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The Radikelous Qantas PC debacle

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Dumbledore

Dick Tooth (41)
If Qantas posted a picture of Wallaby players outside a mosque or something... Would people start saying "how dare they, don't Qantas know that Islamists played a part in 9/11? I'm reminded of that every time I see a mosque"...? ... (i'd hope not, but It's not much different to this case, people trying to take a particular message from a photo which is simply not there) People can find all sorts of justification to be offended by just about anything.

If someone is walking down the road wearing a KKK robe with a sign saying "this is a white country", sure rip into him, he is promoting his own racist agenda.

If 2 people dress up as their favorite rugby player, what is the problem? You don't need to look any further, that is it. No hidden agenda, no racist actions. They just went to a rugby game to support the team.

KKK robes are just as much a symbol to some people as blackface is, that's the point. In most of the Western world, blackface is a racist symbol, used to mock and degradate blacks. This happened in the U.K just as much in America, I'm sure it came across to Australia too at some point. It's fantastic to see that these two young guys didn't even consider the implications of this, it's a great sign we might finally be moving in a post-racial direction. Some people just don't look past symbols on first glance, maybe they should, but they don't. Reaction on the internet, twitter in particular, is instant. People don't sit back and reflect, they just go bang with the first thought that comes to mind which, in the case of blackface, is racism. Slightly precious? Sure. Understandable? Probably.

:lmao: I'm writing way too much about this.
 

Bruwheresmycar

Nicholas Shehadie (39)
KKK robes are just as much a symbol to some people as blackface is, that's the point.

No, it is not the same in that sense. It would be like someone calling a Qatari football crowd a bunch of KKK supporters:

flag-supporters.jpg


Don't these guys know what they are wearing is symbolic in the USA? They should be ashamed :D

If someone did claim this, we would call them all crazy. (I know it isn't a carbon copy of a KKK robe, but the point is almost all pieces of clothing can be considered in some form or another, offensive to someone)
 

Dumbledore

Dick Tooth (41)
Which is why I qualified things by talking about Western culture, not opening it up to the entire world. I'd have thought you'd be pretty hard pressed to equate Qatar, where wearing clothes like that is as much an issue of practicality as anything else, with Australia, although you're having a pretty good shot at it.
 

Bruwheresmycar

Nicholas Shehadie (39)
Sure, you can object to my comparison by saying it doesn't apply to western culture. I didn't consider the "blackface" symbol Australian when i came up with it though.
 

Scarfman

Knitter of the Scarf
Speaking of the KKK, have you guys ever been to Semana Santa (Easter Week) in Spain? They wear the clothes that the KKK ripped off. It's quite weird to see it, though.

semsansev_notesfromspain.JPG
 

brokendown

Vay Wilson (31)
& the latest news could be that "at home with Julia" wil now not be screened,because it takes the piss out of Rangas
 

fatprop

George Gregan (70)
Staff member
Offended by the obviously absurd

Tracey Spicer
From: The Daily Telegraph
August 30, 2011 12:00AM


I APOLOGISE to anyone who was offended by the children's costumes in the Book Week parade.

The red wig worn by my son, dressed as Ron Weasley from Harry Potter, was clearly offensive to rangers.

Disturbingly, my daughter evoked the image of Pocahontas, trampling on the tender sensibilities of the American Indians.

And don't get me started on the child who dressed as Zorro, disparaging anyone with Hispanic heritage.

Never mind that the theme for Book Week was One World, Many Stories.

Next year it will be restricted to costumes depicting Anglo Saxon characters except Hagar the Horrible, whose name implies Scandinavians are not very nice.

As a fourth-generation Viking, I find this particularly galling. Seriously, what is the world coming to?

Last week, two blokes dressed up to pay tribute to their favourite rugby player, Radike Samo, as part of a contest to show support for the Australian team in the Tri-Nations decider.

Let me highlight several words in the previous sentence: Tribute; favourite; support.

They did not paint their skin black to imply that Pacific Islanders are inferior to white folk. They did so to honour their rugby hero.

This was not an act of racism. It was an act of veneration.

Yet the judge, jury and executioners of twitter sent them straight to the gallows.

Keen to fly under the radar after a crash in popularity, Qantas buckled: "We apologise the photo of 2 Radike fans offended people. We've spoken with Radike and whilst he has no issue with it we have removed the image (from our twitter page)."

This was no heartfelt mea culpa. It was a whitewash, to avoid a boycott on lucrative routes to the United States.

After Harry Connick Jr's outburst over the Hey Hey It's Saturday sketch, I wrote an opinion piece entitled Seriously, Can't We Just Have a Laugh Anymore?

I received hate mail from across the US.

One radio station asked if I would go on air to debate the issue with a leader of the African-American community.

Apparently I was seen as some kind of Down Under Hitler, calling for a pure Aryan race.

I declined politely, adding, "You might want to grow a sense of humour."

Of course, there is nothing remotely humorous about African slavery: It is a stain on the pages of American history.

The original blackface minstrel shows of the 1800s were racist, propagating the stereotype of the "happy go lucky darky" on the plantation.

But in most modern allusions, performers turn this idea on its head. They use it for the purpose of satire.

Take Robert Downey Jr's character in the hilarious movie Tropic Thunder. He plays an Australian actor portraying a black soldier in a parody of Apocalypse Now: "I'm just a dude playin' a dude disguised as another dude," he says simply.

And that's what the Jackson Jive was doing on Hey Hey - wearing wigs and makeup to imitate the famous five, not belittle them.

As for Radike Samo, he found imitation to be the sincerest form of flattery.

"These guys were paying me a tribute. It was a bit of fun, and I think it's great they regarded me as their favourite Wallaby," Samo said. "I didn't have an issue with it at all. I was glad to be in a photo with them, so I don't know why anyone is getting worked up. That sort of reaction is just silly."

This is the crucial point.

Before you scream "racism", perhaps you should ask the alleged victim what they thought? I wonder how many of those who complained on twitter were members of an ethnic minority?

Real racism does exist in Australia.

But let's not get distracted by pointless petty examples of political correctness.

Instead, let's expend that energy where it's needed: Increasing the life expectancy of indigenous people; making immigrants feel welcome in our communities; and never judging a book by its cover.

Otherwise, I fear for the future for our children.

Picture this: The Book Week parade in the year 2020.

A five-year-old boy nervously approaches the stage dressed as his favourite book character, Noddy.

The principal frowns; parents begin to chatter; someone makes a phone call.

Within minutes the police are there, pulling the screaming child from the stage.

His parents are charged with inciting racism.

Giving more power to the fun police could one day become a very serious matter.
 

Nusadan

Chilla Wilson (44)
KKK robes are just as much a symbol to some people as blackface is, that's the point. In most of the Western world, blackface is a racist symbol, used to mock and degradate blacks. This happened in the U.K just as much in America, I'm sure it came across to Australia too at some point. It's fantastic to see that these two young guys didn't even consider the implications of this, it's a great sign we might finally be moving in a post-racial direction. Some people just don't look past symbols on first glance, maybe they should, but they don't. Reaction on the internet, twitter in particular, is instant. People don't sit back and reflect, they just go bang with the first thought that comes to mind which, in the case of blackface, is racism. Slightly precious? Sure. Understandable? Probably.

:lmao: I'm writing way too much about this.

Now I am gulping and sweating about what I did close to 30 years ago, whilst barely out of school and on a ski tour in US of A, I put on a KKK mask using the hotel's pillowcase as a prop, for an end of week party in Vail...little I did know I could have had offended the sensibilities of the locals! Just hope there's no pic of me in that floating around that might bite me on the a**!
 

Groucho

Greg Davis (50)
Momentarily threadjacking, I worked in a Louisiana town where the Klan was active as late as the mid-90s. I was shocked to see them collecting money in their robes on suburban street corners, and no one turning up to arrest them.
 
S

Samofan

Guest
Samofan Blackface; History lesson for white Australian fans;

"In the 1830's the entertainment industry took over from race-science as the primary vehicle for degrading blackness, as the minstrel show became America's national pastime. Minstrels consisted of white caricatures of the archetypal plantation slave entertainer who performed in the master's house, or outside for his fellow slaves. They presented a racist song-and -dance imitation of blacks in a 'theatre of the grotesque', dedicated to mock and ridicule.
Minstrel shows reflected (white) society's view of blacks as ugly and coded them according to blackened faces of the minstrel performers. Using burnt cork for make up, these actors' faces were not just black but super black, the connotation being that the deeper the tone and therefore the furthest from white, the uglier and more comical the look. Deep black also provided the best contrast for the bulbous white eyeballs and the trademark oversized white lips of the minstrel look." Ben Arogundade 'Black Beauty'.
As a fan of the Wallabies and of course, giant Samo-the Destroyer, I have to say that the undeniably, ignorant and ill-informed antics of fellow fans, painting their faces black, wearing black 'afro' wigs and carrying on in this minstrel act, is shameful. Wallabies fans are being shown as red necks to the rest of the world, baffooning around, claiming to be having "fun" at the expense of all Black people, Black Australians and Black Wallabies fans! History has deep scars and Rugby as a sport of international repute is a platform for national unity and pride in our nation(s) of all nationalities, it's values in freedom, democracy and justice. Step up Wallabies fans!
 

Braveheart81

Will Genia (78)
Staff member
There is already a thread about this.

Also, I completely disagree. A tribute by fans to dress up as one specific person is wildly different to the use of blackface in a minstrel show to lampoon an entire race of people.
 
D

Dimism

Guest
You might not have noticed, but this isn't the United States.

Also, why dig this topic back up? It was over weeks ago. Get over yourself, mate.
 
S

Samofan

Guest
No, it's Australia mate, a country with it's own History of racism. We're talking about the international stage now, as fans are still painting themselves in black face. Lets not forget our own history mate.
 
S

Samofan

Guest
This so-called "tribute" to Samo, is trite. Australians never like to admit that they're racist. It's all hunky dory, yadda yadda, yadda... We think we can re-write history by saying it's a tribute to one player!
 

Ruggo

Mark Ella (57)
No, it's Australia mate, a country with it's own History of racism. We're talking about the international stage now, as fans are still painting themselves in black face. Lets not forget our own history mate.

So you paint racism as a black and white issue. Are you not being racist yourself in doing so?

For the record, when people piss and moan about petty issuse like this it dettracts from genuine issues of racism that are actually in need of addressing.
 

Braveheart81

Will Genia (78)
Staff member
Let's also not forget that everything isn't just black and white (excuse the pun).

By not acknowledging why something is racist and just concluding that all things involving any form of colouring one's skin as being racist completely oversimplifies the issue.
 
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