Old People and Racism

In a recent article posted on RacismReview.com, a writer known only as Resistance shares a recent experience about his encouters with old people and racism.

"A lot of times people make excuses for old people’s racism, as if racism is just a product of a bygone era and it will die out when the old people do. Yeah, right. But anyway, I always think that if my old people have to suffer racism, your old people should get called on it. No more letting old Uncle Harry spew his racist bullshit at the dinner table. (Also old person who thought it was a good idea to let a slur fly at the store: Didja wet your pants when I got in your face? Because you didn’t seem so tough all of a sudden.)

So I got some old folks over at the nursing home.  And one lost her roommate pretty quick.  Because that roommate apparently didn’t want to share a room with one of those.  And made it quite clear.  And was accommodated by the staff.

Not that I think that my old folk should have to put up with that kind of shit.  But I hope the staff members spit in her racist old coffee every morning."

I know I have some older racist family members as well and I can relate to this story. I have heard some racist things slip out of my families mouth sometimes and it is disappointing.  I, too, have always thought racism would eventually die out but after reading this post it may be longer than I thought. As for getting spit in your coffee, words can be hurtful.

make-up

Identity Spotlight

Identity Spotlight is a new weekly feature that will be posted Once A Week on Racial Profiling Weekly. 

One's cultural identity is becoming harder and harder to define for everyone inside – and even outside – of America these days: acculturation, assimilation, marginalization, cultural identity crisisare all words that could describe many situations that we can observe in this country regarding cultural identity. 

Each week, we will ask someone to tell us about their cultural identity. African-American, Asian-American, Latino-American... After all, couldn't we simply call ourselves American? Is it important to keep parts of our original culture as well as being an integrant part of our new one? 

These are all questions that we will ask our fellow Americans to see how one's definition and importance of their own cultural identity can differ from others'. 

Feel free to share your thoughts on cultural identity in the comment box below.

____________________________________________

SPOTLIGHT ON...

Zafiro Tellez, 22 Y.O.

CSUSB Student

Q. What is your cultural identity?

A. Chicana, my mom came over when she was pregnant with me so I was 'Made in Mexico, born in the U.S.' I don't really consider myself American, if I had to I would say Mexican-American.

Q. Would you say that you are equally Mexican and American?

A. No, more Mexican than American because I haven't been as privileged as a "White" citizen probably has. I've been racially profiled before, like when I went to get my driver's license a policeman asked me if I was legal.

Q. The term biculturalism means being able to cope comfortably in both home and new culture. Do you consider yourself bicultural?

A. Yes, even though my parents only speak Spanish.

Q. Did you ever experience a cultural identity crisis?

A. Sort of, after eighth grade I had to decide which high school to go to either a more prestigious one for the sake of my education or to one with a minimal graduation rate with my friends. I'm glad I choose the more prestigious one.

Q. What is your point of view on labeling Americans regarding their culture? Do you think we should all be Americans or should we keep using the words Latino, African-American, and so on?

A. No, we should not all call ourselves Americans because my skin tells a different story and my people have been through a lot in our history and I feel we would be losing that. I am very proud of my heritage.

Racism Beyond Skin Color

As reported in various Australian and European newspapers and websites over the last two days, four French young woman were victims of verbal abuse and even death threats Sunday night, while riding a bus in Melbourne, because they were singing a song in French. 

"Speak English or die motherf***er." 

"Get off! Everyone on the bus wants to kill you and you're going to have to get off the bus eventually b***h have you worked that out yet?"

While two men shouted at the girls - and eventually at only one of them, who kept on singing - the rest of the passengers encouraged and approved of the insults and threats that were made to the French tourists. The only response of one of the French girls was "You are crazy!", they didn't engage in an argument with the aggressive men and didn't get off the bus. A window was smashed shortly after one of the two men got off the bus and the passengers had to wait for a replacement vehicle in which they were transferred for the rest of the ride. None of the people who verbally abused the French girls were asked to get off the bus or were given a warning of any kind by the driver.

Racism based on language

The four French tourists were White, so were the men who verbally attacked them. The song they were singing was not offending to English speaking people or Australians. The only thing that got almost every passenger on the bus angry was the fact that another language was spoken - or should I say sung - by the four tourists. It was the only difference between them and the locals and yet it seems like it was enough to raise such anger and aggressivity among the passengers. 

At that point, racism goes beyond skin color, religion or lifestyle. It is hard to believe, but incidents like this particular one do happen, and not only in rural areas of the most developed countries, but also in urban settings of the world's biggest cities, which we like to call diverse and multicultural...

Canada, where French and English coexist. Or do they?

If we take a look at the northern neighbors of America, we can also notice the phenomenon of language racism. Canada is an officially bilingual country, but most of its provinces (the equivalent of the American states) are not. Quebec is the only official French speaking province of Canada, while New Brunswick is bilingual and the rest are English speaking. 

Red = English
Green = French

The situation in this country can sometimes compare to the bus incident that occured this weekend in Australia. Even though they are all Canadian, the language difference between Quebec and the rest of Canada makes it difficult for Quebecers to identify themselves as Canadian. For different reasons - including language, but also many more - Quebec has been fighting for its independence from Canada over the last 50 years and more. 

What is particularly interesting is the fact that among Quebecers, there are francophones (French speaking) and anglophones (English speaking) who are at the same time victims and offenders from a racial point of view. Whether they are White, Black, Asian, Middle Eastern, European, they identify as being either francophone or anglophone, and sometimes give a lot of importance to that aspect of their cultural identity, which leads to anger towards the other language.

Being a Quebecer myself - French is my mother tongue but I do speak English and even a little bit of Spanish - I must say that this whole language rivalry saddens me. I have witnessed a lot of racism and stereotyping of francophones and anglophones, and I don't understand how language can divide a nation. Don't get me wrong, Quebec is no warzone for language battles and it is a peaceful, beautiful place to live, but it is a land where racism does go beyond skin color, unfortunately. 

New Video About China Creates a Sense of Impending Doom

In a recent article on RacismReview.com, Edna Chun talks about a new disturbing video made to paint China in a cynical light. As a byproduct of the recent presidential campaign, a troubling and explicit depiction of China as the primary source of America’s recessionary loss of jobs and economic woes reached a new level. A video presented by in stark black and white tones by the Citizens against Government Waste (CAGW), a fiscally conservative non-profit organization, creates a sense of impending doom by portraying America’s future failure to China’s economic insurgency. Set in Beijing in 2030 A.D., this politically-based video is in Chinese with English subtitles and shows a meeting of Chinese citizens held in Beijing led by a Machiavellian-like Chinese leader. The sinister-looking leader attributes America’s failure to spending and taxing itself out of a great recession through enormous “stimulus” spending, massive changes to healthcare and crushing debt. He derisively declares, “Now they work for us,” while the Chinese audience laughs appreciatively and gleefully.

This explicit calling out of China as the principal reason for America’s economic woes occurred on several fronts during the campaign and was bipartisan in nature. As Zachary Karabell, president of River Twice Research, points out in his article, “Don’t blame China for America’s decline”, the Obama administration has intensified pressure on Chinese trade and investments that have made it difficult for some American companies such as solar panel installers to compete. And in the town hall debates, Mitt Romney declared emphatically,

On day one, I will label China a currency manipulator which will allow me as President to be able to put in place if necessary tariffs where I believe they are taking unfair advantage of our manufacturers. So we are going to make sure the people that we trade with around the rules are playing by the rules.

Karabell points out also that this trend has occurred in other presidential campaigns: in 1992, Bill Clinton accused President George H.W. Bush of coddling Chinese dictators, while in 2004 John Kerry called corporate leaders “Benedict Arnold CEOs” for shipping jobs to China.

What is worrisome about this anti-Asian virulence is the possible return to historical animosity toward Americans of Asian descent that expressed itself in Anti-Asian legislation and actions over more than a century. Recall the so-called “yellow peril” ascribed to the influx of Asian immigrant labor to the West coast in the 19th century and the resulting Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 that that sprang up in response and was not repealed until 1943. Or the wholesale internment of 100,000 Japanese Americans in camps during World War II.

In this era of globalization, the strength of our demographically diverse nation lies in our ability to rise above the distinctions of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and disability to achieve success. When mischaracterizations and exaggerations occupy our mindsets and airwaves, then we are less able to draw upon the strength of our representative democracy, the capabilities of our diverse citizenry, and our capacity for innovation.

It is not right to make such a politically-based video and the possible backlash of growing anti-Asian sentiment after such events as the Chinese Exclusian Act and the treatment of Japanese-Americans during WWII is just horrendous. We do not need propaganda to turn Americans against other hard-working Americans in a time when we need each other more than ever on a national level. I believe there is a lot to pan out over the next decade.

Hollywood Plays Safe

This Coffee Rhetoric article is one of the various examples of an intense negative reaction from journalists, bloggers, academics and commenters following the casting of Zoe Saldana to play Nina Simone, the High Priestess of Soul, in the upcoming biopic Nina. 

The author writes that 

“Zoe will always be bankable because while she has brown skin and is a moderately decent actress, she’s still a multiethnic Black (Afro-latina) woman who puts casting directors’ minds at ease because of her decidedly more palatable features.” 

The question that is on everyone’s lips in the media is: Why would they cast an actress who doesn’t look at all like the legend she is portraying? Simone is a strong, dark skinned woman with afrocentric features, while Saldana is light skinned, very thin, has straight hair and narrow facial features.

Even Nina Simone’s family and close entourage have also responded to the news with disapproval of Saldana’s casting, as presented in this video news report.

From my point of view, Hollywood is all about maximizing profits and minimizing the risks, which explains the choice of Saldana over other actresses or singers who would have been a lot better for the part, such as India Arie, Whoopi Goldberg or even Jennifer Hudson. I don’t understand why they would choose someone who doesn’t look the part and then make them wear wigs, dark make up and even prosthetic nose and teeth. This reminds me of ‘blackface’ and ‘yellowface’ in old Hollywood, when White actors used to wear makeup to portray Blacks and Asians… and it makes me feel sorry for our cinema. 

Should the Formerly Incarcerated Be Allowed to Vote?

A recent post on Colorlines.com by Jorge Rivas talks about Tayna Fogle, a mother of two, a grandmother of six, a basketball champion and a formerly incarcerated individual who spent a decade in prison. After a decade in prison and having the right to vote taken away from her she went on to fight through months of legal proceedings to be able to vote again.

Today she works with Kentuckians for the Commonwealth as an organizer and voting rights activist to help other formerly incarcerated individuals regain their right to vote.

Although this blog is about racism and this article isn't particularly about race, I wanted to feature this article because of their relationship. We know that most individuals in our prisons are people of color, so it is fair to assume that many of the individuals that this subject relates to are also people of color. I can understand those with mental illness or even serious crimes should not be allowed to vote. But what about individuals who cannot vote because of marijuana related incidents? Because a person may get caught with this substance that even our founding fathers grew on their plantations and maybe even partook themselves, should they be stripped of their right to vote? Now I'm not saying we should flat out let them vote. I'm just saying perhaps we need to look into it more. With the last election being so racially divided how would it have been if some formerly incarcerated, less serious offense, assuming people of color were allowed to vote? Could it be that this same system keeps people of color down not only through more incarcerations but along with less voting power?

Identity Spotlight

Identity Spotlight is a new weekly feature that will be posted every Thursday on Racial Profiling Weekly. 

One's cultural identity is becoming harder and harder to define for everyone inside – and even outside – of America these days: acculturation, assimilation, marginalization, cultural identity crisis are all words that could describe many situations that we can observe in this country regarding cultural identity. 

Each week, we will ask someone to tell us about their cultural identity. African-American, Asian-American, Latino-American... After all, couldn't we simply call ourselves American? Is it important to keep parts of our original culture as well as being an integrant part of our new one? 

These are all questions that we will ask our fellow Americans to see how one's definition and importance of their own cultural identity can differ from others'. 

Feel free to share your thoughts on cultural identity in the comment box below.

____________________________________________

SPOTLIGHT ON...

Nahal Hosseini, 20 Y.O.

CSUSB Student

Q. What is your cultural identity?

A. The first thing I would probably answer to someone asking me “where I’m from” would be that I am Iranian. However, I am also American, since my family moved to America when I was still a child.

Q. Would you say that you are equally Iranian and American?

A. I consider myself both, but wouldn’t know whether I am more American or more Iranian. I speak English like any other American (I have the Southern accent because I lived in Kentucky most of my life), I celebrate the typical American holidays, I listen to pop, R&B, rap and country music, but I also speak Farsi and have Iranian family traditions that I would never want to get rid of and that I will probably pass along to my children.

Q. The term biculturalism means being able to cope comfortably in both home and new culture. Do you consider yourself bicultural?

A. Yes. I think that I have managed to integrate well in the American culture – which I didn’t mind at all because I love this culture – while keeping some of my original Iranian cultural values and traditions.

Q. Did you ever experience a cultural identity crisis?

A. I don’t think I did. It came naturally to me, but I know it can be really hard for many immigrants to identify themselves to a new culture in addition to their original one(s) and cope with the differences. I think I chose the best of both cultures to make my own, which made it very easy.

Q. What is your point of view on labeling Americans regarding their culture? Do you think we should all be Americans or should we keep using the words Latino, African-American, and so on?

A. I think that one of the greatest things about being American is the fact that we can be so much more! Americans all have different cultural backgrounds and this is what makes our country beautiful. As far as I’m concerned, the labels never bother me when they are used in the correct way, not in a negative or discriminating manner. Americans should be proud of all the cultures they identify themselves with, and this is how I feel: I am proud of who I am. 

Sexy Little Geisha and Sexy Pocahontas

Victoria’s Secret is well known for its flamboyant fashion shows: gorgeous (and half naked) models, sexy lingerie, famous artists… Unfortunately, VS is also known for its stereotyping and even fetishing of race, and this is what not only one, but two blog entries on Racialicious are about: Sexy little Geisha and Sexy Pocahontas.

Karlie Kloss for Victoria's Secret

The latest post denounces the ridiculousness and racist imagery of the Victoria’s Secret Native American lingerie outfit, consisting of leopard bra and panties, headdress and feathers: 

“The result of what Kloss is wearing is some weird amalgam of a cavewoman and ‘Sexy Pocahontas’.”

There has been a similar issue lately with popular group No Doubt, who had to pull down their latest video after an intense negative reaction from the Native American community. Gwen Stefani was dressed as a Native and handcuffed by two coyboys in this ‘Cowboys and Indians’ themed video.

I am a fan of No Doubt and was pleased to hear that they immediately pulled down the video and made a public apology to the Native American community, because the whole thing was in fact giving a stereotyped representation of this culture. I too would have been offended if I was part of that community. What I’m worried about is Victoria’s Secret, who faces media criticism for the second (or even thrid) time and had never made a public apology or reaction about it. This company is well known and respected among girls and young women, but it sends a racist, discriminating message without even an ounce of remorse. 

Interracial dating – Thanks, but no thanks?

I live on campus and these posters have caught my eye lately in the halls of the CSUSB Villages. Everytime I walk into my building I come across them and can’t help but think that this is wrong. Can you see what I see?

Datesafeproject.org

The mission of this program is too increase awareness of sexual assault and encourage sexual education in various institutions, which is fine – it actually is a very good thing to do. What’s not working here is that every single poster shows a couple formed of a male and a female of similar ethnicity : Black couple, Asian couple, Caucasian couple… Three posters side by side on the same wall. (Unfortunately, I couldn’t take a picture of the White couple poster because it has been taken down, but you get the idea)What does this suggest? How is interracial dating perceived in America?

A friend and I – both from Montreal, Canada, a very diverse city – questioned ourselves : Isn’t California one of the most, if not THE most liberal state in the USA? Why wouldn’t these posters show interracial relationships? Would it be shocking? Many questions went through our minds and we had a good conversation about interracial dating and relationships, even interracial friendships – my friend is Black and I am Caucasian – comparing what we have experienced back home in Montreal to what we have seen here in San Bernardino and the rest of California, since the beginning of our exchange program this Fall quarter.

Denzel Washington goes interracial

Within the same week of having this conversation, I saw the trailer for a new movie called Flight, and thought it looked pretty good. As I always do when I am interested in seeing a movie, I turned to IMDB to know a little more about the plot, cast, viewers rating and other details. I was surprised when I noticed that the main character, played by Denzel Washington, has a relationship with a Caucasian woman.

What surprised me is not the relationship itself, obviously, but the fact that there was no hint suggesting an interracial relationship in the trailer. Yet, a romantic kissing scene in a movie trailer usually attracts viewers. Again, the question that went through my mind was: Would showing interracial romance repel viewers?

According to this Washington Post article by columnist Courtland Milloy, members of the audience at the theater said “the relationship was awkward and didn’t work for them”, and one of them added: “Why couldn’t they have found a black actress to co-star with Denzel?” Even Washington himself has reportedly said: 

“White men bring women to movies, and they don’t want to watch a Black man with their woman.”

This made me feel sorry and made me realize that America has not yet reached the point of acceptance and open mindedness I thought it had reached toward interracial dating and relationships. The fact that Flight presents a relationship between a Black man and a Caucasian woman is a step forward, but hiding it from the movie trailer is a step back.

Hope

A study conducted earlier this year by the Pew Research Center claims that interracial marriages in the U.S. have climbed to a record 4.8 million. America might be on the right path… And apparently, California is the No 1 state for interracial dating! Let’s hope the Datesafeproject.org posters were just a misrepresentation of reality…

Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman and the State of Period Dramas

In a recent Racialicious article, Kendra James explores why period dramas that feature harsh realities would never show up on primetime television nowadays.

Late in the second season of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, there’s an episode where the Klu Klux Klan comes to Colorado Springs. Half of the show’s one Black couple, is cornered by three Klan members the situation takes a disturbing turn. The Klansmen grab her in broad daylight and hold her down against one of her restaurant tables. At first it seems an act of rape is imminent. Yet somehow, when they rip her hair down from the carefully constructed bun she wears and begin to slowly carve it away with a barbershop razor while she screams, it seems almost worse –more intimate– than what could have been. Unlike many period dramas, Dr. Quinn never shied away from dealing with the difficult realities of its setting laid out.

Dr. Quinn used the characters Cloud Dancing and Sully to tackle a variety of issues not limited to the troubled formation of reservations and the Custer-led Indian Wars (notably, the show portrays General Custer as an unquestionably villainous character). The episode “Hearts and Minds” focused on the forced Westernization and education of Native American children, emphasizing the show’s efforts to present a different American narrative. Sully and Cloud Dancing’s relationship would fit well under the modern definition of television bromance that every show has to have, but could a Native character be created with as much thought as Cloud Dancing? Instinct and the craft shop crow sitting atop Johnny Depp’s head in trailers and stills for The Lone Ranger say, “probably not.”

Dr. Quinn distinguished itself by being one of the very few period dramas about the American past that focuses solely on a female protagonist — a professional female protagonist at that. Mad Men does the same, to an extent, but it’s built around an ensemble cast. While the professional woman hasn’t disappeared from modern or period television, their portrayals have changed. Shows can no longer get away with having only one “conventionally attractive” female star; Dr. Quinn went so far as to allow only Jane Seymour to wear her long hair down — the Western symbol of traditional femininity — all six seasons. And the lack of passionate romantic encounters would likely bore a modern audience so used to these encounters, problematic or not, as being necessary to move the plot along.

Whether we realize it or not, period television concerning American history tends to situate itself in a male Manifest Destiny mindset. From acts of gratuitous violence on shows like Boardwalk Empire and Deadwood, to the technically period-accurate acts of racism and sexism on Mad Men, American takes on period television present an unapologetic view of America’s upbringing. Instead of ever trying to challenge the actions (justifiably so) of our forefathers, current period dramas glorify them.

It is odd that period pieces have distinctly changed from showing the other side of the coin to as necessary to become the greatest country in the world. James says it only takes 1-3 million viewers to keep a cable show on the air, networks could probably do better if their shows catered to a larger audience.

Race and the 2012 Presidential Election

Prior to the results of the 2012 Presidential Election, Washington Post journalists Jon Cohen and Rosalind Helderman summarized how predominantly "White" Mitt Romney's "base" was in a recent article.

The 2012 election is shaping up to be more polarized along racial lines than any presidential contest since 1988, with President Obama experiencing a steep drop in support among white voters from four years ago.

The Post journalists briefly note the longterm implications of such voting patterns for what is effectively the “white party,” the Republican Party, of the United States:

Dismal support for Republicans among minorities is a long-term problem for the GOP in a rapidly diversifying nation. Fully 91 percent of Romney’s support comes from white voters.

Even post-election, the obvious politicized whiteness of the Republican Party clearly will doom it to eventual and permanent minority status, if the dramatic trend to whiteness is not soon curtailed.

With moderate Republicans like Mayor Bloomberg of New York City, former chair of Joint Chiefs General Colin Powell, and Powell’s right-hand man, retired Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson supporting Obama, the handwriting is on the proverbial wall. Wilkerson recently made this strong and barbed comment on the Ed Schultz television show:

My party, unfortunately, is the bastion of those people — not all of them, but most of them — who are still basing their positions on race. Let me just be candid: My party is full of racists, and the real reason a considerable portion of my party wants President Obama out of the White House has nothing to do with the content of his character, nothing to do with his competence as commander-in-chief and president, and everything to do with the color of his skin, and that’s despicable.

I agree with this statement and also see that the Republican party would be a lot better off if it were more inclusive. The fact this last election was largely racially divided is not a good thing. The term 'minority' is outdated, offensive, and may not even hold up to its title because soon Caucasian will be a minority in this country. A person should be judged on the content of what is inside and not the color of their skin.

A Normal Television Family Means White

In an article entitled Why Is The ‘Normal Television Family’ Always White?, writer SL Huang explains that a white nuclear family is what networks think everyone can relate to.  And even if people can’t relate, they see and recognize that “ideal” and know what sort of cultural message the writers are trying to send. It gets the point across that these are your typical, everyday, hard-working American family.

The problem he brings up is that television family shows are starting to see the “ethnic sidekick” problem: that the ethnic or mixed families are being shown in contrast to a “normal” and “ordinary” family, and are therefore implicitly not normal or ordinary themselves.

Take for instance the popular show Modern Family. Part of the premise is clearly that the two families that are more “modern” versions of what family can be are being contrasted against the white nuclear family of a happily married mother and father and their three children living in suburbia.  The two families being contrasted? The mixed-generational couple of Jay and Colombian immigrant Gloria with Gloria’s son Manny—who becomes a stepson to Jay—and the gay couple with their daughter adopted from Vietnam.  All of the diversity in the show is bundled into the families that are billed as having “complications.”  What if, instead, Claire’s husband had been cast as an African-American man, and her kids were all half black? Or, even more scandalously, what if Jay’s first wife had been an Asian woman, and Claire and Mitchell were both happa? You might argue that it wouldn’t be the same show, and, well, of course not. But it’s a show that bills diversity as part of its message, and all I’m saying is, what if the diversity weren’t billed as being so “different,” but instead mixed in with what we’re meant to see as “normal”?

This is not the only show that puts different ethnicity in the same category as not normal. In the new show The Neighbors about aliens taking human form, the family who moves into the alien development, the “normal” human family we’re meant to contrast the aliens against, is all white.  Because white is normal.  And human.  It’s the weird alien family who cry tears of green goo out their ears who have people of color among them; diversity is acceptable there. And in another show, Switched at Birth, the Kennishes, the white, upper class nuclear family, are contrasted with the Vasquez women—the family that has a very poor single mother raising a Deaf daughter, the “different” family, and, oh yeah, the one with a mother who just happens to be Latina.

I do agree that television is getting better at showing diversity. However, it may not be in the places that perhaps the majority would want to see. Having an all White family always represent the norm and the families with more ethnic diversity being the "different" family may not be sending the right message. I think networks should stop worrying that the majority may not be able to relate to television families if they are not all White and try different things.