The subject supposed to dope
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the part of the American political imaginary in which the black male embodied the criminal was temporarily suspended. If only out of situational sympathy or utter revulsion at what the black bodies in New Orleans laid bare about U.S. society, it seemed that that representation was open to emendation or even radical transformation. The moment turned out to be quite brief, however, as the perception regained its hold, though perhaps with a different articulation. This restratification was — perhaps not surprisingly, but significantly — achieved where black-male bodies are at their most visible: professional sports. (more…)
