[MGSA-L] Proposal re: MGSA TSC Greek/African Americans reading & viewing list

James Verinis jverinis at gmail.com
Sat Jun 6 13:25:44 PDT 2020


Dear MGSA community,

All of the work done by the TSC is indeed appreciated. We should all keep
in mind that our reflections about being Greek in the United States as well
as elsewhere, in the past or more recently, as well as our reflections on
Greek American-African American relations are to serve the rather
unparalleled plight of African Americans in this country right now. There
is without doubt much empathy to commandeer, many insights about race in
the U.S. and abroad to be had. But please, let us be careful to not make
this current moment in American history about anyone else.

Respectfully,
James Verinis

On Sat, Jun 6, 2020 at 1:07 PM Vassiliki Tsitsopoulou <vtsitsop at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Dear Transnational Studies Committee & all MGSAers,
>
> I would like to thank the TSC for posting the reading and viewing list on
> the intersections of Greek American and African American social
> trajectories under the sign of Race.
>
> I am especially grateful for the video “Μεταξύ Λευκών και Μαύρων” from The
> Press Project.  Because in the statements made by historian Ann Flessor
> Beck (min. 12:40) I rediscovered my own experience in the US as a female,
> Greek, and immigrant of a more recent vintage: Being called an “oriental”
> to my face and being racially profiled (in all the familiar procedural
> ways).
>
> I was struck by the transhistorical persistence of a racial ascription
> that linked my personal experience in the 21st century to American
> categorizations of Greek and other groups of immigrants in the early 20th
> century as “Asiatics” (an inferiorizing, vilifying term).
>
> But it is not just in the US that Greeks (whether Greek-Americans or
> Greek-born expats, late arrivals or whatever) are being racially coded in
> discourse and in action.  On the other side of the Atlantic they are being
> subjected to “racial europeanization” (I am adapting the term from David
> Theo Goldberg).  I couldn’t help making the connection when I saw the
> video.
>
> All this prompted me to follow up with a proposal for a reading community
> based on texts in Critical Race Theory and Race Studies.    If there are
> members in this list who would be interested in joining an online reading
> group on this topic, please let me know.
>
> I would start with David Theo Goldberg’s *The Threat of Race* and/or with
> the collection *Race Critical Theories* edited by Philomena Essed and
> Goldberg.
>
> Thank you.
>
> Vassiliki Tsitsopoulou
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On May 31, 2020, at 3:00 PM, mgsa-l-request at maillists.uci.edu wrote:
>
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> Today's Topics:
>
>   1. Greek Americans, African Americans (Anagnostou, Georgios)
>
> *From: *"Anagnostou, Georgios" <anagnostou.1 at osu.edu>
> *Subject: **[MGSA-L] Greek Americans, African Americans*
> *Date: *May 30, 2020 at 9:50:08 PM EDT
> *To: *"mgsa-l at uci.edu" <mgsa-l at uci.edu>
>
>
> >From the desk of the MGSA Transnational Studies Committee:
>
> The urgency of these days provides the context to learn about Greek
> Americans in connection to African Americans
>
> Sources: Documentaries, novels, short stories, autobiography, biography,
> commentaries, book reviews, scholarship
>
> • Mini-documentary, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DziGTSRMQic&t=193s
> <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DziGTSRMQic&t=193s&fbclid=IwAR3B_iPhmK8cl6AWIbYsqAzQaTCla_YTeo02PAUuwmWP4XQoQtg4dKE2Egw>
>
> • Dan Georgakas, "Black Metropolis," chapter in his book, My Detroit:
> Growing Up Greek and American in Motor City
>
> Review by Nicholas Alexiou, https://muse.jhu.edu/article/475991/pdf
> <https://muse.jhu.edu/article/475991/pdf?fbclid=IwAR32iap0uI5C7xr9wf97G_KUV3gieVYC6PpdV5RzCczsopCkCRxOFaODjvA>
>
> • George Pelecanos, The Turnaround
>
> For a review see,
> http://immigrations-ethnicities-racial.blogspot.com/…/greek…
> <https://immigrations-ethnicities-racial.blogspot.com/2013/12/greek-americans-and-african-americans.html?fbclid=IwAR3lGH2HE-LG_2r209qIuV7E9RQLIkMTZtY45pgVTowd3Z8UrfCg0z2mYDg>
>
> • Harry Mark Petrakis, A Tale of Color
>
> For commentary see, http://www.newdiaspora.com/a-tale-of-color/
> <http://www.newdiaspora.com/a-tale-of-color/?fbclid=IwAR2raE384qi6Mwagyo77unkY5BXvFChLKIWXQ6_KD5TEFp3ZUl9PsllmbvI>
>
> Do established immigrants and their offspring have any ethical and
> political responsibility toward America? This question recurs with urgency
> in the writings of several Greek American authors, including Harry Mark
> Petrakis. A well-known storyteller, Petrakis is particularly invested in
> this issue, drawing inspiration from his parents’ deep appreciation for
> their acceptance in the United States. As the beneficiaries of America’s
> magnanimity, the “sons and daughters of immigrants, grandsons and
> granddaughters of immigrants,” he implores, “must renew and fulfill” the
> vision of America as a sanctuary of difference.
>
> To highlight his vision of ethnic responsibility toward American
> diversity, Petrakis crafts a story – entitled “A Tale of Color” – based on
> a real life event experienced by his mother, Presbytera Petrakis. The
> author, who often heard his mother recite this life in a family setting,
> turns it into a harrowing narrative dramatizing the human cost of racial
> exclusion.
>
> • Apollo Papafrangou,
> https://www.apollopapafrangou.net/category/african-american/
> <https://www.apollopapafrangou.net/category/african-american/?fbclid=IwAR3TLuTP574S2mQl1OmSTNwNoyr9qeanQHfv4yHMRI3h9J-6JnVqrNhZxb4>
>
> • Yiorgos Anagnostou, "Do the Right Thing: Identities as Citizenship in
> U.S. Orthodox Christianity and Greek America."
>
> https://ergon.scienzine.com/art…/articles/do-the-right-thing
> <https://ergon.scienzine.com/article/articles/do-the-right-thing?fbclid=IwAR38JOpR8GI4V8VSEmCKEEWnDIwBQiJN4CIfxQIKMte3eNeBZofxnqa6thU>
>
> • George Lipsitz, Midnight at the Barrelhouse
> The Johnny Otis Story
>
> https://www.upress.umn.edu/…/bo…/midnight-at-the-barrelhouse
> <https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/midnight-at-the-barrelhouse?fbclid=IwAR3TwWGOLO7nbcqPlViuLlZ3Xzqn85d_v73BOjjRd5YWOBx5yw-axDb45uc>
>
> • Athanasios Grammenos,
> https://www.thenationalherald.com/…/the_late_archbishop_ia…/
> <https://www.thenationalherald.com/archive_church/arthro/the_late_archbishop_iakovos_u_s_greece_relations-19342/?fbclid=IwAR2cw4lQbpwrpdXlKYwnVBFieoaz422XCQjP7fIZEnoUiGsId9TpAdw3oFw>
>
>
> Yiorgos Anagnostou
>
>
>
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-- 
James P. Verinis, Ph.D.
Anthropology and Sociology
University Studies/Core Curriculum
Roger Williams University

Cultural, Environmental, and Global Studies
Salve Regina University
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