Racial Erasure
by
Episode I: Cheongsam, Twitter, and What Constitutes Cultural Appropriation
In Spring of 2018, a white Utah teenager named Keziah Daum posted photos of herself and her prom date on Facebook and Twitter. She was wearing a red qi pao (or cheongsam), a traditional Chinese dress popularized in China in the 1920s. Twitter users quickly responded that her decision to wear the dress was an example of cultural appropriation. Others argued that it was simply cultural appreciation.
In this episode, we discuss the way that national and international media reported on this incident and examine the assumptions US commentators make how commentators in the United States make decisions about who is allowed to speak on behalf of whom. We also consider the utility of the concept of cultural appropriation itself.
In the background:
Sean Rossman, USA Today, “Chinese Prom Dress Draws Rage, But Utah Student Said She Meant No Harm.”
Sean Rossman, USA Today, “Chinese Are OK with Utah Teen’s Cheongsam Prom Dress.”
Samantha Schmidt, Washington Post, “‘It’s Just a Dress’: Teen’s Chinese Prom Attire Stirs Cultural Appropriation Debate.”
Philomena Essed and Sara Louise Muhr, Ephemera, “Entitlement Racism and Its Intersections: An Interview with Philomena Essed, Social Justice Scholar.”
Angela Helm, The Grapevine, “Jeremy Lin Claps Back at Kenyon Martin about His Locks: ‘You Have Chinese Tattoos.’”
Keziah Daum’s prom photos.
Jeremy Lam’s much-cited tweet.
Episode II: Is the Post-Human Post-Racial?
The Instagram user Lil Miquela (@lilmiquela) has 1.5 million followers, lucrative advertising deals with giants in the fashion industry, and a management team dedicated to helping her craft her influential personal brand. She’s also a self-identified robot. In this episode, we discuss the strategic use of Lil Miquela’s biracial identity, progressivism in the fashion industry, and ideas of a digital post-racial future.
In the background:
Ruha Benjamin, Race After Technology: Abolitionist Tools for the New Jim Code, forthcoming July 2019 from Polity Press.
Kat Stoeffel, The Cut, “I Think about This a Lot: When a 60-Something Feminist Artist Dragged Overgrown Skaters.”
Stephanie Phillips, Dazed Beauty, “Exploring Mixed Race Identity in CGI Influencers.”
Philomena Essed and Sara Louise Muhr, Ephemera, “Entitlement Racism and Its Intersections: An Interview with Philomena Essed, Social Justice Scholar.”
Lauren Michele Jackson, The New Yorker, “Shudu Gram is a White Man’s Digital Projection of Real-Life Black Womanhood.”
Sarah Ahmed, feministkilljoys, “Progressive Racism.”
Lil Miquela commenting on her racial identity. | Lil Miquela in front of Barbara Krueger’s Untitled (Questions).
