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THE EMOTIONAL POLITICS OF RACISM Stanford Studies in COMPARATIVE RACE AND ETHNICITY THE EMOTIONA L POLITICS OF R ACISM How Feelings Trump Facts in an Era of Color Blindness Paula Ioanide Stanford University Press Stanford, California Stanford University Press Stanford, California ©2015 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. All rights reserved. “We Made It” © 2007 by Sunni Patterson, New Orleans, LA. “You know her” by Sophia E. Terazawa. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system without the prior written permission of Stanford University Press. Printed in the United States of America on acid-free, archival-quality paper Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Ioanide, Paula, author. The emotional politics of racism: how feelings trump facts in an era of colorblindness / Paula Ioanide. pages cm—(Stanford studies in comparative race and ethnicity) Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 978-0-8047-9359-9 (cloth : alk. paper)— isbn 978-0-8047-9547-0 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Racism—United States—Psychological aspects. 2. Social psychology—United States. 3. United States—Social policy. 4. United States—Social conditions—1980- I. Title. II. Series: Stanford studies in comparative race and ethnicity. e184.a1l623 2015 305.800973—dc23 2014041547 isbn 978-08047-9548-7 (electronic) Typeset by Bruce Lundquist in 10.5/15 Adobe Garamond To my father, Cristian Ioanide, who endowed me with the responsibility to continue the spiritual legacy CONTENTS Acknowledgments ix Introduction: Facts and Evidence Don’t Work Here 1 part i criminals and terrorists: the emotional economies of military-carceral expansion 27 1. New York, New York: The Raging Emotions of White Police Brutality 55 2. Abu Ghraib, Iraq: The Evasive Emotions of U.S. Exceptionalism 81 part ii welfare dependents and illegal aliens: the emotional economies of social wage retrenchment 113 3. New Orleans, Louisiana: The Demolishing Emotions of Neoliberal Removal 139 4. Escondido, California: The Exclusionary Emotions of Nativist Movements 175 Epilogue: The Other Side of Social Death 207 viii contents Notes 223 Index 263 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Looking back to the time when this book was in its germination phase, I find it inconceivable that the constellation of people who irrevocably transformed my understanding of the world should all be present in the same geography. The only thing that might account for this is an unwavering and unprovable belief that the universe sends wise guides to those who are desperately seeking answers and purpose. I am forever indebted to the remarkable guidance I received in the History of Consciousness program at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and as a feminist studies fellow at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Tricia Rose, Neferti Tadiar, Angela Y. Davis, Herman Gray, Rosa Linda Fregoso, Jonathan Beller, Saidiya Hartman, Clyde Woods, Cedric Robinson—please always know that your knowledge ignites unlimited desires for growth and justice and transfigures others to bend toward the arc of love, growth, and the beloved community. I am also thankful for beautiful memories of shared struggle, sur- vival, and laughter with Roya Rastegar, Kalindi Vora, Rashad Shabazz, and Tim Koths, who have offered sustaining friendships. The unwavering support I have received from George Lipsitz over the years is something that can hardly be represented through language. A galaxy of new constellations in the sky, a new genre of music, or a series of collective spoken poetry performances would probably offer more effective modes of symbolizing the gratitude I feel for his guidance, scholarship, ethics, peda- gogy, and commitment to do what is right. As you always say, George, we are looking for people who are looking for us, and I feel infinitely blessed that I found you. Your constant willingness to help me and countless other students, activists, and organizers across the world has surely come at a huge