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From: Mebby Oncurlew Category: Art Date: 14 November 2008 Time: 01:56 PM Review: At the risk of seeming glib, or contrastingly superficial, I detect in the initial statement under review a very generic set of allegations about racism. Or about America. These allegations are, as I have noted, exceedingly general and unaccompanied by a verifiable source of validation, that is not to say that there is a plentiful amount of evidence supporting the assertion that America is racist. Barack Obama's nomination and subsequent election to the presidential seat of governance in the United States of America is a very prominent icon for the politically disenfranchised African American cause, as it is for other "downtrodden, overlooked or marginalized" societal plaintiffs. Somehow, so-far Barack Obama has seemingly defied the usual hostility and institutional racist attitudes that are inherent within western society, and represented via the portals of the media; ( they have not necessarily been eradicated, they just hide sometimes) I acknowledge the apparent "improvements", ethnic recognition and certain "democratic" processes in society that seem to have faintly prevailed, largely owing to attempts at comodification rather than via moral justification. There will be varying claims about the power of music, art and sport as significant cultural contributions and there will be observations about the demographic integration of post-war society. Perspective is way too sensitive to personal predilection to be argued rationally, Does Art rise above racist attitudes ?, In its purist form, maybe but there is far more general prejudice in the Art-World because it is controlled by consenting individuals in response to perceived values, the very same rationale that invokes the marketeer to see all shades of ethnicity as irrelevant unless marketable. Although Barack Obama thankfully drew many otherwise disillusioned African Americans to the poll stations, along with a variety of downtrodden or socially motivated sectors of American society, he was effectively marketed well. Many, myself included thought that the McCain/Palin bigotry would triumph, particularly in the light of the dishonourable Bush Legacies. To the native American People, who must feel they are forever re-joining the back of an endless queue for recognition these observations will cut not one cotyledon of a mustard seed, the concept of Mass Observation in society is almost certainly flawed owing to the perjorative tribal "genes" instilled in us all, rather pathetically in my preserved nievety, I hoped that British society would distance itself much further from the aggressive imperial/colonial attitudes, the posturing of the Royal Family in Afghanistan, siding with the unfortunate perception of an almost "nazi"America, backed up by Abu Grave, Extra rendition and Guantanamo Bay both societies need to practice a more focussed domestic attitude of their deliberations rather than agitating problematic situations in the Ghaza or victimizing whoever represents the "enemy". I was elated when Tony Blair came to power but gradually became disillusioned by his breathtaking disdain for common values and an apparent sleep-walk into a neo-colonial Britain, I thought Brown was expressing a disdain of Blair's flashy rhetoric but nothing has filled the vacuum that Blair's absence has created....should it? Marketeers would say it was. The public seem blinded by Cameron's use of Blair's snakeskin lifestyle to mask his own incredibly right wing origins. Stuart Hall commented on the lamentable impossibility of a British Prime Minister from an obviously identifiable ethnic background, when he was discussing the subject, maybe Pam Grier was there too, it seemed so inane, overshadowed by the Democrat victory which by comparison looks so totally bipartisan (as the Americans would say) by comparison Britain seems to have stopped moving. It was quite noticeable to me on the election night how awkward the British journalists, the Dimblebys et al, were with "race" and there is is this continuing confusion in anecdotal terms about America being far less racist than Britain. Does anyone else agree that the word Racist needs to be clarified, explained fully and properly contextualized ? One of the most compelling images that emerged from this election and the whole issue of race was the swapped visable ethnic attributes of McCane and Obama, that was truly the work of genius. Apologies about the length and quality of spelling.