Is it a post-structuralist deconstruction of the dialectic?

Yammer, nice try but it's obviously a dialectical post-modern neo-cosbian discontinuous paradigm of constructionalist melanism, eh.

Truman, you have to be careful with those. If you're not careful 'constructionalist melanism" is going to start showing up in undergrad papers first and People magazine shortly afterward.

And it'll be your fault.

Hi Bailey. No kidding, eh! So, anyways, Dorothy Woodend, I'm reading that first paragraph for the twentieth or so time and, in spite of my substantially above-average IQ, I can't for the life of me figure out what you mean by, "Is there anyone whiter than Ashton Kutcher? I just don't mean in the pigment category...." Also: "The more ephemeral quality of whiteness..." Would it be overly presumptuous of me to deduce that you have some pretty interesting opinions of what it means to be a white person, (like Woody Allen) and what white people are like and stuff like that--and therefore what it means to be black and what black people are like and stuff like that so I wonder if you could please let me know your view on these things? Maybe you could develope a bar graph, or something, to illustrate all the differences, eh) And could you do this without going to your official "go to" guy, Wayde Compton, for advice? Incidentally, racism persists partly because some people persist in using stereotypical language when talking about pigmentation, eh. I mean, I'm almost persuaded to re-evaluate pop-evolutionist, Richard Dawkins' "meme" theory of semantic inheritance after reading stuff like this review. Incidentally, there are no races of human beings. It's one of a bunch of hoaxes passed along through the centuries...like Dawkins' "memes."

Racism is a cultural social and political construction -- it is not about "race", it is about how people are treated on the basis on what is perceived as "race". Therefore, whiter than white should have a fairly obvious meaning to anyone who has some sense of what culture or politics means -- it means someone who exemplifies the values and stereotypes of a particular cultural construction so Ms. Woodend's comments are very well put.
Denial that racism exists or that people are treated differently on the basis of race or that the world has a long and bitter history of racial pain, is to simply perpetuate racism in a more subtle form. Thus Ms.woodend's comments that this is precisely what Hollywood is up to by making it all ha ha funny, aren't black people cute, is absolutely right on.

Cute answer, lani, but what does "whiter than white mean?" Are you really serious with this faux tautological kind of answer: "whiter than white should have a fairly obvious meaning to anyone who has some sense of what culture or politics means--it means someone who exemplifies the values and stereotypes of a particular cultural construction so Ms. Woodend's comments are very well put." Lani, that's like saying a cloudy day is one with clouds in the sky, and is itself a rather silly tautology. (Like: "The survival of the fittest") Ms. Woodend suggested that she was very well-versed on how "white" certain people (Ashton Kutcher and Woody allen) are and therefore how "black" certain people are. (by logical inference.) My suggestion is that unless she explains what she means by such claims, she is just faking. And so maybe you can answer why Woody Allen is the "whitest of men." Then again, it is possible that you sincerely don't understand how inadequate your explanation is. Referring to people in such a fashion is perpetuating racist mythology--as you claim I am doing by demanding meaningful sentences and explanations--from you and Ms. Woodend. I look forward to you explaining exactly how Woody Allen and Ashton Kutcher fit into your view of "what cultural and politics means." If you don't have an explanation for this, you're just continuing Ms. Woodend's meaningless stereotyping. And since you're so knowledgeable on the perpetuation of racism perhaps you can tell us what this means, "black may be positioned as a place of resistance to the dominant hegemony." In case you're not interested in contining, I'll tell you what it means: Nothing.

Dear Truman: I spend a lot of my life in reasoned discussion and inquiry about many issues. But one thing I don't do is engage in competitive, combative, bombastic debate in which there are winners and losers. What a waste of time that would be. I have no idea why you would want to engage in such a hostile manner but sorry, I am not the least bit interested.

lani, you accused me of denying that racism exists because I wrote that the concept of "race" is based on a false notion of the differences among groups of people. I think this is a very important message and it is fully supported by the discoveries of the Human Genone Project. Yours is a fairly "combative and bombastic" approach to take, and so your chastisement of my "hostile manner" is more of your benign pretension and a silly refuge from the fact that you can't explain why Ashton Kutcher is "white in the worst possible way, he's weiner white," and more of Woodend's silly article such as, "black is positioned as a place of resistancse to the dominant hegemony." If you are sincere in claiming that you have engaged in many "reasoned discussions," I am sure that you have encountered other opponents who are at least as hostile as I, and so I conclude that you're just running away because you have nothing enlightening to add--about the positioning of blacks or the whiteness of Woody Allen and Ashton Kutcher.

The fact that race isn't genetically based,and the fact that all human beings are genetically the same race ( in fact, there doesn't seem to be much difference between 'us' and a lot of other species) so far doesn't seem to have done much in the world to eliminate racism, does it. The two ideas are separate discussions.
White than white means someone who exemplifies a culturally constructed socially shared notion of a certain kind of racial stereotype.
If you look at "black' cultural forms, or forms that originated outside of dominant white culture,ie, jazz, rap, hip hop,, the dominant culture achieves this oddly dichotomous positioning of such cultural forms, by positing them as both having some kind of desirable characteristics, ie, black people are funnier or they dance better,but at the same time denying them any kind of real power within the dominant society -- thus the positioning by white media culture of black as a place of resistance to white hegemony is a contradictory and impossibly difficult position for genuine black culture.Hence, it is racist. Get it???

Lani, good try but what the hell is "genuine black culture." I've been black for all of my 60 years and I still haven't come across any. While you're answering me you might also let me know what its opposite, "genuine white colour" would be. I hope you're starting to understand the intellectual problems you devised for yourself in trying to defend Woodend's goofy suggestions concerning race. Incidentally, the new discoveries of the human genome project concerning the concept of "race" and "racism" can hardly be said to be "two seperate discussions." In fact ALL racists believe that there are some very immutable differences among people, signified by physical appearance, and it is this persistent belief that the discoveries have discredited. If you believe in "race" you are a racist--just as an evolutionist believes in evolution and a creationist believes in creation. And a fool believes in "genuine black culture." Now there might be "genuine Ethiopian culture, or genuine Haitian culture, just as there might be genuine Swedish culture or a genuine German culture, but only an idiot would believe that there is a genuine white culture or "genuine black culture." For one, such as yourself, who is "not interested" in participating in a "competitive, combative bombastic" debate, you're making a pretty good, though rather shrill attempt at "winning" the argument--something you're not at all "interested in doing." Could you please be a bit more specific in your explanation of why Ashton Kutcher and Woody Allen are "white than white?" Your claim that it refers to, "someone who exemplifies a culturally constructed socially shared notion of a certain kind of racial stereotype" actually tells us nothing. You'll have to explain SPECIFICALLY why Ashton Kutcher and Woody Allen fit into this category. Otherwise, lani, you're just BSing, eh. Here's your homework: Think about your phrase, "genuine black culture" for two hours straight. I'm sure you'll start to understand how silly you are after a couple of hours. Failing achieving this insight, you may think about "genuine white culture" for an hour, and see if that works. Good luck!

And Woody Allen plays a fairly decent alto and tenor sax--jazz, eh.

Weiner Whities strike again! apple.com/trailers/newline/the_man/

Dorothy Woodend, can you say a few words about your intent with your above post?

intent, intent... hmmm. why do I feel that no matter what I say, I shall be dammed,

First off let me answer your questions, wiener white means just that wiener! I'm sorry if the word offends you. But the character played by Ashton Kutcher is a dork, a nerdo, a geek, who looks suspiciously like an IRS employee. In interviews about the film, Mr. Kutcher said he consciously played him as Jewish (?) although they had to digitally erase the red string around his wrist due to audience disapproval.

Woody Allen is a white man, an extremely pale, red haired neurotic New Yorker, certainly he plays Jazz (albeit Dixieland) but up until his most recent movie, he had never included a black character in any of films, nor is he required to do so, it just seemed curious to me, that at this particular moment, he did. And at the same time, there seems to be a confluence of people exploring similar ideas, Neil LaBute, Paul's Haggis' new film Crash, Kara Walker who was recently commissioned to do a mural for The New York School University, and of course, good old Ashton.

Dorothy, your article begins, "Is there anyone whiter than Ashton Kutcher. You didn't write, "Is there anyone whiter than the character Ashton Kutcher plays in his latest movie. (I've enjoyed his goofy comedy on the seventies show for years and consider him to be quite similar to the Will Smith personna in Smith's old sitcoms. Something about a BLACK prince in Beverley Hills I believe) Even if you had sincerely been referring to the Ashton Kutcher CHARACTERS I would have been just as perplexed, although it would have been more sensible. So, why is Ashton Kutcher deserving of the list of epithets you employ to describe him--including "white bread, Casper, Cracker, birdshit"? I've seen most of Woody Allen's movies and I'm well aware that he's never used a black actor. I don't believe that this--or your description of him as "a white man, a very pale, neurotic New Yorker... who plays Dixieland qualifies him as "the whitest of white men." I don't think black directors are obligated to use white actors, either--if they don't see appropriate roles. Also, could you please explain the "weiner" comment? I sincerely don't get it, although I actually think I've got a fairly good understanding of the bending of space by gravity in the theory of relativity--special theory, that is. Incidentally, did you see the documentary about Woody Allen playing his sax in Europe? He coulda been black or whatever. "The whitest of white men." What the hell are you talking about? The lesson that has apparently never been learned is that black people are just white people with black skin and white people are just asian people with white skin, etc. This pseudo aphorism could be extended ad nauseum, but I think four or five hundred years of nonsense like the crap in your article about whiter than white, (hence blacker than black) is quite enough! Regarding your "I'll be dammed comment, notwithstanding the spelling of "damned" do you consider my comments gratuitous damning? Really? Incidentally, I won't be seeing more blacxploitation flicks like the one you linked in your comments. Anyway...thanks for responding to my concerns. I thank THAT's pretty classy, anyway. (albeit hardly convincing, eh.) If you relate on a more scientific level, you may sum up my remarks with the following: "there is no genetic inheritance of culture." Truman Green, l997. (I hate hip hop and rap, for instance.)

DAMN damn! My spelling has gone entirely to hell, but I take your point Truman.

Thanks for responding and considering my point of view, Dorothy. All the best!