“In much of your work, you centralize black subjectivity in ways that do not allow whiteness to rewrite itself using the black face as though it's another frontier, another blank page, which whiteness can conquer and consume.”
I never really thought of whiteness being a blank page where oneself can be projected upon when it comes to art, music, movies/tv shows. It reminds me of a discussion I have seen in the book community, where books that are written by men aren’t exclusive to only men but when a woman writes a book then suddenly it’s a girly book regardless of the plot/topics discussed in the book. Similarly, when stories about people of color are talked about some people, mainly white folk, don't see how to relate to it, even if the topics have nothing to do with race.
“And it is not merely white people who look at the black image with the colonizing gaze. We have all been taught to look at black images with a colonizing eye…Exactly, though it is often black folks, and other nonwhite viewers, who are most eager to shift their gaze-to make the leap and see with new eyes.”
Whiteness or that perception of whiteness being the best has not been an ideology exclusive to white people but has spread to non-white people. This is seen through not only racism but also colorism, which is the prejudice or discrimination of people who are darker but in the same ethnic group. Across all ethnic groups, I would say, have a weird fascination with being as white as possible. But it is also true that non-white folk tend to be the ones who will discard this colonizing gaze, I think this comes from being able to understand and sympathize with other non-white people.
Notes:
The part that most caught my attention was just how both bell hooks and Carrie Mae Weems talked about critics. They both agreed that when it comes to work that is made by black people it is automatically seen mostly for its blackness and criticism of racism, disregarding what the actual intent of the artist is. Hooks says that Weems' series “Kitchen Table” is about gender, intimacy and dominance but since the photos portray black figures, people only tend to focus on that rather than the bigger picture being told.
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