From a t-shirt design on the Ku Klux Klan website
Amy Wilentz, “Racist Suspect,” learned something new on the radio yesterday. Actually, a few new things.
One:
Don’t trust people who say they want “the truth,” especially when they are posing as journalists! Real reporters are never so arrogant. Also never trust a radio show that airs for two hours consecutively.
Two:
There are people who believe I am a white supremacist, a spy, and a sexual imperialist.
So yesterday I appeared as a guest on a show on something called “Justice Radio” — or that’s what I was told it was called in various emails. I was interviewed by someone who called himself Gus Lawrence in his emails to me but who calls himself Gus T Renegade on the Black Talk Radio Network (sorry, I’m not linking; but it won’t be hard to find).
Here’s how Gus T described me on his show’s site:
The Context of White Supremacy [COWS; it’s the name of his show, it turns out] welcomes Racist Suspect, Amy Wilentz … She’s written extensively on the area of the world known as Haiti. We’ll discuss her 2013 publication, Farewell, Fred Voodoo: A Letter From Haiti. Somehow the 8th area of people activity becomes a dominant theme in this narrative. Amputated limbs, tens of thousands of earthquake victims, centuries of White Supremacist meddling and even Sean Penn, somehow become analogous to sexual intercourse. White people always find a way to make their contact with Victims of Racism a pornographic sewer; the whole world as the White Man’s {and White Woman’s} brothel
Yes, incomprehensible, I agree. “The 8th area of people activity,” indeed.
Having been on the show, however, I now have an inkling of what Gus T could possibly mean by all this.
There’s a section in my book where I write about a theoretical American reader of a photo book called Haiti: Tragedy and Hope, that was put out by Time, Inc. Books in the wake of the 2010 earthquake. I describe this theoretical reader as sitting in his comfortable living room and looking at pictures of earthquake victims that I describe as virtually “pornographic” —and his interest similarly. In the section, I’m critical of what I see as the cynical use of tragic images to make money, and I also point out that when I write about Haiti, in a way I’m doing the same thing.
So Gus T misread the section. I will say this: unlike most of the callers-in to the show, and unlike many interviewers I’ve dealt with, Gus T had at least read the book. But every section he quoted at me, he had misread and misunderstood. What I criticized, he thought I endorsed. I would assert that it was a willful misreading, but I don’t think that’s the case.
It’s just that like most ideologues and all thought police, Gus T is singularly post-ironic.
Anyway, I was richly accused by callers-in of being a racist and white supremacist, which is something that I have always associated with George Corley Wallace and the Ku Klux Klan, having grown up during the Civil Rights movement.
But that’s not what white supremacy means today. There’s a broader way of describing it.
Here’s a quote from University of Tennessee law professor emeritus Frances Lee Ansley:
By “white supremacy” I do not mean to allude to the self-conscious racism of white supremacist hate groups. I refer instead to a political, economic and cultural system in which whites overwhelmingly control power and material resources, conscious and unconscious ideas of white superiority are widespread, and relations of white dominance and non-white subordination are daily re-enacted across a broad array of institutions and social settings.
This is not exactly the active white supremacy Gus T described on the show: spreading white supremacy and dominance “throughout the universe.” However, Dr. Ansley’s description so accurately conveys what Haiti has been like since the earthquake, and so succinctly conveys the subject matter and argument of my book, that I had to do a double take when I read it.
I was also told by Gus T and the callers that I had too much access to US publications, and I should get out of the way so Haitians could publish pieces on Haiti in American papers and magazines — this is in fact something I’ve been thinking about, and this blog that you’re reading lets me write about Haiti without taking up print real-estate.
Go, English-speaking Haitian writers and reporters: the field is yours!
Anyway, the show gave me ample fodder for thought. Gus T and another caller pointed out that although I had castigated an important foreign institution for its information-gathering in Haiti, and had compared its work to spying in the old days, I too was an information-gatherer in Haiti.
I tried to explain that this is what reporters do, and that journalists explain the world they see to people who haven’t seen it, but my interlocutors were having none of it.
They asked me point blank if I was in the employ of any foreign intelligence agency. (They seriously used this language: “are you now or have you ever been…”) They also wanted to know if I’d ever had sex with a Haitian, and also how much did I get for my book. Geez. And all these questions were asked in that post-ironic way: as if I would certainly respond truthfully.
Let’s put it this way, it was an interesting. uncomfortable, slightly insane but useful two hours — and I’m really glad it’s over.
PS I had to hang up on them, because at 2 hours and five minutes, they were still having such a good time I could see they’d never let me go!
Twitter
Gwiz. sounds like it was awful!
Yes it was…
Well, it figures that one supporter would have a black-face picture as his or her identity. As difficult as the interview was for you, it was quite informative and eye-opening. That was an honest discussion about racism Ms. Wilenz. That’s what it looks like. So as you can see, that’s why white people don’t want to honestly talk about racism/white supremacy.
read my books
White racism? White male entitlement? The whole notion of race is the wilfull and self serving identity label some use to assault and arrest the dignity of others. Race? you mean chromosomal anomalies that dictate the production of melanin in skin color? Or do you mean the cultural poverty of ignorant people of color and without color to degrade any person not accepted in the group by their melanin ratio. So mulattos, creoles, melungeons, sub saharan, middle eastern, far eastern, athabascan, native indigenous americans, and the Irish are more inferior than Blacks? Who is whom ? Who are victims and who are not? Ratchets?
OK so you may not have realized it, but the comment above you… their avatar is a white man in black face. They are obviously racist and believe (rightly or not) that you are a fellow racist.
I have no idea who that person is.
Gus T. Renegade Lawrence is a genocidally minded maniac. His hate makes him lose sleep, which he has mentioned on his show. He misquotes The Warmth of other suns several times when he is commenting btwn sections of the audiobook.
I think that their is always a tendency of apprehension when foreigners come into a country where they don’t live and begin making observational critiques. Even, though the author’s report may have been well meaning the specticals from which it may be viewed can be far different from the author’s intent. As far as, Gus considering the author as a suspected white supremiscist, i think one must remember the context of which he lives, being a black male in North America.
Yes, I have had that reaction to work I’ve done in Israel, also.
I find it interesting that you would post this. Every white person who gets serious questions on this show has the same reactions. Typically what happens is non white people praise your work and do not critique people classified as white. And Gus does not hate anyone. If we are in a system of white supremacy and non white people cannot be racist then every white person should be suspected. If Ms. Wilentz was serious about solving this problem then she should actively give names and locations of people who practice racism daily and actively today. FYI you have American Towns that look like HAITI now. I do not see so called Americans running to the aid of those non white people in their own country. As a matter of fact those communities are told to pull up their bootstraps when many of those communities have eerily similar problems to third world countries.
Read my work, then come back and lecture me on my racism. I agree with your final comment about poverty in America.
This is directed at the user “You R Lying”
You seem very passive-aggressive, but I get it. Most Pan Afrikan and Marxists are. Usually that trait is found in people who have deep rooted insecurities and/or an inferiority complex.
In an attempt to deflect those feelings, they project their own negative views and self loathing onto other people in the hopes it will boost their own self confidence and self worth. Amy is just as guilty of this. Notice how she plays the victim card? Gus plays it to, however this behavior in Men is very feminine and suspect at best.
With that being said, Gus is a very passive-aggressive person. He lures people into interviews pretending to want to know more about them, usually under the guise that he is a huge fan of their work. He then uses feminine like tactics to try and bait guests into admitting they are racist white supremacists. He usually uses his callers to attack the guests by calling them “racist white supremacists.” Gus uses a lot of very flawed logic and loaded questions, while insisting that he is not calling white people racist. Again, this behavior in Men is very feminine and should be viewed as suspect. It should also be noted that Gus posts his podcasts on Youtube under a different name who he claims is not him.
Gus, like most passive-aggressive people like creating double standards for themselves using faulty logic, in an attempt to self-justify and/or even deflect their own racist, prejudice, and bigoted views. It’s the same mentality as white supremacist, but they play the victim card to deflect their black supremacy agenda. Gus and his followers are UN Agenda 2030 plants. They are Communist and Marxist supporters that have a delusional belief that the UN Utopia will benefit them and put them in a place of power. This is why they go out of their way to try and marginalize white people. Gus himself is no different than any white supremacist. He shares pretty much the same views as white supremacist. The only difference is that Gus is not man enough to own it. Just like the white supremacist fears white genocide, the black supremacist fears black genocide. Not at the hands of each other, but in the form of the bi-racial child. This is why black supremacists despise interracial dating just as much as white supremacists.
Unfortunately for both white and black supremacists, they have failed to realize that nature has fail-safes in place that keep that racial genocide from happening.
These black supremacist are REACH artists. They REACH with melanin theory, they REACH with their Blood/Sulfur theory, they do it with any apples to oranges comparison, using pseudoscience in order to prove they are superior or that “racist white supremacy” exists. “You R Lying” and “kg” along with Gus are simply pushing the UN’s New World Order agenda by using pre-scripted propaganda. The Pan-Afrikan community has a long history of this.
White Supremacy is a deflection tactic used by Social Justice Warriors, activists, and the Progressive media to dodge and deflect their own racist and supremacist views. This is done in order to create even more racial tension and divide. This is all bought and paid for by the UN and the World Bank. Gus is simply beating a dead horse to try and fill his own pockets.
And just to be fair in Amy’s defense, you guys are all on the same side playing for the same team. You are all pushing the same agenda, but as with most Social Justice Warriors, activists, and Progressives in general, they tend to gravitate towards in-fighting, because they have yet to own and accept their own faults and flaws. At some point though, you are going to have to wake up and smell your own BS, because you’ve been sleeping in it for far too long.
It is usually the fascists who are calling other people fascist. The same applies to racists.
1. It should also be noted that Gus posts his podcasts on Youtube under a different name who he claims is not him.
• This is untrue… Mr. Fox, a British participant on the Global call in shows edits and uploads archived audio to HIS own channel “Mr. H Fox Channel 2”.
2. Gus and his followers are UN Agenda 2030 plants. They are Communist and Marxist supporters that have a delusional belief that the UN Utopia will benefit them and put them in a place of power.
• What proof do you have of this? What episodes can you point us to where the UN or it’s utopia were mentioned and endorsed?
3. He shares pretty much the same views as white supremacist.
• What are these shared views?
4. They REACH with melanin theory, they REACH with their Blood/Sulfur theory…
• What melanin, blood sulfur theories have you heard on the show? Please supply the show archive(s) where this can be heard.
5. White Supremacy is a deflection tactic used by Social Justice Warriors, activists, and the Progressive media to dodge and deflect their own racist and supremacist views. This is done in order to create even more racial tension and divide. This is all bought and paid for by the UN and the World Bank.
• Please point us to proof of this. Also, why do you propose the UN and World Bank have interests in creating “more racial tension”.
Amy Wilentz
I just listened to the podcast and I must say that you sound offended by the pointed questions – designed to reveal truth about the system of racism white supremacy. This is not usual , white people often become uncomfortable when put into a position to explain who your system works to a non white victim.