Here’s an interesting story:
A friend of mine just started working on his MBA at a new school. He’s met a
ton of great people so far – cool kids that seem open-minded, progressive,
smart as hell, and just totally fun to be around.
The inner core of his new circle of friends (all of whom are White) has been
hanging out pretty frequently, doing everything from grabbing drinks to playing
Scattergories. A few nights ago, they found themselves in a heated game of
Charades. Boys vs. girls. Winner rules the roost.
Girls were up. Person. 5-syllables. Sounds like “llama”.
Yep, you guessed it, Barack Obama.
The boys looked on in excitement as one of the girls acted
out “mama” to her team. Then one guy,
who I actually met and really found to be one the warmest, most easy-going people in the bunch,
whispers to my friend, “If we were up, would it be wrong for me to act out a
monkey?”
He was serious. Like, he had no idea.
What’s so baffling to me is that I don’t think there’s an intentional racist bone in this guy’s
body. No, these racist images are embedded in his mind, and, clearly, he has no
idea how supremely destructive they are. To people as sheltered as he, King
Kong looks like a big Black guy! Haha! Funny! And better walk fast, because the
“ghetto” kids on the corner are probably selling drugs! Because that’s what “ghetto
people” do!
Is it racism? Or just totally cluelessness? You tell me.
Racism is based on cluelessness. It's not always intentionally meant to be mean spirited but it is always steeped in ignorance.
Posted by: Chris | September 22, 2009 at 10:25 AM
So this person wants to refer to a black person as a monkey, and that's supposed to represent UNCONSCIOUS racism?
Sorry, the story makes no sense as told. Think about it.
Posted by: MarkB | September 22, 2009 at 11:22 AM
Hey MarkB -
I see what you're saying. But the thing is, I don't think this kid knew that the "black person as monkey" image is a racist one. I know it sounds crazy, but, as the story was told to me, he was totally clueless. Like, he just thought it was funny. So I'm wondering, does his supreme ignorance make him racist?
Posted by: RyanB | September 22, 2009 at 11:32 AM
Sorry, not that naive, he asked first to see the reaction of the individual. Why don't you test/vet him. For example, I have a white acquaintance that likes to use the phrase "thats ghetto". I started using the phrase "thats suburban" for every situation involving cheating or theft or superiority. Guess who pulled me aside to voice her displeasure. That's when I hit her with my feelings about the that's so ghetto phrase. Her response? "Oh!". Whites aren't clueless!!!
Xai
Posted by: Xai | September 22, 2009 at 01:37 PM
Yeah, it was a racist remark and the guy who uttered it would probably be distressed (or annoyed) to have it pointed out. This country is so steeped in racism that we hardly notice it, or we deny its presence when it smacks us in the face. Just look at what's happening to our President and the vigorous denials that the thuggish citicisms of whatever he does these days has anything to do with his race. [I note that Obama is biracial. But everybody refers to him as Black, as in "our first Black president. In other words, many people still unconsciously accept that "one drop" law.] Consider also how our other "first black president" linked himself to some pretty racist campaigning on behalf of his wife, and firmly denied there was anything racist abut it. Racism, American-style, is the air we breath. And it has been this way since Bacon's Rebellion in 1676 when, as a consequence of the uprising, the colonial governments began establishing the infamous slave codes, versions of which persisted into Jim Crow, and persist even now in this MIT MBA student's notion about how to illustrate our President without speaking his name.
I wonder if it'll ever be the case that we'll see and talk about each other as just people.
Posted by: cnkeach | September 23, 2009 at 10:37 AM
If there were a Black person in the group, I wonder if the student would ask him/her that question. Probably not.
Also your post makes me think about that scene in "Corina, Corina" with Whoppie Goldberg when the White little girl said to her Black friend that she (the white girl) thought she was a n****er lover. So maybe she was clueless, BUT the Black girl was offended and looked to be younger than her white friend.
I can't believe that cluelessness is possible when it comes to race in the US --- certainly not for a grown-up, like the grad student you describe in your post.
Posted by: Nikki | September 24, 2009 at 01:12 PM
In sociology it is taught that racism is defined as the belief that one race is superior or inferior to another race. There is a difference between racism and prejudice. The distasteful "monkey" comment is definitely prejudiced, but it is only racist if he uses this an excuse to feel superior to blacks, which we simply don't know for sure.
Posted by: Austin | September 24, 2009 at 02:49 PM
Austin,
I disagree. "Prejudice" IS "racism" when a white person behaves the way this student behaves. I say this because he is the beneficiary of centuries of all kinds of asymmetries (legal, educational, social, economic, etc.) with respect to every non-white group in this country. And the asymmetries have been provided for him by our government. How could he not be aware of our history, and not "feel" a sense of entitlement and superiority?
Posted by: cnkeach | September 25, 2009 at 09:32 AM
here's my question: how the fuck does monkey make you think of Barack Obama for charades? I'm going to say slightly racist.
Posted by: James | September 29, 2009 at 03:20 PM