USA GAF.. Explain please

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soepje

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Two days ago there was this thread: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=474649.
Which is just cute and innocent imho.
Yet, a whole lot of people respond to it as: His parents are ignorant! They should know better! They shouldn´t have even thought of putting some paint on their kids face.'

I found that quite strange.. It´s so clear that the kid, nor his parents where doing it out of dispise. But people seem to think that other people might get offended.. or something..

These sort of opinions keep showing up, and i (euro) just don´t get it tbh. Why is this still such a hot and touchy subject there? We are all the same we start and live our lives, we do good, we do bad, color has nothing to do with it.... weird americano´s..

But then... Today i was watching some documentary (alright, it was Miami ink), and some woman there was mentioning that there was actually a White Prom and a Black Prom at the same high school.

So that just makes me wonder how big the black-white gap in the USA still is.
 
There was a period of time in the late 1800s and early 1900s when white people went on "minstril shows" and put on black shoe polish to play black roles. Many if not most of the time they were mocking colored folks.

It brings back those memories.

280px-Minstrel_PosterBillyVanWare_edit.jpg


blackface.jpg
 
Was is necessary to make a separate thread to post your thoughts on the exact same topic? The gap is big and it is a complex and touchy issue. Anything in particular?
 
I let my kid watch old Tom and Jerrys and I feel horrible. I'm glad my kid isn't emulating anyone on that show.

"Thomas!? THOMAS!? Whey dat kiddy go? I fine him he's goh-nna get O-U-W-T, OUT!" - actual dialogue before recent revisions

Bay Maximus said:
Was is necessary to make a separate thread to post your thoughts on the exact same topic? The gap is big and it is a complex and touchy issue. Anything in particular?
Click to expand...

Yeah, this kind of thing is getting way too prevelant lately.

New thread for new news, old thread for old and recent discussions.
 
I don't think it was mean spirited. The kid was playing tribute to an American hero. He just put on the makeup in order to make the costume recognizable. It's not like he was speaking coon-talk.

Just like in everything else in life, some people will get offended more easily than others, especially with such a sensitive topic as racial relations.
 
Bay Maximus said:
Was is necessary to make a separate thread to post your thoughts on the exact same topic? The gap is big and it is a complex and touchy issue. Anything in particular?
Click to expand...
It´s not about my thoughts, i just want to understand what is going on there, because i don´t right now. I gave that thread as an example.
 
Basically, the USA is oversensitive about offending people, and what were/are real racist activities became separated from their intentions. As a result, anyone who performs those activities, regardless of intent, is viewed as making a racially charged comment.
 
IrrelevantNotch said:
Don't Europeans throw bananas at black soccer players? Equalism my ass..
Click to expand...

Yes, all Europeans do.



But seriously, that used to carry on a lot in the UK and other places. Thankfully it has improved a lot. Russia is where it is widespread. The 2018WC will be something...I hope things improve by then, even slighty.
 
I'm American and thought it was sweet too. Some people are unable to use their heads though. It obviously wasn't done in malice and wasn't blackface but some people just want to be riled up by anything and complain about non-issues.
 
Every once and a while I'll catch some goofy british thing like Come Fly With Me and there is a white guy playing a black woman with lots of super stereotypical behavior. I just shrug and go whatever at the end of the day. It's not like it's that funny anyway. Drag hasn't been funny for years, get with the times Britain!
 
Jimothy said:
Europe is racist as fuck. America by and large is very progressive on race. The only region holding more progress back is the south.
Click to expand...

The south is probably less racist on average than any other part of the country. You never hear the kind of racist talk I've heard from people from NY state and Wisconsin. In general I think people who don't have contact with other races are usually the most racist
 
ElectricBlue187 said:
The south is probably less racist on average than any other part of the country. You never hear the kind of racist talk I've heard from people from NY state and Wisconsin
Click to expand...

callin' bullshit on this. My aunt was from Alabama. When we visited her, I heard more racist shit in that state in three days than I have heard in my entire fifteen+ years in PA. My mom is Spanish. Can't even imagine what it would have been like if we were black. Same holds true pretty much of every Southern State we visit. It also is reflected in polls, so.
 
ElectricBlue187 said:
The south is probably less racist on average than any other part of the country. You never hear the kind of racist talk I've heard from people from NY state and Wisconsin
Click to expand...
The worst I've heard in the north is lock your doors or walk on the other side of the street from really old people. The worst I've heard from someone in the south was someone in their 20s, really drunk, asking why all black people and mexicans can't just die already.

Anecdotal of course.
 
I really wanted to be upset. In fact, I got up, did some jumping jacks. Screamed at the wall. Glared at the mirror. Punched my speedbag. Listened to The Prodigy...shit just wasn't happening. Kid was cute. I wasn't getting pissed. Why can't I get pissed at the little kid who didn't know any better? Whyyyy?

His parents too, just so innocent, they didn't know that painting their son's face black could send the wrong message. And obviously the kid couldn't have portrayed MLK without covering his face in shoe polish, because...black, you know? It makes no sense, otherwise. And they were so proud and almost offended that someone else could deign to take offense. They aren't racists, they're totally immune to what might offend others, it has nothing to do with them, and they never had any reason to learn or understand. People just overreacting because they can't tell the difference between racist intent and non-racist intent. You know? Breathe with me.
 
soepje said:
Two days ago there was this thread: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=474649.
Which is just cute and innocent imho.
Yet, a whole lot of people respond to it as: His parents are ignorant! They should know better! They shouldn´t have even thought of putting some paint on their kids face.'

I found that quite strange.. It´s so clear that the kid, nor his parents where doing it out of dispise. But people seem to think that other people might get offended.. or something..

These sort of opinions keep showing up, and i (euro) just don´t get it tbh. Why is this still such a hot and touchy subject there? We are all the same we start and live our lives, we do good, we do bad, color has nothing to do with it.... weird americano´s..

But then... Today i was watching some documentary (alright, it was Miami ink), and some woman there was mentioning that there was actually a White Prom and a Black Prom at the same high school.

So that just makes me wonder how big the black-white gap in the USA still is.
Click to expand...

Why don't you watch this before you comment about race relations in the US?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwpO-nnFY9g

Painting your face another race's color isn't appropriate in the US. The kid wasn't reprimanded, just asked to remove it, and his parents should have known better, that's about it.
 
bengraven said:
I let my kid watch old Tom and Jerrys and I feel horrible. I'm glad my kid isn't emulating anyone on that show.

"Thomas!? THOMAS!? Whey dat kiddy go? I fine him he's goh-nna get O-U-W-T, OUT!" - actual dialogue before recent revisions



Yeah, this kind of thing is getting way too prevelant lately.

New thread for new news, old thread for old and recent discussions.
Click to expand...

You know growing up watching Tom and Jerry outside the US I had no idea about the Mammy the stereotype. My kid brain assumed she was Tom's owner. Also the dynamite gags and the subsequent blackface, I thought the laughter or musical cue was to go along with the gag that the bomb went off in Tom's face.
 
ElectricBlue187 said:
The south is probably less racist on average than any other part of the country. You never hear the kind of racist talk I've heard from people from NY state and Wisconsin. In general I think people who don't have contact with other races are usually the most racist
Click to expand...

Are you sure they weren't being facetious? I know that a lot of people joke around about things like that in the North.
 
Surely, a country that truly isn't racist is one where a kid can paint his face black. Even if it's just people reacting, not the kid being racist, it shows a sensitivity towards race, and that's not an absence of racism, it's just tiptoeing.
 
As I tried to say in the other thread there's a difference between BLACKFACE and black makeup. The kid looked like a reasonable approximation as someone his age could do for Martin Luthur King Jr. There's a long and respected history of actors "blacking up" when the role requires it, for parts like Othello and Ghandi. Intent is just as important as execution and act in my opinion.
 
This is some pretty unexplainable shit :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-ojILEjg6s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ncm4gdlwdXA

Captain_Spanky said:
As I tried to say in the other thread there's a difference between BLACKFACE and black makeup. The kid looked like a reasonable approximation as someone his age could do for Martin Luthur King Jr. There's a long and respected history of actors "blacking up" when the role requires it, for parts like Othello and Ghandi. Intent is just as important as execution and act in my opinion.
Click to expand...

"blacking up" as you call it is also called "putting on blackface".
 
Jimothy said:
Europe is racist as fuck. America by and large is very progressive on race. The only region holding more progress back is the south.
Click to expand...

As a blackman from the south I can tell you're not from here. By far I've received more racism from West coast natives than any other region of people in the US.
 
akira28 said:
This is some pretty unexplainable shit :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-ojILEjg6s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ncm4gdlwdXA



"blacking up" as you call it is also called "putting on blackface".
Click to expand...

Yes I used the phrases interchangably in what I wrote. I'm not seeing your point? There is a difference between a minstrel show, a mockery and reinforcement of stereotype, and simply changing the colour of your skin to reflect that of the person you are portraying. If the kid was running round with big red lips, huge white eyes, watermelon and fried chicken and claiming he was MLKJr then I could understand the outrage. Being asked to portray a person of colour and then doing so isn't racist.

Is Lawrence Olivier racist here? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2s41j8hn34 (spoilers for Othello by the way)
 
ElectricBlue187 said:
The south is probably less racist on average than any other part of the country. You never hear the kind of racist talk I've heard from people from NY state and Wisconsin. In general I think people who don't have contact with other races are usually the most racist
Click to expand...

highly doubt that. also, excluding THE GREATEST CITY IN THE WORLD, ny state is pretty much the south. farther up north you go, dumber people seem to be

PoorFate said:
This is fake. Everyone knows racism only exists in the US.

EDIT: The denial of the extent of racism in European countries by Europeans is pretty humorous.
Click to expand...

seriously.
 
GotEmRunnin said:
As a blackman from the south I can tell you're not from here. By far I've received more racism from West coast natives than any other region of people in the US.
Click to expand...

West coast natives? I'm finding that a bit hard to believe.
 
there are black comedians in movies and television shows (very popular ones) that put white makeup on their face and pretend to be a white person. fake accent and all.

why do they never get reprimanded?
 
Captain_Spanky said:
Is Lawrence Olivier racist here? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2s41j8hn34 (spoilers for Othello by the way)
Click to expand...

I love your avatar btw. No one said Sir Laurence was a racist. I'm just pointing out that exaggerated Vaudevillian/comedy blackface and dramatic acting blackface are both known as blackface. And. If you know the origin of both, they are actually both born of racism. Not that those doing the portrayals are racist.
 
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