#smallactsofracism
Act 10: Good news! We are a third of the way through the posts. If you’re tired of hearing it, imagine how tired we are of living it!
Every day, I discuss with at least one person my plans for the Small Acts of Racism post and every single day, my plans are changed because I come across something that seems more pressing.
When my oldest child, Frank, was a baby, I started graduate school. The program I was in was very busy with incredible demands on my time. It was very hard being a single mother while trying to get to school observations in the morning and attend classes in the afternoon and evening. In order to help keep him busy, I did what many parents did at the time. I joined a video direct club that delivered VHS tapes once a month, so that while I was doing homework, he could watch cartoons. My only rule was I had to watch every video I bought at least once with him to determine if the content was appropriate. He liked watching the same video over and over again and while I was certainly never going to watch The Lion King 1000 times, I was going to watch it at least once.
During one of our evening watch sessions upon the delivery of a new set up of tapes, we were watching a cartoon about two blackbirds that were moving to a new neighborhood of white or light colored birds. Since this was a Christian video company, I assumed the plot would revolve around the blackbirds moving in and the white birds welcoming them and celebrating the growth and diversity of their new neighborhood.
Hahahahaaaa! That’s what I get for thinking. The next thing I heard once the blackbirds had completed their move was: “The neighborhood was nice until blackie moved in!” WHAT THE FUCK?! Did I hear what I just think I heard? I rewound the tape a couple of times and listened to it again and again. Every single time produced the same result: “The neighborhood was nice until blackie moved in.” After verification, I popped the tape out and called the company. Some poor child, who probably only had a job as a telemarketer to make ends meet, caught a MOTHER’S WRATH. I canceled my membership and I am sure Frank was quite confused as to my reaction.
Fast forward to yesterday, when I came upon the attached post from my friend’s page. The article below discusses a video available for viewing on a YouTube channel that shows a Whie princess losing her beauty. When she loses her beauty, she turns into a Black woman with curly hair. When her prince comes, she says, “I’m sorry I’m ugly now.” If that isn’t enough for you to say, “What the fuck is this racist shit?!” It gets better. The prince says, he loves her anyway and because he shows her he truly loves her, not her looks, she turns back into a White woman with golden blonde hair! The video is imbedded in the article for your viewing pleasure.
Furthermore, another friend tagged me in a post regarding deep dark Black rag dolls called “the feel better doll.” The doll is meant to be hit and slammed by a child who is upset all while screaming, “I FEEL GOOD, I FEEL GOOD.”
I don’t feel like I should have to explain why this is racist, but in case you need additional explanation or clarification, it is related to yesterday’s post regarding how negative information about people of color is subtly entered into everyday consumption without people noticing. Racism bubbles beneath the surface largely going unseen and it is internalized. It then leads to things such as the policing of Black hair in the school setting, under the guise of teaching grooming habits; a billion dollar industry of Black women changing the texture of their hair in order to be accepted in workplace settings that see natural hair as unkempt and the list goes on. The Black doll example reinforces the notion that Black people are inhuman, unworthy of appropriate behavior and there to abuse. The example from my VHS club days presents the act of real estate discrimination and reinforces the notion of redlining, tipping and white flight in a nonthreatening manner. This type of information is seeped into everyday conversations and images and causes systemic racial discrimination. It has been at least 23 years since the VHS tape incident. Why are we still doing this?
This is a link for the article regarding the black doll and the article regarding the cartoon is below that.
Small Acts of Racism 