Stepping Outside the Classroom

Tuesday night I was able to attend Dr. Linda Martin-Alcoff’s philosophical presentation, "Can Whites Be A Part of the Rainbow?" Linda is a Professor of Philosophy, Women’s Studies, Political Science and is the Director of the Women’s Studies department at Syracuse University. Here she maintains how the color of our skin serves simply as an identity; a social role we incorporate into our lives. We must recognize that whiteness is present in our social institutions and is a social practice. This all varies, of course, according to gender, age, geographical region, time/history, ethnicity, and religion. As a result, it then becomes clear how false truths (such as whiteness being the ultimate and natural form of purity) about whiteness have shaped the way whites are positioned in the world. Linda suggests that we move on from white liberal guilt acknowledging that whites not only need to have an understanding of our history but need to work towards antiracist practices. In other words, saying that one isn’t racist doesn’t prove anything but it is our ACTIONS that will help make a difference in the future.

I was walking out of my acting class yesterday when I saw brochures for the current art exhibit in the student art gallery, The Richard F. Brush Art Gallery. I hadn’t been here in awhile so before the exhbit came to a close I wanted to take a peak before everything was removed. The Installation is called, "Horse Guts" by Simon Greenan and Christopher Sperandio featuring works by Frederic Remington (1861-1909), a famous Canton native.

With the help of Remington’s vision of the American West, Grennan and Sperandio demonstrate 19th century attitudes regaurding the use of animals during times of war. In addition, represntations of soldiers, calvarymen and cowboys which, while not relating to the exhibition’s main thesis, entertained the artists enough to be included in the installation.