Paul Gilroy: Blog Tasks :)

Go to our Media Factsheet archive on the Media Shared drive and open Factsheet 170: Gilroy – Ethnicity and Postcolonial Theory. You can access it online here using your Greenford Google login. 

Read the Factsheet and complete the following questions/tasks:

1) How does Gilroy suggest racial identities are constructed?

Gilroy suggests racial identities are constructed by colonialization, slavery, nationalist philosophies and consumer capitalism 

2) What does Gilroy suggest regarding the causes and history of racism?

Gilroy suggests that the causes and history of racism isn’t caused by race, racism causes race. Racism is not caused by the clash of two or more races, instead, Gilroy states that racial difference and racial identities are the product of racial oppression. Racial identities are caused by historical conflicts that have brought different groups into opposition 

3) What is ethnic absolutism and why is Gilroy opposed to it?

Ethnic absolutism is a line of thinking which sees humans are part of different ethnic compartments, with race as the basis of human differentiation. Gilroy is opposed to ethnic absolutism as it is counter to his argument that racism causes race 

4) How does Gilroy view diasporic identity?

Gilroy considers a transatlantic diasporic identity, where groups across the Atlantic share cultural practices – a “single, complex unit” of black cultural practitioners as a result of a shared history of oppression and slavery. Gilroy sees black identities as a product of movement – the African diasporic identity is based on routes taken throughout history, and not the roots of origin. Gilroy sees this as a diaspora that cannot be reversed, unlike the classic position which offers the myth of returning to the place of origin. For Gilroy, the Black Atlantic diaspora is irreversible because the experience of slavery irrevocably changed the diasporic identity. It cannot be ‘rewound’ to a state of cultural purity and cannot return to Africa as the place of origin has changed – the place of origin doesn’t exist as it did before diaspora 

5) What did Gilroy suggest was the dominant representation of black Britons in the 1980s (when the Voice newspaper was first launched)?

Gilroy suggests the dominant representation of black Britons in the 1980s when the Voice newspaper was first launched was as “external and estranged from the imagined community that is the nation” As such, to accept the role of slavery into the cultural identities of Britain would be to challenge the negative stereotype of black Britons at the time, and reverse the “external and estranged” relationship with the nation 

6) Gilroy argues diaspora challenges national ideologies. What are some of the negative effects of this?

Gilroy argues diaspora challenges national ideologies- some of the negative effects of this are that diasporic identities can also become trapped within a national ideology, diasporic cultural ideologies and practices exist within a national ideology based upon its social, economic and cultural integrations and as such there is a cultural difference with the diasporic identities 

7) Complete the first activity on page 3: How might diasporic communities use the media to stay connected to their cultural identity? E.g. digital media - offer specific examples.

Diasporic communities use the media to stay connected to their cultural identity as seen with examples such as the #1millionshirts campaign on Twitter along with the Invisible Children's Kony 2012 video about capturing the notorious Ugandan rebel Joseph Kony which both came under heavy diaspora scrutiny online. The video was regarded as "over-simplified" and "misleading" by many in the diasporic community 

8) Why does Gilroy suggest slavery is important in diasporic identity?

Gilroy suggests slavery is important in diasporic identity as the modern world was built upon a normalised view of slavery, particularly plantation slavery. Slavery was only rejected when it was revealed as incompatible with enlightened rationality and capitalist production 

9) How might representations in the media reinforce the idea of ‘double consciousness’ for black people in the UK or US?

Representations in the media might reinforce the idea of  'double consciousness' for black people in the UK or US in that the dominant representations of black males, primarily in the US, is either a rapper, criminal or gang member, or an athlete