rolling "Is This Racist?" thread

Accent. Verbal blackface.

I think this is one of those situations where claiming something is racist is more offensive than the thing itself

frogbs noooooooooooooo

down the brer rabbit hole

http://images.cheezburger.com/completestore/2010/10/22/f16399cf-95c0-4785-974c-4fd1ba68848e.jpg

frogdude, you have made me laugh hard twice today and i want you to succeed at ilx so i wish you would reconsider participating in this thread

cmon guys, we're all friends here :sunglasses:

considering that frogbs plainly stated something I implied, I get the sense that people are freaking out solely because of subject matter and not because of what was actually said

http://images.uulyrics.com/cover/s/silverchair/album-frogstomp.jpg

considering that frogbs plainly stated something I implied

yeah it crossed my mind that it could be read that way - i was hoping it was clear i wasn't saying the guy was doing a "black voice" but was doing the voice of a notable and famous black man.

So anyone doing an impression of Darth Vader is guilty of verbal blackface?

― pplains

No.

― Three Word Username

But, but, that's the voice of James Earl Jones!

vader was white btw

Are the people in the Star Wars movies humans?

yeah it crossed my mind that it could be read that way - i was hoping it was clear i wasn't saying the guy was doing a "black voice" but was doing the voice of a notable and famous black man.

TWU baldly stated that he thought dude was doing a "black voice", though; that was the post that caused my reaction and, while I can't speak for frogbs, I thought he was just piggybacking off of the existing conversation.

I'm kind of dying here because I ended up on some odyssey of jumping through "related videos" on youtube last night and ended up watching a segment about the guy who voiced the baby on the tv show Dinosaurs, who also voices Elmo, and is a large black man

So when I read "black voice" I am thinking Elmo atm

Kevin Clash. There's a fascinating recent documentary on him called Being Elmo.

it is true that james earl jones is black, but it's only verbal blackface if you're impersonating a james earl jones character who is black, like mufasa

can we stop using the phrase "verbal blackface", it is seriously killing me bit by bit

a james earl jones character who is black, like mufasa

ha

Was Amos n Andy racist

On the radio I mean

sho nuff

What about Robert Plant.

On the radio

AAA AAAA AAA AAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH

Robert Plant was racist on tv.

I guess he wasn't referring to Bobby "Boris" Pickett, was he.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2481212608286&set=a.1898171272617.76086.1791714244&type=3&theater

again not really 'is this racist'

how is that not fake

Is this racist?

I just saw a guy wearing a t-shirt that said "Did I really just ask A MEXICAN for directions?!" and I'm sure it's racist/xenophobic/offensive, but I'm having difficulty understanding its point altogether.

comments link to this:
http://www.stumpysstickers.com/

woah

like the original boys n the hood

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100921132925AApBpSk

Not everything is racist, you old turd. It's a cultural issue.

frogbs is on Yahoo! Answers too?

only direction they know is el norte amirite

seriously though i can't imagine living in a place where you see stuff like that on a daily basis

i mean i know living in california i'm surrounded by secret racists but at least nobody puts shit like that on a shirt or a car

otoh i remember speaking to a coworker from the south and she was saying that at least in the south you *know* who's a racist

why did i say "on a daily basis", i meant "out in public"

If you go to the weirdo desert areas of California, you see some of that stuff.

that's true, i always forget about the lovely vibe in places like lancaster and lompoc

i guess i also forgot about the time in kindergarten that i brought cookies for a party on our schoolbus, the entire bus started chanting TAKE YOUR COOKIES BACK IRAN and the busdriver just grinned at it

tbf it was just after the hostage crisis, and the iron sheik was mounting a major challenge to hogan's title

There's something about Casa de mi Padre, Will Ferrell's new movie that bothers me.

i bet it's the fact that they're using ethnic stereotypes as the basis of comedy?

uh, yeah. for whatever reason, comedy based on comically stereotypical mexicans still seems to fly in the US - even when the mexicans are portrayed as dumb & lazy, even when they're played in brownface.

Just this morning, the local classic rock station had a news break where they mentioned Ohio law enforcement breaking up some meth labs and, in the process, rounding up a bunch of undocumented workers; they did a throw to what was supposed to be a sound bite from the scene and -- in the middle of what was ostensibly news -- played an old Cheech Marin clip from a Cheech & Chong movie.

was it born in east la? maybe it was a nod of sympathy to the workers.

When Nacho Libre came out I was like ugh! I saw it and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

From the previews "Casa de mi Padre" the big laugh is the "gringo" speaking Spanish and portraying a Mexican. Having lived in Austin for so many years, reminds me of drunk frat boys enrolled in a Spanish course being obnoxious on a Saturday night.

I wish more Mexican movies were translated. From the Cantinflas films to all those trucking films with fighting female truckers from the 70's. To correctly translate a Cantinflas film and get the word play across seems like a difficult task and I think that is why it has not been done.

I have watched "Breakfast at Tiffany's" at the Paramount with a full house three times in the past 15 years and each time people just audibly cringe when Mickey Rooney appears as Mr Yunioshi. It is written off to, well, that is 1961 for you. Just not cool that brownface doesn't solicit the same reaction or is even recognized as insulting.

i haven't watched the trailer for the will ferrell is mexican movie, but doesn't will ferrell play a mexican in it? and isn't he 100% white? shouldn't be hard to see what's bothersome about that

blackface isn't ONLY offensive because of its history, it's offensive because playing dressup with other races and cultures is offensive

I just saw a guy wearing a t-shirt that said "Did I really just ask A MEXICAN for directions?!" and I'm sure it's racist/xenophobic/offensive, but I'm having difficulty understanding its point altogether.

I saw this bumper sticker a few months ago:

http://mchenrycountyblog.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Window-Sticker-My-truck-is-built-with-wrenches-not-chopsticks1.png

Which I found amusing because even for blind racism, it doesn't work on any level. Does this mean the Japanese have bumper stickers claiming that American cars are made with forks and knives?

I don't think anyone has said blackface is only offensive because of it's history, I think it's reason for being wrong is implicit with it's history. Yes it's Will Ferrell dressing up as a mexican that's so odd to me about this movie, I'm trying to hold off on calling it racist, I haven't seen it, only the trailer, but still.