Re: [Marxism] A More Specific Letter on Justice and Open Debate - The Objective

[John Edmundson via Marxism]

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I get that she's a racist. But to me there's a huge difference between her
writing from the perspective of a Latin American character (assuming she
did a good job of it, which she clearly didn't) and her actually
identifying as Latina (Puerto Rican) when she isn't. As a writer she can
try to put herself in the shoes of a Latina (or a Latino) character.
Writers have to do that or all their characters would just be the same
character (the writer) in different stories. But her claiming to be Latina
when she's actually white is different. That's like Rachel Dolezal claiming
to be black.

So it seems to me the Jeanine Cummins issue is not *just* that she's a
racist writer, but also that she is claiming to be someone she's not.
Rachel Dolezal weaseled her way into the NAACP because she "identified as
black". How is that different? Apart from the fact that Rachel Dolezal
seems to have meant well.


On Sat, Jul 11, 2020 at 12:35 PM Louis Proyect via Marxism <
marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote:

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> On 7/10/20 7:39 PM, John Edmundson via Marxism wrote:
> > So being trans-racial is not OK. Fair enough. Jeanine Cummins should be
> > able to write a book from the perspective of someone with experiences
> other
> > than her own (all writers have to do that all the time) but deciding that
> > she can start "identifying as Puerto Rican" is a whole different thing.
> She
> > can't claim that the experience of*being*  Latina is hers because it's
> not.
> > Because saying you 'feel' Latina (or any other race) doesn't make you
> one.
> > Are we agreed on that?
>
> Sure you can do that. The problem was that her book was filled with
> racist stereotypes, and even worse treated like the book of the year by
> gringo critics.
>
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-- 
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Sarah Moore Grimke, abolitionist (1792-1873)
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Re: [Marxism] A More Specific Letter on Justice and Open Debate - The Objective

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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On 7/10/20 7:39 PM, John Edmundson via Marxism wrote:

So being trans-racial is not OK. Fair enough. Jeanine Cummins should be
able to write a book from the perspective of someone with experiences other
than her own (all writers have to do that all the time) but deciding that
she can start "identifying as Puerto Rican" is a whole different thing. She
can't claim that the experience of*being*  Latina is hers because it's not.
Because saying you 'feel' Latina (or any other race) doesn't make you one.
Are we agreed on that?


Sure you can do that. The problem was that her book was filled with 
racist stereotypes, and even worse treated like the book of the year by 
gringo critics.


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Re: [Marxism] A More Specific Letter on Justice and Open Debate - The Objective

[John Edmundson via Marxism]

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It is interesting that "[T]his could be a reference to *American Dirt*, a
book by Jeanine Cummins — a non-Mexican white woman

who
recently began identifying as Puerto Rican — about a Mexican bookseller,
which was roundly criticized by Latinx writers and authors like Myriam Gurba

 and *Los Angeles Times *writer Esmeralda Bermudez
.
That book was featured as a part of Oprah’s Book Club, despite the fact
that Latinx journalists like Bermudez said the story was a far cry from
real-life immigrant experiences."

So being trans-racial is not OK. Fair enough. Jeanine Cummins should be
able to write a book from the perspective of someone with experiences other
than her own (all writers have to do that all the time) but deciding that
she can start "identifying as Puerto Rican" is a whole different thing. She
can't claim that the experience of *being* Latina is hers because it's not.
Because saying you 'feel' Latina (or any other race) doesn't make you one.
Are we agreed on that?

Comradely,
John

On Sat, Jul 11, 2020 at 9:34 AM Louis Proyect via Marxism <
marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote:

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> Rank-and-file journalists answer the big-shots on Harper's
>
> https://theobjective.substack.com/p/a-more-specific-letter-on-justice
>
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-- 
"All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks."
Sarah Moore Grimke, abolitionist (1792-1873)
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[Marxism] A More Specific Letter on Justice and Open Debate - The Objective

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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Rank-and-file journalists answer the big-shots on Harper's

https://theobjective.substack.com/p/a-more-specific-letter-on-justice

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