Time | Modern America might be a different place if the
distinction between a lighter-skinned Jindal and a darker-skinned Jindal
was a mere question of artistic vision. But today, in an age of
expanded civil rights, this pick-and-choose attitude toward race has
only heightened. The decision whether to dissect or ignore the paint
color of Jindal’s portraits is but a small yet important choice among
larger, modern issues. It’s about whether post-9/11 airport security
unfairly targets those who appear to be Middle Eastern; whether
affirmative action is anti-Asian; whether grand juries would return
different decisions if the defendant were not black. At its core, what
Plotkin decries as “race-baiting” is question of who has the power to decide when
an issue deserves to be investigated in racial terms. Choosing to throw
the “race-bait” accusation is simply a convenient disengagement from
these issues, all of which are complicated by histories that conflate
complexion with race, and race with power.
Because, really, why would anyone inherently enjoy the idea of unwanted racialization? As Plotkin’s tweets suggest, that stuff is just plain annoying.
