the spectacle of violence

Once again I am struck by this fantastic reflection by Steve Salaita.

The all too familiar reduction of violence into a spectacle; the brute and savage tendencies partnered with modern technology. Have we actually advanced morally as time went on as a people? Have we the guts to even confront our own failings in light of the trendiness of “decolonization” (worse, decolonial studies!) when we have numbed ourselves with the taunting of violence by the imperialists? Or are we afraid to admit at this point that we too are complacent with the powers that be?

“It tells us that Western academe was completely unprepared for the material demands of decolonization despite its popularity as a professional brand. Many among the intellectual class, including scholars of Fanon like Adam Shatz and Lewis Gordon, either disavow or diminish anticolonial resistance or ignore it altogether. Academe is where resistance goes for processing and beautification after it has been completed. It’s rarely a place for the organizing stage.”

“It tells us that we wasted a whole lot of time trying to convince the oppressor that we are worthy of life when the oppressor cannot live without our extinction.”