Censorship is a big issue in this article about Vanessa Place and her racially charged poetry. Apparently some people find it really offensive and traumatic, which is something I do not understand. I do not see this as an issue of being an ignorant white guy who does not know the struggles of race- I see it as an issue of common sense.
<—– Vanessa Place
“Place has written straightforward essays about “representing rapists and child molesters,” and in her poems she often plagiarizes, blatantly questioning the necessity of sincerity in a genre so supposedly free. Her work from inside the prison industrial complex, too, dismantles broader understandings of the system by too-strictly following its own rules. “Nobody likes these people,” she explains to me over coffee a couple weeks ago.” (DIS Magazine) http://dismagazine.com/discussion/77245/vanessa-displaced-racism-vs-censorship/
People who are familiar with Place’s technique would know she plagiarizes and does this to prove a point. It was “okay” when she was working with child molesters and rapists because I feel that a vast majority of people can agree that rapists and child molesters are not likeable figures. However, in her more recent work she plagiarizes racially charged statements from the American classic Gone with the Wind.
“It was an early iteration of the artwork that would get Place the most media attention she had ever seen. Familiar with guilt in all of its forms because of her day job, “Miss Scarlet” attempts to bring Place’s own white guilt (or responsibility, as she likes to call it) into focus by plagiarizing a racism-inflected text written by a white woman whose work hasn’t really been tethered. Gone With the Wind, argues Place, is as dear to America as ever, and yet it upholds a racist view of black people. ” (DIS Magazine) http://dismagazine.com/discussion/77245/vanessa-displaced-racism-vs-censorship/
I have never personally read Gone with the Wind, but I hear about how people love it all the time. When someone like Vanessa Place, a white poet who people either never heard of or liked because she talked smack on child molesters and rapists, starts attacking an “American classic” people are going to go crazy. “It’s their favorite book! How dare she!”
<—— “Racist” Twitter page of Vanessa Place, even though she is quoting someone else’s work to point out how racist it is, she is somehow the racist one.
Race is also a very serious subject that is challenging to talk about. With Place taking racist quotes out of the book and publishing them she is pushing the boundaries. People who do not want to talk about the fact that one of America’s “favorite books” is racist because it reflects poorly on us. Things will be said like “America isn’t racist anymore” yet we still cannot talk about race or racism. It is taboo. If we had no race problem, we would be able to talk about race openly.
(Starbucks recently tried to bring race into the conversation by having it’s baristas write “race together” on beverages ordered. Even though many people love Starbucks- race is still a taboo topic of discussion)
I leave us with this image: 
There have been many racially charged violent acts against the African American community across the nation, yet we still refuse to acknowledge racism. But we will certainly attack people like Vanessa Place and Kenneth Goldsmith for trying to create conversation about race and racism.
Dr.Sherwood, I am like 150 words over the limit. Can you let me know if I did the close reading correctly? It’s the first time I have done something like this. If it’s wrong, let me know how I can improve- thanks 🙂
This is very thoughtful post. I’m interested in the connections you make with current race politics and the news. Place’s work had been going on for awhile, but perhaps the audience / public is responding to it in the present moment with Ferguson and Charleston, etc. on the mind. I would probably call this a creative approach, as you bounce off of the images, more than a close-reading. Is that what you meant? We can certainly discuss close readings a bit further in class.
Ah, I put the images in after I wrote. I was not even intending to put the images in when I first wrote it last night but I figured that it would be a nice touch when I actually published it today…
I totally agree- context is very important. The “r word” (race) is really touchy right now with all of the events occurring around the country. Referring to your other comment, I think you are correct in saying ” However, I do think it is possible to transgress without intending (or even knowing) one is doing so.” A common example of this is saying “I’m not racist, but…. (insert something here) ” Race is very, very complicated on a personal level and a societal level. We all view race differently… I am curious how people would respond to Place’s work if she was an African-American woman instead of a white woman… My curiosity also spreads to Kenneth Goldsmith and his interesting approach to Michael Brown’s autopsy report.
I would certainly appreciate further discussion of close reading- what it is, and what it is not. Thanks 🙂
Can one be racist while …. , perhaps…. , I’m not completely certain about my own view on VP’s work. However, I do think it is possible to transgress without intending (or even knowing) one is doing so. You may remember a few weeks ago that Rachel Dolezal was in the news for presenting herself as a black woman in charge of a racial justice organization (NAACP chapter in Spokane) and her family “outed” her as white. (Another complicated story no doubt, but I bring it up because many commentators seemed here to have no trouble in saying that her stated intentions were irrelevant to the political meaning/consequences of her act.