Containing (Un)American Bodies: Race, Sexuality, and Post-9/11 Constructions of Citizenship. PDF
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CONTAINING (UN)AMERICAN BODIES VIBS Volume 219 Robert Ginsberg Founding Editor Leonidas Donskis Executive Editor Associate Editors G. John M. Abbarno Steven V. Hicks George Allan Richard T. Hull Gerhold K. Becker Michael Krausz Raymond Angelo Belliotti Olli Loukola Kenneth A. Bryson Mark Letteri C. Stephen Byrum Vincent L. Luizzi Robert A. Delfino Adrianne McEvoy Rem B. Edwards J.D. Mininger Malcolm D. Evans Peter A. Redpath Daniel B. Gallagher Arleen L. F. Salles Roland Faber John R. Shook Andrew Fitz-Gibbon Eddy Souffrant Francesc Forn i Argimon Tuija Takala William C. Gay Emil Višňovský Dane R. Gordon Anne Waters J. Everet Green James R. Watson Heta Aleksandra Gylling John R. Welch Matti Häyry Thomas Woods Brian G. Henning a volume in Studies in Philosophy of Peace POP William C. Gay, Editor CONTAINING (UN)AMERICAN BODIES Race, Sexuality, and Post-9/11 Constructions of Citizenship Mary K. Bloodsworth-Lugo and Carmen R. Lugo-Lugo Amsterdam - New York, NY 2010 Cover Photo: Morguefile.com Cover Design: Studio Pollmann The paper on which this book is printed meets the requirements of “ISO 9706:1994, Information and documentation - Paper for documents - Requirements for permanence”. ISBN: 978-90-420-3024-4 E-Book ISBN: 978-90-420-3025-1 © Editions Rodopi B.V., Amsterdam - New York, NY 2010 Printed in the Netherlands Philosophy of Peace (POP) William C. Gay Editor Other Titles in POP Laurence F. Bove and Laura Duhan Kaplan, eds. From the Eye of the Storm: Regional Conflicts and the Philosophy of Peace. 1995. VIBS 29 Laura Duhan Kaplan and Laurence F. Bove, eds. Philosophical Perspectives on Power and Domination: Theories and Practices. 1997. VIBS 49 HPP (Hennie) Lötter. Injustice, Violence, and Peace: The Case of South Afri- ca. 1997. VIBS 56 Deane Curtin and Robert Litke, eds. Institutional Violence. 1999. VIBS 88 Judith Presler and Sally J. Scholz, eds. Peacemaking: Lessons from the Past, Visions for the Future. 2000. VIBS 105 Alison Bailey and Paula J. Smithka, eds. Community, Diversity, and Differ- ence: Implications for Peace. 2002. VIBS 127 Nancy Nyquist Potter, ed. Putting Peace into Practice: Evaluating Policy on Local and Global Levels. 2004. VIBS 164 John Kultgen and Mary Lenzi, eds. Problems for Democracy. 2006. VIBS 181 David Boersema and Katy Gray Brown, eds. Spiritual and Political Dimen- sions of Nonviolence and Peace. 2006. VIBS 182 Gail Presbey, ed., Philosophical Perspectives on the “War on Terrorism. 2007. VIBS 188 Danielle Poe and Eddy Souffrant, eds., Parceling the Globe: Explorations in Globalization, Global Behavior, and Peace. 2008. VIBS 194 Carmen R. Lugo-Lugo and Mary K. Bloodsworth-Lugo, eds. A New Kind of Containment: “The War on Terror,” Race, and Sexuality. 2009. VIBS 201 Andrew Fitz-Gibbon, ed. Positive Peace: Reflections on Peace Education, Nonviolence, and Social Change. 2009. VIBS 217 Assistant Editor of POP Danielle Poe This isn’t for the ones who would gladly swallow Everything their leader would have them know Bowing and kissin’ while the truth goes missin’ “Bring it on,” he crows, puttin’ on his big show. Mary Chapin Carpenter On with the Song CONTENTS Editorial Foreword xi WILLIAM C. GAY Preface xiii MARY K. BLOODSWORTH-LUGO AND CARMEN R. LUGO-LUGO I ntroduction 1 ONE G. W. Bush Administration Narratives of Threat and Containment 7 T WO Same-Sex Marriage as “Domestic Terrorism” 23 THREE Bodies that Resisted Containment 41 FOUR The Merger of Immigration, Citizenship, and Same-Sex Marriage 59 FIVE Constructions of Threat and the Barack Obama Presidential Campaign 69 SIX Threatening Bodies in the Age of Obama 81 Conclusion 91 Works Cited 99 About the Authors 111 Index 113 EDITORIAL FOREWORD This Special Series in Philosophy of Peace is focused on issues of peace and issues of social justice. A recent volume in the series, A New Kind of Con- tainment: “The War on Terror,” Race, and Sexuality, edited by Carmen R. Lugo-Lugo and Mary K. Bloodsworth-Lugo addressed issues concerning social justice connected with the new doctrine of containment, which, they hold, has been a response to the “War on Terror.” The first era of containment—the term coined in 1947 by George F. Kennan—sought to contain the Soviet Union at the beginning of the Cold War. Since 2001, the United States government has looked to similarly con- tain the threat of terrorism. As in both of these cases, contributors to that vo- lume argued that the United States also seeks to contain Lesbian, Gay, Bisex- ual, Transgendered, Queer (LGBTQ) bodies, as well as other bodies deemed threatening. In this timely monograph, Containing (Un)American Bodies: Race, Sex- uality, and Post-9/11 Constructions of Citizenship, authors Bloodsworth- Lugo and Lugo-Lugo address aspects of a new containment associated with the “browning of terror.” The now familiar phrase “the browning of America” became popular at the end of the twentieth century when Americans did show signs, in response to new demographics that projected Whites to be in the minority by mid- twenty-first century, of affirming multiculturalism. Then, the browning of America had a positive connotation. However, since 9/11 and the start of the War on Terror, the earlier positive response to the browning of America has transformed into a strong rejection of those perceived to be un-American. This rejection has been revealed through a strong wave of anti-immigrant activism. Moreover, the War on Terror is becoming increasingly associated with suspicion about persons of color in general. Bloodsworth-Lugo and Lu- go-Lugo relate this new phenomenon—that has some characteristics similar to McCarthyism—with what they term the “browning of terror.” In this monograph, Bloodsworth-Lugo and Lugo-Lugo provide six chap- ters in which they trace the browning of terror and constructions of citizen- ship from soon after 9/11 through the first year of the Presidency of Barack Obama. In this regard, their work is especially timely. They trace not only the rise of the browning of terror but also its affect on the Presidential campaign of Obama and on his first year in office as the first African-American or mixed race President of the United States of America. The initial chapter traces the shift to the browning of terror that occurred under George W. Bush. They also bring out some of the connections made by politicians on the right between same-sex marriage and domestic terrorism. The initial chapters in this monograph transition into consideration of how xii CONTAINING (UN)AMERICAN BODIES issues of immigration and citizenship have gotten connected to issues about same-sex marriage. The final two chapters concern the Presidential campaign and the Presi- dency of Barack Obama. During the Presidential campaign of 2008, a new phenomenon emerged in relation to critics of the Democratic candidates dif- ferent from any that had transpired in earlier campaigns. Earlier Democratic candidates were typically challenged in relation to their patriotism, but not their citizenship and Americannness. With Obama, his citizenship was chal- lenged in ways that connect directly to the browning of terror. Critics ques- tioned his race, his name, his religion, and—especially—his Americanness. Given the power of these factors, his election is all the more surprising. Since Obama’s election as President, these issues have not gone away. Criticism is lodged at Obama that would be unlikely to ever be aimed at a White President. Bloodsworth-Lugo and Lugo-Lugo draw attention to this and related issues in the last chapter, “Threatening Bodies in the Age of Ob- ama,” on the first-year of the Obama Presidency. This volume cogently advances the concerns with social justice of this Special Series on Philosophy of Peace. It also advances critical analyses of the browning of terror and of the Obama Presidency. For these reasons, this volume is a very relevant one to the debate on the status of social justice in America today. William C. Gay, Professor of Philosophy University of North Carolina at Charlotte Philosophy of Peace Special Series Editor
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