Harry Connick, Jr. upset over MJ and Jackson 5 "racist" stage act

[Naytobes]

I think this thing has just been blown way out of proportion in the time since it's happened...

Now 'Parky' says he would come out of retirement to interview only Daryl Sommers! Geez

 

[ennacent]

I saw no racism in that performance. You guys who are upset need to calm down and stop overreacting.

wow what an intelligent thing to say......NOT...brush up on your history...BLACK HISTORY...and it will tell YOU the stories of OUR ancestors and what THEY had to ENDURE just because of the color of there SKIN in the USA.

 

[steve demon]

Even if their intentions weren't to be racist, I would still like to think that a group of doctors would be some of the most sympathetic people towards Michael's horrific skin disease.

 

[mistty4m]

I haven't got the time or patience to read through this entire thread, but I'll add my two cents to the mix...

Firstly, the segment of the show where the 'Jackson Jive' were featured is a very light hearted bit called 'Red Faces'. It is not a talent quest or Idol/X Factor type show. It's all about lunacy and stupidity!

The 'Jackson Jive' act was certainly not meant to be taken seriously. What people have to understand is, that each country has it's own culture and history. Certain things that are found offensive in one country, may not be so in another. The 'Jackson Jive' were not making a mockery of people of African-American descent by any means. The black make-up used in the act was merely for effect as part of the act. Frankly, I think HCJ just used what he saw to get his 15 minutes of fame. It's what he's been after for 20 years isn't it!?

My I sugget would read the whole thread.

Certain things that are found offensive in one country, may not be so in another.


There is a history behind blackface and it's offensive no matter what country your from if you understand the history on it, I provided a link a little bit above your reply read the history on it and then comment about it.

 

[mistty4m]

I'm going to go out on a limb here. The more I think about it, considering that Americans aren't exactly known for their racial acceptance, this is like the pot calling the kettle black -- no pun intended. I can think of plenty of instances of racial stereotyping by Americans; and of LOTS of different nationalities. .. plenty ofF the top of my head even portraying Australians that could be deemed highly offensive, ala Matt Groening, Robert Downey Jr and Nia Vardalos. Foul, lazy, dirty, beer bellied, weird speaking , thick accented alcoholics? But it's all in good fun right? When anyone else argues it's the EXACT same in our culture in this exact context to the vast majority of the nation, it seems few will accept it?

It's like a lot of you have it implanted in your minds it was strategically orchestrated to offend and that's that... You're looking at it through American eyes or non-typical Australian eyes. We don't HAVE the history of blackface to associate it with anything derogatory, I hadn't even HEARD of the concept so by that logic how can blackface be intentionally racist when it's racism is a completely foreign concept to us? My mum went to a dress up party as Oprah and painted her face black a couple of years ago with a black wig. There wasn't a single soul at the party who were all of mixed race due to the fact that my parents are both from different ethnicities and Australia is very multicultural... not a single person objected or was remotely offended by her. They thought she was great. No one would have even associated what she did with racism. Like I said, with this... it would not enter the typical Australian mindset.

Hey Hey it's Saturday is known for tacky humour. Even if the lead singer said he was aware of the implications of the act in the U.S, his act was aimed at an Australian audience. Connick declaring that he must "speak up AS AN AMERICAN" and if it had been IN AMERICA it would have gone off the air, I'm sorry to say is IRRELEVANT and to me a tad patronizing. The key word is "IF" and the key fact is that it WAS NOT. It was done in AUSTRALIA and I'm sorry to be so brazen, I'm sorry if you got offended, I do understand, BUT the whole world is not inclined to be sensitive to American taboos.

Hold up this is not american vs other country so let's get that correct and stay on the topic of this regarding black history issue with blackfaces.

 

[Goodbye Michael]

Australia is no more racist than other countries, in fact racism is ILLEGAL here, however every individual has their own issues and some people hate others for their own reasons just like the US and the UK and everywhere else.

Some of you claim Aussies should just know what blackface is about, but then throw up stuff like treatment of the Aborigines when you know nothing about it.

Like the Native Americans, Aborigines were killed when settlers arrived. We are only a young nation, just over 200 years of colonisation. The land originally was owned by Aboriginies. Many mistakes were made, as they were whenever colonisation occurred anywhere in the world. At one stage children were taken from their families in the belief they were being "saved", watch the move "Rabbit proof fence" if you want a good cry and to learn of some of the horrors these people were put through. That being said, while there is a long way to go in helping the indiginous of this country, the goverments are trying. Communites have been built, alcohol has since been banned in some of these communites as it was the cause of so much violence and mis-use. Aborigines get help in housing, welfare, job assistance. So do the Northern Islanders. If you fill out a government form they always ask if you are Aboriginal or Islander, as more assistance will be given if you are. The Government recently said Sorry, long overdue yes, but the prior government didn't believe it was up to current day australia to say sorry for the mistakes of the past. Then there is the issue of land ownership, Aboriginies were given the opportunity to claim land they believed was sacred. No new developments could be built on this land.

Now this is just a little run down, i don't know the ins and outs off the top of my head. But i just wanted to point out that we are not a racist nation, although there are a lot of racists among us, a lot of those being recent immigrants who themselves bring their problems from home over to this country (we are all immigrants ultimately, my point being it is not only racism against immigrants but also immigrant against immigrant etc). There are white supremists like there is everywhere. But ultimately the typical Aussie is very attuned to the plight of the Aborignal people, the true owners of this land, little steps are being made but i wont be done overnight.

Please don't throw the treatment of aborigines at us everytime a race issue comes up. I'd rather you all laugh at how we are a bunch of convicts, that doesn't offend me, i'm proud of how we have developed given our rough start. I'm proud to be Australian, from an immigrant family, in a convict country, owned by the Aborigines.

We have a long way to go.....but doesn't everybody.

 

[Crisstti]

No need to be smart about it. Your post took me aback, am I not allowed an opinion? I'm surprised we're in 2009 and supposedly there's a whole country unaware of a big part of black history. Of course I read it. And I stand by what I said.

Whoopy Goldberg thought that it would be fun and not offensive if her boyfriend would use blackface make up. She is black and from the US. And you say that people is Australia MUST know?. Give me a break.

Also, its a big part of black history in the US. Not everywhere.

I actually find it a little offensive that many people from the US think everyone should know as much about their history as themselves and act accordingly.

 

[#1MJstan]

Well other countries may not know much about black history, but apparently those doctors had a voice in their head telling them not to do "blackface" but yet still did it...

I actually find it a little offensive that many people from the US think everyone should know as much about their history as themselves and act accordingly.

Well sorry you feel offended by my fellow Americans...However it's just that it seems as if the Aussie media is ignoring the fact that it was very offensive and just chalking it up as Aussie humor...

Those doctors chose a black musical group and decided to paint there faces charcoal black and the lead (MJ) chalk white... Even if "blackface" didn't have a history, I would still find it offensive...They could've just left the whole face painting alone and gone natural and got there point across... Yes Ted and Whoopi got alot of heat from the ppl here in America for that stunt they pulled...

Example: A music group (non-Chinese) goes on a show and performs a musical number by a famous Chinese group, dressed in Chinese clothing, and puts tape on their eyes to make them look as if they had the same shape eyes as a Chinese person, and put in big false teeth, you don't think Chinese ppl and many others wouldn't be pissed off??
That is stereotyping at it's worst... You don't have to be from a particular country to know it's dead wrong to do something like that...

I don't think ppl across the globe should be pointing fingers at Australians, every country has racial skeletons in their own closet... I think because this was on tv and a big star said something about it on Australian tv, it has come to the forefront, next week or month it will be another country having a race issue brought to light.

 

[ddmff]

Again, this is not about US vs Australia or which country is more racist than the other, racism is everywhere. And even if someone doesn't know about blackface mockery, one should still be able to discern that it offensively characaturizes the features and physicality of black people. No one is pointing out that Australia is a racist country, it is just that it is where it happened this time.

I'm not from Australia but I know it would be bad to offensively mock the way an Aborigine looks or act out any stereotypical behavior that would insult them, and I'm not saying that an Austalian would either.

The same goes for a Chinese person, Mexican, Indian, African or what ever. I just think that people ought to know when they are offensively mocking a peoples' features or acting out stereotypical behavior. It is universal, people are people wherever live. No matter what the culture, people can tell when they are being made a mockery of and when they are shown love. Even if those guys in the skit were not making a sound at all,
you can tell by their makeup and they way the moved that they were mocking not only
MJ and his brothers, but the people they belong to.

Again, this is not about who is the most racist, it's about an individual's intuitiveness as to how their actions will make others feel. They felt it, but they ignored it.

 

[Marilyn Monroe]

whats weird is they knew the Jacksons are American and did the black face anyway when they knew how Americans felt about it. dispite the sugarcoated ''pop singer responce'' from the jacksons, it goes further than only the jacksons.
being a ''tribute'' to michael they should have known americans would have found out about it over here being its a big star like michael when he died and was in the news recently.
i mean this isn't even like how Robert Downey jr did black makeup for Tropic Thunder, a more real life way.
this makeup that these fools did was a really disrepectful makeup , to make fun of a skin color, using show polish type makeup, ''shoe polish'' to make it look more dirty so to speak. shoe polishhhhhhhh, to make a skin color be perceived a certain way, to me its plain to see but.

and whoopi goldberg doesnt speak for every black person, she also was easy on michael vick with his dog abuse. i like hearing whoopi's views, but on these two points she was dead wrong.

after reading some posts i think its sad that simply because some people who happen to do something bad in a certain country, others blame the whole country or feel they must apologize for their country, its like how americans get blamed on here if a few people here do something wrong with mj. stop making this a U.S. vs. Australia thing. its not. its not even only a Michael thing. its a race thing that is universal.

Indranee, I feel you misunderstood my post. By saying "it's not an just an American thing, it's a respect thing" I meant that the history of slavery isn't confined to America and that EVERYONE should know about it. It's human history and racial issues affect everyone. Therefore I found the skit disrespectful. That's what I meant. I'm actually worried that you misunderstood cos I've made like 10 posts in this thread stating my absolute disdain for the skit... and the ignorance of the media in my country. I hope no one else misinterprets my point

And I agree with you all the way. Education is paramount here. I would like to add that my high school did an extensive unit on the Civil Rights movement and the abolition of the Jim Crow laws, alongside my country's own history of discrimination in the White Australia policy of many decades ago... so hopefully education is moving more towards acknowledging bad happenings in the past to make way for a future of understanding.

Exactly. this isnt only an American issue. to make it seem like blacks dont have a bad history elsewhere, let alone other ethnic groups.

Even if "blackface" didn't have a history, I would still find it offensive..

That line right there also needed to be said. very true.

Again, this is not about US vs Australia or which country is more racist than the other, racism is everywhere. And even if someone doesn't know about blackface mockery, one should still be able to discern that it offensively characaturizes the features and physicality of black people.No one is pointing out that Australia is a racist country, it is just that it is where it happened this time.

I'm not from Australia but I know it would be bad to offensively mock the way an Aborigine looks or act out any stereotypical behavior that would insult them, and I'm not saying that an Austalian would either.

The same goes for a Chinese person, Mexican, Indian, African or what ever. I just think that people ought to know when they are offensively mocking a peoples' features or acting out stereotypical behavior. It is universal, people are people wherever live. No matter what the culture, people can tell when they are being made a mockery of and when they are shown love. Even if those guys in the skit were not making a sound at all,
you can tell by their makeup and they way the moved that they were mocking not only
MJ and his brothers, but the people they belong to.

Again, this is not about who is the most racist, it's about an individual's intuitiveness as to how their actions will make others feel. They felt it, but they ignored it.

speak it speak it speak it!!!!!

 

[helena22]

I don't think it was racist, more like tasteless and not funny but I understand the offense
I don't know much about Harry Connick Jr. but I wonder if he would've felt offended like this when Michael was alive...do you think?
I don't know there's so much hypocrisy around these days, now suddenly everyone LOVES him to pieces it's such a sick trend

I believe he would've felt offended the same way. He was protesting against the racist performance becuz he knew better as a person from the South of the US (the South is esp. notorious for the slavery and lynching and bombing and beating....just so much racism-Just a quick look at the US history on that will be enough to make you cringe).

He woulda still felt offended if they had performed any other African-American artists' music in those blackfaces.

Props to him for standing up and teaching them a lesson.

 

[000cozzie000]

No need to be smart about it. Your post took me aback, am I not allowed an opinion? I'm surprised we're in 2009 and supposedly there's a whole country unaware of a big part of black history. Of course I read it. And I stand by what I said.

I'm not trying to be smart. I know the basics about black history, but have never researched it in depth.

I'm sorry but researching America's history is just not a top priority of mine. There are many countries that I'm more interested in.

so, uh, can I ask you Aussies a question that's been on my mind? umm... how do Indian immigrants get treated there?

be honest, okay? I wanna know

I have plenty of Indian friends, some have experienced racism while most haven't and love this country to bits. I'm Arabic and I have never experienced racism in Australia. Ever. Even during that whole Lebanese thing.

Mind you, I had Saudi Arabian neighbours and all they could talk about was how racist Australia was. :mello:

Whoopy Goldberg thought that it would be fun and not offensive if her boyfriend would use blackface make up. She is black and from the US. And you say that people is Australia MUST know?. Give me a break.

Also, its a big part of black history in the US. Not everywhere.

I actually find it a little offensive that many people from the US think everyone should know as much about their history as themselves and act accordingly.

Exactly. Believe it or not, the whole world doesn't revolve arou-- ah forget it. Makes me wonder how much research they have done on Australian history.. or is that not as important?

Also, I'm sick of reading that we treat aboriginals like shit when they get more benefits than we do! I lived in Mt Isa for 3 months (very rural mining town with plenty of aboriginals), my mother worked as a doctor there and she could tell you about the state of their communities. The government tried helping them and giving them homes, but they refuse to live in them and sleep on mattresses in the front yard.. what are we supposed to do?

 

[PrettyYoungThang]

Don't you judge me. I have loved Michael for so long. I cry for him every day. Don't you dare judge me. He means the world to me so don't you judge me.

You think I don't get pissed off when people say hater comments? Well guess what? After a long enough time, I've learned to accept that some people will do that. To deal with your hatred towards the show - firstly, Jackson Jive was NOT racist, and was NOT making fun of Michael. It was a light-hearted tribute. That's even what Anand, the lead singer, said on radio. Secondly, I was PISSED OFF AS HELL at the hater comment during the first episode. But that was made by that guy who writes stuff over the screen, those little comments. The others on the show didn't do anything wrong. A show with so many characters, so there's a hater there. Honestly I don't give a f,uck as long as the other 99% of people there don't open their mouths to spit out hater stuff. I can deal with one hater comment - I simply ignore it because I know it is grounded in ignorance and stupidity. So don't blame a whole show for one hater comment.

And don't you dare say I don't belong here. I love Michael with all my heart and right now I'm haunted by his image every day and night, at times I even want to die. So don't insinuate I'm not a fan.

If it was not making fun of Michael, why was he given a white face? And yes, I have a FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEM with that "one hater comment" given that it was on national broadcast across the country and things like that every day are what contributed to the suffering michael had to endure at the hands of an insensitive and vicious media all in the disguise of "light hearted entertainment" - dont you get it!???

 

[000cozzie000]

If it was not making fun of Michael, why was he given a white face? And yes, I have a FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEM with that "one hater comment" given that it was on national broadcast across the country and things like that every day are what contributed to the suffering michael had to endure at the hands of an insensitive and vicious media all in the disguise of "light hearted entertainment" - dont you get it!???

Well to be fair, even hardcore fans who impersonate him exaggerate the white face make-up.

 

[PrettyYoungThang]

Well to be fair, even hardcore fans who impersonate him exaggerate the white face make-up.

Thats very true. I wonder if they would do that if they had a mock "J4" performing behind them.

There;s been a lot said in this thread. I think the real centre of this is that however it was interpreted, and whatever issues it crossed, it was just PLAIN INSENSITIVE on so many levels.

 

[CarinaT]

so, uh, can I ask you Aussies a question that's been on my mind? umm... how do Indian immigrants get treated there?

be honest, okay? I wanna know

To be honest, I really don't know much about how Indian immigrants are treated here...and I can't speak for them or their personal experiences. But I do want to say that on the whole, everybody gets on well with everybody and that at uni, everyone seems to be treated the same - not that Australia's free from prejudices, of course.

 

[marialovesmjj]

I actually find it a little offensive that many people from the US think everyone should know as much about their history as themselves and act accordingly.

IMO when people in this thread are saying folks need to learn black history isn't necessarily because they think everything revolves around the US or not. It's because people should to learn black history so they know the horrible things that happened and the meaning behind things. People need to learn the history of the aboriginals for the same reasons. Same goes for any group that has a long history of such things that happened to them.
In my opinion.

 

[CarinaT]

IMO when people in this thread are saying folks need to learn black history isn't necessarily because they think everything revolves around the US or not. It's because people should to learn black history so they know the horrible things that happened and the meaning behind things. People need to learn the history of the aboriginals for the same reasons. Same goes for any group that has a long history of such things that happened to them.
In my opinion.

(Yep, it's not about the US or anything. People who are making this USA vs Australia are steering away from the actual issue.)
Ideally, that's how the world should work. People should research into something, be it a person, event, country, etc. before commenting or having an opinion about it. I mean, especially now that we have the internet at our disposal.

 

[144000]

(Yep, it's not about the US or anything. People who are making this USA vs Australia are steering away from the actual issue.)
Ideally, that's how the world should work. People should research into something, be it a person, event, country, etc. before commenting or having an opinion about it. I mean, especially now that we have the internet at our disposal.

yep. that's true. We Are The World.

 

[mistty4m]

Whoopy Goldberg thought that it would be fun and not offensive if her boyfriend would use blackface make up. She is black and from the US. And you say that people is Australia MUST know?. Give me a break.

Also, its a big part of black history in the US. Not everywhere.

I actually find it a little offensive that many people from the US think everyone should know as much about their history as themselves and act accordingly.

One yes i'm from the USA and born and raised

Two i'm black and of course most people know the history of black slaves and how most blacks was stereotyped by white actors using blackfaces.

What get me puzzles is how some of you are changing everything around to US issue and don't see the real picture and history of blackface.

This is the reason more people need to learn black history so they don't make this mistake and maybe you will get the point about it.

I don't believe everyone in australia share the same opinion oh it's just a joke and get over, I believe some people just need to learn black history more and stop pushing stuff under the rug and claiming we blame USA and don't blame us because we didn't know the history of blackface.

FYI
Blackface was used to put black down and make us look like clowns on stage and painted us uneducated and walk around with our hair standing on the top of our head.


If people learned history of each culture about what they had to deal with and how they made it past the bad times then maybe mistake like this wouldn't be made and sweep under the rug.

http://black-face.com/

 

[.Butterflies.]

Hold up this is not american vs other country so let's get that correct and stay on the topic of this regarding black history issue with blackfaces.

Of course this is America vs. Australia. The whole point is that we as Australians in general didn't find the act offensive but Americans in general did. To me that's clearly two cultures clashing over each others perceptions of racism. The whole argument as to why it's racist is that in AMERICAN history blackface has been used to demean and humiliate African Americans and therefore in this day and age its highly disrespectful and racist in AMERICAN culture. Our whole argument as to why it's NOT racist is because blackface doesn't exist in AUSTRALIAN history and is not used in AUSTRALIAN culture with the intention to demean or humiliate a race. To me that's pretty clear this IS an America vs. Australia thing. I don't care how you try to skew it as if you're just a mere person concerned about something racist that happened to have occurred in Australia, because at the end of the day, your perception about why it's racist is being based on AMERICAN history and your own cultural conditioning as to what is and is not racist.

At the end of the day, in Australia we are entitled to do things that we as AUSTRALIANS don't find offensive. I find it incredibly insulting and patronizing that some of you expect us to conform to American ideals to appease what is considered offensive in American culture. You're giving us waaaay too much credit for what we should and should not know and to me it's coming off pretty condescending i.e "Jive" is a derogatory term towards African Americans. HA! They used that in the name Jackson JIVE. Seee. SEEEEEEE they ARE racist!!! Puh-leze!! I bet you I can go knocking at 500 doors right this second, ask every person who answers what JIVE means and I would be unbelievably surprised if I found ONE Australian alone who remotely linked the word to anything to do with insulting African Americans. I also find it offensive when some of you say anyone who doesn't know the history of blackface should pick up a history book to learn about black history. Whether we were to know about it or not, the intentions of blackface in America should not be projected on to every other country.

This whole thing is ridiculous! This is exactly the same as an Arabian guest judge on American idol getting offended because the females on the show didn't come out wearing hijabs! Stop injecting your cultural perceptions into our actions and intentions and labelling people racist when they are not!!! Thank you.

 

[RainbowAngel]

To be honest, I really don't know much about how Indian immigrants are treated here...and I can't speak for them or their personal experiences. But I do want to say that on the whole, everybody gets on well with everybody and that at uni, everyone seems to be treated the same - not that Australia's free from prejudices, of course.

Just to add to this, if you didn't know, Indian immigrants are not treated very well by the community. There are many news in Australians that they are being bashed up, involved in fights and their cars was smashed up just because they are indians. While this is not really big news in Australia, Indians at India are protesting it saying that Australia is racist.

I'm my experince as an immigrant, (but I'm Chinese) in Australia for almost 5 years, I haven't experince anything racist before. The community around me seems very fair and judge everyone equally. But Australian culture is very different from my country - Malaysia.

I think the question regarding Jackson Jive is that if they are aware what they are doing could be offensive. I'm not Australian so I can't tell, but my workmates who are Australian disscussed about this inccident and they believe it don't look offensive to any Australian because they never take anything seriously. For them, the show is just some humour and entertainment and they don't even think about it being racist or making fun of MJ.

 

[144000]

Of course this is America vs. Australia. The whole point is that we as Australians in general didn't find the act offensive but Americans in general did. To me that's clearly two cultures clashing over each others perceptions of racism. The whole argument as to why it's racist is that in AMERICAN history blackface has been used to demean and humiliate African Americans and therefore in this day and age its highly disrespectful and racist in AMERICAN culture. Our whole argument as to why it's NOT racist is because blackface doesn't exist in AUSTRALIAN history and is not used in AUSTRALIAN culture with the intention to demean or humiliate a race. To me that's pretty clear this IS an America vs. Australia thing. I don't care how you try to skew it as if you're just a mere person concerned about something racist that happened to have occurred in Australia, because at the end of the day, your perception about why it's racist is being based on AMERICAN history and your own cultural conditioning as to what is and is not racist.

At the end of the day, in Australia we are entitled to do things that we as AUSTRALIANS don't find offensive. I find it incredibly insulting and patronizing that some of you expect us to conform to American ideals to appease what is considered offensive in American culture. You're giving us waaaay too much credit for what we should and should not know and to me it's coming off pretty condescending i.e "Jive" is a derogatory term towards African Americans. HA! They used that in the name Jackson JIVE. Seee. SEEEEEEE they ARE racist!!! Puh-leze!! I bet you I can go knocking at 500 doors right this second, ask every person who answers what JIVE means and I would be unbelievably surprised if I found ONE Australian alone who remotely linked the word to anything to do with insulting African Americans. I also find it offensive when some of you say anyone who doesn't know the history of blackface should pick up a history book to learn about black history. Whether we were to know about it or not, the intentions of blackface in America should not be projected on to every other country.

This whole thing is ridiculous! This is exactly the same as an Arabian guest judge on American idol getting offended because the females on the show didn't come out wearing hijabs! Stop injecting your cultural perceptions into our actions and intentions and labelling people racist when they are not!!! Thank you.

i'm sorry that we are suddenly not standing for what Michael stands for. unfortunately, everybody seems to be having one thing in common. they get offended, and don't care if someone else is offended. that's unfortunate. everybody vs. everybody else. how sad. i guess we are not the world, after all?

the idea is that we are supposed to all be the human race, and care for each other. and political correctness is supposed to keep history from repeating. if acts like that one keep it up, then history will repeat in australia. no person is better than the other, and everybody is capable of making the same mistakes. judging from your post, you are not going to care who you hurt, just as long as nobody hurts you. isn't that where racism started?

 

[mistty4m]

Of course this is America vs. Australia. The whole point is that we as Australians in general didn't find the act offensive but Americans in general did. To me that's clearly two cultures clashing over each others perceptions of racism. The whole argument as to why it's racist is that in AMERICAN history blackface has been used to demean and humiliate African Americans and therefore in this day and age its highly disrespectful and racist in AMERICAN culture. Our whole argument as to why it's NOT racist is because blackface doesn't exist in AUSTRALIAN history and is not used in AUSTRALIAN culture with the intention to demean or humiliate a race. To me that's pretty clear this IS an America vs. Australia thing. I don't care how you try to skew it as if you're just a mere person concerned about something racist that happened to have occurred in Australia, because at the end of the day, your perception about why it's racist is being based on AMERICAN history and your own cultural conditioning as to what is and is not racist.

At the end of the day, in Australia we are entitled to do things that we as AUSTRALIANS don't find offensive. I find it incredibly insulting and patronizing that some of you expect us to conform to American ideals to appease what is considered offensive in American culture. You're giving us waaaay too much credit for what we should and should not know and to me it's coming off pretty condescending i.e "Jive" is a derogatory term towards African Americans. HA! They used that in the name Jackson JIVE. Seee. SEEEEEEE they ARE racist!!! Puh-leze!! I bet you I can go knocking at 500 doors right this second, ask every person who answers what JIVE means and I would be unbelievably surprised if I found ONE Australian alone who remotely linked the word to anything to do with insulting African Americans. I also find it offensive when some of you say anyone who doesn't know the history of blackface should pick up a history book to learn about black history. Whether we were to know about it or not, the intentions of blackface in America should not be projected on to every other country.

This whole thing is ridiculous! This is exactly the same as an Arabian guest judge on American idol getting offended because the females on the show didn't come out wearing hijabs! Stop injecting your cultural perceptions into our actions and intentions and labelling people racist when they are not!!! Thank you.

No it's not and i'm black do that make me USA vs AUSTRALIAN, so i'm supposed push my history and be ashamed because i'm an american black and say oh well I don't want to seem like this is bashing australians.

I don't believe every australian find this okay, I believe some do find it's okay to crush this blackface history as a joke and tell blacks well it's just a joke move on.

I believe most people need to learn about culture history and any race people to understand their history what they had deal with hard times in their past history.

We need to be more aware and understanding, lack of understanding is what is making this topic more longer then it have to be.


Learn history before you make a bad choice

 

[Goodbye Michael]

we know what blackface is now, we didn't before.

i am the only white person in my house, the others are African. They were not offended, they don't know of blackface. I'm sure you don't know much of their culture either or what is offensive to them. In an ideal world we would all know everyones culture, but that is just impossible. Even in Africa each different country has their own culture and in those seperate countries each different tribe has their own culture again.
while most people know a fair bit of US history (more than most in the US would know of our history i'm sure), they don't know about the details, not every detail is taught.

Black history is very important for people to know, but it certainly doesn't begin and end in the US, black history goes way way back throughout Africa and i doubt you or many others have much knowledge about black history before slavery.

I agree that it was offensive, but that's because i knew of the "golliwog" insult but not the particular name "blackface" and i think i only know of it because of the Ted Danson shit fest that happened a while ago.

I applaud Harry Connick Jr, he said what he believed without being rude, he was polite and threw in a joke, and explained after the commercial why it was offensive to him. The show gave him that opportunity and he thanked them for it. He found it offensive because he is from the South, it is a huge issue there. but that being said, not everybody knows about blackface and you can't expect everyone to have the knowledge just because you have. do you know all about ancient egypt, the inca's, the dinka and nuer's in sudan, the kikuyu, luo, teso in kenya, the northern ugandan war against the LRA, what is insulting to one is not so for another. Ignorance is not hate, it is just that, ignorance.

We are all guilty of being ignorant of something.

 

[Goodbye Michael]

and for the record i don't believe this is us v's aus.

to me some people like myself can see why it may not have been deemed offensive because of lack of knowledge, not hatred or racism, and others believe they should have known it was racist and found great offense in the skit.

i don't think anyone is right or wrong. If you were hurt, you were hurt, your feelings are real. I take this as more of a discussion, this is how i see it, how do you? that kind of thing. Perfectly good intelligent discussion doesn't hurt anyone, it opens doors and educates.

 

[*MissChanel*]

GET OVER IT!!!!

It was not their intention to be racist. YOU choose to perceive it that way! Fact is, it had nothing to do with race.

GET OVER IT!!!

This story/American drama is dead now. Its only alive on this MJ forum cause fans got nothing else to talk about, lol.

 

[144000]

we know what blackface is now, we didn't before.

i am the only white person in my house, the others are African. They were not offended, they don't know of blackface. I'm sure you don't know much of their culture either or what is offensive to them. In an ideal world we would all know everyones culture, but that is just impossible. Even in Africa each different country has their own culture and in those seperate countries each different tribe has their own culture again.
while most people know a fair bit of US history (more than most in the US would know of our history i'm sure), they don't know about the details, not every detail is taught.

Black history is very important for people to know, but it certainly doesn't begin and end in the US, black history goes way way back throughout Africa and i doubt you or many others have much knowledge about black history before slavery.

I agree that it was offensive, but that's because i knew of the "golliwog" insult but not the particular name "blackface" and i think i only know of it because of the Ted Danson shit fest that happened a while ago.

I applaud Harry Connick Jr, he said what he believed without being rude, he was polite and threw in a joke, and explained after the commercial why it was offensive to him. The show gave him that opportunity and he thanked them for it. He found it offensive because he is from the South, it is a huge issue there. but that being said, not everybody knows about blackface and you can't expect everyone to have the knowledge just because you have. do you know all about ancient egypt, the inca's, the dinka and nuer's in sudan, the kikuyu, luo, teso in kenya, the northern ugandan war against the LRA, what is insulting to one is not so for another. Ignorance is not hate, it is just that, ignorance.

We are all guilty of being ignorant of something.

that's where we take our example from Michael. obviously, being world traveled, he learned to be sensitive to EVERYONE. and, in that, we are all capable. we have an innate sense to know there is somthing that offends others, and we take it from there to learn more. in that sense, none of us are ignorant. MJ is proof of that. we can take his lead. i have met people who i know nothing about, and i have yet to have done anything to offend their culture. and i've had a sense to at least feel a general sense not to act a certain way around someone i don't know anything about. like i said, if i go to Britain, the first thing i'll do is ask about their customs. then i don't stand a chance to fuck up.

 

[144000]

GET OVER IT!!!!

It was not their intention to be racist. YOU choose to perceive it that way! Fact is, it had nothing to do with race.

GET OVER IT!!!

This story/American drama is dead now. Its only alive on this MJ forum cause fans got nothing else to talk about, lol.

no. nobody is getting over anything. and it's not just exclusive to this forum. that insensitive phrase 'get over it' is how all trouble always began, and always will begin. awareness is important. the world doesn't just revolve around any one person. we have to be sensitive to each other. it's only one planet.

 

[*MissChanel*]

Obviously cause there is nothing else much to discuss... fans are taking this out of proportion and making this thread popular when at the end of the day, no racism was intended.

That's the point people are missing. YES it was disrespectful towards Michael but racist? NO. They were mocking Michael's skin disease, it had nothing to do with race! Bad taste, was I annoyed? YES. Racist? NO.

You have to understand the nature of the segment which is about tasteless acts with no shame or talent who perform for a few seconds to get laughed at.

America has the history of the "black face" where they were INTENTIONALLY racist, not Australia. The act had nothing to do with race in Australia and what Americans have done regarding the black face has nothing to do with Australia.