Golden Cages

"Yet the sleepwalking is slowly but surely coming to a close as more and more fellow citizens realize that the iron cage they inhabit- maybe even a golden cage for the affluent -- is still a form of bondage." - Cornel West

Cornel West's point in his foreword to The New Jim Crow struck me as particularly resonant, and also relates to the point I was making in last week's blog. Privilege, affluence are still results of systemic injustice and bondage. A cage is still a cage, even if it is golden, and even if you crafted it yourself our picked it out from a custom cage boutique. The very existence of cages at all is a testament to the structural issues that pervade our society, especially when it comes to racial inequities. Alexander's mention of white indifference to black suffering, but simultaneously the indifference from black leadership to poor black suffering illustrates the intersectionality of oppressive forces (i.e. race and class in this case), and also the lack of solidarity needed to make effective change.

Michelle Alexander's point in her introduction (I remember she also told this story during her talk at Penn) about seeing the orange flyer with the radical proclamation also resonated. She reflects on how counterproductive it seemed to the cause that these "radicals' would make such a claim. I think the reason she reemphasizes and retells this story is that she recognizes the need for people to be peripheral and radical in their thoughts and activism. It must be incredibly gratifying for a radical activist to see an idea take hold in the mainstream; to become fundamental to popular discourse, and ultimately inspire others to act. We need radical thinkers, because without them we can so easily become "well adjusted to injustice", a fault to which even Alexander admits guilt.