Anti Blackness v2

8/16/2019 Anti Blackness v2

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Anti-Blackness1N


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1NC – Short

State action and institutional ethics makes anti-blackness

worse - erases the exploitation of the black bodyWilderson, award-winning author of Incognegro: A Memoir of Exile andApartheid. He is one of two Americans to hold elected oce in the African National

!ongress and is a former insurgent in the AN!"s armed wing, !!" #$ran% &. III'Introduction: (nspea%a)le Ethics* Red, White, & Black: Cinema and the Strucure of U.S. Antagonisms, +g 1-1 //#e$ardin$ the Black position, some mi$ht ask why% after claims

successfully made on the state by the Ci&il #i$hts 'o&ement % do ( insist on

positin$ an operational analytic for cinema, 0lm studies, and political theory

that appears to be a dichotomous and essentialist pairin$ of 'asters and

Sla&es In other words, wh2 should we thin% of toda2"s &lac%s in the (3 as 3la4es

and e4er2one else #with the exception of Indians as Masters )ne could answer these 5uestions by demonstratin$ how nothin$ remotely approachin$ claims

successfully made on the State has come to pass* In other words, the

election of a Black +resident aside% police brutality% mass incarceration%

se$re$ated and substandard schools and housin$% astronomical rates of

,( infection% and the threat of bein$ turned away en masse at the polls

still constitute the li&ed experience of Black life. &ut such empirically based

re.oinders would lead us in the wron$ direction/ we would 0nd oursel&es

on solid2 $round% which would only mystify% rather than clarify% the

3uestion* We would be forced to appeal to facts%2 the historical record%2

and empirical markers of stasis and chan$e% all of which could be turned

on their head with more of the same* 4nderlyin$ such a downward spiral

into sociolo$y% political science% history% and5or public policy debates would

)e the 4er2 ru)ric that I am calling into 5uestion6 the $rammar of su7erin$

known as exploitation and alienation% the assumpti&e lo$ic whereby

sub.ecti&e dispossession is arri&ed at in the calculations between those

who sell labor power and those who ac3uire it. 6he &lac% 5ua the wor%er.

7rlando +atterson has alread2 dispelled this fault2 ontological grammar in 3la4er2

and 3ocial 8eath, where he demonstrates how and wh2 work% or forced labor% is

not a constituent element of sla&ery* )nce the solid2 plank of work2 is

remo&ed from sla&ery% then the conceptually coherent notion of claims

a$ainst the state28the proposition that the state and ci&il society areelastic enou$h to e&en contemplate the possibility of an emancipatory

pro.ect for the Black position8disinte$rates into thin air. 9he ima$inary of

the state and ci&il society is parasitic on the 'iddle +assa$e* +ut another

wa2: no sla4e, no world. And, in addition, as +atterson argues, no sla&e is in the

world* (f% as an ontolo$ical position% that is% as a $rammar of su7erin$% the

Sla&e is not a laborer but an anti-,uman% a positionality a$ainst which


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,umanity establishes% maintains% and renews it coherence% its corporeal

inte$rity/ if the Sla&e is % to )orrow from +atterson, $enerally dishonored %

perpetually open to $ratuitous &iolence% and &oid of kinship structure% that

is% ha&in$ no relations that need be reco$ni:ed% a bein$ outside of

relationality% then our analysis cannot be approached throu$h the rubric of

$ains or re&ersals in stru$$les with the state and ci&il society% not unlessand until the interlocutor 0rst explains how the Sla&e is of the world * 6he

onus is not on one who posits the Master93la4e dichotom2, )ut on the one who

argues there is a distinction )etween 3la4eness and &lac%ness. How, when, and

where did such a split occur 6he woman at the gates of !olum)ia (ni4ersit2 awaits

an answer.

9he world writ lar$e and ci&il society are preconditioned on thedestruction of the black positionalityWilderson, +rofessor (!I, !!" #$ran% &., '6he +rison 3la4e as Hegemon2"s#3ilent 3candal*, 3oc ustice ;< no= =


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attain the plane of reco$nition #Cest >=. 3pillers, $anon, and Hartman maintain

that the 4iolence that has positioned and repetiti4el2 re-positions the &lac% as a

4oid of historical mo4ement is without analog in the suDering d2namics of the

ontologicall2 ali4e. 6he 4iolence that turns the African into a thing is without analog

)ecause it does not simpl2 oppress the &lac% through tactile and empirical

technologies of oppression, li%e the 'little famil2 5uarrels* which for $anon exemplif2the ewish Holocaust. @ather, the gratuitous 4iolence of the &lac%"s 0rst ontological

instance, the Middle +assage, 'wiped out his9herF metaph2sicsGhis herF customs

and sources on which the2 are )ased* #&3CM 11ead #the Muselmenn amon$ them/ the >ead

ha&e the Blacks amon$ them*? 9his &iolence which turns a body into @esh%

ripped apart literally and ima$inati&ely % destroys the possibility of

ontolo$y because it positions the Black within an in0nite and

indeterminately horrifyin$ and open &ulnerability% an ob.ect made

a&ailable #which is to sa2 fungi)le for any sub.ect. As such, 'the black has no

ontolo$ical resistance in the eyes of the white man2 11! or% more

precisely% in the eyes of ,umanity

9he alternati&e is to re.ect the armati&e and reorientoursel&es towards the world throu$h an un@inchin$paradi$matic analysisWilderson 1! $ran% &. III, +h.8., Associate +rofessor at (! Ir4ine, former AN!mem)er, 'on some guerilla shit*, @ed, Chite &lac%: !inema and the 3tructure of

(.3. Antagonisms, pages ix-x, 7/F36@AN/E A3 it might seem, this )oo% proect )egan in 3outh Africa. >urin$ thelast years of apartheid ( worked for re&olutionary chan$e in both anunder$round and abo&e-$round capacity% for the Charterist 'o&ement in$eneral and the ANC in particular * 8uring this period% ( be$an to see howessential an un@inchin$ paradi$matic analysis is to a mo&ement dedicatedto the complete o&erthrow of an existin$ order* 9he neoliberalcompromises that the radical elements of the Chartist 'o&ement madewith the moderate elements were due% in lar$e part% to our inability orunwillin$ness to hold the moderates< feet to the 0re of a political a$endapredicated on an un@inchin$ paradi$matic analysis * Instead, we allowed ourenergies and points of attention to )e displaced )2 and onto pragmatic

considerations. 3impl2 put, we abdicated the power to pose the 3uestion8and the power to pose the 3uestion is the $reatest power of all* Elsewhere,I ha4e written a)out this unfortunate turn of e4ents #Incognegro: A Memoir of Exileand Apartheid, so Ill not rehearse the details here. 3uce it to sa2, this )oo%germinated in the man2 political and academic discussions and de)ates that I wasfortunate enough to )e a part of at a historic moment and in a place where the wordre4olution was spo%en in earnest, free of 5uali0ers and iron2. $or their past andongoing ideas and inter4entions, I extend solidarit2 and appreciation to comradesAmanda Alexander, $ranco &archiesi, 6eresa &arnes, +atric% &ond, Ashwin 8esai,


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Nigel /i)son, 3te4en /reen)erg, Allan HorowitJ, &ush2 Kele)on2e #deceased, 6efuKele)on2e, (lri%e Kistner, Kamogelo Le%u)u, Andile Mngxitama, +rishani Naidoo,

ohn 3hai, and 3)u ulu


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1NC – Don$

State action and institutional ethics makes anti-blacknessworse - erases the exploitation of the black body

Wilderson " #award-winning author of Incognegro: A Memoir of Exile and Apartheid. He is one of twoAmericans to hold elected oce in the African National !ongress and is a former insurgent in the AN!"s armedwing, =


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no relations that need be reco$ni:ed% a bein$ outside of relationality% then

our analysis cannot be approached throu$h the rubric of $ains or re&ersals

in stru$$les with the state and ci&il society% not unless and until the

interlocutor 0rst explains how the Sla&e is of the world * 6he onus is not on

one who posits the Master93la4e dichotom2, )ut on the one who argues there is a

distinction )etween 3la4eness and &lac%ness. How, when, and where did such asplit occur 6he woman at the gates of !olum)ia (ni4ersit2 awaits an answer.

9he promotion of ci&il society and institutional ethics creates astate of emer$encyWilderson, +rofessor (!I, !!" #$ran% &., '6he +rison 3la4e as Hegemon2"s#3ilent 3candal*, 3oc ustice ;< no= =


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9he world writ lar$e and ci&il society are preconditioned on thedestruction of those in the black positionalityWilderson, +rofessor (!I, !!" #$ran% &., '6he +rison 3la4e as Hegemon2"s#3ilent 3candal*, 3oc ustice ;< no= ==. 3pillers, $anon, and Hartman maintain

that the 4iolence that has positioned and repetiti4el2 re-positions the &lac% as a4oid of historical mo4ement is without analog in the suDering d2namics of the

ontologicall2 ali4e. 6he 4iolence that turns the African into a thing is without analog

)ecause it does not simpl2 oppress the &lac% through tactile and empirical

technologies of oppression, li%e the 'little famil2 5uarrels* which for $anon exemplif2

the ewish Holocaust. @ather, the gratuitous 4iolence of the &lac%"s 0rst ontological

instance, the Middle +assage, 'wiped out his9herF metaph2sicsGhis herF customs


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and sources on which the2 are )ased* #&3CM 11ead #the Muselmenn amon$ them/ the >ead

ha&e the Blacks amon$ them*? 9his &iolence which turns a body into @esh%ripped apart literally and ima$inati&ely % destroys the possibility of

ontolo$y because it positions the Black within an in0nite and

indeterminately horrifyin$ and open &ulnerability% an ob.ect made

a&ailable #which is to sa2 fungi)le for any sub.ect. As such, 'the black has no

ontolo$ical resistance in the eyes of the white man2 11! or% more

precisely% in the eyes of ,umanity

9he alternati&e is to re.ect the armati&e and reorient

oursel&es towards the world throu$h an un@inchin$

paradi$matic analysis

Wilderson 1! $ran% &. III, +h.8., Associate +rofessor at (! Ir4ine, former AN!mem)er, 'on some guerilla shit*, @ed, Chite &lac%: !inema and the 3tructure of

(.3. Antagonisms, pages ix-x, 7/F

36@AN/E A3 it might seem, this )oo% proect )egan in 3outh Africa. >urin$ thelast years of apartheid ( worked for re&olutionary chan$e in both anunder$round and abo&e-$round capacity% for the Charterist 'o&ement in$eneral and the ANC in particular * 8uring this period% ( be$an to see howessential an un@inchin$ paradi$matic analysis is to a mo&ement dedicatedto the complete o&erthrow of an existin$ order* 9he neoliberal

compromises that the radical elements of the Chartist 'o&ement madewith the moderate elements were due% in lar$e part% to our inability orunwillin$ness to hold the moderates< feet to the 0re of a political a$endapredicated on an un@inchin$ paradi$matic analysis * Instead, we allowed ourenergies and points of attention to )e displaced )2 and onto pragmaticconsiderations. 3impl2 put, we abdicated the power to pose the 3uestion8and the power to pose the 3uestion is the $reatest power of all* Elsewhere,I ha4e written a)out this unfortunate turn of e4ents #Incognegro: A Memoir of Exileand Apartheid, so Ill not rehearse the details here. 3uce it to sa2, this )oo%germinated in the man2 political and academic discussions and de)ates that I wasfortunate enough to )e a part of at a historic moment and in a place where the wordre4olution was spo%en in earnest, free of 5uali0ers and iron2. $or their past and

ongoing ideas and inter4entions, I extend solidarit2 and appreciation to comradesAmanda Alexander, $ranco &archiesi, 6eresa &arnes, +atric% &ond, Ashwin 8esai,Nigel /i)son, 3te4en /reen)erg, Allan HorowitJ, &ush2 Kele)on2e #deceased, 6efuKele)on2e, (lri%e Kistner, Kamogelo Le%u)u, Andile Mngxitama, +rishani Naidoo,

ohn 3hai, and 3)u ulu


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+olicin$5Settler societies allow for the black body to be ama$net for $ratuitous &iolenceWilderson, +rofessor (!I, !!" #$ran% &., '6he +rison 3la4e as Hegemon2"s#3ilent 3candal*, 3oc ustice ;< no= =


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Dinks


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Globali:ation

White supremacy is built on the practice and promotion ofracism on a $lobal le&el#abaka !!J #@eiland @a)a%a, ? August =


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,e$ Bad

White ,e$emony perpetuates white supremacy which destroysnon-white peoples sub.ecti&ity#abaka !!J #@eiland @a)a%a, ? August =


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Fthics

'odern politics dictates what is and what is not ethical* Stateinstitutions .ustify di7erent forms of &iolence

Wilderson, award-winning author of Incognegro: A Memoir of Exile and Apartheid. He is one oftwo Americans to hold elected oce in the African National !ongress and is a former insurgent in theAN!"s armed wing, !1! #$ran% &. III 'Introduction: (nspea%a)le Ethics* Red, White, & Black:Cinema and the Structure of U.S. Antagonisms, +g - //

Lea4ing aside for the moment their state of mind, it would seem that the structure, that is to sa2the re)ar, or )etter still the grammar of their demandsRand, )2 extension, the grammar of their suDeringRwas

indeed an ethical grammar. +erhaps their $rammars are the only ethical $rammarsa&ailable to modern politics and modernity writ lar$e% for they draw ourattention not to the way in which space and time are used and abused byenfranchised and &iolently powerful interests% but to the &iolence thatunderwrites the modern worldOs capacity to think% act% and exist spatiallyand temporally* 9he &iolence that robbed her of her body and him of hisland pro&ided the sta$e upon which other &iolent and consensual dramascould be enacted* 9hus% they would ha&e to be cra:y% cra:y enou$h to callnot merely the actions of the world to account but to call the world itselfto account% and to account for them no lessP 6he woman at !olum)ia was not demandingto )e a participant in an unethical networ% of distri)ution: she was not demanding a place within capital, a piece ofthe pie #the demand for her sofa notwithstanding. @ather, she was articulating a triangulation )etween, on the one

hand, the loss of her )od2, the 4er2 dereliction of her corporeal integrit2, what Hortense 3pillers charts as thetransition from bein$ a bein$ to becomin$ a bein$ for the captor* #=


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9he State

We cannot resol&e anti-blackness throu$h the state because of the institutions ethics and actin$ throu$h the state makes

anti-blackness worse because it erases the existence of theblack body – the state forecloses the possibility of humanityfor those in the non-human positionalityWilderson, award-winning author of Incognegro: A Memoir of Exile and Apartheid. He is one oftwo Americans to hold elected oce in the African National !ongress and is a former insurgent in the

AN!"s armed wing, !1! #$ran% &. III 'Introduction: (nspea%a)le Ethics* Red, White, & Black:Cinema and the Structure of U.S. Antagonisms, +g 1-1 //

#e$ardin$ the Black position, some mi$ht ask why% after claimssuccessfully made on the state by the Ci&il #i$hts 'o&ement% do ( insist onpositin$ an operational analytic for cinema, 0lm studies, and political theory thatappears to be a dichotomous and essentialist pairin$ of 'asters andSla&es In other words, wh2 should we thin% of toda2"s &lac%s in the (3 as 3la4es and e4er2one else #with theexception of Indians as Masters )ne could answer these 5uestions by demonstratin$ hownothin$ remotely approachin$ claims successfully made on the State hascome to pass* In other words, the election of a Black +resident aside% policebrutality% mass incarceration% se$re$ated and substandard schools andhousin$% astronomical rates of ,( infection% and the threat of bein$turned away en masse at the polls still constitute the li&ed experience ofBlack life. &ut such empirically based re.oinders would lead us in the wron$direction/ we would 0nd oursel&es on solid2 $round% which would onlymystify% rather than clarify% the 3uestion* We would be forced to appeal tofacts%2 the historical record%2 and empirical markers of stasis andchan$e% all of which could be turned on their head with more of the same* 4nderlyin$ such a downward spiral into sociolo$y% political science%

history% and5or public policy debates would )e the 4er2 ru)ric that I am calling into 5uestion6the $rammar of su7erin$ known as exploitation and alienation% theassumpti&e lo$ic whereby sub.ecti&e dispossession is arri&ed at in thecalculations between those who sell labor power and those who ac3uire it . 6he &lac% 5ua the wor%er. 7rlando +atterson has alread2 dispelled this fault2 ontological grammar in 3la4er2 and

3ocial 8eath, where he demonstrates how and wh2 work% or forced labor% is not a constituentelement of sla&ery* )nce the solid2 plank of work2 is remo&ed fromsla&ery% then the conceptually coherent notion of claims a$ainst thestate28the proposition that the state and ci&il society are elastic enou$hto e&en contemplate the possibility of an emancipatory pro.ect for theBlack position8disinte$rates into thin air. 6he imaginar2 of the state and ci4il societ2 isparasitic on the Middle +assage. +ut another wa2: no sla4e, no world. And, in addition, as +atterson argues, no

sla&e is in the world* (f% as an ontolo$ical position% that is% as a $rammar of su7erin$% the Sla&e is not a laborer but an anti-,uman% a positionalitya$ainst which ,umanity establishes% maintains% and renews it coherence%its corporeal inte$rity/ if the Sla&e is% to )orrow from +atterson, $enerallydishonored% perpetually open to $ratuitous &iolence% and &oid of kinshipstructure% that is% ha&in$ no relations that need be reco$ni:ed% a bein$outside of relationality% then our analysis cannot be approached throu$hthe rubric of $ains or re&ersals in stru$$les with the state and ci&il


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society% not unless and until the interlocutor 0rst explains how the Sla&e isof the world* 6he onus is not on one who posits the Master93la4e dichotom2, )ut on the one who arguesthere is a distinction )etween 3la4eness and &lac%ness. How, when, and where did such a split occur 6he womanat the gates of !olum)ia (ni4ersit2 awaits an answer.


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State of Fmer$ency

9he discussion of ci&il society is fore&er tied to the discussionof policin$* 9he existence of a deni$rated position allows and

structures &iolence and policin$ – the existence of the non-human allows for the human and the world to existWilderson, +rofessor (!I, !!" #$ran% &., '6he +rison 3la4e as Hegemon2"s#3ilent 3candal*, 3oc ustice ;< no= =


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s Coherence of White Dife

Sla&ery led to the social death of the black body whichprecedes the corporeal death of the black body to ensure the

existence of white life – this means we are a prior 3uestion%social death precedes biolo$ical deathWilderson, +rofessor (!I, !!" #$ran% &., '6he +rison 3la4e asHegemon2"s #3ilent 3candal*, 3oc ustice ;< no= =


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Capitalism

Capitalism be$an throu$h the destruction of the black bodywhich means we ha&e a better articulation of why capitalism

exists* (tOs a se3uencin$ 3uestion% pro0t moti&e doesnOt makeany sense because it would ha&e been cheaper to $et thewhite underclass from FuropeWilderson, +rofessor (!I, !!" #$ran% &., '6he +rison 3la4e asHegemon2"s #3ilent 3candal*, 3oc ustice ;< no= =


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Fn&ironmental +olicy


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Fn&ironmental #e$ulations

Fn&ironmental antiblack racism is poisonin$ people of color

Bullard ! #@o)ert 8 &ullard +h.8, +o4ert2, +ollution, and En4ironmental @acism: 3trategies for&uilding Health2 and 3ustaina)le !ommunities,En4ironmental ustice !enter, !lar% Atlanta (ni4ersit2,http:99www.erc.cau.edu9+o4polE.html

6he (nited 3tates is the dominant economic and militar2 force in the world toda2. 6he Americaneconomic en$ine has $enerated massi&e wealth, high standard of li4ing, andconsumerism. 6his growth machine has also $enerated waste% pollution% and ecolo$icaldestruction* 6he (.3. has some of the )est en4ironmental laws in the world. Howe4er, in the real world, allcommunities are not created e3ual. Fn&ironmental re$ulations ha&e notachie&ed uniform bene0ts across all se$ments of society* HI Somecommunities are routinely poisoned while the $o&ernment looks the otherway* +eople of color around the world must contend with dirty air and drinkin$water% and the location of noxious facilities such as municipal land0lls%

incinerators% ha:ardous waste treatment% stora$e% and disposal facilitiesowned by pri&ate industry% $o&ernment% and e&en the military .;F 9heseen&ironmental problems are exacerbated by racism* Fn&ironmental racismrefers to en&ironmental policy% practice% or directi4e that diDerentiall2 aDects ordisad4antages #whether intended or unintended indi4iduals, groups, or communities )ased on race or color.

Fn&ironmental racism is reinforced by $o&ernment% le$al% economic%political% and military institutions* Fn&ironmental racism combines withpublic policies and industry practices to pro4ide )ene0ts for the countries in the North whileshifting costs to countries in the 3outh. ?F

http://www.ejrc.cau.edu/PovpolEj.htmlhttp://www.ejrc.cau.edu/PovpolEj.html#2endhttp://www.ejrc.cau.edu/PovpolEj.html#3endhttp://www.ejrc.cau.edu/PovpolEj.html#4endhttp://www.ejrc.cau.edu/PovpolEj.html#2endhttp://www.ejrc.cau.edu/PovpolEj.html#3endhttp://www.ejrc.cau.edu/PovpolEj.html#4endhttp://www.ejrc.cau.edu/PovpolEj.html


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Fn&ironmental (n.ustice

+oor communities are e7ected by en&ironmental in.ustices

#imes 1! #&en @imes, Apr 1?, =


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)il


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)il -R+oor Communities

9he demand for oil has put poor communities in constantdan$er*

Bullard ! #@o)ert 8 &ullard +h.8, +o4ert2, +ollution, and En4ironmental @acism:3trategies for &uilding Health2 and 3ustaina)le !ommunities,En4ironmental ustice!enter, !lar% Atlanta (ni4ersit2, http:99www.erc.cau.edu9+o4polE.htmlEn4ironmental racism also operates in the international arena )etween nations and )etween transnational

corporations. (ncreased $lobali:ation of the world


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,umanism


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,uman Eocus

Because the armati&es focuses on ,4'ANS% they also exclude the blackbody from their politics and this perpetuates anti-blackness whichmateriali:es in social death and white supremacy

Wilderson, award-winning author of Incognegro: A Memoir of Exile andApartheid. He is one of two Americans to hold elected oce in the African National

!ongress and is a former insurgent in the AN!"s armed wing, !1! #$ran% &. III'Introduction: (nspea%a)le Ethics* Red, White, & Black: Cinema and the Structureof U.S. Antagonisms, +g 1 //( ha&e little interest in assailin$ political conser&ati&es* Nor is my ar$ument wedded to the disciplinaryneeds of political science% or e&en sociolo$y% where in.ury must be established% 0rst% as WhiteSupremacist e&ent% from which one then embarks upon a demonstration of intent% or racism/ and% if

one is lucky% or foolish% enou$h% a solution is proposed* (f the position of the Black is % as (ar$ue% a paradi$matic impossibility in the Western ,emisphere% indeed% inthe world% in other words% if a Black is the &ery antithesis of a ,umansub.ect% as ima$ined by marxism and5or psychoanalysis% then his5her

paradi$matic exile is not simply a function of repressi&e practices on thepart of institutions as political science and sociolo$y would ha&e it* 9his banishmentfrom the ,uman fold is to be found most profoundly in the emancipatorymeditations of Black peopleOs staunchest allies%2 and in some of the mostradical2 0lms* ,ere8not in restricti&e policy% un.ust le$islation% policebrutality% or conser&ati&e scholarship8is where the Settler5'asterOssinews are most resilient


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Dan$ua$e of #ace

9he exploitation of the human metaphor leads to thearmati&eOs political discourse

Wilderson, award-winning author of Incognegro: A Memoir of Exile and Apartheid. He is one oftwo Americans to hold elected oce in the African National !ongress and is a former insurgent in theAN!"s armed wing, !1! #$ran% &. III 'Introduction: (nspea%a)le Ethics* Red, White, & Black:Cinema and the Structure of U.S. Antagonisms, //I am not suggesting that across the glo)e Humanism de4eloped in the same wa2 regardless of region or cultureBwhat I am sa2ing is that the late Middle Ages ga4e rise to an ontological categor2Ran ensem)le of commonexistential concernsRwhich made and continues to ma%e possi)le )oth war and peace, conQict and resolution,)etween the disparate mem)ers of the human race, east and west. 3enator 6homas Hart &enton intuited thisnotion of the existential commons when he wrote that though the 'Tellow race* and its culture had )een 'torpid andstationar2 for thousands of 2earsG Chites and AsiansF must tal% together, and trade together, and marr2 together.!ommerce is a great ci4iliJerRsocial intercourse as greatRand marriage greater* #6he !ongressional /lo)e. Ma2

=>, 1>?. >a&id Fltis points out that as late as the 1Jth century% HpIrisonerstaken in the course of Furopean military actionTcould expect death if theywere leaders% or banishment if they were deemed followers% but ne&er

ensla&ementT>etention followed by prisoner exchan$es or ransomin$ wascommon2 #1?1;. 'By the se&enteenth century% ensla&ement of fellowFuropeans was beyond the limits2 #1?=; of ,umanismOs existentialcommons% e&en in times of war* Sla&e status was reser&ed for non-Christians* E4en the latter group howe4erGhad some prospect of release in exchange for !hristians held )2rulers of Algiers, 6unis, and other Mediterranean Muslim powers* #emphasis mine 1?1;. But thou$h thepractice of ensla&in$ the &an3uished was beyond the limit of intra-Westwars and only practiced pro&isionally in Fast-West con@icts% the basenessof the option was not debated when it came to the African . 9he race of,umanism Chite, Asian, 3outh Asian, and Ara) could not ha&e produced itself withoutthe simultaneous production of that walkin$ destruction which becameknown as the Black . +ut another way% throu$h chattel sla&ery the world

$a&e birth and coherence to both its .oys of domesticity and to itsstru$$les of political discontent/ and with these .oys and stru$$les% the,uman was born% but not before it murdered the Black% for$in$ asymbiosis between the political ontolo$y of ,umanity and the social deathof Blacks.In his essa2 '6o U!orro)orate 7ur !laims": +u)lic +ositioning and the 3la4er2 Metaphor in@e4olutionar2 America,* +eter 8orse2 #in his concurrence with cultural historians $. Nwa)ueJe 7%o2e and +atricia

&radle2 suggests that, in mid- to late-1>th centur2 Ameri %ca, Blackness was such a fun$iblecommodity that it was traded as freely between the exploited #workerswho did not own2 sla&es as it was between the un-exploited #planterswho did. 9his was due to the e7ecti&e uses to which Whites could put theSla&e as both @esh and metaphor* Eor the #e&olutionaries% sla&eryrepresented a Uni$htmareO that white Americans were tryin$ to a&oid2 #;O.

8orse2"s claim is pro4ocati4e, )ut not unsupported: he maintains that had Blacks-as-Sla&esnot been in the White 0eld of &ision on a daily basis that it would ha&ebeen &irtually impossible for Whites to transform themsel&es from colonialsub.ects into #e&olutionaries: Especiall2 prominent in the rhetoric and realit2 of the @e4olutionar2Fera, the concepts of freedom and sla&ery were applied to a wide &ariety of e&entsand &alues and were constantly bein$ de0ned and rede0nedGHFIarlyunderstandin$s of American freedom were in many ways dependent onthe existence of chattel sla&eryTHWe shouldI see sla&ery in re&olutionarydiscourse% not merely as a hyperbolic rhetorical de&ice but as a crucial and


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@uid Hfun$ibleI concept that had a ma.or impact on the way earlyAmericans thou$ht about their political futureG9he sla&ery metaphordestabili:ed pre&iously accepted cate$ories of thou$ht about politics%race% and the early republic. #;


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#eform5Ereedom

,umans are stuck in self ad.ustment and reform – perpetuatin$the existence of a ci&il society which necessitates for black

non-existenceWilderson, award-winning author of Incognegro: A Memoir of Exile and Apartheid. He is one oftwo Americans to hold elected oce in the African National !ongress and is a former insurgent in the

AN!"s armed wing, !1! #$ran% &. III 'Introduction: (nspea%a)le Ethics* Red, White, & Black:Cinema and the Structure of U.S. Antagonisms, +g ;1-;= //

Black sla&ery is foundational to modern ,umanismOs ontics becausefreedom2 is the hub of ,umanismOs in0nite conceptual tra.ectories. &ut thesetraectories onl2 appear to )e in0nite. 9hey are 0nite in the sense that they arepredicated on the idea of freedom fromT some contin$ency that can benamed% or at least conceptuali:ed* 9he contin$ent rider could be freedomfrom patriarchy% freedom from economic exploitation% freedom frompolitical tyranny #for example, taxation without representation, freedom from

heteronormati&ity% and so on* Chat I am suggesting is that 0rst, political discoursereco$ni:es freedom as a structurin$ ontolo$ic and then it works todisa&ow this reco$nition by ima$inin$ freedom not throu$h politicalontolo$yRwhere it rightfull2 )eganRbut throu$h political experience and practice/whereupon it immediately loses its ontolo$ical foundations. Ch2 would an2one dothis Ch2 would an2one start oD with, 5uite literall2, an earth-shattering ontologic and, in the process of meditating

on it and acting through it, reduce it to an earth reforming experience Why do ,umans take suchpride in self-ad.ustment% in diminishin$% rather than intensifyin$% thepro.ect of liberation #how did we get from "> to the present Because% I contend, in allowin$the notion of freedom to attain the ethical purity of its ontolo$ical status%one would ha&e to lose oneOs ,uman coordinates and become Black* Whichis to say one would ha&e to die*


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'odernity

+olitical discourses that are rooted in sla&ery and su7erin$exploits the ima$e of the black body

Wilderson, award-winning author of Incognegro: A Memoir of Exile and Apartheid. He is one oftwo Americans to hold elected oce in the African National !ongress and is a former insurgent in theAN!"s armed wing, !1! #$ran% &. III 'Introduction: (nspea%a)le Ethics* Red, White, & Black:Cinema and the Structure of U.S. Antagonisms, +g =-=> //Again, what is important for us to glean from these historians is that the pre-!olum)ian period, the Late MiddleAges, re4eals no archi4e of de)ate on these three 5uestions as the2 might )e related to that massi4e group of&lac%-s%inned people south of the 3ahara. Eltis suggests that there was indeed massi4e de)ate which ultimatel2 ledto &ritain ta%ing the lead in the a)olition of sla4er2, )ut he reminds us that that de)ate did not ha4e its roots in thelate Middle Ages, the post-!olum)ian period of the 1

Documents

Anti Blackness v2