It’s Carnival time in Barcelona, and you know what that means: TIME TO PUT ON THE BLACKFACE!!
Oh, it doesn’t in your part of the world? Well… my bad.
I’ve been here for five years now, and I still can’t get used to it. It’s like taking a trip back in time, in the most horribly embarrassing way.
My only consolation is the thought that, perhaps, somewhere in Africa… on very festive occasions… people paint their faces white… and shove a stick up their ass.
Merchandise in a typical costume store in Barcelona! Wow!
And don´t forget we get KKK clones at Easter too!
They’re not KKK clones. The dress of penitents and nazarenos in Easter were copied BY the KKK, not the wrong way round. The Easter traditions and fancy dress are older than the USA.
As for the PCness of blackface… Erm, the online Museum of Jim Crow may be more helpful. The main problem is, I believe, that it keeps on negative and very limiting stereotypes. In Spain this usage has persisted for longer because until recently the black community has been almost non-existent except for very few Guineans and Cubans before the 90s. “Traditional racism” in Spain has been against gypsies, and long before that, also Jews and Moors. The case for the Mexican stereotype of poncho and big hat is one that I’ve also seen used by Mexican friends as a joke, but maybe it’s a case of it being OK if you’re part of it, but not otherwise. As for the British gentleman one, that has long since been seen as an old sterotype and it’s not considered *insulting*. In the case of the Zulu suit the presentation of that people is most savage, and the mammy comes through as silly and ugly.
http://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/menu.htm
http://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/mammies/
The KKK comment by Inquebrantable McGinty was intended as a joke, but I completely agree with your points.
Thank you for providing those links. I spent a while looking at them yesterday. I really hope the people reading this post click on them. They’re fascinating and disturbing. I’m wondering how a racist American Jim Crow-era stereotype like the Mammy migrated all the way over to Europe, anyway. Cinema? Over here they blithely don these costumes without any idea of what they mean, which is why I wish they’d click on the links to the Jim Crow museum.
The similarity between the carnival “mammies” in the photo above and the mammies on the Jim Crow website are chilling. They’re absolute duplicates.
I wasn’t sure how to take the KKK thing as I don’t know where’s Inquebrantable McGinty from. I know of Americans really interpreting the nazarenos and penitents as KKK copies, no joke :-S. My bad.
Not at all, I’m glad you found them interesting. I first found them while doing online research for a presentation about the Harlem Renaissance and early 20th Century Afro-American Literature (at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona). I wanted to take a packet of Conguitos, this was before they changed the picture from the packet. It used to be a right Little Sambo with spear and all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSCoJDr73RU
I guess the Mammy came here through cinema, but there were also “mammies” in the Spanish colonies in South and Central America, those that had more Spanish people living there as well as plantations. I’m half Venezuelan and a well-known example there is Simón Bolívar’s wet-nurse, known as “la Negra Hipólita”. But then, independence from Spain came early and they’ve been quite separate from the peninsula for quite a while for race issues from the colonies to affect the metropolis much. Urgh! Too much information, this is supposed to be a fun blog…
By the way, you begin your entry saying:
It’s Carnival time in Barcelona, and you know what that means: TIME TO PUT ON THE BLACKFACE!!
Oh, it doesn’t in your part of the world? Well… my bad.
Here you have blacks in blackface in the Zulu Krewe float during Mardi Gras in New Orleans (2009). I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s all sorts of café-con-leche mixtures there… Quite different though…
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-mardi-gras0224-pg,0,6587198.photogallery
I don’t get it. Why is a Zulu fancy dress worse than say… a Mexican fancy dress (with huge hat, poncho, and everything)? or are they equally bad?. What about a polinesian one?. and what about a Victorian British gentleman fancy dress for that matter? Is that one ok?… Ah, The absurdities of political correctness…
By the way, I love your blog.
*Sigh*
If I gotta explain… Oh, forget it.
I gotta go to work. Maybe someone else will want to field this one.
Thanks for your comment.
I’ll take a shot at it.
Firstly, this isn’t about being politically correct. It’s about not being racist. And it seems absurd because racism is hard to understand, and it’s even harder to explain.
I do my best to educate myself, but as a white person who is a product of the racist USA I still have a lot of un-learning to do. This is the thing about many white Americans: we know that being racist is bad, but we don’t all quite know how not to be racist. At this point, they don’t really teach it in schools, it’s a learning process that one has to take on oneself.
Enough about me (but talking about myself proves that I’m American, no?). Dressing up as an English gent isn’t racist because English gentlemen are the ones with all of the power. They were among the Europeans who sailed to Africa to do horrible things to the people there, and they still control the economics of much of the world.
So now, to have their descendents dress up as the Africans who were (and are) oppressed is in very bad taste. Why is that? Because no one at Carnival is dressing up to learn or understand or pay respect. Like many people have said on this post, Carnival is only about having fun and getting drunk. I don’t think that an oppressed culture is an okay reference in that context.
Okay, Rachel and Joan, that’s my best shot. And Rachel, your blog rules.
I like the way they didn’t bother “blacking up” their lily white hands!! Joan’s comment is food for thought, because if someone dresses up as a Chinaman, with yellow face, slitty eyes and all, it isn’t as mal visto for some reason.
Cultural Clash indeed. You can ask any South African from the zulu nation and He’ll tell you how proud they are about their culture, ancestral traditions and ceremonies. Your reaction to the Zulu costumes is an example of political correctness gone bad in the paranoid American society (with the best of intentions I presume). It is so sickly patronizing that ends up being offensive and out-right racist.
I don’t see how my reaction to a crude, white European cartoon of “Zulu” costumes can be construed as racist. Do you really mistake the cartoonish costume for actual Zulu culture?
It’s carnival!. Since when people are supposed to have most perfect costumes. People do the best they can depending on their abilities, money resources, originality, whatever,… Again a cartoon zule costume shouldnt be seen worse than a Cartoon Chinese costume.
If I have follow your reasoning, next time I see in Las Ramblas a silly Guiri wearing one of those huge hats I will scream on his face: “YOU MORON, YOU ARE WEARING A CARTOON HAT THAT NOT ONLY HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE SPANISH CULTURE, BUT IT’S NOT EVEN FUCKING MEXICAN!!!. YOU’RE CLEARLY A FUCKING RACIST PIG.”
Do we react like that? Of course not. They’re making fools of themselves, so we laugh at them, we think how stupid and ignorant people can be and we move on.
I don’t think these women are stupid for wearing these costumes. They’re simply ignorant of what the costumes represent. As you can obviously see, I didn’t go about screaming insults at them on the street. I encouraged them to pose for a picture.
So if, for the next Carnaval, I were to dress as a garrotted or bullet-ridden Catalan victim of Franco’s torturers, that would be cool with you? After all, I don’t mean anything by it. It’s just a silly costume… right? If it’s fun for me, that’s all that matters. Right?
Of course I know you didnt react like that, anyway I was just joking when I said how I would react with the silly tourists. In any case, please notice that I defended solely the Zulu Costumes. I didnt say anything about the Mammy dresses, because that’s a different issue. It is indeed a symbol of opression.
As for that garroted Catalan dress, it’s hard to imagine how it would look like. I’m only guessing, but I think most people wouldnt see it as an insult, but as a political statement like you’re criticising Franco, death penalty or dictatorships in general. And a lot of people would be ok with it. It’s not bad to stir some conscious from time to time. Anyway I see your point. It really doesnt fit in the context of carnival. Same thing with the mammys.
You’re right about the Dead Catalan Carnaval Costume: bad example on my part. It all depends on the context, and depending on how it appears, it could be construed as a political statement.
However, let’s say Dead Catalan Carnaval Costume were a cartoonish, comical, clown-like character designed to provoke laughter, with a big, silly grin and bulging eyes. (I personally don’t find clowns funny, but you know what I mean). What if the suffering of the Catalans were reduced to entertainment by the other Spaniards? This is what I was getting at.
Anyway… I still don’t see how you think the Zulu costume is kosher. I think it’s even worse than the mammy! White people in blackface with a bone through the nose? Don’t you think it looks the least bit ridiculous and cartoonish, a mockery of the Zulus? I cannot look at this image neutrally because of its history in the U.S.. I can’t divorce it from its cultural context in the white-dominated world:
http://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/traveling/grid/31.htm
Estoy un poquito espeso todavía del Anti de anoche…
OK, it´s just Carnival, who cares? I mean, to dress up and break some rules was for a long time ago. On our modern society don´t make too much sense.
Let me try: yesterday night was Carnival night at AK and for a moment some thought I was in a cowboy outfit for the night but I was wearing my Hank Williams T-shirt and my embriled Scully shirt because I like to wear that way, everyday!!!!! Not just for Carnival!!
The way I see it is, some people don´t realize how USA changed trying to avoid any racial discrimination (and don´t undestand you when you just yell: racism!).
But I tell you, hey it´s just Carnival!!
Anyway, I don´t wear that kind of dresses. Never!! and when I say never I mean Never!
You know, RnR it´s full of skulls from Keith Richards to any Heavy Metal band. OK, skulls are part of the RnR culture. But I never wear clothes or rings or whatever with skull because the SS´s also wore skull!!
It´s Lemmy a nazi? I don´t think so. But I don´t wear skull, I don´t wear blackfaces dresses but people aren´t mean for that.
Maybe I´m wrong, or I didn´t say what I wanted to say or… just I´m too espeso today.
Fuck this long cold winter!
Racism doesn’t necessarily imply hateful intentions. The most widespread, banal and insidious racism is of the casual variety, i.e. ignorance. You don’t have to harbor hateful feelings towards a group of people to be ignorant of them.
Today i saw in teley men dressed as nurses,pirates like stalkers in a city square waiting until late at night to spy on disguised couples who decide to have sex right there under the stars. Mientras chafardeaban uno de los presentes le pedía al periodista de incognito si quería que le tocara . Esperpento Carnival
Let me see if I get this right… it is ok to put on a police, nurse, mexican, chinese, whatever costume but to dress up like a zulu and paint your face black is a clear demonstration of how ignorant you are for not knowing more of the zulu culture…? C’moooooooon!
And what is that that your only consolation is to think that maybe black people paint their face white… WTF!?
This whole post makes no sense at all. Maybe you could paint your face black for some AK, dontcha think?
Take care
“Let me see if I get this right… it is ok to put on a police, nurse, mexican, chinese, whatever costume but to dress up like a zulu and paint your face black is a clear demonstration of how ignorant you are for not knowing more of the zulu culture…? C’moooooooon!”
- To dress up like a zulu and paint your face black is a clear demonstration of how ignorant you are of EVERYTHING.
“And what is that that your only consolation is to think that maybe black people paint their face white… WTF!?”
- That is what’s called, um, “humor”. In technical humoristic terms: a “reversal”.
“To dress up like a zulu and paint your face black is a clear demonstration of how ignorant you are of EVERYTHING.”
Do you really mean that? Then I guess I’m proud I never pianted my face black. haha
At least now I know I’m not ignorant of everything.
Maybe you’re right and to dress up like an african should be banned… maybe even jailtime should be considered. And what about zombie costumes? That’s a terrible offense to all dead people over the world… Freakin’ ignorants of everything… you know what? Fry’em!
By the way, I’m sorry I didn’t get your joke about black people painting their faces white… maybe it’s because the whole post didn’t sound like a joke at all.
Anyway, despite all this “different visions” of the costumes world I like your blog
take care
First of all, thank you for reading and commenting, even though we argue.
I don’t understand this defensiveness at the idea that maybe it’s incorrect to innocently duplicate the worst America has to offer: racist stereotypes from the most oppressive historical era for Blacks.
I’m not calling for censorship or castigation. I’m simply calling for awareness.
Let me ask you: do you know what Jim Crow is? Did you look at the links in the comment by Delirium? They are incredibly disturbing and enlightening. Please take the time to look through the website of the Museum of Jim Crow.
http://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/mammies/
http://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/menu.htm
WOW I can’t beleive what I am reading!! How can someone say that they see nothing wrong in this?!? Being a person of color let me be the first to say this is very offensive in every way shape and form!! Black people have had to overcome so many negative things throughout history from slavery to even today being treated like a second class citizen. How would you like to walk down the street with your friend and just because the two of you are black have white women clutch their handbags tight, or hear car doors lock as you walk past the cars. Now I went to school with Rachel and feel as though I’m a very intelligent and successful black man, yet I still get looked at in a different light as my white counter parts. So being a “Carnival” or not having people think it’s ok to mock something that was used to “put me down” is not acceptable at any time!! I’ve told Rachel that I’ve wanted to come and visit her there but seeing they type of people that I would have to also associate with, I think I’ll just continue to deal with the stupid people here!!
Thank you, Andre, for your comment. Yes, we went to high school together, but at the same time I felt we were worlds apart, solely based on our race, and everything was set up to keep us apart. Christ, I can even remember one of my SPANISH teachers telling her all-white class that she was afraid to stay after school because of the black kids from Chapter 220 (is that what it was called?) were there in the halls. Of course, she disguised this racist talk with scientific-sounding euphemisms: “There is a certain ELEMENT here that hangs out in the halls and makes me feel uncomfortable.” It pissed me off when it happened, I remember, and I remember looking at some of my classmates and seeing them nod their heads like little sheep, wanting the teacher to like them, and I just wanted to punch their lights out! But I was also a little sheep and said nothing, and that’s a self-inflicted scar I carry to this day. Why was I such a coward?
With the bullshit that black kids had to put up with in our school, I daresay it was still a case of “separate but equal”. Remember the DRILL TEAM vs. the CHEERLEADING TEAM? For a child of color to become a successful and happy adult after going to THAT school was quite an accomplishment.
And yes, you’re right: the B.S. is far from over.
I don’t find anything particularly stupid or offensive in those Mammy dressed girls. I mean, all Carnival costumes are completely stupid. I personally can’t stand it.
Those girs are just imitating some character they have seen in a movie, that’s all; they could have chosen any other charater, but they chose this particular one. It is obviously a demonstration of ignorance, but don’t forget that Carnival doesn’t pretend to be an intelligent or high culture party or whatever. In fact, it doesn’t pretend to be anything at all: just silly people looking sillier than they usually do.
They’re not trying to ridicule the character they’re representing, they are trying to ridicule themselves.
“I don’t find anything particularly stupid or offensive in those Mammy dressed girls.”
-If you don’t know the history of this costume, it makes sense that you wouldn’t find it offensive. Please check the links below, and then see if you feel the same way about the costume.
http://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/mammies/
http://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/menu.htm
“They’re not trying to ridicule the character they’re representing, they are trying to ridicule themselves.”
-You’re right. Please understand that I am not condemning these women. They are not trying to ridicule anybody. They are completely “innocent” – in the sense of not knowing, ignorant. I, coming from the U.S., with its brutal history of racist terrorism, do not have the luxury of that innocence. That’s why I respond the way I do in my blog.
Thank you for your comment.
I didn’t know about Jim Crow. I’ll take a look at those links…
I can see your point Rachel but you should keep in mind that Carnival is a pagan tradition which by no means is supposed to be correct. In fact it’s supposed to be irreverent. It’s a day for joking, laughing and simply not caring (almost like in that Simpsons episode haha). People use costumes and dress up, only for the fun of it. They don’t even think if it’s correct or not. I can understand that in the US it wouldn’t be tolerated and/or maybe it would be considered racist, but then again, aren’t all costumes incorrect and maybe racist? I mean, you simply dress up like they would in any foreign country because it’s supposed to be funny to become someone else for one day. As simple as that… Of course in the way you’re supposed to impersonate (is that correct?) the cliches of a region or people. Haven’t you seen people dressed up like arabs or mexicans in the States? Maybe that would be the same case…
In this picture they are dressed up like the Mammy in Gone With The Wind (she’s a slave, right?) and I guess it could be considered racist but it shouldn’t because doing it would demonstrate ignorance about the whole Carnivale concept.
I agree with Esther. I just don’t like to dress up, or paint my face or whatever. I find it (at least nowadays) stupid and nosense. But… hey, people seem love it! It’s just another excuse to go out and get drunk.
One last thing. Would you also considere ignorant someone dressed up, let’s say, with a nazi outfit? I mean, just because he’s wearing that it doesn’t mean he supports them or that he doesn’t know anything about them, right?
I hope I expressed myself correctly…
take care
Thank you for your well-expressed comment. (I understand it might be harder to write in English, so feel free to write in Spanish anytime. I choose to write in English because it’s the language with which I best express myself.)
Race is a volatile issue and even among people who think they agree, they often end up disagreeing on the details. The fact that it’s an uncomfortable and even dangerous subject makes it even harder to discuss openly.
I understand your point about Carnival being irreverent and atrevido. The question becomes: “de quién nos burlamos?” (Who should I make fun of?)
I define myself as a liberal or progressive person. I am also a comedian. Among liberal comedians (certainly not ALL comedians are liberal or would agree with me), there’s a general ethic, an agreed-upon value, which is that it’s funnier to make fun of THOSE WHO HAVE POWER, and it’s less funny to ridicule the POWERLESS or OPPRESSED. For example: it’s more funny to make fun of the Catholic Church, and less funny to make fun of the poor little old viuda who believes in God. The second example provokes empathy, while the first does not.
Of course, if you are a Catholic or a huge fan of the Catholic church, you might be offended at jokes about the Catholic church. But for those who feel oppressed by the Church, or who feel that the Church is an institution that abuses its power, then jokes about the Church represent a kind of justice.
I am also a Jew. My grandfather, Jacob Arieff, immigrated to the U.S. with his brother when he was only 18. He left behind a large family in Russia. A couple decades later, every single Jew in my grandfather’s town was killed by the Nazis. My grandfather never saw his family again.
So how would I feel about a carnaval Nazi costume? If it made fun of the Nazis, I’d probably like it. If it glamourized the Nazis, I wouldn’t like it. I personally don’t like to trivialize the Nazis or what they did, but I DO like to make fun of them. They killed half of my family along with 12 million other people. So they deserve to be made fun of, ridiculed, condemned, made to look ridiculous. By the way: where do the first jokes about the Nazis come from? They come from Jews who lived in Nazi Germany.
How would I feel about a costume of an Auschwitz survivor? I wouldn’t like it. To me, the humor is in cutting down the evil and powerful, not kicking those who are already down on the floor.
Now: WHO is powerful and WHO is oppressed? That’s a whole other controversy right there, depending on your politics and world view.
Well, thanks for the answer… Now here i go again…
I totally agree with the general ethic you seem to have in the States refering the “who should i make fun of” thing. But for example I remember Bill Hicks used to make fun of bums…I don’t know what you think about mr.Hicks but the guy seemed to know what he was talking about, he was one of the great comedians of the 80′-90′s and he was hilarious and funny as hell. Of course his usual targets were big corporations, church, politicians etc But he was clever enough to know he could also (and how to) make fun of the fucked up people. He even made fun of non-smoking people! I mean who’s the judge to decide this kind of stuff? What is funny and what’s not? Depends on who are you asking, don’t you think? I assume you might not be an Andrew Dice Clay fan, and I would understand that but he still makes me laugh. You know what i’m saying?
Going back to the States, Mr. Hicks also made fun of rednecks… i don’t know if for you guys it’s not as important as the racial issue (even they go by the hand obviously) but you had a civil war and it’s seems perfectly accepted to make fun of southern people (yes, all those maybe-not-so-correct-but-still-accepted incest jokes and stuff) which is curious. What do you think about that?
And once again thanks, it’s always a pleasure to learn more of the american culture.
PD:I think the fact that people are commenting is a good sign, don’t you think?
Yes, I’m glad people are commenting because it’s an important subject that’s at the same time taboo. These things need to be talked about, especially with the country in the flux it’s in with the enormous and growing immigrant population. Everyone’s gonna have to get used to these kinds of conversations because they’ll be happening more and more frequently.
You guessed right: I’m a big fan of Bill Hicks. Not a fan at all of Dice, though some of my comedy colleagues from the Comedy Store say he’s a stand-up (nice) guy on a personal level.
To me, listening to Andrew Dice Clay was like giving a microphone to any of the thousands of misogynistic cretins I was surrounded by in my daily life. Misogynistic oppression and idiotic machismo were unfortunate facts of my life. Why would I go out of my way to look for more of it?
I gave that power-structure example as a general guide, but of course, rules are meant to be broken. That’s why the CONTEXT is everything. For the best example of context and extreme political incorrectness, you need go no further than Sarah Silverman, of whom I’ve always been a big fan. But Sarah’s jokes would not even be comprehensible in this culture.
I can’t remember the homeless bit of Hicks’ that you’re referring to, but as far as his redneck material, Hicks was venting a personal frustration because he had to deal with ignorant, Bible-thumping and often racist whites in his daily life, as well as onstage. To be an intelligent man in the redneck south (technically, Texas, which is full of ‘em) can be quite a burden to bear. Think Kurt Cobain and how he was made to suffer as a sensitive, intelligent young man in redneck Washington, beaten up and labeled a “faggot” in high school, etc.
And in spite of Sarah Palin’s efforts, NO, rednecks are NOT an oppressed group. POOR people are an oppressed group, yes, and some are poor whites. And some of those poor whites are POOR WHITE TRASH. But does that earn them special Oppressed Group Status in the U.S.? Nope… at least not yet. Knock on wood.
The fact that, historically, the people who lynched blacks were Poor White Trash kind of cancels forever their chances of ever gaining the sympathy of the collective consciousness.
Here’s the Bill Hicks “homeless people” bit… XD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTesJzbJeE8
Wow Rachel,
I totally agree with you. The mammy costume is definitely a no no in Canada as well!
Stereotypes affect people in many different ways. Perhaps nobody would be offended by the Mexican sombrero and poncho guise, and I find it terribly offensive (será porque mi familia es mexicana). The fact that you found the mammy costume offense has to do with your own cultural baggage.
I am rather sick of hearing ” No soy racista pero…” There are plenty of xenophobic and racist comments out there to get annoyed about and you have every right to point them out as you see them!
You go girl!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you for your comment, Miss X. Coming from a racist country like the U.S., I’m finding this country incredibly naïve about racism. The “no soy racista, pero…” phenomenon is the classic example. I think people here are naïve because they think that racists are only restricted to neo-Nazis and other violent hate groups. They don’t realize that YOU DON’T HAVE TO HATE A GROUP TO BE RACIST AGAINST THEM. Prejudice is a shared distortion within a society, A SHARED MENTAL ILLNESS, and that otherwise “good” people can behave or think in a racist way. And no one likes to have that pointed out to them, either.
First things first, I hate carnival and am not very fond of costumes in general.
Reading your post and following your reaction, seems that you’re really pissed off, well, I respect it although I find it a bit excessive, but it might be due to the cultural difference between countries.
Not only here people impersonate black mammas, but also Chinese, Arab, Russian and Bavarian. What about gipsies? or hookers? Here one of the oldest social case to deal with is the gipsy community, and everybody knows, prostitution issue is a major concern in Barcelona and many other places. You shouldn’t take costumes tradition so serious here.
From my acquaintaces in the US, seems that you people take costumes really serious, during Halloween for instance, people spend huge amounts on them, but here, c’mon! This is España Cañí, Rachel! Have a look at people on the street and you’ll soon notice most of them buy Carnival stuff in Chinese Bazars (I mean no offense).
Thank you for your comment.
I am not “really pissed off”, but I when I find something blatantly racist, I will say so.
Yes, my reaction is largely in part to our cultural differences. In the U.S.A., a country that in a few years will have more non-white citizens than white, we are especially sensitive to these issues. This is both due to our racist past and our melting-pot culture. We are a nation made up of immigrants from many parts of the world, and many of us understand that what is right for one group may not be right for another, but both groups belong to America.
If you read the below comments, you will find out more — including a comment from a black American on the subject.
Ho..hum…….zzzz….once again you’ve all overstepped your intelligenTce and fallen over your IQ.
I’m going outside to feed my friend the wild Magpie who just landed on my back veranda.He sings to me, I talk to him, we understand each other because we are friends!
HINT: if you don’t understand what I’m saying,……..turn off your computers, phones, TVs and radios and sit on your back step and enjoy the trees, birds, bugs, clouds, sun, rain coz before you know it your life will have been consumed with arguing about who is right, wrong, left, right, black, white, racist, sexsist……CLICK———————
Hi Steve.
Okay, so you have a nice garden, life is good, and you don’t feel these issues affect you. So because it doesn’t affect you, you’re telling everyone to shut up.
I don’t agree with your point at all. My life is not “consumed” by talking about these subjects. I think it’s necessary to talk about it when something like this comes up. As you can see from the number of comments, other people agree with me at least on that.
These are not theoretical points we’re debating; they’re essential issues of daily life — especially for the people most directly affected, such as Andre and Miss X. Or do you believe that racism no longer exists?
“Dressing up as an English gent isn’t racist because English gentlemen are the ones with all of the power. They were among the Europeans who sailed to Africa to do horrible things to the people there, and they still control the economics of much of the world.
So now, to have their descendents dress up as the Africans who were (and are) oppressed is in very bad taste. Why is that? Because no one at Carnival is dressing up to learn or understand or pay respect. Like many people have said on this post, Carnival is only about having fun and getting drunk. I don’t think that an oppressed culture is an okay reference in that context.”
I want to add something to this: An English Gentleman is viewed as just that, a Gentleman. A civilized, human being.
A Zulu savage is seen as… a Savage. It reinforces the idea that these people are not civilized.
The costumes are also culturally insensitive in that they are grossly inaccurate (bones in the nose? REALLY?). Just like the Russian ice dancing team’s attempt at Australian Aboriginal costumes.
All they do is make a mockery of the groups in question.
Just because most people are too ignorant to realize how insensitive and insulting it is, doesn’t make it right.
Great points, Jill. Thanks for your much-needed thoughts on the subject.