Post-Race: Discussing Yale's Project "O"

Project “O”

I like the fact that Project O embraces the issues of race and dance from a historical point of view into an influential modern composition of work. Most importantly, the concept and term “post-racial” immediately grasped my attention. I do not understand the idea of post-racialism or someone who views themselves as “post-racial.” How can one not see race when there are so many factors apparent in our day-to-day lives that reminds us of racial supremacy and inferiority. We see this on the bubble in sheets on our standardized test or the box instructing us to identify our race with a simple check when filling out a job application. Taken from an exert in the text, “They thought of “post race” as an achieved reality in their lives, not merely as an aspiration.” If that is the case, there would not have been any surprise when President Obama won the election, making him noticeably the first black man in history ever to become a U.S. President. More interestingly, according to the text, the most outspoken student on the issue of “post-race” was apparently white. She exclaimed that she never noticed race, never thought about race, didn’t know who in class belonged to which racial category, and didn’t really know what racial categories were.

Honestly, I think that mindset incredibly far-fetched for the non-white students in the class and to be perfectly honest, as a white individual in America race does not affect her because she is in fact white and represents “White America.” Race for her was never a factor impeding on her day-today life nor was it a factor for her ancestors, so fortunately for her, her race is never questioned in America because her race gives her the privilege not to think about her race. In closing, in regards to the students feeling uncomfortable when they performed a racially segregated scene, I agree with Vanessa that we as a society we need to be okay with feeling uncomfortable and speaking frankly about sensitive issues and ideas if our supposedly post-racial generation wants to genuinely move forward on racial equality; an argument well stated.


Kereem Morgan - 163