The "Negro cake"

[M Winther]

Concerning the event at the Stockholm Museum of Modern Art when the
Swedish Minister of Culture cut a cake that depicted a naked African
woman, created by African-Swedish artist Makode Linde.
http://www.thelocal.se/40312/20120417/

Analysis. I suggest that these phenomena, including the "slave
auction" at Sweden's Lund University, are symptoms of an internal
conflict in Swedes and African-Swedes alike.
http://www.thelocal.se/33290/20110419/
According to political correctness no differences exist, except skin
colour. Accordingly, people repress negative thoughts about Blacks as
being "primitive and maladjusted" - thoughts that are bolstered by the
fact that Blacks in Sweden often lead a passive life and don't
contribute much to our country. Also the African-Swedes repress these
thoughts. But if you avoid talking about the problems and refuse to
acknowledge differences in mentality, etc., then these thoughts will
take an unconscious and vulgar form, what artist Linde laid his finger
on. His art points out the nature of our unconscious racist complex
according to which the African-Swede is a "primitive jungle
inhabitant" who cannot get by in advanced civilisation, and who
devotes himself to primitive rituals like cannibalism, genital
mutilation, and demonic exorcism (the latter according to cases
reported in media). Since we refuse to speak about the "race problem"
(since the concept of 'race' is viewed as obsolete) the unconscious
erupts in "slave auctions", etc.

Makode Linde, per contra, has deliberately chosen to reveal the vulgar
unconscious (he paints huge "Negro mouths" on classical statues, etc.)
in order to cut open this boil, which is a valuable initiative. I
think that 'racism', in terms of the Association of African Swedes
(i.e., "slave auctions", etc.) really depends on how society
suppresses the discussion of race and the problems connected with
innate characteristics (differences!) and how these collide with
European culture, mentality, and the character of European society.
The punishment for an artificial suavity is that society is affected
with vulgar racism. What is really said in private talks around the
kitchen table?

That's why we must refrain from using the racist epithet at times when
debaters dare to speak openly about problems associated with
immigration from culturally remote regions. Such a debate will reopen
old wounds and cause conflict, but it is the remedy against vulgar
racism that goes on in the dark, and which in the long run will have
dire consequences. Research has shown that Whites developing a
hypocritical attitude in racial issues, thereby create more relational
problems than they solve:
'Seeing Race And Seeming Racist? Whites Go Out Of Their Way To Avoid
Talking About Race'
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/10/081006092518.htm
Moreover, it is the constant, vague, just-below-the-surface acts of
racism that are taking a toll:
'Racism's Cognitive Toll: Subtle Discrimination Is More Taxing On The
Brain'
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070919093316.htm

The conclusion is that hypocricy is more destructive than "Negro
cakes". Linde's work of art, depending on the context in which it is
presented, aims at opening the discourse and is therefore not racist.
If people feel offended, they should know that the artwork represents
their own unconscious "Negro complex".

Mats Winther