Dear Mammy

This satirical piece calls attention to the ability of ignorance to infiltrate academia as well as the ability of bigotry to mask itself with “woke” language. Through a series of emails to an unnamed female, black professional, the sender, named only “Black Feminist Man,” reveals himself to be the very kind of bigot he claims to be against. It’s a quick read, but the issues it expresses linger like a bile in the back of the throat; they give voice to a frustration often felt in academic and professional circles which claim to be “progressive.” The piece poses the implicit question of whether or not renaming something is enough to change its nature.

This might pair nicely with this post and this post, which both also deal with the ability of words to shape our reality.