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Racism is contextual

Octavo

Illuminator
Octavo
Joined
Jun 19, 2007
Messages
3,485
Location
South Africa
I think the thread title is self-evident and propose a real world example:

I recently had occasion to overhear an event producer on a phone call to book talent: "No, the dancers can't be white. I need them to be black."

This sounds racist. Without further context, I'd agree. Why are you refusing to hire white people?

Some context: This event is taking place in South Africa. Is it still racist? Maybe.

More context: its a corporate event for a european multi-national and the event is for the entire African region. Is it starting to look more like sound pr rather than straight up racism yet? I hope so.

More context: The whole show is 2 dancers and an industrial robot. A troupe of 50 would be a different story.

Your thoughts? Got any good examples to share?
 
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"X is contextual" is next only to "Every situation is different" and "It's not that simple" in the trifecta of statements that are nearly 100% always technically true while nearly being always pointless.
 
JoeMorgue said:
"X is contextual" is next only to "Every situation is different" and "It's not that simple" in the trifecta of statements that are nearly 100% always technically true while nearly being always pointless.
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Your post is both true and pointless - I'm not sure if you realised the irony when you typed it, but thanks for the chuckle :)
 
I'm not sure your scenario demonstrates that racism is contextual, but rather just that some things that seem racist at first glance aren't.
 
kellyb said:
I'm not sure your scenario demonstrates that racism is contextual, but rather just that some things that seem racist at first glance aren't.
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So without the context, you would have come to believe hiring only black dancers isn't racist?

Isn't the "second glance" just context?
 
Actually, this specific situation starts to sound more racist the more context is added... There could be lots of reasons to hire black dancers, but apparently here the reason was that the organizers thought that Africans attending a corporate event would only want to look at black dancers...
 
Octavo said:
So without the context, you would have come to believe hiring only black dancers isn't racist?

Isn't the "second glance" just context?
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Presumes something not in evidence. Presumes people see the comment without context as racist.
 
Porpoise of Life said:
Actually, this specific situation starts to sound more racist the more context is added... There could be lots of reasons to hire black dancers, but apparently here the reason was that the organizers thought that Africans attending a corporate event would only want to look at black dancers...
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...but that's not racist. At worst, it's expecting racism or at best racial bias. That's why they keep casting chinese actors in recent big-budget Hollywood movies. Plus, the hard left tells us that people want to see their own "kind" in screen.
 
Belz... said:
...but that's not racist. At worst, it's expecting racism or at best racial bias. That's why they keep casting chinese actors in recent big-budget Hollywood movies.Plus, the hard left tells us that people want to see their own "kind" in screen.
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As does the "right" - they just disagree on who is their own "kind".
 
Darat said:
As does the "right" - they just disagree on who is their own "kind".
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Do they? Does the right tell us that black people, for instance, need to identify with the skin colour of characters in movies? I've never heard that argument from them. I've heard from them that casting minorities was always a far-left political decision, though.
 
Belz... said:
Do they? Does the right tell us that black people, for instance, need to identify with the skin colour of characters in movies? I've never heard that argument from them. I've heard from them that casting minorities was always a far-left political decision, though.
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Maybe not, but they are more likely, as whites, to say they want to see people like themselves on screen.
 
Belz... said:
I'd believe it if you could support that claim.
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Ok fine so the right wing doesn't care about representation in media and the left does, so we should make most movies with predominantly black and minority casts. The right will not care and it will satisfy the left so everyone wins.
 
ponderingturtle said:
Ok fine so the right wing doesn't care about representation in media and the left does, so we should make most movies with predominantly black and minority casts. The right will not care and it will satisfy the left so everyone wins.
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I'll take that as an admission that your claim was unfounded. Thank you.
 
So, how about you follow your own guidelines and provide some evidence for your claims that casting minorities is a left wing thing because 'the hard left' says people can only identify with their own race/kind?
 
Well, casting minorities sure isn't right-wing thing, right?

But we've had plenty of threads on this forum, recently, where this claim was made. Remember that thread about Black Panther merchandise and missed opportunities?

Anyway, my point is this: if we're told that people prefer to see their like in movies and such, is that racism, or just personal bias towards people like us? I don't think racism is just this form of trivial bias. It's something more narrow than that.
 
zooterkin said:
I've certainly encountered people who have expressed those views.
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As with all political discussions, when one person on the right (or left) expresses an objectionable opinion, it then becomes something everyone on their side of the political spectrum needs to defend or else admit their entire worldview is basically evil.
 
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