tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post8633213832319669732..comments2024-03-06T08:29:13.333-08:00Comments on stuff white people do: white quotation of the week (diane burns)macon dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07795547197817128339noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-82275835225546208922009-07-16T16:35:45.391-07:002009-07-16T16:35:45.391-07:00"By the time the poem's got the reader..."By the time the poem's got the reader's eye pulled in tight with the fetishistic examination of the speaker's "high cheekbones" and "hair down to there," the speaker immediately turns on the observer--and by extension, the reader--with "Oh, so you've had an Indian friend?"<br /><br />I believe you've misinterpreted the lines. The high cheekbones and "hair down to there" lines are the speaker responding to the inquisitor who's relating their far-off heritage. It's not the speaker's high cheek bones or hair, but the inquisitor's imagined ancestor. Same net effect, I guess.Claytonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04525358836305101042noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-26582198934852692422009-06-24T16:44:16.425-07:002009-06-24T16:44:16.425-07:00Powerful poem, indeed.Powerful poem, indeed.Somber Monsterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11824028557172797409noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-85235281370933187692009-06-24T12:56:46.059-07:002009-06-24T12:56:46.059-07:00Wow what a powerful poem.Wow what a powerful poem.Reneehttp://www.womanist-musings.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-19255316070489119272009-06-23T19:45:09.833-07:002009-06-23T19:45:09.833-07:00Thanks for posting this poem. I want to get down ...Thanks for posting this poem. I want to get down on my knees and thank "mother earth" that I've never said any of that, but then I remember that I've had those thoughts plenty of times.<br /><br />"Yeah. Uh-huh. Spirituality.<br />Uh-huh. Yeah. Spirituality. Uh-huh. Mother<br />Earth. Yeah Uh'huh. Uh-huh. Spirituality."<br /><br />Oh gods, that is so funny it drew blood.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-57381342822810706402009-06-23T17:54:04.603-07:002009-06-23T17:54:04.603-07:00I really like how this poem implicates the reader ...I really like how this poem implicates the reader ... I find myself, like the fictional observer, also becoming curious about the speaker's race as he/she begins to tick off the various racial affiliations about which the observer is questioning him/her.<br /><br />By the time the poem's got the reader's eye pulled in tight with the fetishistic examination of the speaker's "high cheekbones" and "hair down to there," the speaker immediately turns on the observer--and by extension, the reader--with "Oh, so you've had an Indian friend?"<br /><br />That quick, accusatory swivel where it feels like the speaker's caught the reader "red-handed," so to speak--taking voyueristic pleasure in an uncomfortable confrontation between the speaker and the observer--really makes the poem for me. The 2nd person "you" from that line down functions, in a way, to indicate both the fictional observer's and the reader's treatment of the speaker as a racialized "Other."Jackson Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18141532542386300417noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-34246234265089455872009-06-23T10:10:05.621-07:002009-06-23T10:10:05.621-07:00Ouch!
Good poem. Love the last two lines.Ouch!<br /><br />Good poem. Love the last two lines.dejamorgananoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-86108382184195779872009-06-23T06:13:48.897-07:002009-06-23T06:13:48.897-07:00"Some of us can't drink enough" is a..."Some of us can't drink enough" is a really hard-core line.The Witty Mulattohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14714368344885684793noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-31942461136766317472009-06-23T00:53:54.031-07:002009-06-23T00:53:54.031-07:00"This ain't no stoic look.
This is my fac..."This ain't no stoic look.<br />This is my face."<br /><br />"Smile!"<br /><br />Yet it's not ok for you to tell other people what to do with parts of *their* body in return.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-89779350328432720862009-06-22T19:37:03.340-07:002009-06-22T19:37:03.340-07:00This ain't no stoic look.
This is my face.
T...This ain't no stoic look.<br />This is my face.<br /><br /><br />That's the best part in my opinion!Mr. Nofacehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07164229381294354588noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-40536347530023602712009-06-22T15:05:33.967-07:002009-06-22T15:05:33.967-07:00"This ain't no stoic look.
This is my fac..."This ain't no stoic look.<br />This is my face."<br /><br />wow. that just about sums up a chunk of my life. thanks for sharing this.aubinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-4359554727176375712009-06-22T11:11:25.357-07:002009-06-22T11:11:25.357-07:00I love this. thanks for sharing.I love this. thanks for sharing.Rhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01134116554971956983noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-44268694826650210642009-06-22T10:10:50.487-07:002009-06-22T10:10:50.487-07:00Wow.
RIP Sister Burns.Wow.<br /><br />RIP Sister Burns.honeybrown1976noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-673601336557845912009-06-22T10:00:00.214-07:002009-06-22T10:00:00.214-07:00I can agree with this so very much. But, the diffe...I can agree with this so very much. But, the difference between me and her is that most whites would never believe I'm indian. Especially when you ger offended by something and their reaction is that "you don't look indian" or they ignore you.Chrissynoreply@blogger.com