In my latest essay for ColorLines magazine, I catalogue the instances in which Mitt Romney and his surrogates have challenged President Obama’s fundamental claim on Americanness and have “otherized” the President with racialized attacks. Here’s an excerpt:
In a conference call with the conservative Faith and Freedom Coalition, Mitt Romney said President Obama has led an “assault on American values.” Romney has also accused President Obama of corrupting the American spirit and changing the “very fabric of our land.” Romney has said that while he believes America is exceptional and unique, President Obama thinks America is “just another nation with a flag.”
“The course we’re on right now is foreign to us,” Romney said of President Obama’s leadership. “It changes America.”
Taken in context with statements by Romney surrogates and other leading Republicans, it’s clear what ideas and sentiments Romney’s remarks are meant to trigger and echo
There’s more, and it will shock you. Read the full piece here.
Based on a speech I gave at the Brooklyn Museum of Art on June 11, 2011, for the organization Code Pink, this narrated slideshow asks why women’s bodies are so regularly, flagrantly violated while the arguably fictitious borders of nations are fiercely defended. It’s an intellectual but pointed meditation on the ideas and ideals that are shaping all of our lives right this minute.
I’d love your reaction/response.
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