(NAME-MCE) Intellectual lynching

[Teja Arboleda]

Intellectual lynching, as we know is prevalent and in many cases, the
driving force within the economic and social needs of many institutions. As
a professor, actor and television producer, this is what I talk about and
produce about, and yet, most of the world doesn't listen - rather, they
don't want to listen. I'm producing a new series of PBS, and the 'sell' for
the series, even for PBS is a struggle, because of what people are
comfortable with - yes, even the PBS audience.

My father's mother was from Hilton Head. Most of my Black relatives live in
trailers, mobile homes, and are systematically being squeezed off the land.
If a girl cries because she doesn't want to teach in a system with Black
kids, then I ask this question: Is she crying because she is scared? Or is
she crying because she feels guilty?

As an actor, I know that there will always be people of color in the
audition waiting rooms, but they won't actually get the jobs -this is the
way casting companies can prove to the world that they do audition, and
value diversity. But we know for a fact that Chris Tucker (Rush Hour I, II
and III) represents what the world wants to see - and he bows to the system
because it makes him wealthy. We talk about this in my last documentary,
"Crossing The Line: Multiracial Comedians".

And as a professor, I know that most young people have not been taught to
think outside of their experiences (including the limitations of diversity
in the media), so how can we expect them to jump in to a world that they've
been taught to be scared of? One of my interns who knows very well the kind
of work that I do told me that she doesn't like Black people (I nearly
jumped out of my seat). She explained that two Black guys killed her aunt,
and she was sexually molested by two Black men. I flipped the story by
eliminating the 'Black' quotient, and emphasized 'Men'. She stopped, thought
about it, shook her head as if she just realized that it's Men she doesn't
like, including her boyfriend...now that made me laugh!

Early experiences in life is what designs us. Without investing in the
future by training children to absorb diversity (not 'tolerate', because
that suggests resistance, and not 'acceptance' because that suggests
struggle), then intellectual lynching will be the design for profit and
power. 

--
There is no box.
 
Teja Arboleda, M.Ed.
Entertaining Diversity, Inc.
PO Box 126, Dedham, MA 02027
(781) 329-7040

Member: National Association for Multicultural Education (NAME)
Member: Alliance for a Media Literate America (AMLA)
Member: Filmmakers Collaborative