(RainbowNetwork.com, 10.05)
Inga Muscio (pronounced Mue-see-oh, she says) is the fierce American dyke who wrote the fearless debut, Cunt. Now her fans, who have waited a long time for a follow up, can feast their eyes on the Autobiography of a Blue-Eyed Devil. The book is a searing exploration of race, white supremacism and more. It is utterly compelling. At the tail end of Black History Month in the UK, we invited Muscio to talk.What do you think of Black History Month?
Black History Month inspires conflicting feelings in my heart. In one way of thinking, designating a month in 'honour' of a specific demographic compartmentalises history as well as the demographics it allegedly represents. How does any country that benefited from slavery separate the history of black people from the history of white people? Are the practices of slavery, colonisation, imperialism and genocide factored into the 'normal' Anglo history of England? If so, are the black people, governments and movements who resisted these crimes against humanity held in the same celebratory light as white explorers, discoverers and noblemen?
If a 'black' history is needed, then it stands to reason that a 'white' history must also have its place. And 'white' history does have its place, but it is just called regular ol' 'history'.
If this 'normal' history's sole purpose was not to rationalise the actions of racist white people of the past to justify the actions of racist white people in the present, then there would be no need to racialise history at all.
Furthermore, Black History Month serves white people by allowing them to think that 'things' have 'changed' and since 'we' are willing to acknowledge that black people, ahem, existed at all in the past, then 'we' are all due for a back-slapping, multi-cultural gladfest.
In another way of thinking, Black History Month does serve many black communities by celebrating the heroes and those who resisted white supremacist racism. This is an important factor in building self-esteem, something most white kids and adults completely take for granted. Lifelong dreams, business schemes and brilliant hip hop songs are inspired in classrooms where - for one month - children learn about the feats and accomplishments of their distant ancestors.
Overall, however - and I don't know how this plays out in England - but in the US the black people who are 'celebrated' are generally presented as non-threatening. We somehow pay lip service to Harriet Tubman's Underground Railroad without ever truly examining the life of this amazing woman, or, indeed, exactly how the Underground Railroad functioned.
"She did something great in the name of freedom and now class, let's move onto George Washington Carver."
Your book seems particularly prescient in the light of Hurricane Katrina. What long-term effects do you think that the events that are happening in New Orleans will have on racism in America?
Last night I read that Katrina was responsible for the deaths of 1,200 people and I had to refrain from throwing my computer against the wall. Katrina, the hurricane, is not responsible for the deaths of 1,200 people. The gentrification-minded developers who bided their time, waiting for 'the big one' the hit New Orleans, and the government who represented these developers were responsible.
I do not know how the US government is represented in the UK press, but here, they 'bungled' the rescue effort. It was 'botched' and 'mismanaged'. Bullshit. It was a systematic genocidal effort to cleanse New Orleans of its black majority so the city could be turned into a 'safe' white tourist destination.
The levees in the Ninth Ward were not breached by Hurricane Katrina. They were purposely breached by a barge after the hurricane hit. THEN the Ninth Ward flooded.
People from all over the country - doctors, chefs, nurses, massage therapists, boat owners, emergency response technicians and just generally devastated individuals who were beside themselves with grief - rushed to the city to help in any way they could. They were turned away.
Those remaining in New Orleans were not allowed to leave the city by the only functioning bridge because white sheriffs guarded the bridge and would not let people pass. And before the hurricane hit, bus companies and Amtrak (the US's sole passenger train company) offered to help evacuate people (who were, instead, later left to die of thirst, starvation or violence in the Superdome), but their offers were ignored or spurned.
None of this is reported as part of the factual narrative in the mainstream US media. It is the same glossing over of history that always furthers the cause of white supremacist racism. The hurricane was responsible and white men are laughing all the way the to tax-payer funded bank accounts in anticipation of the casinos and hotels they plan to erect in an historically proud black community.
And the people who left New Orleans are still not being cared for. Cities all over the US are turning evacuees/refugees away. Most of the tangible, daily life help people are receiving is from the black and/or Muslim communities. So this in one of the positive things that has come from this crime against humanity. Black people in the US have united in ways that I have not yet witnessed in my lifetime. It has been a grim, live-action, fully televised reminder of the past for anyone versed in US history.
One other positive outcome is the undoing of the Bush administration. Whether one embraces the 'bungling government' narrative, the 'systematic genocide' narrative or any narrative in between, Hurricane Katrina whipped the mask off this fraudulent government for all the world to see. Blessed goddamn be.
What three everyday things should people do to make the world a less racist place?
1. Instead of watching TV create something. I recently read about an activist group here in Portland called Sisters in Action for Power. With a name like that, how could they possibly go wrong? This is a group of teenage girls who want the city to stop charging high school kids to ride the bus. For the time being, that is their entire focus. They aren't addressing the violence of a society that administers global sanctions. They focus on an intimate sanction in their immediate lives.
So far, the city has stopped charging kids who get free lunches at school, but the Sisters in Action for Power are not making that demand. No kids are to pay to ride the bus to school. Period. If you are not watching the telly and are involving yourself with bettering the community in which you live, in some organic, fractalised way or another, you will inevitably be making the world a less racist, sexist, homophobic and earth killing place.
2. If you are white, speak up. You know when another white person is enacting bullshit daily life white supremacist racism. You see it all the time and you choose to remain silent. You get cut some slack because the acceptance of white supremacist racism was rammed into your head since the day you set your pink babyass on the planet, but you see it. I know you do. Say something.
The objective of speaking up is not to change others. It is in defence of your own humanity. If you choose to view the white supremacist racism in the world, you will have the opportunity to speak up almost every single time you are in the presence of other white people. Saying something also includes writing letters to the editor.
If you are a person of colour, see #1 again. I cannot advise a person of colour to speak up because white people tend to ostracise, disenfranchise, fire and /or kill people of colour for speaking up. This, of course, doesn't necessarily hinder folks from speaking up, but people of colour are much more likely to experience direct harm from speaking up than a white person is.
3. Teach your children the general history of your country that includes everyone.
What's your greatest hope for Autobiography of a Blue Eyed Devil?
I am filled with hope that it will be used as a weapon by marginalised people, and as a semi-loving wake-up call for those who abide with the marginalisation of anyone.
Inga La Gringa