On Oct. 7, acclaimed author Dorothy Allison began her visit to Hamilton with a talk titled "A Racecar Named Desire: The Intersections of Class, Sex and Gender in Contemporary American Culture." Allison, the author of such books as Bastard Out of Carolina, Cavedweller, Two Or Three Things I Know For Sure, and Skin: Talking About Sex, Class and Literature, drew on her childhood experience of watching stock car racing in Greenville, S.C., to talk about the complex dynamics of class in
American society.
In her powerful, vivid and often humorous talk, Allison talked about the culture of the dirt track stockcar races she attended with her family in 1960s rural South Carolina. She described the desire of her working class family to go to the races on Friday nights after a long week of work -- the desire to go somewhere disrespectable and exciting. She talked about the people - mostly white, and lower or middle class -- who came together to watch the stock car races. She described the violent and even sexual atmosphere of the track, with its dust, heat, noises and smells.
Finally, Allison described the stock car racers, men who pooled what few resources they had into creating, with love and care, cars that would be torn apart as they raced around the track. Their dream, she said, was to "go so fast they could outrun their fate," and they'd risk their lives to do it. At the end of the night, the most damaged cars would be entered in the Demolition Derby, which Allison called "the best metaphor I have ever found for the working class experience." The Demolition Derby, she said, is the last ditch hope at winning for someone whose dreams have been broken by their failures in the earlier races, and to win the Derby you had to destroy something you loved. "If there was a race that was just, if there was a
meritocracy in this country, if we had the 'level playing field' that everyone talks about, then love and hours of hard work would always get you into the winner's circle," she said. "Do you believe we live in that world?"
She finished by talking about an Ursula K. LeGuin story called "The Ones Who Walked Away from Omelas" in which the happiness of a idyllic city is based upon the brutal suffering of a single child kept in a basement. While some people walk away upon learning of this arrangement, most of the people of the city accept the idea that in order for some to be happy, others must suffer. In fact, said Allison,
we are living in that land right now. We get the message that in order to have a strong nation there has to be a luxury class and an all-consuming desire to attain that status. We are also told that changing this situation runs the risk of plunging us into chaos. "Until all of us stand up and do something, we're just waiting for the Demolition Derby," she said.
Allison's visit to Hamilton is part of the Kirkland Project's 2004-2005 series, "Class In Context: Intersections of Class, Race, Gender, Sexuality and Nationality." On Friday Oct. 8, Allison will speak at an open class session of College 130 from 1-3 p.m. in the KJ Red Pit. In the evening she will read from her new manuscript, "She Who," at 7:30 p.m. in the Chapel. On Saturday, Oct. 9, she will present a
writing workshop for students interested in writing about class and sexuality.
-- by Caroline O'Shea '07
