mini-controversy brewing at the village voice about their recent cover -- which TV on the Radio's very own Martin Perna wrote in to condemn.
TV on the Radio Guy Calls Our Cover Racist [villagevoice.com]
ok,,, clearly its not intentionally racist. maybe it is unintentionally so. but the question is, does it matter?
we are a bunch of humans on this planet, going about our business ... if someone jumps onto the subway before me and i cant get on, will i be pissed? ya. will i consider it a human rights violation? no. point is we all live in our separate worlds, that are overlapping and interconnected. it is impossible to go through life and not step on any one else's toes. "Jain monks walk barefoot and sweep the ground in front of them to avoid killing any insect."1 Are we to all take this degree of sensitivity in every aspect of our lives? This obviously offended some people -- clearly Martin Perna at least -- but it would be hard to say it has any other damaging results. I don't think it will encourage or perpetuate any racial hate, division, or violence -- won't provide any set-backs for anyone "committed to social justice and healing America of its sick racist condition." So Mr Perna you are entitled to your opinion and feelings of offense but I suggest you recall the Stylistics lyrics that "people make the world go 'round."
1 - Jainism, wikipedia
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The Jains make a pretty good counter-point. Sam Harris points to them in The End of Faith: "you aren't going to see any Jain suicide bombers." But this one Jain guy accidentally swallowed a bug while he was sleeping, and he did feel pretty bad about it.
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