Australians, furious at Harry Connick Jr. for getting upset by that whole blackface thing, are cheering the emergence of this 13-year-old clip from "MADtv," which apparently exposes Connick as a hypocrite because he is, uh, playing a southern preacher next to an actual black guy. As one of the many YouTube commenters to the clip notes, "By people comparing this, it's apparent that many Australians don't get what blackface is. No wonder why they are left scratching their heads about the whole incident." Exactly. Australians: too stupid to be racist?
Thursday, October 8, 2009
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Orlando Jones is white! Spread the news.
You know, this story reminds me about how uncomfortable I feel watching Al Roker segments. I googled "al roker minstrel" to see if this was a common sensibility and ... the first hit was an Abe/Awl comment string.
Maybe Australia saw Tropic Thunder and assumed we were cool with it now?
I have theory about racism in the rest of the 'developed' world - they're all so busy talking about how racist the U.S. is that they don't realize what fucking bigots they are.
I have Scottish in-laws. They told me that there is no longer any racism at all in the UK or its commonwealths. So it must be true.
They also have a lot of golliwogg refrigerator magnets. These are definitely not racist. In case you are confused.
"Bloody Wogs!"
When I first arrived in Scotland, my homestay family (which consisted of an old lady and her husband) was watching TV with me, and an adorable little biracial girl came on the screen. Margaret asked me what we would call that girl.
At first I said, "little girl," and then realized that wasn't what she was talking about. "Oh, biracial."
"Oh," she said in her little brogue, "we call those 'half-breeds.'"
I was also with them for September 11, 2002. The anniversary conversation induced an approximately equal number of jaw-drops.
Aye, but what hybrid vigor the little half-breed has!
I'm surprised they didn't think it was a 'changeling.'
Are we sure this isn't a post-modern commentary on black-face? Hm?
Australia had a "Whites Only" policy that lasted into the 1970s. Even Oklahoma had come around by then.
Cronulla riots were started by Lebanese youth attacking life guards at the beach and this came not to long after the Skilaf brothers were convicted of rape targeting white Australian's.Do you know anything about the benefits being recieved by our indigenous people compared to the "white" population? What did the US do the American Indians? Tried genocide but failed.Have you been to OZ? If not your wiki seems to have all the answers to your questions.
Maybe this will clear things up
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAHSTbD4A5M
I don't know, Alex. Every Australian I know has thought the Hey Hey It's Saturday incident was offensive, outdated and embarrassing. I don't think it's fair or accurate to judge an entire country based on the idiots who post to YouTube (and in my experience on the site, they are mostly idiots).
Yes, there are racist Australians, just like there are racist Americans, racist Japanese and racist French. And given the different social and cultural histories of each of those places, that racism expresses itself in slightly different ways. In Australia, there are idiot television producers who think it's funny to televise a blackface routine on a show that, it must be said, doesn't have a terribly sophisticated audience - I'd say because Australia hasn't yet dealt directly with its racism in the same way the US has (to your credit). On the hand, we don't have people threatening to assassinate black leaders. Or actually assassinating them, for that matter.
There are people of all types in all countries, and there are plenty of antipodean equivalents to the audience who read The Awl. And even a few who do read it.
Good point. And to be fair, when I told the story above about my homestay lady to the Englishman I eventually started seeing in Scotland, he was absolutely mortified, and had never even heard the term. He asked his parents about it, and they sort of laughed and said it was something that only really old racist people used.
Yeah let's not paint all Australians with the same (shoe polish) brush.
annnnnnnnnnd this show is well known as been for alot of stupid people. One of the segments is "Celebrity Heads". It was axed nearly ten years ago and Channel 9 are resorting to putting this show back on. And on a Wednesday night.
A celebrity guests of Harry Connick Jr should be enough to show that the viewing audience of this show are mid 40 bogan's who think that Harry is still a big thing.
I wouldn't blame Australian society but Australian TV
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wsfea6skWE&feature=related
This is true. Australian television does tend to suck.
Here’s a classic case of Americans trying to impose their cultural values elsewhere. This was an Australian programme intended for Australians.
We don’t have that horrendous history with black people that you have, and hence the whole blackface thing doesn’t strike most of us as “racistâ€Â. Sure, we wouldn’t do that in the US, but as I said, this ain’t the USA.
What most of you don’t understand is that the humour in this piece was the fact that Michael Jackson tried to shun his black heritage and worked endlessly to make himself “whiteâ€Â. It is a tragedy, but also laughable for its sheer absurdity.
It strikes me as intersting how so many of you people have made racist anti-Australian comments too. Nice one, folks! Fight “racism†with racist hate… pathetic.
Australia isn’t a racist country, tho like all nations there are dark pockets here and there. But when we look at how, even in 2009, there’s so much of an issue over race in the USA, it’s hypocritical to criticise Australia where race relations are generally good, from the USA where people are still routinely categorised as “blackâ€Â, “whiteâ€Â, “hispanic†etc cetera. Over here, we’re all just “Australiansâ€Â.
HAH. Is this some sort of joke? Are the famously simple-minded Australians capable of satire? No history of racism in Australia? TELL IT TO THE ABORIGINES.
Famously simple minded?
Amen. Also? If they didn't want HCJr.'s opinion, perhaps they ought to have been clever enough not to invite him on to give his opinion.
Oh, the aborigines have historically been treated very badly, no argument there. But race relations between black and white Australia are still generally good despite this. A sharp contrast with the USA.
Ours is a history of underprivilege and discrimination, not abduction and forced slavery. Therefore the resulting dynamic is different. It is therefore inappropriate to apply American values to an Australian context.
True Australian, you are the kind of moron that puts us all to shame, honestly. I disagree that we are an island of simple minded racists, but "race relations between black and white Australia are still generally good"?!?!.
"Ours is a history of underprivilege and discrimination, not abduction and forced slavery. " Stolen Generation mean anything to you?
honestly
every country has had some form of rasicm. its part of our history we cant change that
and if its made us who we are, well we cant change that ether
so harry connick jr. please refrain from judging us as you were bought up differently to us, and have differnet beliefs and values
This skit was taken totally out of context as the performers were not having a go at African Americans or any other race per se and now they the performers and Australia have been branded racist by the over sensitive, self righteous and often hypocritical individuals.
I could stand in a garage, tell everyone that I met that I am a car, make all sorts of car noises however it doesn’t make me a car - Americans may have outed the blackface as a routine and may have elected Obama as their president however that doesn’t truly mean that they have taken any true steps forward to address their inherit culture of racism.
In any society or nationality there is unfortunately an element of racism and that is why humans have independent thoughts, opinions and differences and luckily we are not clones, however Australians as a general rule are far less racist as a populace than America and some other nations.
America as a nation and culture are dysfunctional and bigotry, always trying to inflict their own twisted sense of morals on others - America you should be tried in The Hague for your continued practise of cultural genocide.
You really should have the wit to recognise that the distinction between "blackface" and, er, "black face" is not going to be as sharp to people in other countries as it is to those of you who have lived the American cultural and historical experience. Your conviction that anyone who is not sensitive to cultural distinctions particular to your own country is "stupid" illustrates that uniquely American brand of arrogant self-absorption which the world has come to know so well.