Racism with approval?

[Gob]

QANTAS has been embarrassed by a publicity stunt on Twitter that backfired.

The airline yesterday issued an apology for awarding free tickets to the Bledisloe Cup on Saturday night to two Brisbane men who ''blacked up'' to impersonate their favourite Wallaby.

It removed a photo on its Twitter page of the two men dressed - and face-painted - to look like the Wallabies star Radike Samo. Qantas had awarded the men the $378 platinum tickets last week.

To win, competitors had to tell Qantas via Twitter how they intended to show their support for the Wallabies at the match. Charles Butler, on his Twitter account pek-anan, promised to ''dress as Radike Samo. Complete with Afro Wig, Aus rugby kit and facepaint''. He and another man later got Samo to pose in a photograph with them in their wigs, and with their faces painted black. Qantas's Twitter account tweeted an image of the two men yesterday, saying they had ''lived up to their promise! Good work''.



However a stream of posts called the photo racist and said it was reminiscent of a 2009 Hey Hey It's Saturday ''blackface'' routine that caused a storm, and which American entertainer Harry Connick Jr - who was appearing on the show - reacted to with horror. The airline immediately took down the photo, sending apologetic tweets to people who said it was racist.

When Qantas spokeswoman Sophia Connelly was contacted by the Herald yesterday, she said: ''We apologise that the photo … offended some people.'' She later rang back with a statement provided to Qantas by Samo that said he did not know what all the fuss was about. ''These guys were actually paying me a tribute. It was a bit of fun, and I think they regarded me as their favourite Wallaby. I don't have an issue with it at all, I was glad to be in a photo with them.''

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/national/the-diar ... z1WMOG8wTP

So were they (and/or QUANTAS) being "racist"?

[Timster]

Were is medi when we need him?

[loCAtek]

Joke texted;

An airplane is decreasing speed very rapidly going downward, the pilot
comes over the intercom and says I'm sorry it had to come to this folks, but
unfortunately we're going to have to let some of the luggage go'.... the
plane continues to decrease speed. Again you hear the pilot over the
intercom
'I hate to have to do this but now we're going to have to start
releasing passengers by alphabetical order beginning with the letter
'A!!!..... Africans, any Africans!?.... No one answers
'B!!! 'Black People, any Black People!? again, silence.
'C!!! 'Colored People, any Colored People!?... silence.
A black little boy in the back turns to his mother and says 'but mom, ain't we African American? aren't we Black? aren't we Colored? 'the mother turns to her son and says 'Yes son, but today we're Niggas!!!!... Mexicans go first!.. The little black boy turns to the little Mexican kid seating next to him and laughs....!!!
The Mexican kid laughs back and says today I'm a Wetback..

[dales]

Were is medi when we need him?

+1

[Scooter]

Careful. I watched enough of Buffy the Vampire Slayer to know that naming demons tends to make them appear.

[BoSoxGal]

PC insanity?

[Scooter]

Blackface has a pretty checkered history...I suspect these guys weren't aware of that, but that doesn't makes its more unsavory associations disappear.

[BoSoxGal]

Sure, but blackface minstrelsy to caricature/lampoon blacks is one thing; I'd argue this is something else entirely. If the two fans were also colored and merely donned wigs & jerseys, wouldn't it have been entirely acceptable? Aren't they just dressing up as someone they admire?


As the 'victim' of this 'racism' stated, he considered it a tribute by fans. Is he too oppressed to know better?

I consider myself to be very progressive, but stories like this one frustrate me a bit. Why don't all the folks complaining expend that same energy decrying the atrocities in the Congo and famine in Somalia virtually ignored by mainstream media. Isn't that a far more obvious & dangerous racism?

[Scooter]

Aren't they just dressing up as someone they admire?

People who are seeing it don't necessarily know their intentions. They just see a modern version of a minstrel show.

[Gob]

Interstingly, Aus never had a "Minstrel Show".

[Sean]

Until recently of course...

[Gob]

LOL!!! An interesting take on that..

A good example of the different approaches to racial relationships came in a 2009 skit on the Australian television show, Hey Hey its Saturday. A multi-racial group of Australians from non-English speaking backgrounds performed a tribute to the Jackson five by painting their faces and dancing around like buffoons. The performance was well within Australian cultural sensibilities to not take oneself, one’s social group, or any social group, too seriously.

One of the judges of the skit was American Harry Connick Jr, who found it deeply offensive. For Connick Jr, it referenced the Black and White Minstrels and the days where black people were made to look like buffoons. However, because Australia never had the Black and White Minstrels, and always had people making themselves look like buffoons, the act was one of equality.

The failure to predict that Connick Jr would be offended could be traced to Australian egalitaianism. Australians are in the habit of treating everyone the same, which often means they fail to learn about the cultural differences of people from other nations. In other words, the producers of the show just treated Connick Jr as they would an Autralian without considering the fact that he was not.

http://www.convictcreations.com/culture/yankaussie.htm

[loCAtek]

How could they call it 'blackface' when Radike isn't black, he's abo?

[alice]

Radike Samo was actually born in Fiji.
And Australian aborigines ('abo's) prefer to be called 'Indigenous people' now.

I think 'blackface' as per your comment, loCAtek, is anyone with dark coloured skin - meaning not'white', and not 'yellow' (intended as a reference to Asian skin colourings), and not 'redskins (as a reference to the native Aemerican indians), or any other generic colour reference.
Australian indigenous people / aborigines used to be called 'blackfellas' - in fact, they used to use that reference themself (as in 'that's blackfella land - our land'). But they probably adopted the term from early 'white' settlers - ie, early settlers of any other race or nationality that weren't dark skinned. And so a 'blackface' reference would certainly apply to the indigenous/aborigine in the context of this story.

And it obviously would also apply to a dark skinned Fijian, in the context of the article quoted above.

[loCAtek]

ThX Alice

Obviously, from the photo Radike felt flattered by the mimicry. I t reminds of the last World Series™ when the Giants™ fans started the rallying cry:
'Fear the Beard!'

...and donned fake whiskers in respect of Brian Wilson;




Just for the trivia; but the San Francisco Giants™ have a huge Black-American fan base. That's because they were the team of the legendary Willie Mays - American Baseball great!

[oldr_n_wsr]

Radike Samo was actually born in Fiji.
And Australian aborigines ('abo's) prefer to be called 'Indigenous people' now.

I think 'blackface' as per your comment, loCAtek, is anyone with dark coloured skin - meaning not'white', and not 'yellow' (intended as a reference to Asian skin colourings), and not 'redskins (as a reference to the native Aemerican indians), or any other generic colour reference.
Australian indigenous people / aborigines used to be called 'blackfellas' - in fact, they used to use that reference themself (as in 'that's blackfella land - our land'). But they probably adopted the term from early 'white' settlers - ie, early settlers of any other race or nationality that weren't dark skinned. And so a 'blackface' reference would certainly apply to the indigenous/aborigine in the context of this story.

And it obviously would also apply to a dark skinned Fijian, in the context of the article quoted above.

Isn't she smart?
Thanks alice

[thestoat]

o were they (and/or QUANTAS) being "racist"?

IMO they were not, and Quantas were being pathetic. The stunt was not meant to offend but to support. There is so much PC out there these days it is pathetic. If the team was made up of women and they dressed as women would they be considered sexist?

[Crackpot]

No because they could counterclaim being transgendered.

[Gob]