http://hiphopwired.com/2013/11/08/home-depot-posts-racist-tweet-twitter-goes-photos/ How is this racist? If it were two white guys would that be racist? What if the person putting this together wasn't thinking about skin color and now they're fired?
I am sure there is plenty of interpretations. But that saying the customer is always right, is why the person got in trouble. I think everyone is absolutely racist. But like i said it probably comes down to the fact that in business the customer is always right, and your image is important. Just tell any amount of lies you can, is peoples mottos in the real world in business.
Similar to a furore that blew up here recently, when a comentator referred to an aboriginal football player as an ape. He was nearly sacked, had to apologise, etc - never mind that white football players are routinely referred to as neanderthals, bulls, beast of a man, thick as a brick shithouse, etc. It's called progress .. I think.
I just don't get it. So when a black person accompanies someone in a monkey suit, it's automatically racist? I don't understand.
It's simple really...Blacks/coloureds/Asians etc have undergone racism from White Supremists for centuries now, and it is only over the last 60 years or so, that the last vestige of this outrageious system has been all but eradicated. It's quite understandable from my point of view then, to find that sensitivity will exist over certain remarks/words, that under normal circumstances would not be an offence. Of course the average white person would not take it as such a serious offence, as he in the main, did not have to undergo the centuries of being down trodden and victimised because of his race and colour.
This and That (1) The second sentence in that paragraph is actually very well-crafted from an argumentative point of view, as it is grammatcially vague. (2) Is your narrative—i.e., "a black person accompanies someone in a monkey suit"—based on a report we might see somewhere? It is true that narrative context according to reality trumps narrative context assigned by a witness. Well, sort of, but the difference doesn't matter to our purpose here ... er ... um ... yet. (3) What about the rest of the tweet: "Which drummer is not like the others?" This is far more problematic than some random coincidence of a white guy in a monkey suit sitting between two black people. —Most of us can imagine any number of coincidences or circumstantial outcomes by which something like that image can come about without a whiff of a hint of a whispered suggestion of maybe racism. Given the caption inherently inviting the viewer to compare two black men to a white guy in an ape mask, those innocent circumstances become the extraordinary proposition. • • • Well, remember that the negro-primate myth is a powerful one, even reinforced in school textbooks once upon a time, in the British Empire. It's one of those really sensitive points of comparison. Would they call a handsome, white man an ape? Why can't the black guy be a neanderthal, bull, beast of a man, thick as a brick shithouse, &c.? Why does he have to be "ape" in a culture with a long history of harmful dark-skin/primate juxtapositions? Sure, there are times when maybe color might be useful, though even an "onyx boulder" might be risky. But "ape" is historically toxic.
Okay. I cannot see how this was meant to be racist. First; It was within a week of Halloween and my own son owns that exact mask, and was one of the Bruno Mars monkeys/apes/whatever (he called it a monkey mask). It was a very popular mask. My son and his friends (some of whom were black) wore the costumes for halloween (not this year). Here is the video... Is it promoting racism? But first let's hear about Bruno Mars own struggle with racism... So is this video racist? [video=youtube;Qf9F46u4PIY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qf9F46u4PIY[/video] THIS VIDEO HAS OVER 500 MILLION VIEWS (not on this link but total). That's a lot of zero's (500 000 000). Notice how it is very entertaining and was all done in a single take. It is an incredible work of art imo. You can ask almost anybody under the age of 20 who Bruno Mars is or ask about "The Lazy Song" and they ill know it. Funny how it was not deemed racist, yet this home depot simple tweet was taken as racist. Now look at the asian guys behind the masks. Why were they wearing masks? They are the Poreotics, an incredible and very famous dance crew. I recall watching them compete on television. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Poreotics can be seen in Usher and Justin Nieber videos, they are famous dancers.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOI4OF7iIr4 When I look at the alleged "racist tweet" all I see is three people banging on buckets pretending they are drummers. It is funny. One of them is wearing the mask (totally uncalled for on Halloween). imagine one of the black guys was wearing the mask, would it still be considered racist by some? I do not even see racism in the comment. It said "One of these drummers is not like the other". It sounds like a harmless quip, and if the mask had been of Frankenstein (actualy Frankensteins monster as Frankenstein was the doctor), would the anti racists say the tweeter was trying to portray them as monsters. I bet this was a group of friends who were out having fun and hanging together. If the tweeter (was tweeter even white?) was really a racist why would he be hanging out with black people and having fun with them taking photos and tweeting them. I bet he tweeted other photos that day, but none of them could be deemed racist enough to help proliferate this horrid perception. The comment "One of these drummers is not lie the other". If I had to choose I'd just guess the monkey in the middle. I would not look at the alleged undertones. It ws a harmless photo. Seriously. If I were the guy who lost his job for tweeting that, I would be hiring a lawyer real fast. I bet he is friends with everyone in the photo. Come on. Be serious. What a joke. @ Tiassa, Really. Still living in the past I see. You speak as if these textbooks were issued yesterday. I've seen a girl refer to men as apes, but I have never heard anybody refer to blacks as apes. BE HONEST. EVERYBODY READING THIS BE BRUTALLY HONEST.... SERIOUSLY BE HONEST... ANSWER THIS QUESTION HONESTLY... Have you ever heard anybody EVER say blacks were like apes? EVER? I think if you are honest you would say no to that, but I do not expect honesty from Tiassa here. Textbooks teach ALL MANKIND came from evolution and that Apes are closer to our evolution than kangaroos are. I've heard teachers say Albert Einstein failed math which is bull. I've heard teachers say an apple fell on Newtons head, and that is also bull. But I have never heard a teacher say Black people were ape like. IT MUST BE AWFUL THINKING THAT EVERY TIME YOU WALK OUT OF A ROOM WHITE PEOPLE ARE PROPAGATING INACCURACIES ABOUT YOU. Well maybe, just maybe, they got past that long ago and you are just stuck in a retarded loop. The ONLY good thing that came out of recognizing this tweet as racist (it's not) is NOTHING. Some poor guy sending a harmless tweet has lost his job. Hurray for the lot of you (and I am not referring to blacks here, but over zealous anti racists). If this is the best racism the group fighting racism can come up with then racism is dead. Now go away.
Are you asking me if there are pictures of other black people with people in monkey suits? How? The guy in the monkey suit is meant to stand out--which is, not coincidentally, why he's wearing a monkey suit in the first place. It's not like they're suggesting the three are similar. Again, one guy is wearing a monkey suit. Really? You think it's an extraordinary proposition that an ad in 2013 designed by a professional ad agency for a major retailer in support of the most popular college football pregame show in the country is not racist? Really? Really? It's a juxtaposition that hasn't been considered valid for half a century. Howard Cosell got lambasted in 1983 after referring to a black running back as a little monkey (even though he had previously used the term to describe not only white football and baseball players, but his own grandchildren), so it's been a suicide pill for at least thirty years. Neither of the black people in the photo have ever heard it made on television, on the radio, in the newspapers, or in any other form of popular media without the speaker being treated (rightfully so, if they were genuinely comparing blacks to apes) like hateful idiots. Of course, that the juxtaposition of blacks to apes or monkey has a toxic history says nothing of the message of this particular ad, which is obvious. And remember, they're promoting a show in which one of the analysts usually dons an animal head or suit at some point in the program, which is almost certainly where the idea for the ad came from. Being so sensitive to such an antiquated trope only serves to keep that trope alive. And it won't be legitimate racists and bigots using it--it will be superimposed onto every innocuous instance in which the key ingredients are there, regardless of context.
If I wanted to insult atheists, I would definitely portray them as being on the same level as monkeys. I can understand why black folks were insulted by it. But it was probably a mistake, unintentional.
Fighting Fake Bigotry is Hard I'll just assume you don't have a good answer for the rest of my points.
Is There Any Point This Time? I Mean, Given History .... I know better than to get into an argument when I have no reason to presuppose my opponent's honesty. I know better than to get into an argument when I have no reason to presuppose my opponent's comprehension. I know better than to get into an argument when I have no reason to presuppose my opponent's capability to even conduct the discussion. Or will you cry again if I give you an honest assessment of the rest of your points? You know, like you always do when I demonstrate how utterly stupid something you've just said happens to be? No, really, you want to go through all that predictable bullshit—again—where you whine about how mean I'm being by pointing out the unbelievable nonsense about your arguments? No, seriously, dude, when you start with, "Are you asking me if there are pictures of other black people with people in monkey suits?" it's pretty clear where the discussion is about to go. I have no reason to presuppose anything good about where you're prepared to take this. Seriously, when you put up the forty-foot flaming letters to get people's attention like that? Yeah, we know what comes next.
I get all of this. There is a history of portraying black people as apes or comparing them to monkeys. As though black people were not evolved enough. Had the people next to him been white with black face or something, as though to say that black people are primates, then yes, I would see the racism there. But sometimes, it's just a guy in a monkey suit. Having said that, what the OP fails to mention is the text that accompanied the Home Depot image in its Twitter Feed. Certainly, at first glance, it's just a guy in a monkey suit. The image itself and by itself is not racist. The text in the twitter, however, is what caused the uproar. It is this context that is missing from this thread. Plus look at the hands of the guy in the monkey suit. He is white. So here we have a white guy, in a gorilla suit, in a picture with two black guys and an accompanying text asking "Which drummer is not like the others?". Because this question needs to be asked? People can't tell this already? Or do some have to think about it? Hence the accusation of racism. Sometimes it is just a guy in a monkey suit. But sometimes it is not. This time, they got it wrong.
I see how screwed you guys are . watch this and see if your argument have any merit. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEtl91408eM&NR=1
So I'm a stupid liar, basically? Let's recap: Did I ask for your opinion? Did I invite you to join in? Or did you simply decide that you were going to antagonize me and then hide behind ad hominem like you always do when points are raised that you can't defeat? Seriously, there's nothing of substance in anything you've written here. You don't respond to a single point I've made. Instead, you're trying to defeat me, by insinuating that I'm neither smart enough nor honest enough nor even competent enough to be involved in such a discussion. While, again, failing to address even one of the points I've raised. Not one. So, as I said before, I'll just assume this is because you can't. You've given me no reason to suspect otherwise.
