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Hat tip to HighJive. “The chief’s supporters prefer the term “symbol” and say that “mascot” has become the politically correct word used by critics who believe the chief is a politically incorrect representation of Native Americans.”
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Excellent article analyzing the Celebrity Big Brother story. Hat tip to Sepia Mutiny. “Just as nauseating is the play-off between ugly white slags and beautiful Indian princesses - a familiar Orientalist male fantasy.”
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1. Attack the person, not the argument…Accuse your opponent of being “maladjusted,” “paranoid,” “angry and/or bitter,” “whiny,” “ungrateful,” “over-reactive/dramatic,” or call them a “reverse racist.”…
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Thanks Jason! “N.M. Gov Throws Sombrero Into Ring.” Yup, that’s an actual screen capture above. When Oliver decides to run for office, I can’t wait until the New York Post prints the headline: WANG THROWS CHINAMAN’S HAT INTO THE RING
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Thanks Jason! ” Speaking of Obama, I asked Richardson if he felt any sort of kinship with the Illinois senator, given that they each come from bicultural backgrounds…Richardson has an American father and a Mexican mother. “Yeah, a little bit,” he said,
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Thanks Geraly! “last semester, photos surfaced from a fraternity and sorority party called “tacos and tequila”…people dressed as gardeners, pregnant women and border patrol agents.”
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“There is even a new word for black fans of indie rock: “blipster,” which was added to UrbanDictionary .com last summer, defined as “a person who is black and also can be stereotyped by appearance, musical taste, and/or social scene as a hipster.”
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“Do you think the “we are just copying rappers” excuse is acceptable, why or why not? And last, if you think these parties are wrong, how would you explain this to a white person who thinks that it’s harmless and s/he is just copying rappers?”
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“very few, if any, white people were born into the world of hip hop…And there’s nothing wrong with that… If you’re going to immerse yourself in another culture, at least do it respectfully. I think that’s all this show is asking of white rappers
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of 
Jay wrote:
I feel bad for Richardson … until I remind myself that he is the one directly responsible for the racial profiling and incarceration of Los Alamos scientist Wen Ho Lee.
I’m quite happy that someone noticed, at least.
Posted 30 Jan 2007 at 11:01 am ¶
bertie wrote:
I found the black indie rock article interesting–especially the thoughts on why blacks have been reluctant to embrace this genre in the past. But I feel the author glossed over the history of how rock became known as music for white people. The author suggests that black musicians abandoned rock. But the reality is that record companies abandoned black rock musicians–relegating most to funk, RnB, etc. I think some accurate historical context would have made the discussion of why some blacks resist rock now more resonant.
Posted 30 Jan 2007 at 11:50 am ¶
Lyonside wrote:
The indie-rock article also resonated with me. I love Celtic rock and pop, and there are usually a few visible minorities in the crowd - we usually nod to each other. The few, the proud… I’m also seeing more mainstream rock bands being multiethnic, which is a positive sign in my book.
But I agree, early rock-and-roll started fragmenting as it went mainstream, and it seemed to divide primarily along racial lines. Maybe (really not sure here) it was the incorporation of country music (mostly white) into rock in the 1960s, parallel to the rise of Motown (mostly black), that helped widen the rift?
Posted 30 Jan 2007 at 12:21 pm ¶
drydock wrote:
“Do you think the “we are just copying rappers” excuse is acceptable, why or why not?
I wouldn’t call it acceptable, but I might call it understandable. A white kid who lives in Idaho and whose main exposure to black people is the ministrel “thugs and sluts” videos on BET and MTV probably would not realize how they are perpetuating stereotypes. Ideally parents or schools would educate against this type of thing, but it often doesn’t happen.
To the person “copying rappers”, I’d tell them to do a homework assignment and take a walk through an urban black community and report on the response of their “costume”.
Posted 30 Jan 2007 at 2:00 pm ¶
April wrote:
Whoa! @ brownface about Mexican-Americans.
Posted 30 Jan 2007 at 6:27 pm ¶
bertie wrote:
Drydock–I’m not buying that argument. These college kids were MOCKING black folks thru what they believe is some universal black style. What do rappers have to do with fried chicken or aunt jemima? Nothing. Yet, the kids in the pictures were rocking T-shirts with “I love fried chicken” written on them, and one girl had on a checkered bandana straight off the syrup bottle. Neither of those styles come from 50 cent or any other current mainstream rapper.
And really, 40 oz liquor bottles? for years now, mainstream hip hop has been about luxury (bling)–champange, cognac, bentleys, diamonds, etc. No current rap artist is talking about 40 ozs of OE—that’s very ‘93. And that demonstrates the fallacy that this is about mocking rap. Current rap in some ways celebrates black monetary success and affluence (and too often excesses) that may rival and often surpass these white kids economic status. Its not so easy trying to mock folks who are doing better than you and your parents financially. Thus they resort to playing up the percieved trappings of poor or working class blacks, even though this aesthic has been out of favor in hip hop for years. These parties are not about mocking hip-hop style–its about mocking black people. It just so happens that the easiest (and laziest) way is thru hip hop.
Posted 30 Jan 2007 at 8:26 pm ¶
drydock wrote:
Bertie–I should’ve been a little clearer. The original post by Rachel was about the party at UConn, which was what I was responding too. It featured some racial stereotyping but not of the Aunt Jemima and fried chicken variety. After reading some of the responses by the offenders, I’m pretty sure they didn’t see how they were reinforcing racial stereotypes eventhough you’d think that at the education level of law students they’d understand more.
The party at Tarelton which did feature Aunt Jemima and fried chicken, I think you might be right about being a lazy way of taking a shot at black people.
However in either case, I wouldn’t be too quick to say they didn’t get any of their bright ideas off BET or MTV. Some hip hop is fine. Other elements that are ministrel, sexist, and pro-homicidal/anti-social and shouldn’t get a pass. The current number 1 song on billboard has the lyrics:
“Rich Boy Sellin Crack Fuck Niggas Wanna Jack Shit Tight No Slack Just Bought a Cadillac Took it Da Cho Shop Got Da Damn Top Dropped Two Colored Flipped Flopped Candy Red Lollipop”
“I Neva Slip, I Neva Fall, A Lot of Ho’s Give Me Dey Numbas But I Never Call…Every Freak Should Have a Picture of My Dick on Dey Wall.”
This shit is influential. No?
Posted 30 Jan 2007 at 11:36 pm ¶
merq wrote:
“I think you might be right about being a lazy way of taking a shot at black people. “
Okay, this is exactly the problem, drydock. I’m sure you’re not exactly thrilled with these reports, but you think Bert might be right about it being a shot at black people? Why can’t people just come right out and call it what it is?
Say it with me: it was a flat-out racist display attacking blacks in one of the most insulting ways possible.
Also, I beg to differ about both cases being attributable to the drivel on MTV/BET. I don’t watch either channel, but I’m fairly certain that Hip-Hop videos don’t feature Aunt Jemima or chicken-and-watermelon-loving characters in them. Once again, call it what it is, and stop shielding the offenders from the harsh, honest criticism their actions deserve.
Posted 31 Jan 2007 at 12:27 am ¶
drydock wrote:
Merq– The parties were both racist. Okay? I do think there is differences in degree of offense.
I believe trying to assess where these racial stereotypes are coming from be it parents, school, peers, or the media. This might give us some clues in ways to end it.
The theme of the Uconn party was “Bullets and Bubbly”, which sounds like something from MtV and BET. No? The Uconn students said they were trying to emulate hip hop, so I don’t think it is really beyond the pail to think that they got some of their ideas/stereotypes from MTV/BET.
The UConn party didn’t feature watermelon eating, fried chicken or Aunt Jemima as far as I know.
I said , “I think you might be right about being a lazy way of taking a shot at black people.”
I struggled a bit with that sentence. I think your criticism is reasonable. I should have been in stronger in my agreement with Bertie on that point.
Posted 31 Jan 2007 at 7:21 am ¶
bertie wrote:
Drydock–I understand your point. I guess I just think its a distinction without a difference.
Its interesting to me that no matter what the theme of the party– pimps and hoes, bullets and bubbly, ghetto party, etc. the stereotype always comes back to something mocking black folks. So to me, it doesn’t matter what the purported theme is–the point is to mock black people. I mean attendees of the pimp and hoes party could have easily dressed up as a Ukranian nationals pimping russian broads, or attendees of the bullets and bubbly party could have easily gone with mafioso style chic a la john gotti. But for whatever reason they choose to invoke black stereotypes in each case. Hmmmm…why is that. (and I wonder if there are “trailer park party” counterparts to the “ghetto parties”…if so, I could see an argument that these parties are about a privilged set poking fun at a different economic class of people.)
And I certaintly didn’t mean to absolve MTV or BET for the bs images they put out. My only point was to show the disconnect btw the current status quo images in rap and the content of the party goers costumes, inorder to show that it really is not about mocking rap.
Posted 31 Jan 2007 at 12:49 pm ¶
eric daniels wrote:
I have listened to all types of music for years and never felt like a blispter, I was just a guy who liked music and now I promote what I call “Alternative Black Music” musicians and acts that don’t get played on mainstream black radio. My problem with the mainstream is that R&B radio and BET is that they only want to show one style of black music when there are many schools and in all styles and if radio would play acts like..
Brand New Heavies
Rio Soul
Tamar Kali
Bad Brains
Fishbone
Joi
D-Xtreme
Mother’s Finest
TV on the Radio
it would revitalize black music and shove some of these “pousers” like 50, Ying Yang, and other ‘rappers to the back of the bus instead of giving them undeserved music careers.
Posted 04 Feb 2007 at 2:18 am ¶
kim wrote:
Per drydock at #4:
The image of Blacks as universally monolithic is not easily shaken, proving that the receptionof the Black artist in literature and the visual arts, and, apparently, across every other medium, will always be (and in a restrained and restraining fashion) as a “Black [insert your artist category of choice],” but never simply artist, without the racial qualifier.
And that Blackness has no variation.
That stink just does not stick to the varied, distinct images and ideas put out there of White folks. They still get to be …well, them.
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Anyone ever hear an old tune (about ten years now) by an Irish group, covering Stevie’s “Isn’t She Lovely?” Loooovely.
Posted 04 Feb 2007 at 11:20 am ¶
Koko wrote:
What happened with that Big Brother incident?
Posted 04 Feb 2007 at 5:21 pm ¶