MCLC: politics, literature, and culture (6)

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: A. E. Clark <aec at raggedbanner.com>
Subject: politics, literature, and culture (6)
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I find Mr. Pickering's follow-up post deploring Wang Lixiong's views of
Han-Uyghur relations as unsatisfactory as his first.

Thomas Pickering: "I have re-read Wang Lixiong’s excerpts and find his
syntax resembles statements regularly issued by Eldridge Cleaver full of
racial hatred, ethnic rage and encouragement to violence."

I suspect that, by "syntax," Mr. Pickering meant something other than
syntax. I can only guess: "tone," perhaps? "Implicit moral premises"?  It
must have been something revelatory and expressive of hatred, rage, and
incitement. I find nothing of the kind in Mr. Wang's text.  On the
contrary, the implications of the following passage are clearly the
opposite of what Mr. Pickering imputes to Mr. Wang:

Wang Lixiong: "CCP’s policies in Xinjiang today have been escalating the
ethnic tension.Continuing on that path, it will not take  long to reach
the point of no return where all opportunities for healthy interaction
will be lost, and a vicious cycle pushes the two sides farther and farther
apart."

I find it noteworthy (though perfectly natural) that Mr. Wang prizes
harmonious relations between the peoples and would greatly prefer to see
the minorities on good terms with Beijing:

Wang Lixiong: "Consequently, all the 'prophecies' are being
self-fulfilled: The Hans are vigilant toward the indigenous peoples, and
the indigenous peoples eventually will be driven to the opposite side. A
small number of terrorists are not a big problem; the biggest danger is
when the indigenous peoples in Xinjiang as a whole turn against Beijing."

When Mr. Pickering identifies "opposing Han chauvinism with Uighur
chauvinism" as "Wang's solution to the problems," he seems to me to be
utterly mistaken: the growth of implacable Uyghur hostility to the Han is
for Wang the most tragic and dangerous part of the problem.

Thomas Pickering: "The parallel to Black Panthers holds."

The parallel is preposterous and defamatory, and repetition does not make
it any less so.  I would note in passing, however, that Eldridge Cleaver
was a more complex and thoughtful writer than people could acknowledge in
the polarized atmosphere of the Sixties. His repugnant and widely-quoted
remarks about the satisfactions to be found in raping white women, for
example, were situated in an autobiographical account of his troubled
youth. It is possible, therefore, that Mr. Pickering is almost as unfair
to Eldridge Cleaver as he is to Wang Lixiong.

Mr. Pickering's final suggestion, "Let us sidestep the gorilla’s dance for
the nonce," is probably good career advice, but whether it is feasible
depends on where you stand. Mr. Wang, who attempted suicide in his cell
when jailed in Xinjiang for doing research there, might choose a less
balletic metaphor. 

A. E. Clark