In 2003 a group of
faculty at Oberlin who read Sweetness and Power was so compelled that we
invited Sid to campus. He graciously accepted our invitation, gave a
terrific—and timely--lecture on globalization in eras before our own, and was
generous and spirited in conversations with us and with students.
His visit was especially
important for me. As Sid’s host, I was with him a good deal during his visit,
and I soon felt as though I was with a friend. We talked about anthropology and
cultural studies, about the City College system—I am a CCNY graduate, he went
to Brooklyn College—about his family and mine. He was a captivating storyteller
and told me many wonderful stories about his life, about people he knew, about
his family. One was about a friend of his--someone he knew in college—whose
summer job was with a group of travelling entertainers, musicians, I think.
Once, when the group was performing at a county fair, Sid’s friend went up to
the ice cream stand and ordered a cone with one scoop of chocolate, one of
vanilla. ”We’re not allowed to do that,” insisted the woman who was serving.
“O.K,’ said Sid’s friend. “ I’d like two cones, one with a scoop of chocolate,
one with a scoop of vanilla.” The woman turned around to fill his order, then
whirled back and said,” Oh no you don’t. I know what you are up to.” Even
after 13 years, I still hear the righteous tone of her voice and I see her
whipping around. Sid didn’t imitate her, but his telling was so understatedly
vivid that the scene came alive.
I understood the story as
a tale about absolutist categories and dogmatic adherence to them but sometimes
when I retell it people think it’s about racial segregation. Luckily, Sid came
back to Oberlin a few years after that first visit—with Jackie, so I got to
know her too—and I asked him about its implications. He did see it as a tale
about categories, and he was amused that some took it to be about race. Of
course, as he said, categories and race are not unrelated.
Whether in person or
through his writing, I was always learning from Sid, with pleasure, affection
and enormous respect. I will continue to do so.
