“Je suis pas Charlie”:

Race, Islamophobia & Digital

communications

Alana Lentin,

University of Western Sydney

‘Context’ in this instance is better

understood as a synonym for

‘objectivity’, or as code for a race–

neutral stance, as though such a thing

existed, that implies rationality in the

face of over-reaction. The appeal for

context can be interpreted as an

appeal to a white analytics that

clashes with a black analytics, which

Hesse (2014) suggests in the context

of US sociology, struggles to define

race in the face of structural white

denial of its centrality.

The call for 'context'

http://rebloggy.com/post/racism-white-privilege-mike-brown-ferguson-casual-

racism-post-racial-racial-bias/95926642820

‘Meme-ing

Charlie Hebdo'

…the response to Charlie Hebdo in digital

spaces coalesced around what were

presented as easily translatable, ‘meme-

able’… and trasnationally applicable

problematics – freedom, morality,

universalism.'

www.understandingcharliehebdo.com/

Leigh Phillips in Ricochet

Olivier Tonneau in Mediapart/the Guardian

–Leigh Phillips

“the last few days have been a humiliation for

the anglophone left, showcasing to the world

how poor our ability to translate is these days

as so many people have posted cartoons on

social media that they found trawling Google

Images as evidence of Charlie Hebdo’s

“obvious racism,” only to be told by French

speakers how, when translated and put into

context, these cartoons actually are explicitly

anti-racist or mocking of racists and fascists.”

What was included and

what was left out?

More 'context'

from vox.com :

‘What everyone

gets wrong about

Charlie Hebdo

and Racism’

http://www.vox.co

m/2015/1/12/7518

349/charlie-

hebdo-racist

1. Laïcité and neutrality

'for ‘Anglo-Saxon leftists’, ‘laïcité is a barbaric custom of

the Gallic tribe, against which it is necessary to defend the

wearing of the veil as a form of anti-imperialist resistance,

and to excuse the fascist killers who they see as being

poor, working class, oppressed youth.’

Olivier Tonneau

Freedom of Speech

Islamophobia

'‘if you opposed the headscarf and burqa bans, then today

you must rally to the defence of freedom of expression

with respect to Charlie Hebdo… freedom of speech is not

a pick-and-choose buffet dinner’

Leigh Phillips

Whose antiracism?the defence of the 'not-Charlies [is] ‘an illogical,

self-destructive, identity politics mess.’

Leigh Phillips

‘describing Charlie as a “racist

publication” makes readers

think that the paper is akin to

the house journal of the

National Front.'

Leigh Phillips

‘SOS Racisme, the main anti-

racist NGO in the country, has

partnered with Charlie in the

past in campaigns against anti-

immigrant politics.’

Leigh Phillips

Charb: ’Yes, but I’m left-wing’

‘those that think of themselves as not-racist,

even anti-racist, are still fully capable of

racism. What CH’s contributors think is of no

consequence - it is both guilty of

propagating racism and supporting

Palestine and other progressive causes.’

Comment on Tonneau

‘the white person who whistles the

Marseillaise will be tolerated more

easily that the Arab who whistles it…

The Arab will be an “anti-French

racist’”, the white guy just a “leftist”.

The Arab doesn’t have the right to

be a leftist!’

Pierre Tévanien 2010 (interview with

Saidou)

‘When White leftists ask us ‘How do you connect races and classes?’ we should not answer…

because if they ask us this question, it is not simply for curiosity’s sake. At its core their question is

whether our struggle is a legitimate one, that is to say, from their point of view, does our struggle

reinforce their own or does it, on the contrary, weaken it? They want to know whether it

corresponds to the idea that they have of the struggle for emancipation - generous, general and

universalist. If they consider it not to be completely the case then, for them, it is worthless, it can

even appear to them to be damaging.’

Sadri Khiari, 2011