Tag Archives: white supremacy

Pullman and White Christian Nationalists

By Robin Bates | Published: March 7, 2023

In “The Secret Commonwealth” Pullmans description of the Magisterium sounds a lot like White Christian Nationalism.

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Odysseus’s Authoritarian Power Play

By Robin Bates | Published: February 7, 2023

Homer shows the dynamics of authoritarianism at work in an “Iliad” incident where Odysseus disciplines a critic of the Greek mission.

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Actors of Color in New Tolkien Drama

By Robin Bates | Published: September 7, 2022

While some critics, perhaps revealing their racism, are complaining about actors of color in “Ring of Power,” here’s why the casting is good.

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Beloved’s War against White Supremacy

By Robin Bates | Published: December 14, 2021

One reason the far right may hate Morrison’s “Beloved” is because a Black woman resists attempts to control her fertility.

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Our Fragile Democracy

By Robin Bates | Published: January 10, 2021

Feeling fragile about democracy in the wake of the Capitol desecration? This Millay poem may capture your sense of foreboding.

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What Baldwin Would Make of Barr

By Robin Bates | Published: December 8, 2019

William Barr’s recent comments to police officers reveal an attitude toward people of color that James Baldwin would recognize instantly.

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Why Fascists Obsess about Invasions

By Robin Bates | Published: August 5, 2019

Tuesday In an important article, Washington Post’s Phil Rucker pointed out how the El Paso shooter’s diatribe, in which he talks of a “Hispanic invasion of Texas,” mirrors Donald Trump’s language. Rucker reminds us of what we’ve been hearing from our president: President Trump has relentlessly used his bully pulpit to decry Latino migration as […]

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Murakami Explains Lure of Fascism

By Robin Bates | Published: September 15, 2017

Murakami’s “Wild Sheep Chase” helps explain why young men are drawn to fascism, as we saw in Charlottesville.

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Milton’s Satan Invades Charleston

By Robin Bates | Published: June 21, 2015

Once again, light has attracted darkness in America with the Charleston church killings. John Milton describes how this dynamic works in “Paradise Lost” and Leslie Marmon Silko does so as well in “Ceremony.”

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