tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post6096996492540289803..comments2024-03-28T20:14:01.928-05:00Comments on Althouse: Sherman Alexie explains why he didn't oust a poem from The Best American Poetry 2015 after he found the author, a white man, had used a Chinese pseudonym. Ann Althousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01630636239933008807noreply@blogger.comBlogger70125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-11460420048960731542015-09-08T23:31:00.114-05:002015-09-08T23:31:00.114-05:00Unless, of course, you're George Zimmerman. Th...<i>Unless, of course, you're George Zimmerman. Then you're a brown, white, Hispanic person of color who's an honorary Caucasian at least some of the time.</i><br /><br />Since we now have bad poetry and George Zimmerman on the same thread, I would like to present a parody of a Maya Angelou poem I copied from a the poster <b>dead</b> who I've read for many years at Free Republic. He ranks with Lazlo and <br />David "Iowahawk" Burge as interneters who make me laugh:<br /><br />********************************************************<br /><br /><b>Trayvon</b><br />by Maya Angelou <br /><br />I sing of thee Trayvon<br />Lamented burnt umber crayon<br />Shoud of stayed at home<br />and got your lay-on<br />But you heard the siren song of wet grass<br />and headed for Seven Elevon.<br /><br />Zimmerman the triggerman<br />Big game hunter lay in wait<br />White hispanic in a panic<br />Rubberheaded, held your fate.<br /><br />By punching him, you tried to reason<br />You cant of known - was black-boy season<br />Stand your ground, ground and pound,<br />Frito Bandito shot you down.eddie willershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04624004872700778288noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-71534996702380340202015-09-08T10:40:07.402-05:002015-09-08T10:40:07.402-05:00A poem by me, a married, overweight, heterosexual,...A poem by me, a married, overweight, heterosexual, white male:<br /><br />My dog likes to sleep on the bed with us. <br />I never forget to give him his flea pills. <br />Not after that one time. <br />Black Labs hide fleas real well, <br />until the fleas hit my frog belly skin. <br />My white guilt arose from the itching. mikeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17875483485290838207noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-88360695885400366262015-09-08T10:15:40.603-05:002015-09-08T10:15:40.603-05:00A poem by Sherman Alexie & the 4th Order Eddin...A poem by Sherman Alexie & the 4th Order Eddington Monkey.<br /><br /><br /><i>Grief Calls Us to Blue Telephones.<br /><br />Hey, Ma,<br />I wonder whom I should call?<br /><br />A plumber answers.<br />I made him a cup of days.<br /><br />And haul us, prey and praise, to the bathroom telephone.<br />They slap our souls with their cold wings of instant coffee.<br /><br />I wonder who forgot forgetfulness<br />At this five-star hotel.</i>Fernandinandehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11253225431705407699noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-37223331941013784372015-09-08T09:42:14.745-05:002015-09-08T09:42:14.745-05:00"I was practicing a form of literary justice ...<i>"I was practicing a form of literary justice ...</i><br /><br />If you truly wanted a "best of" collection and were obsessively worried about bias, perhaps you'd have someone remove the authors' names from the works before you evaluated them?<br /><br />Affirmative action intended to correct biases of the past assumes you can apply a bias that is precisely opposite the original bias and of precisely equal strength, so as to exactly neutralize the original bias. <br /><br />BUT assuming you can do that requires a hubris similar to that of a central planner's belief that planning can replace markets, in that it assumes a god-like omniscience. With due respect, neither you nor anyone else ever has been or will ever be good enough to pull that off.<br />Peterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16099940931064117337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-5854112567539296202015-09-08T09:31:10.488-05:002015-09-08T09:31:10.488-05:00Somehow I don't think the "Washington Bro...Somehow I don't think the "Washington Brownskins" would fare any better in the court of public opinion. Known Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15029003649395214104noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-25109810374239981522015-09-08T09:30:46.009-05:002015-09-08T09:30:46.009-05:00If Alexie had pulled the poem, some might have pro...If Alexie had pulled the poem, some might have protested that he was an, um, ... nevermind. <br /><br />Known Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15029003649395214104noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-38113799229978951432015-09-08T08:52:55.304-05:002015-09-08T08:52:55.304-05:00Using racism to get some poetry in the news is a c...Using racism to get some poetry in the news is a clever idea.Fernandinandehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11253225431705407699noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-87178714134663094382015-09-08T08:19:17.555-05:002015-09-08T08:19:17.555-05:00I can't believe no one reference the Seinfeld ...I can't believe no one reference the Seinfeld episode that dealt with this exact thing:<br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsKpShq2X6s Amyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00172273210085495482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-35661555451732667462015-09-08T08:01:19.585-05:002015-09-08T08:01:19.585-05:00I was a co-editor (one male, one female, both of u...I was a co-editor (one male, one female, both of us very white) of my high school literary publication back when Eddy Murphy was dropping his rhymes - well before rap!<br /><br />Our publication included a 5-minute composition, penned in front of our class by the Tennis Coach / Driver's Ed teacher, an immensely popular figure in out school. It also included a few anonymous submissions, which irritated the selection committee because they had to judge the merit of the writing, rather than the popularity of the author.<br /><br />Our publication also included a pencil drawing of drowned Ophelia from Hamlet on the cover. This picture, our HS Principal told us, after we chose it, reminded him of the bodies on the Normandy Beaches three days after D-Day. He was a black soldier in WWII, doing Graves duty, collecting and burying the dead across Europe. Other than telling us that, he said nothing about our choice of cover art.mikeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17875483485290838207noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-76599816507116820322015-09-08T07:12:43.302-05:002015-09-08T07:12:43.302-05:00Let’s not forget the Eddie Murphy Saturday Night L...Let’s not forget the Eddie Murphy Saturday Night Live “Prose and Cons” skit. <br /><br />Dark and lonely on the summer night<br />Kill my landlord, kill my landlord<br />Watchdog barking — do he bite? <br />Kill my landlord, kill my landlord<br />JSDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07431623045562928297noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-63192026565274822902015-09-08T07:11:39.795-05:002015-09-08T07:11:39.795-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.roundeyehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14134002062962448706noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-48717956451786208442015-09-08T06:51:26.045-05:002015-09-08T06:51:26.045-05:00It's always funny seeing how racist Progressiv...It's always funny seeing how racist Progressives are.<br /><br />"I'll pay special attention to minority applicants" means "Dark-skinned folks can't write poetry for shit and I'll have to protect them and put a few in there".<br /><br />Bush's "soft bigotry of low expectations" is part and parcel of the Progressive mindset.damikeschttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02133230009952160269noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-64793421694026526372015-09-08T04:32:00.901-05:002015-09-08T04:32:00.901-05:00As if anyone gives a damn, much less two shits, mo...As if anyone gives a damn, much less two shits, more about poetry than politics.<br /><br />rcommalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00301180339680504471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-72092918236331719252015-09-07T23:19:22.599-05:002015-09-07T23:19:22.599-05:00"two wrongs don't make a right." -Mo..."two wrongs don't make a right." -MomChaniehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00576640463634087539noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-5929617023530946292015-09-07T23:19:04.393-05:002015-09-07T23:19:04.393-05:00Keep slicing and dicing us up by factors like gend...Keep slicing and dicing us up by factors like gender and race, eventually you'll nick yourself pretty severely.<br /><br />JAOREhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11819907966430540035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-11587112782967999992015-09-07T23:08:42.885-05:002015-09-07T23:08:42.885-05:00So, umm, "Sherman" is "Native Ameri...So, umm, "Sherman" is "Native American"? Sherman, as in William Tecumseh? <br /><br />I think Alan Sokal is at it again.<br /><br />Yi-Fen Choually, all diversity-mongering turns into simulacra of a hoax. Sebastianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00505631054204611033noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-941087424202085602015-09-07T22:35:26.064-05:002015-09-07T22:35:26.064-05:00Is Sherman Alexie admitting that he engaged in rac...Is Sherman Alexie admitting that he engaged in racial profiling?LTMGhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17144513674325866698noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-65305667768537504862015-09-07T22:33:44.254-05:002015-09-07T22:33:44.254-05:00The Sad Puppies and Rabid Puppies should employ th...The Sad Puppies and Rabid Puppies should employ this subterfuge next year for the Hugo's.Carnifexhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12561390087899686588noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-53634084516424545722015-09-07T21:55:04.286-05:002015-09-07T21:55:04.286-05:00Rob McLean said...
a white male, Michael Derrick H... Rob McLean said...<br />a white male, Michael Derrick Hudson, who'd adopted the pseudonym Yi-Fen Chou<br /><br />Sum Ting Wong.<br /><br />9/7/15, 8:43 PM<br /><br />Yu So Fa-Ni ;)averagejoehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10547697889115432019noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-55908018898501141892015-09-07T21:46:19.710-05:002015-09-07T21:46:19.710-05:00The last time I even glanced at a volume in "...The last time I even glanced at a volume in "The Best American Poetry" series was probably about 20 years ago, and I thought the best use for the book would be as a doorstop. Has anybody actually read any of the recent volumes in the series? I am wondering if they could actually be as horrific as I suppose they are........ELChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09755716607466641949noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-40891617229745604432015-09-07T21:28:44.151-05:002015-09-07T21:28:44.151-05:00I'm angry at Alexie's subterfuge of approp...I'm angry at Alexie's subterfuge of appropriating written language, the printed page, the internet, and the brain surgery that kept him from becoming retarded. These are the white man's things, and they don't belong to brown people like him.Char Char Binks, Esq.https://www.blogger.com/profile/10649888089413308406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-45512166369174076852015-09-07T21:25:47.927-05:002015-09-07T21:25:47.927-05:00" Kieth Nissen said...
"Pete" naile..." Kieth Nissen said...<br />"Pete" nailed it. Why are the names available to the judges in the first place? it is an invitation to racial and other discrimination."<br /><br />They were explicit about their intent to discriminate racially -- of course the names and bios were made available.clinthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15002827680487639155noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-77248520534241171602015-09-07T21:12:25.769-05:002015-09-07T21:12:25.769-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.JCChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16155396416213333906noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-5434330346782848602015-09-07T21:02:27.140-05:002015-09-07T21:02:27.140-05:00I am a brown-skinned poet who gave a better chance...<i>I am a brown-skinned poet who gave a better chance to another supposed brown-skinned poet because of our brownness....</i><br /><br />Just hilarious. The poor dope who could not get something published if he called himself Robinson Jeffers.Michael Khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18127450762129879267noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-44047563436270765132015-09-07T20:47:28.783-05:002015-09-07T20:47:28.783-05:00CWJ wrote:
"It would appear that Sherman Alex...CWJ wrote:<br />"It would appear that Sherman Alexie would reject a poem submitted by Sherman Alexie."<br />Nah. He would signal his NA background in his author bio. Alexie said the poem he chose did not have any overt Chinese references (he looked really hard), so Alexie probably figured that the Chinese name was an intentional signal that he was not a white male.<br />Alexie does not write literature, he writes explicitly Native American literature. I doubt that he realizes that he is getting paid to perform in the white man's theater for a white audience. Lewis Wetzelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01200232293505119133noreply@blogger.com