"'You know, the guys in the hood driving the cars with the big rims'. Everyone had a good laugh at that one. Not me. Trading easy stereotypes, the teaching assistant's comment unthoughtful remark only served to embarrass me"(7). Lebron writes that if he had shared this event with the teacher's assistant, he or she would have been deeply ashamed. Lebron will later go one to explain that this shame comes from an incontinence between values and actions.
This exchange made me think about how we, a class with no black students, are to discuss The Color of Shame . If we said something that was shameful (incontinence between our values and actions), we might not realize. Of course, it is incredibly valuable to read and discuss this work, because this topic is valuable to many Black Americans, and thus is important to all Americans.
CMC and most of American higher education is an institution where "we learn a good deal of our moral lessons"(11). Many institutions have financially benefited from the exploitation of other classes, whether historically or presently. Our discussion of race is taking place in such an institution. With that in mind, I think we have to be conscious about how talk about Lebron. It is one thing to intellectualize the logic and premises of his account, but it is another, an arguably more comprehensive method to read a philosopher, to understand why and for whom Lebron is writing this piece.
1) Incontinence doesn't mean what you think it means.
ReplyDelete2) I think the answer is to discuss it as honestly as possible. If you or I or anyone else were to hold ugly thoughts or assumptions (Lebron's cognitive affective blindness) it is better that we experience the shame now and change, then to stay ignorant and happy in the knowledge that are "post-racial" or what not.
So the problem of offensive jokes is running around in my head and I thought this would be a good place to air some thoughts. Lebron himself uses Chris Rock (black comedian) as a source of insight on black-white relations in America. Rock is known for his racial jokes. I dont feel outraged when I hear him, dave chappelle or Russel peters make such jokes. These comedians mean to be funny and they are. We laugh. Are these jokes only acceptable coming from minorities? This would be due to historical and sociotal patterns of oppression. But the jokes still serve to perpetuate the same stereotypes and offensive ways of thinking contrary to the comedians values. Should they feel shame? Should we for laughing? Perhaps it is merely the power of comedy that induces us to permit such expression. It does seem as though the less funny the joke, the more reprehensible it is. Dave Chappelle has made some of the most offensive jokes I have ever heard. They are accepted because they are hilarious. Why does humor override morality? Or is it possible that making a joke changes the nature of what we say? Jokes are different because their value does not come from truth or expression of belief.
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