The Fire Now: Anti-Racist Scholarship in Times of Explicit Racial Violence

Description

Not so long ago, many talked complacently of a post-racial era, claiming that advances made by people of color showed that racial divisions were becoming a thing of the past. But the hollowness of such claims has been exposed by the rise of Trump and Brexit, both of which have revealed deep-seated white resentment and have been attended by a resurgence in hate crime and overt racial hatred on both sides of the Atlantic. At a time when progress toward equality is not only stalling, but being actively reversed, how should anti-racist scholars respond? This collection carries on James Baldwin’s legacy of bearing witness to racial violence in its many forms. Its authors address how we got to this particular moment, arguing that it can only be truly understood by placing it within the wider historical and structural contexts that normalize racism and white supremacy. Its chapters engage with a wide range of contemporary issues and debates, from the whiteness of the recent women’s marches, to anti-racist education, to the question of Black queer studies and queer intersectionality. Mapping out the problems we face, and the solutions we need, The Fire Now considers how anti-racist scholarship and activism can overcome the setbacks posed by the resurgence of white supremacism. Cover......Page 1 Praise for the Book......Page 2 About the Editors......Page 3 Title......Page 4 Copyright......Page 5 Contents......Page 6 About the Contributors......Page 10 Foreword: The Heat and the Burdens of the Day......Page 16 References......Page 20 Changing Our Fate in The Fire Now......Page 22 References......Page 29 Part I. Transforming Academia......Page 32 1. I Am Not a Writer......Page 34 2. An Academic Witness: White Supremacy within and beyond Academia......Page 36 Academia and White Supremacy: Contextualising Brexit and Trump......Page 38 Critiquing Whiteness in Academia......Page 40 Black Feminism and Dialogue......Page 42 Moving Forward......Page 43 Note......Page 44 References......Page 45 Introduction......Page 47 Understanding the Persistence of Racism in Higher Education......Page 49 Understanding the Impact of Racial Micro-aggression in Academia......Page 53 Conclusion......Page 55 References......Page 56 Introduction......Page 59 An Opening......Page 63 References......Page 64 5. Confronting My Duty as an Academic: We Should All Be Activists......Page 65 Be Aware and Critical of the Historical and Contemporary Role of the University......Page 67 Speak Truth to Power......Page 68 Be Supportive and Be Supported......Page 70 Know the Wider Communities......Page 71 Being Reflexive: Are We Doing More Harm Than Good?......Page 72 References......Page 74 Part II. Intersectional Identities, Intersectional Struggles......Page 78 6. Majority Monitoring......Page 80 7. Crippin’ Blackness: Narratives of Disabled People of Colour from Slavery to Trump......Page 81 Re-materialising Race and Disability......Page 84 Locating Hope in Times of Increasing Despair......Page 90 References......Page 92 Introduction......Page 95 The Human Rights Framework......Page 96 From Partial Bans to Total Bans......Page 101 Conclusion......Page 103 Notes......Page 104 References......Page 105 Introduction......Page 107 Racism and the Rise of the Right......Page 108 Racism Prior to the Women’s March......Page 109 Racism at the Women’s March on Washington......Page 112 Racism in Social Movements in the Trump Era......Page 113 Conclusion......Page 114 Note......Page 116 References......Page 117 Introduction: Environmental and Climate Justice......Page 120 Strange Weather Bears Strange Fruit......Page 123 When Will Black Lives Matter?......Page 125 ‘The Climate Crisis Is a Racist Crisis’ (Black Lives Matter UK, 2016)......Page 126 Debts Due, Not Aid Promised: Climate Justice Now!......Page 128 Note......Page 130 References......Page 131 Part III. Lessons from History, Connections Across Spaces......Page 136 11. Beware the Northern Fox: Keeping a Focus on Systematic Racism Post Trump and Brexit......Page 138 Southern Fox and the Northern Wolf......Page 139 Beware of the Fox Post-Brexit......Page 144 References......Page 148 12. This Ain’t Nothing New: Contextualising Black Responses to Trump’s America......Page 150 History Rewards Our Research......Page 151 Back to the Future: A Sleeping Giant Awakens......Page 155 References......Page 161 The Fight against Racism and the Open Resistance to Eurocentrism......Page 163 The Anti-Racism Struggle of Women in the Black Diaspora......Page 165 Anti-racism Today: How Far We Have Come......Page 166 Conclusion......Page 169 References......Page 170 Introduction......Page 171 Black Collectivism against Western Discrimination and Exploitation......Page 174 Counteracting Western Negativity wi th Positive Black Liberation......Page 177 The Legacy of Black Resistance......Page 179 References......Page 181 15. Could It Happen Here? Canada’s Multicultural Oasis and Global Right-Wing Drift......Page 183 Canada’s Multiculturalism and the Pretensions of Colour-Blindness......Page 184 Canada above the Fray?......Page 187 Defending Canadian Values, Canadian Family and the Place of ‘Old Stock’ Canadians......Page 190 Conclusion......Page 192 Notes......Page 193 References......Page 194 16. Domesticating Trump......Page 196 Banal Misogyny: From Kenya to the US......Page 198 #RailaAnotherTrump......Page 200 Anti-racist Solidarity?......Page 204 References......Page 206 Part IV. Understanding And Reframing Oppression......Page 208 17. Writing in the Fire Now: Beth Dialogues with Wambui and Osop......Page 210 Writings to and from Wambui and Beth......Page 211 Writings to and from Osop and Beth......Page 215 References......Page 218 Mundane Monstrosity......Page 219 The Morality of Trauma......Page 222 Political Identities......Page 223 Movements of Trauma......Page 225 I’m Here for a (Good) Time, Not a Long Time......Page 227 References......Page 228 Introduction......Page 230 The Stranger on the Shores of Britain......Page 231 Fundamental British Values (FBV)......Page 233 Reclaiming Multiculturalism, Rejecting Fundamental British Values......Page 234 Researching Youth Voices on Britishness and Belonging......Page 236 Conclusion: Examining British Identities through a Critical Lens......Page 238 Notes......Page 239 References......Page 240 Promoting Fundamental British Values......Page 244 Pursue, Protect, Prepare and Prevent: The Story of a Shipwreck and a Desert Island......Page 245 Winning Hearts and (Especially) Minds......Page 248 The Psychic Life of White Supremacy......Page 251 Conclusion......Page 252 References......Page 253 Introduction......Page 256 2016 Political Context......Page 257 Being-ness, Radicality and Black Feminism......Page 258 The Radicality of Being Exactly Who You Are......Page 259 Deregulating Blackness as an Intervention into White Supremacy......Page 261 Black Women Who Paved the Way in Volatile Times......Page 262 Surviving and Thriving: Listening to Black Women......Page 263 Psychological Disorientation and the Consequences of Taking Up Space......Page 264 Affirmation and Caring......Page 265 Paying It Forward: Community......Page 267 The Value of Being Exactly Who You Are......Page 268 References......Page 269 Divisive Nostalgia in Post-Brexit Britain......Page 271 Making Place as Shared Matter......Page 273 The Wonder of Place as Material Archive......Page 275 Laughter as Unpredictable Key to Place as Material Archive......Page 277 Conclusions......Page 279 References......Page 280 23. Demanding the Impossible: Responding to The Fire Now......Page 282 References......Page 286 Afterword......Page 287 References......Page 295 Index......Page 296