Risky Post On Racism

Last week I heard WSPD (yes, I have started listening again after a 2 year hiatus) mention that it was being called "racist" because of some clips they played. The clips came from a utility assistance fair that was held at the Erie Street Market. In the clips you could hear individuals who were very upset that the fair was nothing more than informational in nature. That is, they were not actually given any actual assistance that day, other than info on how to get help.

Now, WSPD is a radio station. They, of course, do not show pictures or video. So, my first thought was, "why would the person (or group) making this accusation automatically think the people speaking in the clips were black?" I mean, come on, we're not supposed to believe in stereotypes, right? So, what was it in those clips? Was it the incredibly poor grammar? The frequent use of the word "ain't"? Was it the way words were pronounced? Was it that the people were complaining about others trying to help them...the sound of entitlement in their voices? Were any of those things the reasons the accusers thought they were black? If so, doesn't that make accuser the one guilty of stereotyping? Doesn't that make the accuser the racist? Or, is that WSPD was simply reporting the news and the people who complained at this event were just fools?

On a similar note, some d-bag website is saying that the movie "Transformers" is racist. Why? Because some of the characters are depicted as having "a simian appearance, with wide faces and huge ears." The website author then goes on to mention that one character has a gold tooth, speaks with a "crunked up street accent", and uses "jive" language. Now, I don't know what "crunked up" or "jive" language is, but evidently they are black stereotypes.

Again, why does the blogger make the assumption that the robots are black caricatures? Is it because black people are fond of gold teeth, speak with crunked up street accents and use jive language? I'm just asking.

Frankly, I'm getting sick of all the name throwing and accusations. If someone is actually living out a stereotype, especially a bad one, maybe they deserve to be called a fool. But calling out an individual or an isolated event is by no means a condemnation of an entire race.