So perpetuating racist stereotypes is above criticism as long as you preface doing so by saying that you're racist?
This is precisely what I'd hope you'd point out, because in a sense YES this is the answer.
But first of all it's a comedian mocking racism, if he was sitting at a dinner and mocking someone outside that context it would be a LOT different, as we saw from Rosie O'Donnell's "ching chong" backlash.
But to your point. YES. Exactly. Take a second to consider what I mean here though, and I'd love if Mumbles can give his opinion on what I'm going to say.
The unconscious racism is a problem because people are unaware that they are doing it, but everyone is racist especially here in the US. Everyone judges races by stereotypes and even if a person doesn't fit into the stereotype, there's still something in the back of our minds.
The difference between "white racism" where people stereotype white people and "black racism" is extreme.
Ex. For me I used to get really frustrated as a lily white blonde haired blue eyed chick, how most black people I met used to tell me how much easier my life was than theirs. I felt it was disrespectful and presumed way too much and it pissed me off.
But a black woman's experiences with racism is going to be much more severe. IOW Not being able to get a job, being treated like a shoplifter on a regular basis, etc etc. It's got a much harsher impact on a persons self image in life when these "head under the water" versions of racism impact your everyday life.
Years ago I sounded a lot like you did but I had a wake up call (a few) that changed my perspective.
I took a job at Housing Works here in NYC upper east side on 71rst Street. And the manager there was basically trying to get an assistant manager who wanted to help him steal. I figured out pretty quickly that he was stealing from the register every day and having me sign off on it as someone else's mistake. Since it was a Thrift Store there were major problems with tracking inventory because it was mostly walk in donations that were resold. He had been through 3 assistant managers in a year. That should have been a red flag but I was young and didn't pay it attention.
I was a single mother with two small kids. The woman who he fired before me was a single mother with two small kids, but she was black. I lasted 3 months and wound up getting fired (but not before I got him fired as well by documenting his theft and turning him in) When I got fired I walked around the corner to Lexington Avenue and within a few hours I had gotten another job as a waitress.
I ran into the black woman who had gotten fired before me and she had not been able to get a job since she lost her job. I knew the restaurant I was working in had two shift openings and she was experienced, beautiful and intelligent. I was excited to help her and told her to come down for the job. As I was setting up she walked in and the manager told her that there were no openings. We had agreed before she came in not to say we knew each other because we figured that they might not want two friends working together. So she came in all ready to interview and the manager there said there were no openings. When she offered to leave her resume he refused to take it, saying that it was a waste of her time.
Obviously when she left I went up to see what had happened and he flat out told me he would never hire a black waitress because "they're lazy, they don't know how build a check, and the customers up here don't like them."
I eventually quit but it dawned on me at that moment, what the difference was in being a black woman and being a white woman even in NYC a really diverse place. The fact that I as a single mother could instantly get a job and that this woman couldn't and was struggling for months, based solely on her race was scary.
Another perspective? I worked in real estate renting apartments here in Brooklyn for several years. I don't think I rented to a single black person. The landlords would flat out tell me "No African Americans" and one time I had a well spoken black man who worked at the UN stand there as the landlord told me he had "lost the keys to the apartment" and wouldn't show it to him. I flipped on the landlord and we got there and man knew the deal and basically told me not to waste his time because he knew the man wouldn't rent it to him. But I had to show it anyway because I could have lost my licence.
These are not "jokes" these are direct impacts on the very basics of living.
Racism is everywhere.
IMO by seeing it and talking about it and pushing it forward, we not only validate the experiences of the black community but we also start knocking over the subtle racism and the problems. I should have turned that landlord in and the restaurant owner in but I had run out of energy at that point. So instead I decided to be more mindful of how I was racist in my own life.
I will paste a story below that I have shared elsewhere.
One is a time when I was lost in Corona Queens. I was looking for a side street and wandering around this beautiful estate like looking homes. I decided to just ask someone. Looking around I saw a black man mowing the lawn in front of a large Victorian home. His tools were piled on the walk way and he was dressed in shorts and a tee shirt. "Ah," I thought, "What a great person to ask. I bet that landscaper knows the neighborhood pretty well. He probably works for several home owners in the area."
So I plodded over and with each step closer I felt the yammering voice in the back of my head go bonkers on me. "Wow how delightfully racist you are little mama, if that was a white man mowing his lawn would you have assumed he was the landscaper????" Oh my GOD. I was mortified. No one really knew, it's my secret but I share it with people because I've done it before and I'll do it again and I suck donkey balls for doing this. I hate it when racism comes skipping through my head in that thoughtless way. It really sends a message that all good intentions aside, all efforts to do better I fail. Well, there I am the racist alive and well.
That's the problem with getting defensive about accusations of racism. If you haven't really really really looked at your own actions in life, it's too easy to decide that the simple solution is to get over it.
The difference between Chapelle's joke and Julianne Hough dressing up in black face is that his was a thoughtful decisive real speech. Hers was a careless thoughtless action. She obviously didn't mean it to be racist, but that's the problem with unconscious racism.
Sorry so long
