look like your average working class father, a little body art and a dark complexion made it easy to stereotype him. In a story filled with negativity, he gave me hope.

This movie wasn't brilliant but it was filled with a big idea, we are all the same, good and bad. We are all just making our way through this life and the sooner we figure out that the enemy is within us the better we will be able to live."--posted by wickelies

Another Nancies post about interracial dating:

"Dude, we need to TALK, cuz I totally feel ya on this topic. I grew up and live in a 99% white environment, so of course that limits options and shapes perceptions as far as who is out there to date and who I would want to date. All of my girlfriends except my very first have been white, and while my family -- well let's be honest, the females in my family -- have never said anything straight out about it, I know they aren't thrilled that I have dated and continue to be involved with white women. I even had one of my best friends (who was a white male) tell me that he didn't approve of interracial dating. I don't know, it seems to be difficult enough to find someone whom I can love and who will love me, without excluding a large chunk of the population, especially in a town like Scottsdale where it's virtually all of the population. It sucks but it's something that unfortunately society is very slow to deal with and accept. IM me sometime and we can compare our sorrows. :)"--posted by Meirk

"Originally posted by Mierk
Kim, lemme ask you this -- did you grow up more around white people as a kid? Cause it's hard, I did and in some ways I'm more comfortable around them, but at the same time there are things that some of my friends just don't really get. When I went to DC and stayed with my sister this past spring, in some ways it was a relief to be walking around in public and not be the only black person for miles around.

ANYWAYS the point I was trying to make with this is there are lots of really subtle things that come into play when it comes to attraction and it can be hard to pin down the whys of what happens when you look at someone and think, "Dayyyy-um they're fine!"

I was raised in BKLYN, in a Puerto Rican neighborhood. I'm half P.R., but I don't know any spanish, and when you look at me you see a blk man. So, I was the only blk in the neighborhood. That was my nick name actually blk. When I was a teenager I moved to the Poconos in PA. Mostly white, but there's a minority presence. My first 2 yrs of College, I went to Grambling State Univ. A historically black college/universtiy. That was the first time when I was in an all blk environment. I liked it, but I missed white people. I missed keg parties and beer bongs, and the differences in the races. The same thing happens occasionally when I hang out w/ my friends (most of my friends are white). I miss drinking Henessey and riding in 20 inch rims in cars w/ switches. But I think that's a good thing. It's a blessing I've been exposed to so many cultures, and can laugh at the stereotypes, and understand the differences in races, and appreciate them, too.

So, that's why I take my g.f. to blk churches, and to blk. frat parties, and step shows b/c she's never seen those things. And I think it's great, but it sux when I do it. And I don't feel welcomed. It just kills everything. But, I've learned it's not a perfect world.

My b.f. Andy is white and his wife is Dominican, but she's dark so she looks blk, they have to beautiful children. He told me, that there will always be ppl who feel that his kids shouldn't exist, it's fucked up, but he pays 'em back by being a good father and living a happy life anyway. And I've found that, that's the best way to handle things."

This are from Yahoo Movies on "Crash":

"I don't mind movies that make us more aware of the racial tensions in America today, but I DO mind movies that portray every character as a racist and as a stereo-type of their culture. Maybe we aren't color-blind yet, but we've come a long way (think slavery and segregation). Movies like this just reinforce out-dated beliefs that EVERY American is prejudiced, and that the sterotypes are correct. This movie promotes suspicion and mistrust among America's races and is destructive."--posted by seekchat

"I know in law enforcement in the L.A. area and have never seen the extensive hate displayed in this movie. I left the movie wondering if it will wake people up to predjudice or turn them off. The story revolves around about a dozen people whom all hate one another because of race. Not one race is spared. Everyone is stereotyped, the cops are pigs, the blacks are members of gangs or drug users, the orientals come off as shrill, etc.,etc.The acting was first rate, the story depressing. The visuals were outstanding."--posted by kelseykay

Here is an excellent review by a Korean reviewer from London..it's kind of lengthy but worth the read:

It took me a long while to decide whether I liked or hated the movie. One thing was for sure, it certainly was provocative.

But not, I think, in the way most people saw it. At first, I felt incredibly nauseated by the characters' treatment of eachother, and the vein of racist, poisonous hatred that threads its way through the storyline was all the more powerful
because it felt so ordinary: A casual remark, or as some background information. I think it would be horrible to live in a society full of people like these, and I have great difficulty in believing this to be the true face of an American city like LA

In retrospect, it's a backlash at the rational attitude of tackling the causes of crime by elevating the levels of poverty in the black community - by affirmative action and other race related legislations. It's the white majority and the social climbers telling the gang banging blacks that they have done enough, they are disappointed, and now they have a legitimate reason to hate black folks and treat them as badly as they want. The phrase "f**king black people, hey?" is repeated almost as a catch phrase. The movie tries to show that even though decent (white) people bend over backwards not to be racist, they have, through years of contact with black people, been MADE racist. (Matt Dillon tells his rookie partner that in a few years he would feel the same about black people). It shows they were neither raised to be racist nor born warped, but experience and contact has taught them how utterly disgusting black people are.

I have to confess that I too have felt at times embarrassed and disappointed by the behaviour of young black men who commit violent crimes, or despite being given preferential treatment do not do well academically. Fortunately, I remind myself that ANY large group of people, particularly in poverty, is more likely to turn to crime regardless of colour. I know that it is incredibly difficult to study in a bad environment, and I know many black people who are the intelligent, hard working, gentle souls who grace this earth with their presence.

This movie on the other hand, wants to tell one side of the story. To legitimize racism by showing that a well to do black studio executive feels the same about black criminals as you do. The main white characters played by Matt Dillon, & Sandra Bullock are portrayed as bigots who are, in the end, decent people. Ryan Phillipe who plays the rookie cop & possibly the only decent character in the movie, is in the end, found to be badly flawed. What exactly does that tell us?
Nothing. That's half the reason why people have called this movie provocative, because it is full of irony.

Another irony of note in the movie are the way the korean couple are portrayed. I have no idea what Hollywood has against Koreans (Perhaps a studio exec got the crap kicked out of him by one), but the koreans in the movie were so badly portrayed,
it was comical. In my (biased) opinion, Koreans are the most humourous, self-effacing, polite, gentle people one could ever hope to meet. I think this persecution started with the so-called Korean shopkeeper (Actually Japanese) in "Falling Down". (His unkempt appearance and rude manners were diametrically opposed to reality - What self respecting korean person would dress badly and be rude to his own customers? He would go out of business and that would be insane) .

This movie was even worse. Apparently, this fictional middle aged korean couple were involved in human trafficking. OMG. Anyone who has even been to Korea or befriended a korean will tell you that it's insane. I mean, it has even been proven by an odd experiment conducted a few years ago by some European social researchers that Koreans are the most law-abiding, decent, honest people on this planet. If you were to drop your wallet in Seoul, you are more likely to have it returned to you intact, than in any other city in the World. But according to Hollywood, these are the same people who scream abuse at a latin lady cop and transport slave labour. Give me a break.

-------SPOILER--------

The movie does have its good points. It is well directed and well acted. There are poignant and sad moments like when the latin locksmith quietly leaves the keys next to Sandra Bullock after he heard her shouting (at her husband) that the locksmith was probably a criminal gangbanger who will sell the keys to other thieves. Or the character of an Iranian or Iraqi shopkeeper who is being driven mad by the daily racist abuse and vandalism he endures. Or the agony in the face of the same latin locksmith as his daughter is shot by the Iranian/Iraqi shopkeeper. Those were unforgettable.

Did I like the movie? I am still of two minds. It's either a sick movie for people with a very warped view of the world, or it is an exercise in "true fiction", defined as a story that rings true, but is outside the boundaries of reality. If the latter, then it's a good movie. Else it is really crap.

Letter: In defense of frats - Opinions

Letter: In defense of frats - Opinions

Mmmmm...okay. Sorry bud...not a reasonable retort.

'Ghetto' themes mock black culture - Opinions

'Ghetto' themes mock black culture - Opinions

How appropo.