Why I urge people perceive the framing the Hamas/Israel conflict strictly in terms of "Zionist Colonialist Oppression" to examine their own unconscious biases.
Sorry to take over your substack comments, but I’m also so intrigued that people perceive the singer as nonwhite if he is identified as Iranian. I knew many Iranian dissidents growing up and they were often very pale with blue eyes but still perceived as not white and it would be fascinating to trace how that narrative is constructed as well. And also how that form of bias is driving the current cease fire narrative on the left. (And I’m down with the ceasefire, just not the simplicity of the narrative)
Love this piece. I do think socially constructed perceptions of race are part of what is shaping the dialogue on the conflict in the US and Europe. A few years ago I was serving as an advisor for an undergraduate humanities journal and the student editors selected this really amazing bit of undergraduate scholarship for publication on how Israeli cinema from the mid 20th century often reflected bias against Mizrahim Jews and the centrality of European culture as embodied Ashkanazi Jews as superior. I had no idea, but then I thought about colorism in my own ancestral background (Caribbean) and was like “of course.” No one is immune it seems from the residue of the colonial project. https://www.apollonejournal.org/apollon-journal/the-real-jews-defining-israeli-identity-in-politics-and-cinema
Sorry to take over your substack comments, but I’m also so intrigued that people perceive the singer as nonwhite if he is identified as Iranian. I knew many Iranian dissidents growing up and they were often very pale with blue eyes but still perceived as not white and it would be fascinating to trace how that narrative is constructed as well. And also how that form of bias is driving the current cease fire narrative on the left. (And I’m down with the ceasefire, just not the simplicity of the narrative)
Love this piece. I do think socially constructed perceptions of race are part of what is shaping the dialogue on the conflict in the US and Europe. A few years ago I was serving as an advisor for an undergraduate humanities journal and the student editors selected this really amazing bit of undergraduate scholarship for publication on how Israeli cinema from the mid 20th century often reflected bias against Mizrahim Jews and the centrality of European culture as embodied Ashkanazi Jews as superior. I had no idea, but then I thought about colorism in my own ancestral background (Caribbean) and was like “of course.” No one is immune it seems from the residue of the colonial project. https://www.apollonejournal.org/apollon-journal/the-real-jews-defining-israeli-identity-in-politics-and-cinema