Michael Ray Charles

In his acknowledgements, W.T. Lhamon cites the work of African American artist Michael Ray Charles for "upend[ing] hateful imagery."



I wrote to Lhamon to say that the only reason I hold misgivings about his theories is because of a distinctly unscholarly discomfort in the face of the offence the subject causes in so many people (the film Bamboozled springs to mind.) I noted that he had acknowledged the work of Michael Ray Charles and asked what kind of response his work had garnered in the African American community.



He wrote back, "The one negative response to JJC came from a black playwright, reviewing in a theatre journal, who didn't think there was any point in remembering these painful images. She makes a living in re-writing politically incorrect texts, removing the N-words and housebreaking them for schools. It is a difficult problem, but most people have been positive."

I looked for it online but alas did not find. Here's one positive from the African American Review.