“Blood” ain’t what makes me dance

Summer‘s “Of one blood or, the hidden self” grabbed and held my attention since I saw it yesterday. Using [tag]Schwarzenegger[/tag]’s recent fiasco with a released tape of his racial comments regarding California state Assemblywoman [tag]Bonnie Garcia[/tag], Summer hits on some crucial points regarding the use of one’s “blood” as an explanation and reason for behavior associated with a particular race.

For instance, Schwarzeneggar said during this recorded meeting:

“I mean Cuban, Puerto-Rican, they are all very hot,” the governor says on the recording. “They have the, you know, part of the black blood in them and part of the Latino blood in them that together makes it.” (BlackNews.com, “Schwarzenegger Apologizes For His Comments About ‘Black Blood’ and ‘Latino Blood'”)

The idea that “blood” makes race or traits in general ain’t a new one. Last year, Rose-Hulman’s Diversity Council showed Race, the Power of an Illusion. There was high attendence at the showings of all three films, and everyone sat in amazement at the idea that people ever linked race and biology to the extend of thinking that our brains are different. While I think that people were mindful of the falsehood of the idea that racism no longer exists, everyone seemed glad that that part of our history is over (linking race and biology significantly). The film contained slowly panning pictures of scientists’ and phrenologists’ notes in their efforts to classify the Negroid, Mongoloid, etc. head shapes.

Summer’s on point when she wrote:

that is not, however, a statement which supposes that race is some really important biological shit. i’m not talking about blood here; i’m talking about the way people live their lives. that shit’s not about dna, it’s about society.

My babbling aside, go read what she wrote. She’s a hell of a lot more articulate than I’m feeling right now.