Saying Grace: Paula Deen, Progressives, and Race

From Dixon Hall ^ | June 26, 2013 | Maria Dixon

[Mrs. Don-o]

Don-o, I agree with your assessment: Maria Dixon is "a self-identified progressive black woman who is speaking the truth."

I think some readers will be thrown off by the introductory "Brixton" discussion. Let me give it some context.

Maria Dixon, MDiv, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Communication at the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX.

She annually takes her students to the U.K. for six weeks in London, which includes the colorful (in every sense) part of The City called Brixton, where over half of the population is of African or Caribbean descent, or Asian (read: Pakistanis and Middle Easterners). It is the home of the Brixton Mosque, the oldest Mosque in South London.

That may be why some of he students were afraid of Brixton.

She herself is progressive and black, but? and? --- this is the best part --- she is apparently a Genuine Christian with a capital G. "Gee ...it's true." As this rather paradoxical blog entry of hers illustrates: "Still Striking Out" (Link)

(What I wanted you to see is that her main complaint about the Christian Church is that it is not Christian enough: it isn't calling people to the saving power of Jesus Christ, our redeemer who died for our sins and has come that we might live in Him. Wow!)

So we've got some real complexity here.

Which is to say: a real human being. Maria Dixon, progressive, black, Methodist, Christian: a real human being.

I am proud to see her defending Paula Deen.

[Argus]

The mascot of the crews building Hoover Dam back in the Thirties was “Nig, the Dam Dog” - there’s a plaque at the site commemorating him.

[Tax-chick]

Maria Dixon is "a self-identified progressive black woman who is speaking the truth."

I would qualify that to "a piece of the truth."

[don-o]

I would qualify that to "a piece of the truth."

Which I can surely identify with. I used to be right about everything.

"I was so much older then; I'm younger than that now."

[don-o]

Thanks for filling in on Brixton. In that entry you linked, Prof Dixon skewers her own compatriots. Again, that kind of honesty is rare all around. It's easy to slam opponents; it's easy to do it with a hardened heart. It's easy to "play the game" using the enemy's rules.

It's easy to damage ones own soul.

[Albion Wilde]

The Brixton reference is confusing here. She might be referring to the Brixton district in London that is home to many non-whites and also contains a lot of entertainment sites and a huge market, etc.

Electric Avenue, Brixton, London UK

[Mrs. Don-o]

That's right, Albion, that's exactly what it is. #21

[Albion Wilde]

Many don't know the origin of the word "cracker". "Craic" is a Gaelic word that means "talk, chatter, buzz, yakking" etc. Many of the original settlers of the South were Irish or Scottish Gaelic speakers. You can hear the word in the BBC series set in Ireland, Ballykissangel; and the word, either as a noun or in verb tenses, is still in use in Ireland. Here's a recent example:

From DailyMail online:

Barack Obama today received huge cheers in Northern Ireland as he asked a room full teenagers: 'What's the craic?'
To the delight of an audience in Belfast, the US President said the popular Irish phrase being used by students 'lounging in cafes' was proof that peace in the province was working.

[Albion Wilde]

Maria Dixon, progressive, black, Methodist, Christian: a real human being.

Methodist ---and Christian? How can DAT be? LOL!

(You may recall my many laments about the Methodist church I was raised in now swirling the PC drain...)