Take this down: New Yorker Fest
Unprocessed notes from the Town Hall on Race and Class in America to kick off the New Yorker festival last night. These are my best attempt at transcription from the balcony of a darkened theater, but should only be taken as paraphrase. Posting this is the height of laziness, but I’m not sure what my critical reaction is at this point. I’m mulling it over, and hell - maybe I’ll even write something up here when I’ve got it together. For now:
“…all of this was held afloat by easy credit. Easy credit has been our nation’s substitute for decent wages.” -Barbara Ehrenreich
“Running a deficit defunds the left. They’ve learned how to kill social spending.” -Thomas Frank
[Speaking of placing black civil rights struggles, Dr. King, and historicizing the present] We have to have people who are willing to tell the stories, so you don’t just jump in without the context and start looking at x, y, and z. And that’s part of the discourse we’re not having.” -Cornel West
[On the ‘Culture Wars’ and discontent of the conservative heartland] “Why can’t my team have that sense of grievance?! People are seething and Palin speaks to that. They’re fucking furious!” - Frank
“[Barack Obama] is not the product of a native Black American experience.” - John McWhorter
“Martin [Luther King] has been deoderized since they had the holiday for him. If you can’t mention Martin who can you mention? There’s a difference between a quest for truth and justice, and power and the White House.” - West
“[Race is] already part of the mix. That’s part of what it is to be American, the question is when does it drop? If it comes down to Ohio, and it’s 49% Obama and 40% McCain and the Bradley Effect takes over and people get into the booth and say, ‘I-I-justcan’tdoit,” then we can say…” -West
The New Yorker has a recap, too.
