The Hidden Agenda (3 of 4)

• From: qb_hmm <qb_hmm_at_qb_hmm.yahoo.invalid> <qb_hmm_at_qb_hmm.yahoo.invalid>
• Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2002 19:45:26 -0000
• Message-ID: <atqj8m+cad3_at_...>

Part Three: Can the Subaltern Buzz?

The attention now turns to the prominent figures that have been singled out=
 as 
exceptions to this entrenched epistemological order.  Samer Ismail operates=
 
the largest independent invitational tournament in the country and for thes=
e 
laudable efforts he is constantly subjected to caustic indignation.  What w=
e 
have here is the blatant vilification of Mr. Ismail. How can a man who vaul=
ts 
his own twin brother into the spotlight be ridiculed time and time again—it=
 is 
his difference, though he is othered, does he not bleed?

Anthony DeJesus is another Brown Martyr.  His attempts to recontextualize 
what is and can be asked about during the course of the game have garnered =

him nothing but hateful reproach.  We must ask ourselves, who has been 
frustrating these efforts at expanding the canon?  How is the quizbowl 
community at large responsible for this man's characterization as a threat =
to 
the game? To say the very name of Mr. DeJesus invokes the ideals of 
inclusion that have been wistfully discarded by the quizbowl establishment =

and this utterance serves as a self-enunciating affirmation of the discours=
e of 
bigotry the predominates our "sport of the mind."

At least these two personas still speak, their agendas still pulse with lif=
e and 
vigor; other voices have been silenced by quizbowl's nuanced regime of 
oppression. Take a promising young player by the name of Vinita Kailasanath=
 
(sp) for instance. Once a fixture on the competitive circuit, the pressures=
 she 
experienced during her attempts at self-expression during her time on the 
Stanford team forced her to seek other competitive outlets. We drove her 
away. At what point did the patriarchal, exploitative alternative of Jeopar=
dy! 
inject itself into this narrative?  When Ms. Kailasanath finally lost her l=
ove for 
the game, she was reduced to exchanging her intellectual talent for the fil=
thy 
lucre doled out by a cold, calculating Canadian television personality.