mlw
Active Member
Concerning the event at the Stockholm Museum of Modern Art when the Swedish Minister of Culture cut a cake that depicted a naked African woman, created by African-Swedish artist Makode Linde (here).
Analysis. I suggest that these phenomena, including the "slave auction" at Sweden's Lund University (here), are symptoms of an internal conflict in Swedes and African-Swedes alike. According to political correctness no differences exist, except skin colour. Accordingly, people repress negative thoughts about Blacks as being "primitive and maladjusted" - thoughts that are bolstered by the fact that Blacks in Sweden often lead a passive life and don't contribute much to our country. Also the African-Swedes repress these thoughts. But if you avoid talking about the problems and refuse to acknowledge differences in mentality, etc., then these thoughts will take an unconscious and vulgar form, what artist Linde laid his finger on. His art points out the nature of our unconscious racist complex according to which the African-Swede is a "primitive jungle inhabitant" who cannot get by in advanced civilisation, and who devotes himself to primitive rituals like cannibalism, genital mutilation, and demonic exorcism (the latter according to cases reported in media). Since we refuse to speak about the "race problem" (since the concept of 'race' is viewed as obsolete) the unconscious erupts in "slave auctions", etc.
Makode Linde, per contra, has deliberately chosen to reveal the vulgar unconscious (he paints huge "Negro mouths" on classical statues, etc.) in order to cut open this boil, which is a valuable initiative. I think that 'racism', in terms of the Association of African Swedes (i.e., "slave auctions", etc.) really depends on how society suppresses the discussion of race and the problems connected with innate characteristics (differences!) and how these collide with European culture, mentality, and the character of European society. The punishment for an artificial suavity is that society is affected with vulgar racism. What is really said in private talks around the kitchen table?
That's why we must refrain from using the racist epithet at times when debaters dare to speak openly about problems associated with immigration from culturally remote regions. Such a debate will reopen old wounds and cause conflict, but it is the remedy against vulgar racism that goes on in the dark, and which in the long run will have dire consequences. Research has shown that Whites developing a hypocritical attitude in racial issues, thereby create more relational problems than they solve: 'Seeing Race And Seeming Racist? Whites Go Out Of Their Way To Avoid Talking About Race' (here). Moreover, it is the constant, vague, just-below-the-surface acts of racism that are taking a toll: 'Racism's Cognitive Toll: Subtle Discrimination Is More Taxing On The Brain' (here).
The conclusion is that hypocricy is more destructive than "Negro cakes". Linde's work of art, depending on the context in which it is presented, aims at opening the discourse and is therefore not racist. If people feel offended, they should know that the artwork represents their own unconscious "Negro complex".
Mats Winther
http://home7.swipnet.se/~w-73784/
Analysis. I suggest that these phenomena, including the "slave auction" at Sweden's Lund University (here), are symptoms of an internal conflict in Swedes and African-Swedes alike. According to political correctness no differences exist, except skin colour. Accordingly, people repress negative thoughts about Blacks as being "primitive and maladjusted" - thoughts that are bolstered by the fact that Blacks in Sweden often lead a passive life and don't contribute much to our country. Also the African-Swedes repress these thoughts. But if you avoid talking about the problems and refuse to acknowledge differences in mentality, etc., then these thoughts will take an unconscious and vulgar form, what artist Linde laid his finger on. His art points out the nature of our unconscious racist complex according to which the African-Swede is a "primitive jungle inhabitant" who cannot get by in advanced civilisation, and who devotes himself to primitive rituals like cannibalism, genital mutilation, and demonic exorcism (the latter according to cases reported in media). Since we refuse to speak about the "race problem" (since the concept of 'race' is viewed as obsolete) the unconscious erupts in "slave auctions", etc.
Makode Linde, per contra, has deliberately chosen to reveal the vulgar unconscious (he paints huge "Negro mouths" on classical statues, etc.) in order to cut open this boil, which is a valuable initiative. I think that 'racism', in terms of the Association of African Swedes (i.e., "slave auctions", etc.) really depends on how society suppresses the discussion of race and the problems connected with innate characteristics (differences!) and how these collide with European culture, mentality, and the character of European society. The punishment for an artificial suavity is that society is affected with vulgar racism. What is really said in private talks around the kitchen table?
That's why we must refrain from using the racist epithet at times when debaters dare to speak openly about problems associated with immigration from culturally remote regions. Such a debate will reopen old wounds and cause conflict, but it is the remedy against vulgar racism that goes on in the dark, and which in the long run will have dire consequences. Research has shown that Whites developing a hypocritical attitude in racial issues, thereby create more relational problems than they solve: 'Seeing Race And Seeming Racist? Whites Go Out Of Their Way To Avoid Talking About Race' (here). Moreover, it is the constant, vague, just-below-the-surface acts of racism that are taking a toll: 'Racism's Cognitive Toll: Subtle Discrimination Is More Taxing On The Brain' (here).
The conclusion is that hypocricy is more destructive than "Negro cakes". Linde's work of art, depending on the context in which it is presented, aims at opening the discourse and is therefore not racist. If people feel offended, they should know that the artwork represents their own unconscious "Negro complex".
Mats Winther
http://home7.swipnet.se/~w-73784/
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