Girl throws a 21st birthday party with an African theme to it. The KKK showed(G/A/F)
- Thread starter Boom Boom Pow
- Start date
- Status
Supermanisdead
Member
how can people actually try to argue that blackface isn't racist?
CadetMahoney
Member
Why do they do that?
Who is arguing that?
I don't know...
Other people are disgusting? I do it for doing it since it is in my genes.
Blackface is racist. Painting yourself 'black' because you want to portray someone from Middle Africa isn't. And blackface is a concept that isn't that known around the world.
Is Robert Downey Jr racist because he painted himself 'black' for Tropic Thunder?
That old chestnut. Whilst there are plenty of examples of racism in Australia, I'm not convinced that's one of them, considering the history with Australian and West Indies cricket and the vocal, colourful crowds that attended such matches. If you ever saw footage of Viv Richards facing Dennis Lillee on a fast track with a strong West Indies crowd you may understand the cultural relevance.
It's the story of a lone supporter caught in the middle of a crowd of opposition supporters. It happens in every sport. The fact that the supporters from one team happen to be black, because hello, West Indies, doesn't make it racist. The fact that he's offering them chicken, because KFC has been sponsoring cricket for years, doesn't make it racist.
But no, it's easier to put your own cultural bias on something. It's a white man trying to shut nuisance blacks up with fried chicken. Must be racist.
Supermanisdead
Member
tropic thunder was making fun of blackface defenders. christ.
you don't colour your skin or tape your eyes to "respect" another race. if you want to dress as a black person, dress as them. don't turn their race into a costume.
you don't colour your skin or tape your eyes to "respect" another race. if you want to dress as a black person, dress as them. don't turn their race into a costume.
i_am_ben
running_here_and_there
Ironically this was in the newspaper today:
http://www.dailylife.com.au/dl-people/best--less-apologises-for-racist-catalogue-20131022-2vz04.html
I can understand that people can get upset when a person dresses up as another nationality. However, this is crazy.
http://www.dailylife.com.au/dl-people/best--less-apologises-for-racist-catalogue-20131022-2vz04.html
I can understand that people can get upset when a person dresses up as another nationality. However, this is crazy.
Who taped their eyes? Stick to the people at issue, don't bring in other's from other times and places.
Ok this is stupid.
If someone is dressed that way, you assume the guy is a scientist no.
There's no ambiguity in the costumes here.
Also rereading the whole tumblr, there may be more to the party that is not seen that depict a less damning picture of the party and the attendee.
Having not been aware of them I reacted to what I've seen.
The KKK is still an unfunny racist unless he was somehow depicting that other spannish event.
1) that is my whole argument, probably badly phrased or I wouldn't have needed to clarify it.
2) If you have people in a group that have an unacceptable behaviour it condemn the whole group because if the group have no pb with it they condonne the behaviour and saying that there's no pb with it.
Why do I even need to explain that I have no idea.
And if they were going for the tribal angle instead of the other savage imagery they would have made something different, then again it may just be a shitty costume.
If you're making an American themed party and you're left with only gangbangers as your depiction of african americans there may be something wrong with your party.
I guess a politician claiming that the problem with black people is that they're loud and smelly isn't him being racist, it's just you not knowing the guys he met....
And that's it, I'm out.
If you don't see anything wrong with that party, there's info out there.
Nothing I'll say will make you change your mind anyway.
I'll never go to your parties however.
That's my gripe with the pavlovian "teh racist" response that any white person painted in black gets in (liberal) America.
And yes: Swedes are vikings, Spanish are all bullfighters, Germans are all Oktoberfest themed. You cannot pretend to dress like "people of _____ nationality" without restorting to silly stereotypes. Not every single stereotype is used for harm or offense, even if offensive, mean stereotypes do exist.
But Dutch language is just like German but with lots of Z's and J's in between words! [/trollexpert]
dapperbandit
Banned
I think its stupid but it's not anything to get upset about. Obviously they're messing about and pushed the boundaries of taste here. Looks to me like they blacked up for a luagh not because they have a deep seated hatred for black people.
What the fuck is this shit? There were politicians at the party now? They said stuff? Or are you just off on a weird journey through racism in history?
Supermanisdead
Member
what's the difference? if i edit it out, will you get the actual point?
As much as we have our fair share of racists here (probably more than our fair share, honestly) the situation in the OP seems more like stupidity and insensitivity than outright racism.
Yup, this is totally ludicrous. The only reason anyone in Australia would even make that connection is because they'd heard it was a thing elsewhere. In the context of the country it was published in, it isn't racist in the slightest.
Ironically this was in the newspaper today:
http://www.dailylife.com.au/dl-people/best--less-apologises-for-racist-catalogue-20131022-2vz04.html
I can understand that people can get upset when a person dresses up as another nationality. However, this is crazy.
Yup, this is totally ludicrous. The only reason anyone in Australia would even make that connection is because they'd heard it was a thing elsewhere. In the context of the country it was published in, it isn't racist in the slightest.
way more
Member
What is that context?
BocoDragon
or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
Blackface isn't inherently racist just like Hitler's moustache isn't inherently evil.. But they have a history, and if you sport them in public than god help you.
The difference is quite important. One happened at the party in the OP, one didn't. When judging the party in the OP, it's quite useful to stick to what happened.
And yes, I get your point, hence my posts saying I don't like the idea of people painting their skin as a costume. But it is far from a universal concern or opinion. To many people, if you are dressing as an ethnic or geographical group, the more you can do for the costume, the better.
About 10 years ago I was in Dachau, the concentration camp outside of Munich, paying my respects and getting me some history. I happened to have a totally clean shaven head that day.
All of a sudden an old guy starts going off at me in German with much passion and anger. There were quite a few people there but he singled me out. Unfortunately I didn't understand him, but I suspect he thought I was a neo-nazi skin head.
Looks can be deceiving. I just liked a shaven head.
A stereotype is a simplification. It's a stock portrayal of a variety of people that casts aside any interesting differences in favor of reassuring what the audience already believes. It does not present "unique points of view", it presents one we've already become familiar with. That's what makes it a stereotype.
I'm not normally uptight about this; I think some stereotypes are funny and not particularly harmful. Some, like simplifying the entire African continent's varied nations and styles to a simple tribal slurry with no distinguishing features, have been very demonstrably harmful. Ever heard of "Darkest Africa"? The idea of a wild, untamed continent with generic uncivilized "Africans" wearing generic tribal get-ups was poisonous, fueling exploitative economic practices. People were interchangeable and, as the Berlin Conference demonstrated, their land was interchangeable in the eyes of conquerors. A supposedly homogenous African population was divided between individual nations, something that would have been a lot more inconvenient if the politicians remembered that there were cultural and political differences between "Africans" too.
It's the equivalent of making all of Europe your beret and baguette stereotype, from London to Moscow, but add a few centuries of oppression based primarily on that stereotype. If that sounds funny, sure, it does. But as fanboi so helpfully pointed out earlier, context matters. For an obvious analogy, the N-word coming out of a white person's mouth is now seen as loaded because of the context surrounding that word; it was used to abuse, belittle, and patronize on a widespread scale. Similarly, I feel the context of the "African tribal savage" stereotype cannot be separated from the way that stereotype has been misused.
If a party organizer seriously lacks the creativity to design an original party that isn't based on a historically damaging stereotype, I highly doubt "PC thinking" is the cause. Maybe we'd be better off if she chose to actually create something original instead of reusing a 19th century idea that is supposedly original just because it's "not PC."
Looks can be deceiving; he might not have been angry about your shaven head, as unlikely as that sounds. If you want people to give you the benefit of the doubt, you have to give it back to them too.
I do agree it can feel frustrating when perfectly fine concepts (Like shaving your head if you're a young white male) are rendered taboo thanks to context.
But she didn't send invites out with "come dressed as a tribesman; bone through your nose optional". It was "African themed". She came dressed as Cleopatra. Others came as animals. That's the thing with a theme party - it's open to interpretation. That's where the fun is, KKK aside.
Sure, I can see where you're coming from, but I doubt most of the people at that party gave two thoughts about it, malicious or not. Personally, I'd try to be a bit more sophisticated in my interpretation.
I used to date a Wicken. If she told me the portrayal of witches at Halloween was insulting to her, I'd probably just laugh at her.
That's why I said "suspect".
As an Australian, I don't know anyone racist, actually most people I have met in my many years are quite left wing and inclusionary.
There are dickheads out there, just like rednecks in the US.
People really cannot make sweeping statements about the racism of a country. Millions of people etc...
Edit: I can't believe some dipshit's party is making headlines.
There are dickheads out there, just like rednecks in the US.
People really cannot make sweeping statements about the racism of a country. Millions of people etc...
Edit: I can't believe some dipshit's party is making headlines.
They have a history in your country. Is it that hard to understand than things that are seen as culturally insensitive in the US are not seen that way in other countries because they don't have the same history? I wasn't even aware of this blackface stuff until I read this thread.
Not talking about the kkk guy though, that's just straight up stupid.
What are you talking about?
Yes, I would assume that is a scientist, but if one came as a tribesman I wouldn't assume them as savages but as a tribesman...
You are just trying to find stuff that isn't present.
SMH at people thinking that American cultural history is all that matter to define things in their context
Holy shit, you need to watch that movie again.Blackface is racist. Painting yourself 'black' because you want to portray someone from Middle Africa isn't. And blackface is a concept that isn't that known around the world.
Is Robert Downey Jr racist because he painted himself 'black' for Tropic Thunder?
Always-honest
Banned
I guess to most people stereotypical africans are black.
KKK is baffling... and seriously disgusting.
Brian Fellows
Pete Carroll Owns Me
Looks like one asshole at party with a bunch of people who just grabbed the first thing they found that looked remotely African in a country where blackface isn't frowned upon. I got no problem with it.
This was possibly first brought to my attention the other day for entirely unrelated reasons. People are also getting a bit miffed because someone made a colonial dress.
http://www.fashionadventurer.com/2012/11/british-colonist.html
EDIT: Nope, that was last year... apparently this is a thing here? :S
Fury Sense
Member
another win for facebook privacy
Yes, they have a certain history - in certain parts of the world. And a different history in other parts. So what would you suggest? For example, one of the three kings was supposedly black. But there are usually no black people available to play that part in large parts of Europe (because we had no black slaves on our farms), so that leaves us with three options:
a) Blackface.
b) Make the character white.
c) Simply drop the character altogether and make it two kings.
Option a is by far the most respectful and least racist of the three, no?
The head researcher of the UN has already declared it racist and a return to slavery. Not the official report yet, though.
Cultural relativism is out, pax Americana is in.
She doesn't seem to be objective at all. But she also thinks the Netherlands have two Santa Clause's.....
Not sure but Im certain the guy knew their history, or else he wouldn't have picked that costume in the first place
As far as i was aware it isnt, i was totally expecting Florida before i entered this thread.
Devolution
Member
I need to have a Crocodile Dundee party where people are only allowed to drink Fosters.
It will be the best and worst party ever.
It will be the best and worst party ever.
- Status