Pitts’ sheds light on imperial privilege
Leonard Pitts’ commentary (“DuVernay’s documentary ‘13th’ fits the pieces together,” Opinion, Oct. 23), on the “13th” documentary, challenges us. Focusing on disproportionately imprisoned black population, Pitts suggests the mainstream (“privileged”) reasoning being “poverty,” “thug culture,” or “natural criminality.” Instead, it is “control,” he says.
The “control” logic extends globally, called “imperial privilege” in some circles. How do we view human losses in distant lands, not caused by “terrorists,” but by state actors (“foreign policies”)? It allows us to focus on “homeland” tragedies, but dismiss slaughters abroad as “collateral” (recalling GWB’s Secretary Rumsfeld, “stuff happens”). We can readily block off pictures of blood-smeared children, or desperate refugees. That luxury is imperial privilege.
Race as a biopolitical category is recognized domestically (as Pitts does), but it is often invisible abroad, enabling people of all races to “allow” ‘killable’ populations. As an election issue, Black/All-Lives matter, but “lives-abroad” have little salience. Trump’s racism/xenophobia may be offensive, but is that necessarily more offensive/less racist than Clinton’s hawkish history? Imperial privilege camouflages such racialized hierarchies in the world order. It allows some questions to be heard, while silencing others. Shouldn’t that silence be broken?
S.M. GHAZANFAR, ACWORTH
Georgians must try to conserve water
Georgia is experiencing another drought and the costly battle with Florida over the use of water is still going on. Yet it is sad to see sprinklers running full speed during rain on lawns maintained by commercial buildings and subdivisions because Georgia does not require moisture meters on sprinklers. I am sure we can save millions of gallons of water if we just become more careful.
PAVITTAR SAFIR, ROSWELL
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