Jackson Jive Australian 'Hey Hey' Skit sparks calls of racism

from Sins Forums

To start from the beginning, if anyone hasnt been watching the news lately:

In Australia, there is a show called Hey-Hey its Saturday. its some sort of comedy/talk show. i dont watch it myself, but recently, there was an act were 6 Australian doctors got dressed up like the Jackson 5 and did a skit (theatrical joke) about the jackson 5. All 5 of the 6 members painted their faces black to emulate being black skinned, and 1 painted his face very white, to emulate Michael Jackson.

Now, Harry Connick Jnr (who, btw, i had never heard of until this incident) was guest starring on the show. He decided to get on his moral high horse, and call the skit racist, saying he wouldnt have come on the show if he had known in advance the skit was to be performed.

And since that, watching the morning news today, ive heard that my country (Australia) is being called a Racist Backwater! what a load of SHIT!

Seriously, someone define racism?

Google says this:

Definitions of racism on the Web:

  • the prejudice that members of one race are intrinsically superior to members of other races
  • discriminatory or abusive behavior towards members of another race
    wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

     

  • Racism is the belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent ...
    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racism

     

  • The belief that each race has distinct and intrinsic attributes; The belief that one race is superior to all others; Prejudice or discrimination based upon race
    en.wiktionary.org/wiki/racism

     

  • racist - based on racial intolerance; "racist remarks"
  • racist - discriminatory especially on the basis of race or religion
    wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

Now, a skit that simply has 6 guys (only 1 of which was truly 'white', the rest of which being of indian/lebanese/italian etc decent) painting their faces black to emulate and show clearly that they are dressing up as the Jackson 5 and not as say, Patrick Swayze in Dirty Dancing, cannot be described as racism! It was not an attack against black people, it was not descriminating against black people, it was not being unfair to black people or preventing or forcing black people to do something they have a right to do, it was just a guy dressing up to play the part.

To be honest and blunt, most of this "omfgz racistz" uproar is coming from the USA. I wont even start on how racist you are, but let me make one simple comment. the movie "Tropic Thunder" with Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Junior and Jack Black. Did Robert Downey Jnr NOT dress up and paint his face like a black man? And yet silence from the World Stage!

Harry Connick Jnr himself was in a skit with an actual black comedian, both of whom were 'sending up' black preachers. And yet he has the ARROGANCE to call this skit racist.

And then the rest of the world calls Australia a RACIST BACKWATER! What stupidity!

You know what is Racist? Seeing Racism where there is none. If i cannot say, "that guy was black" or describe a black man as black, because someone think im descriminating against him, its just rediculous! For F***s sake! they guy has black skin, its a descriptive term! and yet a portion of black people call white people 'white bread' or 'white boy' or whatever. Wait, no racism in that? im not saying it is said with the intention of being a racist slur, but if that comment is no racist, but calling a black person black is a racist slur... what hope is there?

Its like you cant say i have blue eyes because you are descriminating agianst my russian heritage! In the case of calling a black man black, im not the rascist. In the case of Hey Hey, Australia is not the Rascist.

 

Its every blind, manipulated SHEEP who saw racism where there was none, who are the racists.

Pull your heads out of your asses! The only real racism left in the world are the people who take every little comment relating to race as racist. Grow up!

Note: Forgive me for all the swearing, but ive been watching the news over the past few days, and just been getting angrier and angrier because of the stupidty of the population who are throwing the "Racism" card here there and everywhere. Seriously, once you stop seeing racism under every rock and behind every tree, then the majority of the problem will go away!

off-topic
51,828 views 9 replies
Reply #1 from Elemental Forums Top

Welcome to the wonderful world of the double-standard. Although I suppose it's better (although not by much) to have a false positrive than a false negative.......

Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top

agree with Scout, double standards.............

Ashes of the Singularity II
Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top

as an australian I would like to have NEVER seen or heard of daryl sommers and his red faces, BUT I think that this was a publicity gimick, to get his ancient and withering show back into the spotlight and MORE publicity

harpo

 

Reply #4 from Demigod Forums Top

^ This.

 

Reply #5 from Stardock Forums Top

the term racism has quite gone far! i believe this was just a skit of some sort to depict actual persons..no racist intentions but we cannot blame people to have their own definition/stand on racism.

 

Reply #6 from Sins Forums Top

I wont even start on how racist you are

No country is immune from this idiocy (including your own) and ignoring it when it rears its ugly head sure as hell doesn't help.  I suggest doing research on how 'blackface' was used in past minstrels before firing off verbal salvoes.  Fact is 'blackface' started as a racist stereotype of blacks.  This history can not be ignored no matter who uses it, nor their intent.  It is racist.  Period.  End of story.

Reply #7 from Demigod Forums Top

In my humble opinion this has been blown way out of proportion due to the hyper-sensitive-polictically correct society we're becoming. This skit was actually originally aired 20 years ago on the original run of 'Hey Hey It's Saturday' and this was a re-performance of that skit - the original skit didn't make a single headline. If Connick Jnr. hadn't of said a word, neither would have this. The obvious issue is, of course, relating back to the old 'Blackface' routines that were present in years gone by. To be fair, the vast majority of those routines were racist - they portrayed stereotypes, and made fun, of black people for being black. They were tasteless and rightly earnt the mantle of 'racism'.

The difference between this skit and the routines of old should honestly be clear to any educated person: making fun of someone, who happens to be black, isn't racist. Making fun of someone because they are black is racist.

To better understand the line, I find it helpful to reverse the situation:
If 6 black men had of donned white power on their faces and dressed up as The Backstreet Boys, or some other all white male band, would you consider it racist?

Was the skit funny? Not to me.
Was it racist? No.

Reply #8 from Sins Forums Top

The difference between this skit and the routines of old should honestly be clear to any educated person: making fun of someone, who happens to be black, isn't racist. Making fun of someone because they are black is racist.



To better understand the line, I find it helpful to reverse the situation:

If 6 black men had of donned white power on their faces and dressed up as The Backstreet Boys, or some other all white male band, would you consider it racist?



Was the skit funny? Not to me.

Was it racist? No.

agreed! well put

No country is immune from this idiocy (including your own) and ignoring it when it rears its ugly head sure as hell doesn't help

i agree with the first part, and also agree with the second part, BUT! seeing racism where there is none is just as bad, if not worse. that was the case here. some lout thought he'd get on his high horse, and start throwing the race card around... what a loser!

As for blackfaces historically being a racist skit, okay, fine, but nowadays it isnt, and if you havent the maturity or intelligence to see it otherwise, then go hide in a hole you damn racist! as ZehDon said, making fun of people who happen to be black isnt racist.

Reply #9 from Elemental Forums Top

what hope is there?

Death (solving stupidity in the world one life at a time).