Figure 1
Figure 2
Figures 1 and 2: The above interactive graphs display the amount of hate crimes by race in 2023 (Figure 1), and the amount of hate crimes by bias and motivation in 2023 (Figure 2). What needs to be seen are the structures that allow these crimes to happen, but also that influence the formation of biases.
Abstract
Exploring the dissertations: “Anthropology of Structural Violence“, “To Classify is Human“, and “Political Mimesis” and applying these works to key films: “Paris is Burning“, “Who Killed Vincent Chin?“, and “The Torture Letters“, this piece is aimed to focus on race and culture. I was inspired by these works to dive into the topic of erasure, connecting it to Escobar’s critique of the modern individual, rationalism, and the structures, that tend to be overlooked or are invisible, that continue to allow for the nullification of culture, identity, and real experiences. Through the concepts of realism and intervention, classification systems, and looking into historical structures, I will portray the various ways in which these phenomena happen in the three films.
Introduction: Escobar’s Main Critique
Escobar states that contemporary theories about the world that arise from this new age of modernity are grounded in a concept called “rationalistic tradition”. The main issue of this concept, which stems from Western culture, is that it provides an inclination for people to view our world or reality in a fixed or objective state. Ultimately this provides consequences for the way in which we interact and navigate with our world, but more importantly, it diminishes the realities of others. Through a collective rationalistic perspective, the structures that are already in place from history and increasing rationalistic sentiments hurt many (SES) demographics in our society (social and economic status). Rationalists believe that people realities, science, and other structures are self-constituted or that people have complete control. By rationalists acting on this notion, they hurt vulnerable demographics in the process. Furthermore, with their acts and viewpoints, they erase the history that many people’s lives were built from and how these structures impact their lives today. The ontological dualisms, which has the potential to alienate people from multiple realities, and the hierarchies that these dualisms establish, have lead to a modern coloniality.
Discussion of The Anthropology of Structural Violence
Paul Farmer’s, Anthropology of Structural Violence, provides a compelling argument for a biosocial field or anthropology that carefully analyzes historical and political forces that work together to shape the experiences of individuals. These experiences can be either positive or negative depending on to what degree and magnitude these factors affected individuals and their historical background and lineage. Farmer’s dissertation closely aligns with Escobar’s critique of ontological dualism and the destruction or “violence” that it has on those that are marginalized based on SES factors (economic status, race, gender/sex, etc.). Political and structural agents from a country’s history act as “invisible” agents that continuously lead to suffering, limited access to resources, death, and other forms of violence. One of the main forms of violence that has been discussed in Who Killed Vincent Chin? , The Torture Letters, and Paris Is Burning is the erasure of history, culture, and identity. Farmer (2004) states “Erasure of distortion of history is part of the process of desocialization necessary for the emergence of hegemonic accounts and why.” (308). In addition, Farmer states that “Those who look only to powerful present-day actors to explain misery will fail to see how inequality I structured and legitimated over time.” (309).
Paris Is Burning
Scene from Paris is Burning (1:03:59). Venus expresses some of the goals she has in life and her desires. In this moment, she expresses she wants to get married in a church. Although she is transgender, these are the same goals that the majority of the cisgender and heterosexual population have — which negates Western perspectives on what it means to be part of the LGBTQ+ community.
(1:09:13). A reflection of Venus’ life and a description of how she passed away. At the conclusion, she says “That’s a part of life, that’s part of being a transexual in New York City and surviving.”.
Paris Is Burning is a film that showcases the LGBTQ+ and ballroom scene in 1980s New York. One of the concepts of the ballroom dances is the ability to show case the “real”. The themes that ballroom sessions have embody real-world personas, and the participants perform and reenact them, being evaluated on their ability to “pass” in the real world and embody these different identities. The prominence of these various communities allows for defiance against pre-conceived notions and expectations of the real. Although the film is empowering and showcases numerous ways of expression and being, it also showcases the tragic reality of what happens when societal norms and categories refuse to adapt or be inclusive to other ways of being or realness. The death of Venus, a member of “House of Xtravaganza”, is revealed to us in the film, revealing she was murdered due to transphobia. Ultimately this reflects the disconnect between the ways of presenting and existing in the ballroom scene and LGBTQ+ communities versus Western and heterosexual expectations that lead to hate crimes like this, a violent form of erasure of queerness. Although the film gives a platform to Venus and other members of the balls, it also makes prevalent the power structures that are able to silence their voices and make them more vulnerable.
Discussion of Political Mimesis
In Jane Gaines’ dissertation, Political Mimesis, she asserts that filmmakers producing documentaries aim to replicate the concept of realism in their films. What this does is connect to the viewer to draw sympathy and find some sort of relation, whether through their own experiences, or becoming aware of the realities of others, sparking activism and change.
The Torture Letters
Letter One (screenshot. 2:36). Police misconduct has caused emotional and physical harm to marginalized groups, even resulting in death. All because of internalized fear that the police hold. However, fear is equally reciprocated, as black people within the United States have collectively grown to fear police and other authority figures due to numerous misconduct and brutality events. This, however, is not seen, or is more often ignored by outsiders.
The Torture Letters is a short animated film that narrates four open letters and experiences of black men and women who were a victim of police misconduct of various degrees. Uniquely, the letters address the victims personally — dead or alive. Moreover, the film involves research around the history of police misconduct in various areas, mainly Chicago. Not only does the video briefly explain the history of structural injustices, that have existed for numerous decades, that continue to underlie and exist in our society, but the method in which the film was produced was for the purpose of being able to see what is invisible and act on it. While rationalists may view this film possessing one perspective, aligning with corrupt polices’ sentiments, using Gaines’ dissertation we can view the film and challenge the OWW (One-World World Theory) that rationalists possess and intervene in changing these structures. For example, Gaines states “The reason for using the documentary to advance political goals is that its aesthetic similarity establishes a continuity between the world of the screen and the world of the audience, where the ideal viewer is poised to intervene the world that so closely resembles the one represented on screen.” (11).
In Farmer’s Anthropology of Structural Violence, he writes about the condition of Haiti as it relates to its citizens “As someone who believes deeply in the promise and progress of science, I would point out that it is the ideology springing from the market economies that is critiqued by most opponents of neoliberal thought. It is not affluence or modernity itself, still less a certain “way of life,” that is under attack. Haitians living in poverty have ample reason to be wary of neoliberal nostrums, for theirs is an embodies understanding of modern inequality. Over the past decade, Haiti has undergone something of an economic devolution. Gross national product has decline; so has life expectancy. What are the causes of all this present-day misery? There is slavery, of course, and racism is central to slavery…” (313).
So what are some reasons that black people have reason to be wary of the police? What events preceded police brutality and misconduct, allow them to continue, and that underlie today’s racial injustices?
- Slavery
- Jim Crow Laws
- Political alignments
- Amendment Interpretations (can be radical)
For example, here is a graph that shows how political alignments affect interpretations of black peoples’ realities and how “fair” they are treated. (Pew Research Center)
Discussion of To Classify Is Human
Geoffrey Bowker’s and Leigh Ann Star’s (1999) To Classify Is Human brings attention to the function of classification systems as an invisible agents that pervade our human experiences. Classification systems can manifest themselves within structures: enabling classifications to privilege certain perspectives and experiences while nullifying others. This is another form of structural violence.
(0:33:57). An American man destroying a Japanese-make car. This reflects the 1980s campaigns of hate towards Japanese and Japan-modeled products. This period was called “Japan Bashing”. This was a result of Japan becoming a rising superpower in human resources. During the 80s, an influx of Asian and Asian-American hate crimes occurred, including the murder of Vincent Chin.
Who Killed Vincent Chin?
The title is the lingering question that the viewer must decide at the conclusion of the film. Bowker and Star’s, To Classify Is Human, discusses the topic of ‘the cause of death’ and the “…act of assigning a classification can be socially or ethically charged.” Implying that assigning a category to sensitive concepts such as death has the potential to hide social and cultural factors behind the cause at hand (25). By labeling the cause of death as occurring from specific and singular factors, it can ignore the circumstances from the event surrounding it, often neglecting to mention a much longer process that preceded the death itself. Furthermore, Bowker and Star (1999) state “Forms like the death certificate, when aggregated, form a case of what Kirk and Hutchins (1992) call “the substitution of precision for validity”…That is when a seemingly neutral data collection mechanism is substituted for ethical conflict about the contents of the forms, the moral debate is partially erased.” (24). Watching this film, I kind of interpreted it as a visual death certificate. The film is composed of many viewpoints which try to point towards who is to blame for the death of Vincent Chin. However, it is important to analyze not just the person who caused his injuries and death, but the events in society that gradually perpetrated stereotypes and hostility towards Mr. Chin’s demographic. Both Ronald Ebens and Michael Nitz were not convicted of the murder of Mr. Chin, only receiving punishments of probations and fines…for a murder and confrontation that they pursued. This is because neither of them had a criminal record and the judge said the two perpetrators have “stable working backgrounds” (0:37:20). This is a concept of erasure because it nullifies Mr. Chin’s life and value as a person and being, and his contributions to society, but also allows for the persistence and continuation for hate crimes to take place, fostering the belief that people can cause harm without or with minor repercussions.
Conclusion
In sum, Escobar’s critiques provide a framework for how to analyze and reveal what causes erasure — from perceptions, actions, historical contexts (i.e. political and social dynamics), and classification systems within those. Ultimately the readings I incorporated showcase power and authoritative dynamics and the varying degrees in which they operate. The films solely provide a visual of real-world experiences and consequences from corrupt orders. Meanwhile, these films are designed to gauge the audience’s attention and intervene and challenge these narratives.
Sources
cde.ucr.cjis.gov. Available at: https://cde.ucr.cjis.gov/LATEST/webapp/#/pages/home (Accessed: 13 December 2024).
Bowker, G. Star, L.A. “Introduction: To Classify Is Human,” (Introduction to Sorting Things Out). 1999
Choy, C., Tajima, R. Who Killed Vincent Chin? . 1987.
Escobar, A. “The Background of Our Culture: Rationalism, Ontological Dualism, and Relationality,”. 2017
Gaines, J. “Political Mimesis,” in Collecting Visible Evidence. 1999
Farmer, P. “The Anthropology of Structural Violence”. 2004.
Livingston, J. Paris Is Burning. 1990.
Ralph. The Torture Letters. 2020
