Miss Sheryl, Dontay, Bucket-Head and I compiled our loose change for a fifth of vodka. I’m the only driver, so I went to get it. On the way back I laughed at the local radio stations going on and on and on, still buzzing about Obama taking a selfie at Nelson Mandela’s funeral. Who cares?
No really, who? Especially since the funeral was weeks ago.
So begins D. Watkin's article 'Too Poor for Pop Culture'. The rest of it gets even better.
Reading this piece reminded me of two other essays that attempt to uncover the dangerous ways we think and talk about race and work. The first dismantles the destructive work mythology of 'Do What You Love', highlighting the implicit class divisions inherent in this credo and shedding light on the labor mill that is adjunct professorship. The second, a report titled 'Moving the Race Conversation Forward', takes traditional media to task for focusing on exceptional individual stories instead of working to expose systemic racism. Watkin's article seems like a good place to start if we want to reverse both of these pernicious public dialogues.
