Comments

1. SerenityNow wrote:

   Ecuador has a chain of restaurants called “Menestras del Negro” with an ape-like logo with a bone in his hair. Plenty of critique out there on google on the name and logo.

   Posted 20 Jul 2009 at 8:20 am ¶

2. Logan wrote:

   I know I’ve seen more in China, but the one that I saw which stuck out was a few dolls of American Indians which would make you think Chief Wahoo wasn’t that bad. I’d had taken a picture of it, but I didn’t have my camera with me that day. Made me think of all the wondrous culture America exports.

   Posted 20 Jul 2009 at 9:07 am ¶

3. Jen wrote:

   The classic one is “Darkie” toothpaste from Hong Kong. The name was changed to Darlie only a few years ago I think:

   http://www.paulatsai.com/blog/archives/455

   Scroll down, but note the name of that brand of soda, too!

   Also, @Logan – there’s loads of American Indian, um, “memorabilia” on display in Indonesia, too. I never did work out why Indonesians liked it so much.

   Posted 20 Jul 2009 at 9:26 am ¶

4. Deaf Indian Muslim Anarchist! wrote:

   are THOSE caricatures considered racist in Brazil, though? They do not always hold the same meaning in other countries.

   Posted 20 Jul 2009 at 9:40 am ¶

5. Wendi Muse wrote:

   DIMA:
   no, not really. but i mean, if you think about it, blackface used to not be considered “racist” either back in the day. after a while, people kind of recognize that oh wait, maybe this is a little effed up in terms of how we think of people of other races or ethnicities as cartoon characters or 2-dimensional figures and not dynamic beings.

   some people in brazil find these types of images offensive, but the majority at present do not.

   Posted 20 Jul 2009 at 10:12 am ¶

6. Wendi Muse wrote:

   or i should say, are not vocal about it if they are offended.

   Posted 20 Jul 2009 at 10:12 am ¶

7. Deaf Indian Muslim Anarchist! wrote:

   yeah, BUT did they ever practice blackface in Brazil as a way to mock black-skinned people?

   Case in point: a few months ago, Obama visited Turkey for a summit and he was generally greeted warmly by the Turkish public. One Turkish news journalist donned blackface on TV while discussing Obama’s visit to Turkey. It was done out of humor and enthusiasm.

   However, many Americans found it offensive and racist, but the Turks didn’t consider it racist… because blackface was really never practiced in Turkey and Turks had no concept of what blackface really meant.

   So technically, blackface wasn’t racist in Turkey because it wasn’t done out of racial enmity.

   (anyone correct me if I am wrong on anything I said in this comment)

   Posted 20 Jul 2009 at 10:17 am ¶

8. Wendi Muse wrote:

   re: blackface in brazil…yes and they still do (a post coming up about that soon)

   Posted 20 Jul 2009 at 10:34 am ¶

9. Marcy Webb wrote:

   Well, to answer the first question. I had better *not* see caricatures like that on packaging here in the US. However, on packaging while traveling abroad, I have.

   The blackface caricature resonates deeply with Black Americans. That said, I don’t want to see stereotypical caricatures of people representing other racial/ethnic groups, either.

   Posted 20 Jul 2009 at 10:36 am ¶

10. Tomicat wrote:

    As a Brazilian person, I’m got a little bit defensive about these articles. I’m not saying they miss the point completely , but we have a very complex culture and even more complex race dynamics that may be difficult for people from other places to understant, specially when you take things such as these caricatures out of context.

    Posted 20 Jul 2009 at 11:14 am ¶

11. Seattle Slim wrote:

    Yup! In Panama they have a show/or show called “Chombovision” (on Youtube) which translates to “nigger/negro/darkie vision”. They speak spanish with a heavy West-Indian accent (they mainly mock the black folks who are more West-Indian than Panamanian identity and culture wise). In Panama we also had a rice called Tio Fulo (the equivalent of Uncle Bens). It’s a guy and it was VERY similiar to what’s on the bottle of the acetone. My grandma LOVED that rice. I admit I always thought it was stupid, but I wasn’t offended. I don’t know. I see where Tomicat is coming from because there is a different, but at the same token, it’s simply outdated to market black folks this way.

    Posted 20 Jul 2009 at 11:25 am ¶

12. Moni wrote:

    I just returned from the store an hour ago (here in Brazil) and encountered this very thing. I love, love, love popcorn or “pipoca” but I can never bring myself to buy it at the store because the brand has a picture of a dark skinned black girl with huge eyes and huge red lips. Its the only brand of ready made popcorn that I have seen in the stores. I actually plan on collecting labels of things here for a craft project….maybe I can buy that in the name of “art”…then I won’t feel so bad…

    I was at a resort area in Bahia Brazil recently, and the small town had a sort of cross dressing concert or something. Dozens of men dressed as women were roaming the street, and most of them looked like glamorous divas. There was one, however, that had on extra padding to emphasize a huge behind, a dress that looked more like a tablecloth, and a huge afro like clown wig. She/he actually had the nerve to come up to me in the midst of the crowd (where everyone was busy snapping pictures) to say that we would look good in a photo together (I am a dark skinned black woman with a big afro). I gave her a look that let her know to back off, but I am my 11 year old were in shock.

    I suppose, Tomicat, I may not “understand the cultural complexities” that make it okay for white and light skinned cross dressers to look glamorous while dark skinned ones look foolish and unattractive. Please enlighten us.

    Posted 20 Jul 2009 at 11:43 am ¶

13. Wendi Muse wrote:

    tomicat, i totally understand what you mean and i remark on this in all of the articles that are part of this series. however, by saying that brazil has a complex racial history does not exactly excuse certain things. as a black person who has been living in brazil, i don’t have to think about race nearly as much as a result of brazil’s history, but at the same time, it doesn’t mean that there is no racism, nor does it mean that certain images, despite the racial equality on the surface, are ok. for example, women are equals in the states, but that doesn’t mean women should not examine sexism in the media/advertising. same thing goes here.

    Posted 20 Jul 2009 at 11:57 am ¶

14. Julia wrote:

    Hi Moni – and let’s pause for a moment to ask whether men dressing as female stereotypes is a form of minstrelsy itself….

    Posted 20 Jul 2009 at 12:43 pm ¶

15. Louise wrote:

    As somebody who lives in the european union and was born here let me enlighten you. Yes people know that blackface is inapropraite and wrong, but some racist places do it anyway in spain ( which despite imaginings of being a utopia that spawned racial mixing in latin america ) is a deeply nasty place in my opinion. mocked lewis hamilton (grand prix race driver) by parading around in black black and holding bananas and doing other mature things.
    Remember It was in europe that colonialism started and so please do not assume we are innocent of racial disharmony and predjudice.

    Posted 20 Jul 2009 at 1:48 pm ¶

16. Deaf Indian Muslim Anarchist! wrote:

    How come those products are still allowed to shill racist caricatures? Aren’t black skinned Brazilians offended and have said something?

    Posted 20 Jul 2009 at 3:03 pm ¶

17. Aishtamid wrote:

    I also saw the Darkie toothpaste in China. A black member of my study abroad program saw it in a store and gave the Chinese students an impromptu lesson on racial stereotypes. They were a bit surprised but seemed to take it in stride.

    I find it amusing that when the company that made Darkie toothpaste was called out on it, they just said “OK, we’ll pick the next letter in the alphabet and call it Darlie.” The charicature of the black man was still on the tubes as of 2006 when I saw it.

    Posted 20 Jul 2009 at 3:40 pm ¶

18. mixedqueer wrote:

    have you seen the china in box commercial here (in brazil)? it makes my skin crawl, and they play it all the time.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFGmyW00xZg

    Posted 20 Jul 2009 at 5:33 pm ¶

19. Medusa wrote:

    Do these Brazilian cultural complexities somehow make it so the same racist caricatures that have been around in America for YEARS suddenly make it into the minds of Brazilian advertisers with absolutely no prior knowledge of them? I mean, either people of the caricatured races REALLY look like that, or those caricatures came from somewhere, and there’s no excuse for taking something with a racist context and then pretending that there is no context and that they’re just pictures.

    Posted 20 Jul 2009 at 6:17 pm ¶

20. Moni wrote:

    Julia,

    I disagree. I personally do not have not problem with men choosing to dress like women. I do have a problem with men choosing to dress like gross caricatures of black women (think Big Mama’s House or Tyler Perry) and assuming that they have something in common with me.

    Posted 20 Jul 2009 at 8:49 pm ¶

21. DreaD wrote:

    Tomicat, please explain the correct context of these images.

    Posted 20 Jul 2009 at 10:15 pm ¶

22. Bela wrote:

    This is off topic but in terms of nail polish remover it is better to use accetate than acetone.

    Posted 21 Jul 2009 at 5:47 am ¶

23. Study abroad in China wrote:

    In Brazil do they consider those caricatures as racist? Really I didn’t have this idea before!

    Posted 21 Jul 2009 at 7:07 am ¶

24. little_sis wrote:

    in australia there are a lot of gollie wog dolls around for sale. there seems to be a new phase of them now, i guess people think they are retro and kitsch or something. i find them offensive and racist…can something get any more blackface than a golliwog??? there aren’t too many african people here, like not on the same scale as the states for eg. so i think a lot of the racism and history gets lost on most people.
    lots of people see golliwogs to POC as akin to barbie dolls to women. i don’t agree. barbie is charged but not in the way golliwogs are. black dolls, fine. black dolls with obvious blackface? not so! even if they aren’t specifically labelled as GOLLIWOG.

    Posted 21 Jul 2009 at 10:46 am ¶

25. Anonymous wrote:

    omg yessss re: the china in box commercial.

    Posted 21 Jul 2009 at 12:58 pm ¶

26. wendi muse wrote:

    i think my internet explorer ate my response here…so let’s try again lol
    1. omg yess re: china in box commercial, that’s a great example.
    2. blackface in brazil has existed for a while as has mockery and marginalization of poc in media (poc not just meaning black people, btw. every time i turn on the tv pretty much, i see some live-action caricature of an asian person, black person, or indigenous person.
    3. i would feel differently probably if i were brazilian bc i would prob not consider myself “black” and may feel somewhat distant from the issue, however, in recognizing that the blonde.blue is still considered what is beautiful, seeing images like this are troubling.
    4. re: brazilian poc reactions to such images…it’s hard to gauge. some people hate it, some people love it, some people don’t care or feel removed from the issue bc they do not identify as poc. it’s hard to unify such groups in brazil on terms of race bc a) the racial democracy motif is hard to hard to battle against, and b) people who complain of racism, at least the media-related kind, are considered petty (discrimination is punishable by law, but only literal in your face kind, no media-based stereotypes)

    Posted 21 Jul 2009 at 1:29 pm ¶

27. wendi muse wrote:

    side note, here is a movie about racism in media that is relevant here: C.S.A.: Confederate States of America (thanks for the reminder, eric!)

    Posted 21 Jul 2009 at 9:27 pm ¶

28. Alice C. wrote:

    You don’t have to look far, here in the States there are plenty of stereotypical caricatures still in existence:

    The China doll Rice & Bean company based in Alabama:

    http://www.chinadollrice.com/

    U-Washee laundromat based in Indiana:

    http://www.fortwaynenews.com/index.php/2009/02/13/the-u-washee-laundromat-stuck-in-an-indiana-timewarp/

    Chink’s steaks in Philly because the late owner apparently had small “chinky” eyes and got the nick name:

    http://philadelphia.grubstreet.com/2008/02/chinks_steaks_expanding_to_s_p.html

    Posted 21 Jul 2009 at 10:21 pm ¶

29. Free wrote:

    In Bangkok I saw plenty of store-window mannequins that caricature Westerners. Are they racist, xenophobic or just innocent cultural interpretations? Examples:
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/mangoboy66/2155790221/
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/black_coffee_blue_jeans/252218289/
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/robinthom/425008227/

    Posted 21 Jul 2009 at 11:56 pm ¶

30. m. wrote:

    Eh, the only time either blatantly racist (caricatures) or not-so-blatantly racist (”innocent” images) logos don’t draw much criticism actually seems to be IN the United States. Aside from sports mascots (the blatant, more “obviously racist” images), last I checked most people don’t really seem to care much or at all about images of Indians (as stereotyped as they are, to outsiders they’re never “racist enough” for them to care or be just the right amount of horrified) being used to sell products. People are either so desensitized to it (and selective with their caring) or just completely oblivious to the fact that it’s sick and wrong (and therefore just flat-out racist or stupid), you hardly hear a peep about all the chiefs, maidens and squaws in the grocery store. Save for a short period in my teens when living outside of my homeland was making angry, more aware of “my place” in the eyes of outsiders and the fact that there are people who either aren’t aware of our presence, don’t quite get it, or just straight up hate my kind (like the people milling about the same shopping aisle as my parents and I, throwing us nasty looks and eyeing that box of butter sticks or bag of red apples), _I’ve_ even stopped getting angry and have accepted Land O’ Lakes as my brand of choice* as well. I’m tired.

    *If they’re all out of Challenge.

    Posted 22 Jul 2009 at 2:08 am ¶

31. Nique wrote:

    I can’t seem to see how the guy on the Darkie toothpaste is racist. I understand the name is problematic, but once they changed it to Darlie, what’s the problem? It’s a very realistic looking black and white cartoon. If I saw a guy on the street that looked like that, I’d wonder why he looked so damn surprised and smiley, but not think too much of it. If he looked like the nail polish remover guy, though, I would wonder what cartoon dimension he wandered out of/am I hallucinating. Plus they changed the Darlie guy to a really nice black and white style. Is the problem all that it was named Darkie to begin with?

    And I’m also not understanding what the problem is with the China in a Box commercial. Yes, it’s quite possibly the most annoying thing I’ve ever seen in my life, but it’s not like they put everyone in a rice paddy and had them holding their eyelids “slanty” (a la Miley Cyrus). I normally get everything I’ve seen on here, but this is the first time I haven’t gotten it, so I felt compelled to ask. Please be nice to me , I’m just here to learn.

    Posted 22 Jul 2009 at 8:57 pm ¶

32. mT wrote:

    WTF does rosemary have to do with little Chinese men. Last I checked, rosemary isn’t a primary herb in Chinese cooking. Yeah, I’ve seen plenty of racist grocery products. But what about the grocery store themselves? I live in New England. And like most major supermarket chains in America, there is an aisle or part of an aisle dedicated to Asian foods and spices. But at the store near my place, they label that aisle as “Chinese Food”. Not so much racist but more like just dumb as hell.

    Posted 25 Jul 2009 at 3:05 pm ¶

33. Megan wrote:

    @Nique The “Darkie” man is racist because it’s a play on an old minstrel caricature that depicts African-Americans as simpletons/buffoons. We don’t see much of them anymore, but it’s still racist.

    Posted 27 Jul 2009 at 4:21 pm ¶

34. Lnk wrote:

    So, I wasn’t going to comment on the article mainly because it’s some three month old but I’m brazilian and carioca and maybe I can clarify a little what brazilians, see in those: actually, only humourous stereotyping. Lemme point that I DON”T think it is ok, I just know the thought process behind it because I grew up here and am familiar with it.

    Zulu is a well known brand of alcohol and other alcohol-derived products with years and years behind it. It reminds of the slaves that worked at sugar farms but also of the black people that ran away and lived in quilombos. It’s supposed to say that it’s better than other marks because of its implied ethinicity and traditional, even if it sounds astonishing. The caricature is supposed to give it a retro feeling for “no one today in their right mind would consider a picture of a black man as he would be pictured in the 20’s as offensive today” and it mostly passes totally unperceived even for black skinned brazilians. It’s clear it’s just a cartoon and a stereotype so it devalues the offensive tone.

    Ditto for the Chinezinho, that is a brand with more products under its umbrella than spices… It’s mostly self-inflicted also for some brands play the ethinicities of their owners as a stereotyped differential and it’s not rare that you’ll see something like “picolé do China” (the china guy’s popsicle), “boteco do Portuga” (the portuguese man’s bar) and so it goes. Italian restaurants will have the obligatory brand mascot as a fat italian chef with mustache dressed in red, green and white and guess what will be the obligatory mascot for mexican food?

    Brazilians pick on the difference, so if you’re too tall, too thin, too fat, too ugly, too black, too white (albinos are looked in the streets as much as really dark skinned black people are, and too white people are called “ghosts”, “vampires”, etc), redheaded, asian, indian, is a male with long hair, stutter, use glasses, has a mustache, is a south brazilian at north, is a north brazilian at south or even from any different state, anything where you can differ, you’ll be stereotyped and gain a nickname for that and supposed to bear it without offense, for it is considered only acknownledging something you differ and can be known for. A light example: I speak french and sometimes talked in french on my cell phone with a friend, thus people at my job started calling me “francesinha” (frenchie).

    So, mostly, if you are offended by a cartoon that stereotypes anything in Brazil people will think you lack sense of humour and you’re crazy for taking such an obvious pun seriously. NOT that it makes it less disturbing or the prejudice less insidious.

    And yes, humour in Brazil is extremely biased, racist, homophobic, machist and makes fun of all minorities it can poke a finger at and dusgusts me most of the time.

    Posted 13 Oct 2009 at 7:20 pm ¶

35. Alexio wrote:

    As a dark-skinned black American male thinking of retiring in southern Brazil for economic reasons. I was researching * racism in Brazil* when I happened upon this site. Regarding products like the polish remover etc., the manufacturers and/or marketing people who use caricatures of this sort are usually lower class ( I’m not referring to race or economic status, but psychosocial development). Otherwise they’d realize that product quality ultimately determines sales volume, but then, maybe they have no competitors to highlight their indiscretions, even if the motive is economic – ( “in the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king” ).
    I was wondering what experiences minority-class expats are having regarding the population general?

    Posted 28 Oct 2009 at 2:20 am ¶