Seeing through race / W. J. T. Mitchell.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Mitchell, W. J. T. (William John Thomas), 1942-

Series:

W.E.B. du Bois Lectures

The W. E. B. Du Bois Lectures

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Idolatry.

Race--Religious aspects.

Race.

Racism.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (248 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass : Harvard University Press, c2012.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

According to W. J. T. Mitchell, a "color-blind" post-racial world is neither achievable nor desirable. Against popular claims that race is an outmoded construct that distracts from more important issues, Mitchell contends that race remains essential to our understanding of social reality. Race is not simply something to be seen but is among the fundamental media through which we experience human otherness. Race also makes racism visible and is thus our best weapon against it.The power of race becomes most apparent at times when pedagogy fails, the lesson is unclear, and everyone has something to learn. Mitchell identifies three such moments in America's recent racial history. First is the post-Civil Rights moment of theory, in which race and racism have been subject to renewed philosophical inquiry. Second is the moment of blackness, epitomized by the election of Barack Obama and accompanying images of blackness in politics and popular culture. Third is the "Semitic Moment" in Israel-Palestine, where race and racism converge in new forms of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. Mitchell brings visual culture, iconology, and media studies to bear on his discussion of these critical turning points in our understanding of the relation between race and racism.

Contents:

Frontmatter

CONTENTS

ILLUSTRATIONS

PREFACE

Part I. Teachable Moments

Lecture 1. THE MOMENT OF THEORY

Lecture 2. THE MOMENT OF BLACKNESS

Lecture 3. THE SEMITIC MOMENT

Part II. Teachable Objects

Chapter 1. GILO'S WALL AND CHRISTO'S GATES

Chapter 2. BINATIONAL ALLEGORY

Chapter 3. MIGRATION, LAW, AND THE IMAGE

Chapter 4. IDOLATRY

CONCLUSION: MONEY AND MASQUERADE

NOTES

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

INDEX

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780674065352

0674065352

9780674069930

0674069935

OCLC:

794670868