Social and Political Philosophy Workshop (MAP)
Organizer: Ashley Atkins
Speakers: Ashley Atkins, Alison Bailey, Xhercis Mendez
Western Michigan University, October 13, 2017
Speakers: Ashley Atkins, Alison Bailey, Xhercis Mendez
Western Michigan University, October 13, 2017
"Black Lives Matter or All Lives Matter? Color-blindness and Epistemic Injustice"
Ashley Atkins (Western Michigan)
My talk focuses on the interpretive debates surrounding the words 'Black lives matter.' According to some, these words bear an exclusionary interpretation roughly along the lines of 'Only black lives matter,' a reconstruction that helps to explain why objectors take these words to be racially divisive and even racist—a charge that is mystifying to defenders who claim that it simply means 'Black lives matter, too.' Is the exclusionary construal a mistake and if so, why is it that white interpreters, principally, have made it and why do they take 'All lives matter' to align more closely with their values? In my talk I argue that this construal is better understood as an interpretive injustice rather than a interpretive mistake. I also argue against the suggestion that it stems from an endorsement of a 'politically correct' form of color-blindness; the interpretive debates surrounding the words ‘Black lives matter’ are reminiscent of the interpretive debates surrounding 'Black Power,' associated with radical black liberation movements in the US in the 1960s, long before color-blindness might have been argued to be a prevailing ethos. Critical affirmations such as 'Black Power' and 'Black lives matter' have proved difficult for many interpreters to understand because of the way that these words manifest resistance to white supremacy, eschewing both racial exclusion and inclusion (the latter fact being masked by more inclusive reconstructions such as 'Black lives matter, too').
"White Talk, Ignorance, and Epistemic Closure"
Alison Bailey (Illinois State)
Perhaps you’ve heard white talk. It sounds like this…I’m not prejudiced. My ancestors never owned slaves. Anyway, that was a long time ago. I’m not responsible for the Indian Removal Act, Japanese internment or Native American genocide. I wasn’t even born yet. I have Black friends. I’m from a poor white family. We suffered too and you don’t hear us complaining. I’m queer, so I know what it feels like to be oppressed. And….shouldn’t it really be #AllLivesMatter! White talk is one example of the performative power of whiteness. It persists because it has a powerful moral and epistemic pay off for white folks. Morally, the conversational detours that characterize white talk reinforce white folks sense of well-being by repeatedly redirecting conversations on race back to our own goodness. White talk also has an epistemic dimension: it closes off alternative ways of knowing. We need a new entry point into this conversation: one that resists turning the conversation into either a forum about white goodness or into an ignorance management project. I offer some brief guidelines for how we might start this conversation based on recent philosophical writings on vulnerability.
"Transforming Carceral Logics: A Woman of Color Feminist Response to Gender-based Violence"
Xhercis Mendez (Michigan State)
With the increased militarization of police, the expansion and growth of anti-immigrant sentiment and ICE officials, and the on-going criminalization of poverty, communities of color often find themselves in a position where turning to the criminal justice system for help only exacerbates the amount of violence they are exposed to. This context of increased militarization and criminalization poses particular challenges for those facing various degrees of gender-based violence especially when they cannot rely upon the state for help. This presentation seeks to share some of the strategies and approaches being developed by women of color and LGBT folks of color in the U.S. to respond to gender-based violence within marginalized communities in order to explore how women of color are doing the work of transforming carceral logics and expanding our collective options for justice beyond retribution.
Ashley Atkins (Western Michigan)
My talk focuses on the interpretive debates surrounding the words 'Black lives matter.' According to some, these words bear an exclusionary interpretation roughly along the lines of 'Only black lives matter,' a reconstruction that helps to explain why objectors take these words to be racially divisive and even racist—a charge that is mystifying to defenders who claim that it simply means 'Black lives matter, too.' Is the exclusionary construal a mistake and if so, why is it that white interpreters, principally, have made it and why do they take 'All lives matter' to align more closely with their values? In my talk I argue that this construal is better understood as an interpretive injustice rather than a interpretive mistake. I also argue against the suggestion that it stems from an endorsement of a 'politically correct' form of color-blindness; the interpretive debates surrounding the words ‘Black lives matter’ are reminiscent of the interpretive debates surrounding 'Black Power,' associated with radical black liberation movements in the US in the 1960s, long before color-blindness might have been argued to be a prevailing ethos. Critical affirmations such as 'Black Power' and 'Black lives matter' have proved difficult for many interpreters to understand because of the way that these words manifest resistance to white supremacy, eschewing both racial exclusion and inclusion (the latter fact being masked by more inclusive reconstructions such as 'Black lives matter, too').
"White Talk, Ignorance, and Epistemic Closure"
Alison Bailey (Illinois State)
Perhaps you’ve heard white talk. It sounds like this…I’m not prejudiced. My ancestors never owned slaves. Anyway, that was a long time ago. I’m not responsible for the Indian Removal Act, Japanese internment or Native American genocide. I wasn’t even born yet. I have Black friends. I’m from a poor white family. We suffered too and you don’t hear us complaining. I’m queer, so I know what it feels like to be oppressed. And….shouldn’t it really be #AllLivesMatter! White talk is one example of the performative power of whiteness. It persists because it has a powerful moral and epistemic pay off for white folks. Morally, the conversational detours that characterize white talk reinforce white folks sense of well-being by repeatedly redirecting conversations on race back to our own goodness. White talk also has an epistemic dimension: it closes off alternative ways of knowing. We need a new entry point into this conversation: one that resists turning the conversation into either a forum about white goodness or into an ignorance management project. I offer some brief guidelines for how we might start this conversation based on recent philosophical writings on vulnerability.
"Transforming Carceral Logics: A Woman of Color Feminist Response to Gender-based Violence"
Xhercis Mendez (Michigan State)
With the increased militarization of police, the expansion and growth of anti-immigrant sentiment and ICE officials, and the on-going criminalization of poverty, communities of color often find themselves in a position where turning to the criminal justice system for help only exacerbates the amount of violence they are exposed to. This context of increased militarization and criminalization poses particular challenges for those facing various degrees of gender-based violence especially when they cannot rely upon the state for help. This presentation seeks to share some of the strategies and approaches being developed by women of color and LGBT folks of color in the U.S. to respond to gender-based violence within marginalized communities in order to explore how women of color are doing the work of transforming carceral logics and expanding our collective options for justice beyond retribution.