Proglodytes not sure they like living in Ewe-topia

[SSG Snuggle Bunny]

Spaldeen (219 posts)

"A white guy named Michael couldn’t get his poem published. Then he became Yi-Fen Chou."


Morning Mix

A white guy named Michael couldn’t get his poem published. Then he became Yi-Fen Chou.


By Sarah Kaplan September 8  Follow @sarahkaplan48


Sherman Alexie read hundreds, maybe thousands, of poems last year while editing the 2015 edition of Best American Poetry, an annual anthology that comes out Tuesday. Just over six dozen of them made the final cut, including “The Bees, the Flowers, Jesus, Ancient Tigers, Poseidon, Adam and Eve” by Yi-Fen Chou, 20 brief, cynical lines on the absurdity of desire.

But after Alexie had chosen the poem for the collection, he promptly got a note from the author, who turned out not to be the rueful, witty Chinese American poet he’d imagined while reading the piece.

It was written by Michael Derrick Hudson of Fort Wayne, Ind., a genealogist at the Allen County Public Library who, given his field of expertise, could probably easily explain that he is not of Asian descent.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/09/08/a-white-guy-named-michael-couldnt-get-his-poem-published-then-he-became-yi-fen-chou/?wpmm=1&wpisrc=nl_mix


I'm still trying to figure out what to think about this.

Nye Bevan (21,052 posts)

1. The judge admitted that he gave the poem extra consideration because he believed the author

to be Asian.

Seems to me like this whole thing reflects worse on the judging than on the guy who was ingenious enough to take advantage of the judges' bias.

It's not the judging, dipwad.

Spaldeen (219 posts)

4. I'm not a poetry expert

But it looks pretty bad to me. I can't believe it ever got published!

"Me no rikey."

hack89 (31,561 posts)

3. Either the poem stands on its own or it doesn't

the race of the author should be irrelevant.

Someone needs to check his privilege.

Erich Bloodaxe BSN (10,763 posts)

7. It's a mix, alright.

“When you’re doing this from a position of entitlement, you’re appropriating an ethnic identity that’s one, imaginary, and two, doesn’t have access to the literary world,” poet and Chapman University professor Victoria Chang told The Washington Post. “And it diminishes categorically all of our accomplishments. He sort of implies that minorities are published because we’re minorities, not because of our work. That’s just insulting because it strips everything we’ve worked so hard for.”

[You mean like, the soft bigotry of low expectations? Or how your race hustlers now say working towards a colorblind society is racist? You earned this because this is what you worked for. - SgtSB]

And what if this had been done a dozen times, and not just once? With a specific idea to test scientifically the notion that identity might affect acceptance rates? Would it still have been 'insulting' as part of a scientific study, if indeed it did prove that proclaimed identity changed acceptance rates for poetry?

He did indeed perform an ethnic appropriation, but did he, in so doing actually benefit from a bias that proclaimed 'diversity' made a poem better? That the importance or quality of the poem changes based on who wrote it?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10027153085

[67 Rover]

Any of Reed's cowboys submit any poetry?

[98ZJUSMC]

Nye Bevan (21,052 posts)

1. The judge admitted that he gave the poem extra consideration because he believed the author to be Asian.

Seems to me like this whole thing reflects worse on the judging than on the guy who was ingenious enough to take advantage of the judges' bias.

The light bulb flickers,
barely perceptible.
The (D)Ummie notices,
but will not see.

Quote
hack89 (31,561 posts)

3. Either the poem stands on its own or it doesn't the race of the author should be irrelevant.

No, idiot.  The race was just not correct enough.

Quote
Spaldeen (219 posts)

4. I'm not a poetry expert But it looks pretty bad to me. I can't believe it ever got published!

"Me no rikey." 

If the author was from Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood, (D)Ummie,

https://youtu.be/hZ0up_MjsLk

your fellow bubble people would be nailing you to a cross.

[SVPete]

A (probably) liberal poetry judge snared in his racism by some one who played it. No fair! The judge shouldn't have gotten caught!

Just like Live Action and the Center For Medical Progress outing Planned Parenthood and James O'Keefe ensnaring and bringing down ACORN.

Though I cannot prove it, I'm pretty much certain that NARAL-PP types have tried to catch any number of crisis pregnancy centers doing anything not quite right using hidden cameras. The reason no exposes'? Nothing to expose.

[Chris_]

“He sort of implies that minorities are published because we’re minorities, not because of our work."

“If someone is fraudulently pretending they’re someone else to benefit from a system that traditionally benefits them, that is not ethical,” she said. “I would have taken it out.”

He didn't imply it, he proved it without a doubt.

[thundley4]

Why do colleges and employers ask about race? It's to give extra credit to minorities for the color of their skin.

[BattleHymn]

That "poem" is still better than anything Calpig has pushed out.

[Maverick1987]

That "poem" is still better than anything Calpig has pushed out.

"Pushed out" as in expelled something that used to be inside of her?

 

[BattleHymn]

"Pushed out" as in expelled something that used to be inside of her?

 

If someone posts a Calplop in this thread you'll regret bringing that up.   

[BlueStateSaint]

If someone posts a Calplop in this thread you'll regret bringing that up.   

Blink, blink, blink, blink . . .

[obumazombie]

Quote from Snuggs...

"Me no rikey."

You go to optometrist ?
You have Cataract ?
Me drive Rincoln.

[ChuckJ]

If someone posts a Calplop in this thread you'll regret bringing that up.   

Where's GOBUCKS?

[diesel driver]

If someone posts a Calplop in this thread you'll regret bringing that up.   

I'm sure there may be someone here who is already thinking "Challenge accepted!"

I'm not that someone!   

Besides, I have plausible deniability.  I have no idea where to find a calpiggy poem, nor do I care to look, and don't post any links to me where to find them.  This "non-inquiring" mind really doesn't want to know.