Critical literacy means questioning everything. It means understanding that every text is infused with an argument, that is to say, a viewpoint. Every viewpoint comes with its own set of biases, false assumptions, and blindspots. Therefore, we should be critical of the text and question the author's intent. It's important to remember, every text can and will be perceived differently by different consumers, and it's not always clear which perception was the author's intent. That said, you don't have to look far to find texts worthy of critique. Let's take a gander at today's news.
http://news.msn.com/us/us-appeals-court-throws-out-irs-rule-on-obamacare-subsidies
A court ruling has found that the tax subsidy system embedded in "Obamacare" is illegal, and, pending appeals etc., this ruling could result in the loss of tax breaks for approximately 62% of those expected to enroll in the federal health care marketplace. These tax breaks were intended to make healthcare affordable for everyone, and this, in essence, would cut the affordable care act down at the knees. There are several ways to digest this information. You could view this decision favorably. Perhaps it protects our capitalist system from being undermined by a tax and spend socialist. Perhaps it's a check towards controlling big government. Perhaps it's simply another example of the republican drive to make Obama, and democrats by proxy, appear impotent. Perhaps it's simply a fidelitous analysis of tax law. Just maybe, the ruling makes affordable healthcare unaffordable, and has the effect of stripping healthcare from millions of citizens. Millions of citizens that coincidentally happen to be low-income earners.
The point of critical literacy is not to pick which perception is correct, but rather to be flexible enough in mind to see the various ways the information can be perceived and the various ways it could have been intended. It would be irresponsible to suggest the court ruling is intended and crafted to be classist and racist. However, there are absolutely classist and racist ramifications to this ruling that warrant discussion and scrutiny.
Hey, remember this? (sorry, it's not on youtube; also, don't feel compelled to watch the whole thing)
http://www.mtv.com/videos/misc/942064/we-cant-stop-blurred-lines-give-it-2-u-medley.jhtml#id=1719798
As an adult white male, I saw this performance and thought to myself, "This looks dumb." That was it. I didn't feel compelled to go any deeper than that. For me, my critical literacy skills weren't up to snuff because I failed to realize this was actually really offensive to a lot of people. To some, it appeared Miley Cyrus was appropriating elements of black culture by twerking and surrounding herself with black female dancers made up to look less attractive (I guess?) than Miley (I would argue Miley did a pretty good job of making Miley look unattractive, but I digress). Others felt Miley was belittling little people by having them dance around in little bear outfits. Some were angry that a famous transsexual was reduced to the role of freakish prop. Still others wonder if this performance reinforces the stereotype that anthropomorphic bears are model minorities (or is that just me?).
Regardless, Miley, myself, and many others should have been cognizant of the way her performance would be perceived by many different people. I still think it's important to remember that there isn't necessarily a hierarchy in terms of which perception is correct or better, and that we should be careful to ascribe intent. A lot of the reaction to her performance carried the message that, "Miley was racist and here's why." I don't think Miley intended the performance to carry these negative undertones. I also don't think that just because you can find something to be offended about, you should then be enraged and demand accountability. This is the attitude that has lead to a lot of hypervigilance and hypersensitivity about social justice issues that, in effect, obstructs open dialogue rather than fosters it. The point isn't to find the right opinion, but rather to embrace the plurality of opinions and then engender a frank and honest discussion about them. In this way we can increase our ability to understand and empathize with one another.
We all have the right to our opinions, but we also have the responsibility to respect the opinions of others. It's through honest discussion and sharing that we make progress, so get, stand up, and speak your truth. Just don't forget to listen to the truths of others.
I appreciate how you summarized all the different factors that go into text communication, such as author bias, background, and intent along with the reader/viewer’s own bias, background, and focus. I really like that the example you used is so recent and relevant in today’s time. What a great example of how miscommunication can form and also how things can be construed or manipulated for a separate purpose. You’ve really defined critical literacy for what it means, being able to write and read something in different ways. I really like that you posed the whole Miley issue to us. I, like yourself, don’t really know how to interpret it. I’m kind of at a blank as to how to react to that video, and frankly, that is probably an interpretation in its self. I’m sure some people do find her recent music videos enjoyable for different reasons, while others despise them for different, or maybe even the same reasons. The fact that you ended your blog on the positive note of having respect for the opinion of others speaks volumes about your personality and credibility. Your use of the word “truth” in place of “opinion” in your last sentence reinforces the idea you’re presenting that what seems like just an opinion or a “wrong” answer to one person, may be complete reality to another, and vice versa.
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