NOT racist, you guys. Come on. I just think these little pickaninnies are adorable! Convo me if you want the lazy sleeping Mexican or the drunk Indian.
What is the number one way to bring attention to a possibly racist item? Surely its not to YELL that you ARE NOT RACIST as the very first thing in the description.
I’m sure they are just meant to be cute, and they are a vintage-y type of thing. I’m thinking she took inspiration from vintage something or other. The item itself doesn’t need to be racist, but don’t confront it as though it is! People collect this type of thing..black, white, or other.
that all being said…I’d be more concerned about the fact that the pic shows the siding falling off of the trailer home in the back. Nothing wrong with trailers, mind you, but perhaps it would have been better to move them down a step, and crop that out. Or take the pic somewhere else entirely.
Seller is from Northwest Missouri, and that’s all you need to know. Born and raised in Kansas City, I’ve known people like this all my life. God’s own people, to be sure.
I’ll take the lazy, sleeping Mexican provided it comes with either a burro or one of those coyotes howling at the moon with a bandanna tied around his neck.
Even if they are based on the popular UK Gollywog dolls does not make them any more acceptable! Many African Americans see them as racist and as abusive towards their race. I just see it as asking for trouble when someone makes things like this.
Being from south KC, I take offense to that. I wasn’t born and raised here, but I know enough not to generalize the entire area. I hate it when people do that! There is a mix of people here just like there is a mix of people in every other area in the US.
sigh…moving on.
There is talent in this shop, copyright stuff excluded-but for damn sake, watch what is in your background! old cars, trailers, extension cords, feet…It doesn’t take much to get that crap out of a shot!
I had a roomate once who had a huge collection of these blackface items, mostly ceramics. But they were all vintage. He was a white gay guy and I didn’t find him racist, there was total irony in his collecting, but it’ was still somewhat uncomfortable. Because he had tons of them.
I can’t understand people wanting to perpetuate these horrible stereotypes today by making new items in this genre.
Do they come in “over-emotional fat Italian?” Or perhaps vodka-soaked potentially violent Russian?” I feel cheated that my ethnicity has not been represented!
you’ve all already said everything i wanted to say. from noting the trailer, right down to wondering where the “say what?” guy is when you need him.
to loosely quote Strangers With Candy, this seller isn’t racist. they just hate black people.
I’m trying to decide if she deserves .0000001% credit for knowing people would find this racist and offensive.
(Anyone remember the moron who printed “Obama Bucks” complete with watermelon and fried chicken during the campaign? when confronted, she said, “Oh, I had NO IDEA watermelon and fried chicken had racists connotations!!! Gosh!”)
I do think there are some cute little lawn standers in their shop…they don’t need to sell these things to make it. Also, it looks like the original threesome have been removed. Offensive or offended?
#27 Samy St. Clair: I watched the clip, and was reminded of a douchebag I know from high school who went blackface for Halloween to be President Obama. The dumbass didn’t read the warnings on his make up/skin dye/whatever he used and is stuck that way for up to 6 months. I lol’d so damn hard when I heard that. >:D
Here’s an article I recommend:
“What’s cute about racist kitsch?
Are ‘Mammy’ and ‘Uncle’ replicas OK just because similar antique figurines have become popular?”
Good article link, #60 Toes. Yes, as a South Carolinian, I am well aware of these ‘decor’ items. Called various terms from ‘Negrobilia,’ to ‘African-Americana,’ you see a gamut of relics in antique stores and on eBay. I think the article Toes linked to noted some various views – it’s a reminder so not to be forgotten, a glimpse of history, et cetera. I’m not sure what the benefit is of making these new, however.
everyone is getting his panties in a bunch about those when you can barely find there in lawns and so on but no one is taking offense of the confederate flag which is almost everywhere in the south and is an horrible slap in the face of black people.
#69 Petite : True, the confederate flag is a racist symbol of armed treason against the United States, but is it funny enough to be on Regretsy, even when painted on a cow skull?
Excuse me for being racist, but why is this not cute? How is this worse than a Virgin Mary bird bath? Or a cowboy silhouette leaning up against a tree, or a fat lady bending over to examine her flowers, or two Dutch people kissing in profile?
It’s tacky, yes, but racist? I don’t find it so.
I like it. I’m sure to be flamed. Oh, well. I’ll live.
I feel kind of sad that the artist has been shamed into removing his/her item. These items are almost museum quality… why… this museum in particular might be interested:
I live out in farm country and occasionally still see lawn jockeys… I’m glad someone else linked to the shop, because this little gem is now inactive… I was wondering if there was going to be a “fat woman bent over” lawn ornament… apparently not. D’oh.
that museum sounds great! great stuff to read on the website, too.
regretsy is very educational today. i didn’t know about the watermelon stereotype.
(and i found it very interesting that germany is mentioned in the article linked in #60 as a place where crap like that is manufactured. it isn’t. germany doesn’t have that much of a link to african-american history, but there is quite a bit of awareness of racism because of the holocaust and of its own colonial history. just my 2cents)
I don’t find those things racist, then again, I’m not black, but I am mexican, and I don’t find speedy gonzales racist. I think it’s more of a sign of how stupid people were back then and how we should laugh at them for drawing black people with black faces and white lips and mexicans with hats and in rat form. That said, I wouldn’t buy any of that crap and don’t see why anyone else would. ALSO: lots of people in other countries don’t get it, cause it’s not racist to them,
they don’t have a history of opressing black people, so why should we get mad at it being part of their cultural heritage or whatever you want to call it? Life’s too short to be offended by something that’s not intended to be offensive, be offended by things that actually ARE meant to be offensive and horrible. Like those drive through pants, or horrible paintings with demons doing gross things..
well, first of all, almost _any_ country in the world has a history of oppressing people, be it for their skin colour, their religion or other things that make them “the others”.
and second, it’s these little things that make racism seem normal, so normal that many people don’t realize it’s there. and it’s important to pay attention to it, otherwise nothing will ever change.
btw: speedy gonzales? well, he’s not lazy, is he? i remember him as quite the opposite…
Lilith Blue: Why is this racist? The children are not painted like real kids of African origin, they’re painted “black face”. No human has actual black skin, or white lips. That is how white people painted themselves up to appear black for minstrel shows. Blackface characters in minstrel shows were invariably portrayed as lazy, stupid, watermelon eaters. The person who was selling this was perpetuating a hurtful stereotype.
Project Kennedy: If you’re talking about Aussies when you say “They don’t have a history of oppressing black people” you’re overlooking a couple of things. First off, the Indigenous Australia have dark skin and were historically referred to as Blacks. White Australia has had a pretty shameful record when it comes to the treatment of the Indigenous Australians (and other minorities, ever hear of the White Australia Policy?). Ever hear of the Stolen Generations? For over 100 years the
Australian government forcibly removed Indigenous Australian children from their families and sent them to residential schools in an attempt to make them culturally white. This went on up until the 1970′s!
I’m pretty sure that one Midnight Oil song was about oppression of the blacks in Australia, too. And that wasn’t made so long ago. “Beds are Burning”, I think it was? Yeah.
::sighs:: ::rolls eyes:: No other comment here. I’ve had too much stupid already today.
The weird/sad thing to me is that they actually ARE pretty adorable. Like the Golliwog – google images of golliwogs and see what you think; I find some of them really stinkin’ cute. But there is a whole bunch of baggage, context, and history going on with that image. Ignorance of that is no excuse, and it seems to me that starting things off with “I’M NOT RACIST” kinda proves that the seller isn’t even ignorant of it.
Nigatsubebe: Really? I had no idea that was what that song was about. Learn something new everyday.
Wiki says that Midnight Oil performed the song at the closing ceremonies of the Sydney Games, and that they were wearing black with the words “Sorry” printed on their clothes, in reference to the Australian Prime Minister’s refusal to apologize for past treatment of the Indigenous Australians.
Sorry, someone said Australians haven’t oppressed black people? Hahahahahaaa you look ridiculous with your head in the sand, can’t see the black armband. Come live in the Deep North where it’s a little harder to deny daily racism against Aboriginal people. Oh wait, unless you’re one of those people perpetuating it, which seems to be most non-Aboriginal people here.
Yes, for unfathomable reasons my local chemist stocks them, in the gift/toy/nick nack section. The labels imply they’re more for decoration than for giving to a child though, since they use words like ‘treasure’ and ‘heirloom quality’ but there is someone out there making them in commercial quantities!
I should point out that this particular chemist is the only place I’ve ever seen them, though it looks like I’m not the only other Australian who’s seen them.
Australia absolutely has had, and does have, a problem with racism. Both towards Aboriginal people and immigrants. However, it is *completely* divorced from any connection whatsoever to watermelon and fried chicken, as well as from the African slave trade.
The exact forms that racism takes are culturally variable, and we’re not all familiar with each others’ hot buttons. (Recent case: Indian immigrants may well have been unfamiliar with blackface… but why the hell did no-one stop…
Seriously, I'm from Texas, and despite our reputations, even the majority of Texans would find this offensive.
I'm not black, but if anybody here knows anything about the use of the "pickaninny" image in advertising and popular culture . . . yes, this most certainly is racist. The person who painted it may not have intended it to be so, but that type of depiction, with the round lips, braids/bows, and watermelon, has a LOT of historical baggage.
Though I don’t know what the seller’s intention was to make these, I think people need to chill out about being offended and proclaming it’s racist………It is part of US history, like it or not. Generations from now, people will look back at our time and say something that we do now is racist or sexist or discriminatory. What about fat jokes or blonde jokes? Those offend, too………..
Piping in from a few things I’ve learned from my psychology training…
When we take a group of people, and create an image of them that is less human looking, it makes is much easier for us to justify treating them as less than human.
Just chiming in on why these images are a problem.
Her I’M NOT RACIST!!! is fascinating. She knows it is considered racist. She knows racism is bad. But she does not want to be bad. Insert CAPITAL LETTERS, which makes it ALL BETTER.
@#97 Here’s my analysis;
Scale and proportion relating to her insecurities of being labeled as a racist crafter.
The watermelon is just waaaayyyy too big compared to the little black face boy. Seriously.
Question: how did these images, historically, come about to have white lips? Was trying to find some info online, but couldn’t. I was not born in the US so I’m very curious.
I’m sorry, but the longer I thik about this the more it rankles me.
#95-are you SERIOUSLY comparing the abuses heaped upon african americans with BLONDE JOKES?
No one ever turned firehoses on blondes just for trying to attend school, or made them give up their seats for brunettes on the bus, or fucking lynched them for looking at white women.
Like it or not, this image is a racist one, and deeply offensive. So you can use it or apologize for it or act like it’s no big deal…
Kamikaze-go-in Straight To Hell
November 20, 2009 at 6:11 am
Helen: I know whatever popcorn you have left is three days old but have you ever tried tossing in a handful of chocolate covered raisins while it’s still warm? It’s delicious.
Oh, and beqi: for you, I’d gladly switch…temporarily.
November 14, 2009 at 10:21 am
I think I’d prefer a drunk Indian.
November 14, 2009 at 10:21 am
The defensive stance makes this ever more painful.
November 14, 2009 at 10:22 am
What is the number one way to bring attention to a possibly racist item? Surely its not to YELL that you ARE NOT RACIST as the very first thing in the description.
I’m sure they are just meant to be cute, and they are a vintage-y type of thing. I’m thinking she took inspiration from vintage something or other. The item itself doesn’t need to be racist, but don’t confront it as though it is! People collect this type of thing..black, white, or other.
November 14, 2009 at 10:22 am
Ah, the ever popular outraged cry of “NO I’M NOT RACIST”. Totally negates all your shocking, horrible racism.
November 14, 2009 at 10:24 am
that all being said…I’d be more concerned about the fact that the pic shows the siding falling off of the trailer home in the back. Nothing wrong with trailers, mind you, but perhaps it would have been better to move them down a step, and crop that out. Or take the pic somewhere else entirely.
November 14, 2009 at 10:27 am
Seller is from Northwest Missouri, and that’s all you need to know. Born and raised in Kansas City, I’ve known people like this all my life. God’s own people, to be sure.
November 14, 2009 at 10:29 am
I’ll take the lazy, sleeping Mexican provided it comes with either a burro or one of those coyotes howling at the moon with a bandanna tied around his neck.
November 14, 2009 at 10:29 am
Even if they are based on the popular UK Gollywog dolls does not make them any more acceptable! Many African Americans see them as racist and as abusive towards their race. I just see it as asking for trouble when someone makes things like this.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golliwogg
November 14, 2009 at 10:30 am
The only thing missing is “my black friends love them!”
November 14, 2009 at 10:31 am
Does anyone see the horse eating the pigs ear in the corner? That part isn’t racist.
November 14, 2009 at 10:32 am
WTF!!!! Where is the fried chicken???
November 14, 2009 at 10:32 am
Wow. I don’t have words. Except this: yes, it is racist.
November 14, 2009 at 10:32 am
Being from south KC, I take offense to that. I wasn’t born and raised here, but I know enough not to generalize the entire area. I hate it when people do that! There is a mix of people here just like there is a mix of people in every other area in the US.
sigh…moving on.
There is talent in this shop, copyright stuff excluded-but for damn sake, watch what is in your background! old cars, trailers, extension cords, feet…It doesn’t take much to get that crap out of a shot!
November 14, 2009 at 10:35 am
“Too orangey for crows”
It’s the Kia-ora kid!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LvLn9PWln8
November 14, 2009 at 10:39 am
#8 FTW.
November 14, 2009 at 10:49 am
I like that they look a bit surprised and even chagrined at having been caught being racial stereotypes.
November 14, 2009 at 10:55 am
I had a roomate once who had a huge collection of these blackface items, mostly ceramics. But they were all vintage. He was a white gay guy and I didn’t find him racist, there was total irony in his collecting, but it’ was still somewhat uncomfortable. Because he had tons of them.
I can’t understand people wanting to perpetuate these horrible stereotypes today by making new items in this genre.
November 14, 2009 at 10:55 am
Where is “Say What!” guy when you really need him?
November 14, 2009 at 10:56 am
Err…I meant #9, catniplover. I’m new here, does the numbering change, or is it me?
November 14, 2009 at 10:57 am
Do they come in “over-emotional fat Italian?” Or perhaps vodka-soaked potentially violent Russian?” I feel cheated that my ethnicity has not been represented!
November 14, 2009 at 10:58 am
Lol. My brother made me a sleeping Mexican lawn ornament in shop class when he found it among the patterns for the machine he was using.
November 14, 2009 at 11:00 am
How about lawn-obsessed uptight white guy? That would make a really fitting lawn ornament!
November 14, 2009 at 11:00 am
@ seller:
Yeah, whatever human hater.
—–
NOT LAUGHING? Good, me neither.
November 14, 2009 at 11:04 am
@ 17 thefrog:
you did, however, make me smile, I thank you for that.
November 14, 2009 at 11:06 am
you’ve all already said everything i wanted to say. from noting the trailer, right down to wondering where the “say what?” guy is when you need him.
to loosely quote Strangers With Candy, this seller isn’t racist. they just hate black people.
November 14, 2009 at 11:07 am
cropping is easy
http://i393.photobucket.com/albums/pp13/Xjaeva/IMNOTRACIST.jpg
so is the backspace button
November 14, 2009 at 11:11 am
John Stewart just did a segment on this very subject. Called Is Blackface Ever Ok?
http://www.hulu.com/watch/108472/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-is-blackface-ever-ok
November 14, 2009 at 11:16 am
@ #17, Thank you for reminding me. It was a egregious oversight.
November 14, 2009 at 11:19 am
Add a little bit of copyright infringement:
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=vl_other_2&listing_id=28016703
November 14, 2009 at 11:20 am
More:
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=32527518
November 14, 2009 at 11:20 am
Seriously people, come up with your own ideas!
November 14, 2009 at 11:25 am
They look scared because they just spotted the Klu Klux Klan lawn ornaments.
November 14, 2009 at 11:26 am
I’m trying to decide if she deserves .0000001% credit for knowing people would find this racist and offensive.
(Anyone remember the moron who printed “Obama Bucks” complete with watermelon and fried chicken during the campaign? when confronted, she said, “Oh, I had NO IDEA watermelon and fried chicken had racists connotations!!! Gosh!”)
November 14, 2009 at 11:27 am
Ok, having always lived a city, lawnless existence, do people really stick these sorts of things in their lawns? They’re worse than garden gnomes.
November 14, 2009 at 11:27 am
I bet one of his closest friends is black!!! haha~!
November 14, 2009 at 11:30 am
$24.95…and if you act now we’ll throw in the figurine of daddy shining shoes down at the airport.
November 14, 2009 at 11:40 am
So…..this person didn’t realize that this could be viewed as racist while MAKING the damn thing? They only realized it after the fact??
The plot thickens
November 14, 2009 at 11:45 am
I’ll take the lazy Mexican as long is he is sitting on a zonkey.
November 14, 2009 at 11:46 am
What about a nice slant-eyed, buck-toothed Chinaman? Jeez, Americans are SO ethnocentric!
Can i custom order a red-faced, drunk & weepy Irishman? Or should i just wait till the seller posts a leprechaun?
November 14, 2009 at 11:47 am
I do not find the mouths at all “cute”. Are they wearing zinc oxide and whistling “Dixie”?
November 14, 2009 at 11:49 am
Helen, i think we need to “see this in a room” on the front lawn of the White House!
November 14, 2009 at 11:59 am
And it’s been taken down…
November 14, 2009 at 11:59 am
Seller is equal opportunity offensive: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=16826267
I do think there are some cute little lawn standers in their shop…they don’t need to sell these things to make it. Also, it looks like the original threesome have been removed. Offensive or offended?
November 14, 2009 at 12:00 pm
I second #41 iamhydrogen14…I want to see that too.
November 14, 2009 at 12:05 pm
RE: #42 jenny
Regretsy, cleaning up lawns one ornament at a time.
November 14, 2009 at 12:10 pm
Well there are still these available! http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=32997027&ref=sr_gallery_1&&ga_search_query=gollywog&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_page=&order=date_desc&includes=tags&includes=title
November 14, 2009 at 12:12 pm
If you’re in the market for racist replicas you better buy the doll that #46 posted because the lawn ornaments have been taken down.
November 14, 2009 at 12:31 pm
I’m from Texas and yes people stick the strangest thing on their lawns, esp. the more east you go. My personal fave are the He Is Risen crosses.
I still hear “colored” in conversation, and the shoe shine guy in my office building is……an old black man.
Yup.
November 14, 2009 at 12:33 pm
I have to ask, after seeing the doll in #46, are these acceptable somewhere and I’m just out of the loop?
November 14, 2009 at 12:40 pm
#27 Samy St. Clair: I watched the clip, and was reminded of a douchebag I know from high school who went blackface for Halloween to be President Obama. The dumbass didn’t read the warnings on his make up/skin dye/whatever he used and is stuck that way for up to 6 months. I lol’d so damn hard when I heard that. >:D
November 14, 2009 at 12:41 pm
#49 ‘Golliwog’ dolls are actually (mostly) acceptable in Australia, NZ, and I think the UK. The seller of that golliwog doll is in Australia.
November 14, 2009 at 12:50 pm
Well hell, I guess I’m gonna stereotype a bit too – I notice what appears to be a mobile home in the background……
(need I say more)
November 14, 2009 at 1:02 pm
“I don’t know nothin’ ’bout birthin’ babies!”
November 14, 2009 at 1:42 pm
@#53 – OMG I need a Pokemon pad now!!! That is hilarious!
November 14, 2009 at 2:53 pm
wow, check out those lips.
Thats just amazing. Just dreadful
November 14, 2009 at 2:54 pm
oohhh its been taken down..
November 14, 2009 at 2:59 pm
http://www.etsy.com/search_results.php?search_type=handmade&search_query=golliwog&order=date_desc&ship_to=
I had no idea people were still making these. Check out the first one, its scary
November 14, 2009 at 3:18 pm
heh yea your not a racist so you have to put it in big letters… yea sure. whatever… way to bring real big attention to thoughts of racism.
remember those always pointing out the “i am not racist” are usually still thinking like one and perpetuating it…
i thought vintage black face dolls and figures went out of style with the 50′s. i guess people still collect them
November 14, 2009 at 3:21 pm
#53
Youz don’t be needin’ to knowa nothin’ bout birthin babeez!
Jus beez ready when Ize be birthin watermelons!
November 14, 2009 at 4:06 pm
Here’s an article I recommend:
“What’s cute about racist kitsch?
Are ‘Mammy’ and ‘Uncle’ replicas OK just because similar antique figurines have become popular?”
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/06/15/HOG3ID66P11.DTL
November 14, 2009 at 4:33 pm
The watermelon is particularly racially sensitive.
November 14, 2009 at 4:46 pm
What an asshole.
November 14, 2009 at 4:51 pm
I laugh like a stupid cracker every time I see that “Say what!” guy.
November 14, 2009 at 5:31 pm
Thanks for that article, toes.
Are the images racist? OH YES.
November 14, 2009 at 5:36 pm
At least the watermelon is painted more realistically than on that cow skull.
Good link. #60 Toes. Interesting read.
November 14, 2009 at 5:56 pm
I’m speechless. Srsly, WTF?
November 14, 2009 at 6:26 pm
Good article link, #60 Toes. Yes, as a South Carolinian, I am well aware of these ‘decor’ items. Called various terms from ‘Negrobilia,’ to ‘African-Americana,’ you see a gamut of relics in antique stores and on eBay. I think the article Toes linked to noted some various views – it’s a reminder so not to be forgotten, a glimpse of history, et cetera. I’m not sure what the benefit is of making these new, however.
November 14, 2009 at 6:34 pm
“I AM NOT A RACIST (but my crafts are)!”
November 14, 2009 at 6:57 pm
everyone is getting his panties in a bunch about those when you can barely find there in lawns and so on but no one is taking offense of the confederate flag which is almost everywhere in the south and is an horrible slap in the face of black people.
November 14, 2009 at 7:11 pm
#69 Petite : True, the confederate flag is a racist symbol of armed treason against the United States, but is it funny enough to be on Regretsy, even when painted on a cow skull?
November 14, 2009 at 7:22 pm
Sorry Monstrosa, I should have said I was referring mainly to the article posted at #60. About politically correct and incorrect and shit.
Also I am not sure I find those “funny”…
November 14, 2009 at 7:32 pm
I don’t even know what to say. =(
November 14, 2009 at 7:37 pm
#71 Petite : Yeah, it’s really the description that’s funny.
November 14, 2009 at 9:45 pm
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
November 14, 2009 at 9:50 pm
They seem to be on the steps of a TRAILER…….hmmmmm
November 14, 2009 at 10:07 pm
I feel kind of sad that the artist has been shamed into removing his/her item. These items are almost museum quality… why… this museum in particular might be interested:
http://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/menu.htm
November 14, 2009 at 11:46 pm
#76 S. :
That is awesome! I’d love to visit that museum. Great backstory:
http://www.ferris.edu/htmls/news/jimcrow/more.htm
November 15, 2009 at 5:14 am
#16 Sunny Lea:
you cracked me up.
I live out in farm country and occasionally still see lawn jockeys… I’m glad someone else linked to the shop, because this little gem is now inactive… I was wondering if there was going to be a “fat woman bent over” lawn ornament… apparently not. D’oh.
November 15, 2009 at 5:33 am
that museum sounds great! great stuff to read on the website, too.
regretsy is very educational today. i didn’t know about the watermelon stereotype.
(and i found it very interesting that germany is mentioned in the article linked in #60 as a place where crap like that is manufactured. it isn’t. germany doesn’t have that much of a link to african-american history, but there is quite a bit of awareness of racism because of the holocaust and of its own colonial history. just my 2cents)
November 15, 2009 at 6:54 am
I don’t find those things racist, then again, I’m not black, but I am mexican, and I don’t find speedy gonzales racist. I think it’s more of a sign of how stupid people were back then and how we should laugh at them for drawing black people with black faces and white lips and mexicans with hats and in rat form. That said, I wouldn’t buy any of that crap and don’t see why anyone else would. ALSO: lots of people in other countries don’t get it, cause it’s not racist to them,
November 15, 2009 at 6:55 am
they don’t have a history of opressing black people, so why should we get mad at it being part of their cultural heritage or whatever you want to call it? Life’s too short to be offended by something that’s not intended to be offensive, be offended by things that actually ARE meant to be offensive and horrible. Like those drive through pants, or horrible paintings with demons doing gross things..
November 15, 2009 at 7:01 am
well, first of all, almost _any_ country in the world has a history of oppressing people, be it for their skin colour, their religion or other things that make them “the others”.
and second, it’s these little things that make racism seem normal, so normal that many people don’t realize it’s there. and it’s important to pay attention to it, otherwise nothing will ever change.
btw: speedy gonzales? well, he’s not lazy, is he? i remember him as quite the opposite…
November 15, 2009 at 9:14 am
I love the watermelon haha.
November 15, 2009 at 9:16 am
Lilith Blue: Why is this racist? The children are not painted like real kids of African origin, they’re painted “black face”. No human has actual black skin, or white lips. That is how white people painted themselves up to appear black for minstrel shows. Blackface characters in minstrel shows were invariably portrayed as lazy, stupid, watermelon eaters. The person who was selling this was perpetuating a hurtful stereotype.
November 15, 2009 at 9:23 am
Project Kennedy: If you’re talking about Aussies when you say “They don’t have a history of oppressing black people” you’re overlooking a couple of things. First off, the Indigenous Australia have dark skin and were historically referred to as Blacks. White Australia has had a pretty shameful record when it comes to the treatment of the Indigenous Australians (and other minorities, ever hear of the White Australia Policy?). Ever hear of the Stolen Generations? For over 100 years the
November 15, 2009 at 9:29 am
Australian government forcibly removed Indigenous Australian children from their families and sent them to residential schools in an attempt to make them culturally white. This went on up until the 1970′s!
I could go on, but this is turning into an essay. And this blog entry on the topic is better than what I could write: http://blog.sojo.net/2009/11/09/the-plank-in-australias-eye/
November 15, 2009 at 1:26 pm
I’m pretty sure that one Midnight Oil song was about oppression of the blacks in Australia, too. And that wasn’t made so long ago. “Beds are Burning”, I think it was? Yeah.
::sighs:: ::rolls eyes:: No other comment here. I’ve had too much stupid already today.
November 15, 2009 at 7:43 pm
The weird/sad thing to me is that they actually ARE pretty adorable. Like the Golliwog – google images of golliwogs and see what you think; I find some of them really stinkin’ cute. But there is a whole bunch of baggage, context, and history going on with that image. Ignorance of that is no excuse, and it seems to me that starting things off with “I’M NOT RACIST” kinda proves that the seller isn’t even ignorant of it.
November 15, 2009 at 8:52 pm
Nigatsubebe: Really? I had no idea that was what that song was about. Learn something new everyday.
Wiki says that Midnight Oil performed the song at the closing ceremonies of the Sydney Games, and that they were wearing black with the words “Sorry” printed on their clothes, in reference to the Australian Prime Minister’s refusal to apologize for past treatment of the Indigenous Australians.
November 15, 2009 at 9:06 pm
Sorry, someone said Australians haven’t oppressed black people? Hahahahahaaa you look ridiculous with your head in the sand, can’t see the black armband. Come live in the Deep North where it’s a little harder to deny daily racism against Aboriginal people. Oh wait, unless you’re one of those people perpetuating it, which seems to be most non-Aboriginal people here.
November 15, 2009 at 9:34 pm
I am certain that the artist would let these adorable little ornaments come into her house to use the toilet.
November 15, 2009 at 10:32 pm
@ 49 and 51
Yes, for unfathomable reasons my local chemist stocks them, in the gift/toy/nick nack section. The labels imply they’re more for decoration than for giving to a child though, since they use words like ‘treasure’ and ‘heirloom quality’ but there is someone out there making them in commercial quantities!
I should point out that this particular chemist is the only place I’ve ever seen them, though it looks like I’m not the only other Australian who’s seen them.
November 15, 2009 at 11:01 pm
Australia absolutely has had, and does have, a problem with racism. Both towards Aboriginal people and immigrants. However, it is *completely* divorced from any connection whatsoever to watermelon and fried chicken, as well as from the African slave trade.
The exact forms that racism takes are culturally variable, and we’re not all familiar with each others’ hot buttons. (Recent case: Indian immigrants may well have been unfamiliar with blackface… but why the hell did no-one stop…
November 16, 2009 at 6:51 am
>>Speechless.<<
Seriously, I'm from Texas, and despite our reputations, even the majority of Texans would find this offensive.
I'm not black, but if anybody here knows anything about the use of the "pickaninny" image in advertising and popular culture . . . yes, this most certainly is racist. The person who painted it may not have intended it to be so, but that type of depiction, with the round lips, braids/bows, and watermelon, has a LOT of historical baggage.
November 16, 2009 at 12:43 pm
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
November 16, 2009 at 12:46 pm
Getting the popcorn.
November 16, 2009 at 1:42 pm
awww you’re such a cute racist!
November 16, 2009 at 3:02 pm
Piping in from a few things I’ve learned from my psychology training…
When we take a group of people, and create an image of them that is less human looking, it makes is much easier for us to justify treating them as less than human.
Just chiming in on why these images are a problem.
Her I’M NOT RACIST!!! is fascinating. She knows it is considered racist. She knows racism is bad. But she does not want to be bad. Insert CAPITAL LETTERS, which makes it ALL BETTER.
November 16, 2009 at 3:07 pm
@#97 Here’s my analysis;
Scale and proportion relating to her insecurities of being labeled as a racist crafter.
The watermelon is just waaaayyyy too big compared to the little black face boy. Seriously.
November 17, 2009 at 11:59 am
i collard like i see ‘em
November 17, 2009 at 4:41 pm
I call a spa–
–nah, not gonna go there.
Even though:
http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=19970115
November 19, 2009 at 8:44 pm
Y’know what else is a part of history? The slave trade.
Totally historical, totally racist. Just like these godawful things.
November 20, 2009 at 3:18 am
Question: how did these images, historically, come about to have white lips? Was trying to find some info online, but couldn’t. I was not born in the US so I’m very curious.
November 20, 2009 at 6:02 am
I’m sorry, but the longer I thik about this the more it rankles me.
#95-are you SERIOUSLY comparing the abuses heaped upon african americans with BLONDE JOKES?
No one ever turned firehoses on blondes just for trying to attend school, or made them give up their seats for brunettes on the bus, or fucking lynched them for looking at white women.
Like it or not, this image is a racist one, and deeply offensive. So you can use it or apologize for it or act like it’s no big deal…
November 20, 2009 at 6:03 am
…OR you can not be a racist. Can’t have both.
Choose.
November 20, 2009 at 6:11 am
Helen: I know whatever popcorn you have left is three days old but have you ever tried tossing in a handful of chocolate covered raisins while it’s still warm? It’s delicious.
Oh, and beqi: for you, I’d gladly switch…temporarily.
December 4, 2009 at 1:23 pm
THIS COMMENT IS NOT RACIST!!!
January 24, 2010 at 7:02 am
Helen Killer, you might need a new category: Racist.