CATARACTS, IDENTITY AND MULTICULTURAL POLITICS

While making generalizations about the ways and modes -among many other groups she described- of the French people, the German intellectual was strongly opposed to identity politics and multiculturalism. A Cuban scholar at the NYC urban college studied and wrote about both fields, but when it came to her social life, she did not invite her Puerto Rican homosexual colleague to her "white only" parties at home. The Puerto Rican who marched against racism, sexism, class divisions, the colonial status of Puerto Rico never stopped talking about the elitist, exclusionary, expensive private English speaking school where she and her children had studied in San Juan. The gay man marching against homophobia could not relate to lesbians at all. Bible quoting reverends speaking against sin did agree with the idea that a great deal of the Old Testament was plagiarized by the Hebrew scribes who wrote it, never giving credit to the Babylonian originals and the country where they first learned to write. It is not easy to be an old and grouchy Puerto Rican author who criticizes and finds contradictions with everybody else, perceives himself as a very transparent person, but cannot even see himself when standing in front of a mirror. Fucking cataracts.