by Carmen Van Kerckhove
Addicted to Race is our weekly talk show podcast about all things race. Here’s a rundown of what you’ll find in this episode:
Why does Hollywood continue to whitewash movies by casting white actors to play characters that were originally people of color? A popular Australian TV show is being criticized for featuring a blackface skit, but can we apply American attitudes toward race to other countries? Would Derrion Albert’s death be any less of a tragedy if he wasn’t an honors student? Why are people often reluctant to admit the ways in which they experience privilege in addition to oppression? Carmen Van Kerckhove, Tami Winfrey Harris, Thea Lim, and Latoya Peterson discuss.
Addicted to Race is broadcast live every Sunday afternoon at 12 pm Eastern. You can listen live on our BlogTalkRadio page and call in by dialing 347-996-3958.
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Can we apply American attitudes towards race to other countries? With regards to blackface we can and we should.
It’s a degrading stereotype, and a repulsive aesthetic no matter who or where you are. There is no way to make it pretty when you “exaggerate” and define an entire race in this manner. It is loathsome, irrespective of geography or even history.
Excerpted from my blog post on the subject:
http://www.1000demons.com/2009/10/no-92-blackface.html
“Personally I would not have looked to the Netherlands to solve this particular deficit.”
We do have black folks here, you know.
Certainly blackface is offensive when it emphasizes ‘negative’ aspects of a race (big lips, Zwarte Piet acting like a fool, etc.). But I think it is reasonable to say that it’s less offensive in countries that don’t have the same cultural history at the States. I’m thinking here specifically that black performers often had to wear blackface on top of whiteface.
A question: what did you think of Robert Downey Jr.’s blackface role in Tropic Thunder (which mainly made fun of white stereotypes about the black character Downey’s character was ‘playing’)?
dersk,
As I said in the podcast, I think the “we don’t have the same racial history” thing is a dodge used by other countries to avoid confronting their own racial issues. Australia most certainly does have a long and shameful history of racism, particularly against indigenous peoples. This is a country that sanctioned the abduction of aboriginal children well into modern times. This is a country that had official policies to restrict the immigration of non-white people until 1973. To pretend that the country is so egalitarian and above racial issues that donning exaggerated face paint and afros doesn’t mean what it means in the US is disingenuous.
Regarding the talk on the mp3 show on Obama’s being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Someone mentioned that Obama had been awarded the prize 2 weeks into his presidency. That is not true. He was NOMINATED 2 weeks into his presidency. Who can nominate is outlined here: http://nobelpeaceprize.org/en_GB/nomination_committee/who-can-nominate/ That’s part of a normal process. There are some groups of people who are allowed to nominate, and one of them nominated Obama. There is nothing wrong or suspect with that. The committee then looks at all the nominations, normally in the hundreds, and works their way through them one by one until there is only one left, or none left. Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize because he was the most deserving person this year. Indeed, since the end of the last 8 years the world IS standing much closer to peace in many ways than was ever humanly possible during the Bush regime’s run of the world. Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.” According to Nobel’s will, the Peace Prize is to go to whoever “shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses”. With that in mind the prize seizes to be surprising and does indeed seem to be the only viable option in a world which is still so badly shaken by Bush’s legacy.
I live in Australia. I have the blackface debate with my own eyes and heard people talking about it on radio and in the office where I work. I have read comments in the “letters to the editor” page in newspapers. What concerns me with Australia and Australians is not that they put on this show (racism on commercial TV is nothing new), but that such a large part of the population can see nothing wrong with it. Racism in Australia is alive and well and Australians in general just don’t seem to get it. “Can’t you take a joke?” is the usual knee-jerk response. It is sad.