We Accept Asian Kids With Funny Hats
By Guest Contributor Angry Asian Man, originally published at Angry Asian Man
The above sign was spotted in the neighborhood of Ditmas Park, Brooklyn. Seriously. Seriously? I’m aware that this sign is probably intended to invoke a sentiment of multiculturalism and racial inclusion. But surely, there could have been a much better way of illustrating what I’m guessing is an Asian child. I mean, come on, the conical rice paddy hat? Silly. We only wear those on special days. (And dude, is it me or does that other kid have gray skin?)
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of
FilthyGrandeur wrote:
it’s good that they’re open to all possible skin colors (even gray) and open to all people with a desire to wear a rice paddy hat, even on non-special days.
wow…
Posted 01 Jul 2009 at 8:23 am ¶
Maysie wrote:
The billboard is scary on a few levels. Look at their eyes. Is this a brainwashing place for children?
And speaking of eyes, I supposed we should be *happy* that the “slant eye” crap hasn’t been evoked here visually?
As for the grey child, I wonder if the “green” and “purple” children didn’t make the final cut, and this was the compromise.
Ick.
Posted 01 Jul 2009 at 8:44 am ¶
gatamala wrote:
Maybe he’s really into obtuse triangles or Doritos.
That kid on the left needs some of this
http://www.etbrowne.com/products/Default.aspx
Posted 01 Jul 2009 at 9:06 am ¶
Wendi Muse wrote:
woow…
and maybe the gray kid is just a little…ashy?
Posted 01 Jul 2009 at 9:09 am ¶
Marcy Webb wrote:
Wow…just…wow. (My new way of responding, courtesy of a post on PostBourgie).
Anyway, it would be…er…interesting(?) if someone from Racialicious/New Demographic would contact that particular daycare for a statement. We can respond and comment like there is no tomorrow, but, personally, I would like to see some accountability – on both sides. That’s what the work, i.e. anti-racist education, is all about, no?
Posted 01 Jul 2009 at 9:24 am ¶
Mahsino wrote:
I was thinking the grey was blackface-light.
The hat is over the top, but it is a departure from the default bun held together by chopsticks. I wouldn’t say it’s any better, but it’s different I guess?
Posted 01 Jul 2009 at 9:30 am ¶
hanmeng wrote:
Hey, what’s the lack of love for gray people?
Posted 01 Jul 2009 at 9:32 am ¶
Deaf Indian Muslim Anarchist! wrote:
lol. I don’t see anything deeply offensive about the billboard. It made me roll my eyes and groan, but that’s hardly racist. Ignorant, yes, but not racist (or malicious).
Posted 01 Jul 2009 at 9:44 am ¶
A.D. Nix wrote:
Every time I think use of the conical hat as shorthand for “Asian” is dying out, there’s a reminder that no,no. This generation will probably get to know it too. At their multicultural program, no less. Try harder?
@ Wendi Muse
That’s not ash. That’s a zombie. Do not be fooled. (Seriously – was there not enough brown paint left over after the girl’s hair?)
Posted 01 Jul 2009 at 9:51 am ¶
E Grant wrote:
Maybe I’m a bigot, but I’m not comfortable send ing my child to a place that enrolls the undead.
Posted 01 Jul 2009 at 9:59 am ¶
Delia wrote:
Yikes. The wide eyed happy stares are creepy. It may just be the Perpetual Suprise eyebrows.
The sign looks old…my one hope is that this is an unreplaced relic from the 80’s, when people were bright eyed and bushy tailed about inlcusion! and harmony! without really thinking through how thier efforts would be perceived. Remember the well intentioned “multicultural” casts of such classics as GI Joe and the Superfriends?
Posted 01 Jul 2009 at 10:02 am ¶
Vgirl wrote:
Atomic Zombie Daycare (note the eerie glow that surrounds the “multicultural” children) needs a better sign if it is going to attract anyone come September when it re-opens. Also, having one gray child and one East Asianesque child (both of whom look frightened) doesn’t count as diverse…looks like someone needs a New Demographic seminar.
Posted 01 Jul 2009 at 10:16 am ¶
Jennifer wrote:
Hmmmm….as Deaf Indian Muslim Anarchist pointed out, I don’t find the billboard offensive just slightly ignorant. The owner or organization probably doesn’t know a better way of graphically displaying their intent. I think a simple picture of a globe would have been just fine. Of course, the sign only shows what’s on the surface. I’m more likely to question the program’s content, mission/purpose, staffing expertise, etc., than I am with their sign. Also, if you have to pay money to enroll your child into a multicultural program, I would be highly skeptical.
Posted 01 Jul 2009 at 10:50 am ¶
RJG wrote:
Hey, I know that place! Oh small small world.
Anyway, for accuracy’s sake I believe that it’s actually found in Kensington and not Ditmas Park. It’s right across the street from an elementary school too, I believe.
Posted 01 Jul 2009 at 10:53 am ¶
Tracey wrote:
They’re trying, but sometimes cliche is best to work with. Children in a rainbow of colors holding hands around a globe might be the best bet,especially if the only way you can think t market your commitment to multi-culturalism is with a comical stereotype. And honestly, some places yould get the message across using only paint (yellow,black,white,tan, bronze). The gray kid scares the living daylight out of me (probably b/c I have a very real and very irrational fear of an actual zombie attack).
Posted 01 Jul 2009 at 11:05 am ¶
queerhapa wrote:
for real? people are claiming this isn’t racist and offensive? WTF?
Posted 01 Jul 2009 at 1:15 pm ¶
Meli wrote:
Wow this is quite comical. They need to take that down and replace it immediately.
Posted 01 Jul 2009 at 2:19 pm ¶
Kaonashi wrote:
Aren’t they afraid of that zombie kid biting the other children?
Posted 01 Jul 2009 at 2:30 pm ¶
Ruchama wrote:
The kid with gray skin also has gray hair. My first thought was that the sun had faded a brownish color, but no, that was definitely printed that way. It’s like they had three color images and one grayscale image, and figured that was good enough.
Also, as usual, the white kids have lightish hair and blue eyes. Why is it always like that? Whenever there’s something showing kids of different races — whether it’s a sign like this, or a doll that’s available in a white version and a black version and maybe Hispanic and Asian versions, or whatever — the white kids just about always have light hair and blue eyes. I didn’t have a white doll with dark hair and dark eyes like mine until I was nine years old, and it was certainly not from lack of my mother trying — she also has brown eyes, and remembered being annoyed as a kid that all dolls had blue eyes, so she would try to get me dolls that looked like me, but all of them were either brown eyes and light hair or light eyes and brown hair.
There’s something weird going on with the Asian kid’s left eyebrow, too. The two boys have eyebrows slanting down from the center of the forehead, and the white girl has arched eyebrows, but the Asian girl’s eyebrow slants up from the center.
Posted 01 Jul 2009 at 4:25 pm ¶
ashlynn wrote:
“(And dude, is it me or does that other kid have gray skin?)”
Yes, because black people are ashy, correct?
Posted 01 Jul 2009 at 7:37 pm ¶
Danny wrote:
My take on this is that it’s outdated. My honest opinion is that it’s not really that offensive but yeah just ignorant like others said….and outdated.
Posted 01 Jul 2009 at 10:56 pm ¶
Sarah wrote:
Oh my! I live a block away from this sign (it is, indeed, in Ditmas Park…or Flatbush to oldtimers). I always thought that it was just a very unfortunate and old sign. There is a similarly bizarre daycare sign on Cortelyou road which has brown African American children (not gray) who look miserable…one looking forlornly at a computer screen and the other in an awkward contortion “playing” with a toy. I think this might all be the result of a really really unskilled sign painter. Unfortunate!
Posted 02 Jul 2009 at 1:20 am ¶
Jen wrote:
Moreover, what if you’re an Asian kid and you don’t have a conical hat? Are you not allowed to go to class?
But it’s good to see they got the Undead Rights Now pamphlet, those kids have a real passion for brai- I mean, learning.
Posted 02 Jul 2009 at 3:09 am ¶
manya827 wrote:
though this is definitely ignorant and close-minded, i want to throw it out there that this was obviously drawn by someone with elementary artistic skills.. that’s why all of their eyes are the same (and undoubtedly creepy), and when you only know how to draw facial features one way (look, they are the same on each kids face) the only way to distinguish the asian kid is by giving him some sort of traditional garb. let’s be thankful they didn’t make him yellow. its obvious that this organization doesn’t have the financial resources to have hired someone to make a decent sign, but it doesn’t mean their hearts weren’t in the right place. they’re obviously trying. it’s definitely funny, but not nearly as offensive to me as some of the other things we see posted on racialicious on a daily basis. good find though! hehe.
Posted 02 Jul 2009 at 3:23 am ¶
sweeterjuice wrote:
What manya827 said. I think everyone’s so busy trying to be upset about the supposed racism of the sign that they’re overlooking the obvious fact of the artist’s lack of ability.
The fact that all the kids have the same face is telling. Clearly the artist hired to do this sign wasn’t capable of doing much more. I imagine the artist probably tried to draw the Asian kid with slanted eyes and yellow skin at first, and the end result was so bad even s/he was horrified. So s/he gave up and said, “Screw it, I’ll just stick one of those cone hats on the kid. That way folks will be able to tell that Asian kids are welcome.”
Never ascribe to malice what can be explained by stupidity or incompetence. This isn’t racism. It’s bad art.
Posted 02 Jul 2009 at 3:23 pm ¶
Travis wrote:
I think in the context of a “multicultural” sign, a child with long straight black hair would be read as Asian, hat or not. Bad artistic skills aren’t really a good excuse.
Posted 04 Jul 2009 at 1:37 pm ¶
BkTransplant wrote:
Yeah I live in Kensington and our neighborhood is easily the most ethnically diverse area I have ever – EVER – lived in. The majority of people in the neighborhood are pretty closely tied to the politics, culture and mindset of their various homelands. I hope that didn’t come out as an insult, I just mean that racial progressiveness means an entirely different thing here, and I’m *sure* the billboard wasn’t meant maliciously.
You should see the rest of the signs around here – if I saw this on 7th avenue, I’d be p!ssed as hell…
Posted 04 Jul 2009 at 11:21 pm ¶