Archive for 2015-08-30

Home Archive for 2015-08-30

I wasn't sure whether or not I was going to share this, but I figured the best way to get it out of my system would be to share it with you guys. I decided to watch the VMAs because I KNEW there were going to be some awkward moments involved, but I never thought that at the end of the show I would be confused and outraged.

Let me break down why cultural appropriation is so offensive and not just "race baiting". Long story short, in 50 years my children may be told that Iggy Azalea invented hip hop music in the same way we have been told that Elvis invented Rock'N'Roll. They may be told that dreads were discovered by Miley Cyrus in the same way that America was "discovered" by Columbus along with the millions of Native Americans ALREADY residing on the Island.

Do you see my point?

The VMAs and other award shows are viewed by millions of people, many of who have no interactions with black people and get most if not all of their opinions from the television. When people laugh at the stereotypes and the appropriation, it normalizes it. The normalization of offense to blacks gets them kept out of good housing and jobs, wrongfully arrested, and even killed. While, white people can attack cops and stroll through malls with guns blazing and be talked down by officers, black men and women are killed on sight for assumptions of criminal activity.

S/N: I had a professor who told the class that he went to Sweeden for his book tour, and a handful of white female teenagers ran up to him, called him Snoop Dog, and asked if they could take pictures with him, BUT He looks NOTHING like snoop. I imagine when you live in Country that lacks cultural diversity all blacks look the same. Not saying it's any fault of theirs, it's just ludicrous.

The MTV Music Awards was a JOKE, and the joke seemed to be on us. The show became a two-hour platform for the issues that are currently being dealt with in today's society - but not in a good way. Watching Miley parade around in dreadlocks, and listening to Rebel Wilsons insensitive joke about police brutality was beyond ridiculous. The 2015 production of the VMAs was not a good look.

5 blatant occurrences of racism at the MTV VMAs

1. Rebel Wilson's police "joke"

The Australian actress began her speech about police with "A lot of people have problems with the police," and then proceeded to take off her clothes and joke about strippers and "injustice" while wearing a F**k Tha Stripper Police" t-shirt. Mind you, this happened before she presented the Best Hip Hop Video award. I'm assuming police violence is a funny scenario - all of a sudden. The deaths of Tamir Rice, Freddie Gray, Mike Brown, Rekia Boyd, Mya Hall and numerous others must be absolutely hilarious; but let me ask you something, when was the last time you heard a Holocaust, Sandy Hook, or Columbine joke at an award show? Right.

When one user tweeted at McKesson that 'nothing's off limits in comedy', McKesson asked when was 'the last time you heard a Holocaust, Sandy Hook, or Columbine joke at an awards show?', a sentiment reiterated by this user

2. Miley Cyrus's dreadlocks

Cultural appropriation at it's finest. Check this out -

"All eyes were on Miley Cyrus as she walked the red carpet before the 2015 VMAs. The host’s metallic suspenders were out of this world awesome (obviously) — but we MUST talk about her awesome hair! Those dreads are EVERYTHING!" - Hollywood Insider.

"I love Zendaya's style, and I love when she has the little hair—she just had it," Giuliana began, not explaining what she meant by "the little hair." Then she dropped this insane critique:
"She has just such a tiny frame that this hair, to me, overwhelms her. I feel like she smells like patchouli oil. Or weed! Yeah, maybe weed?" - Giuliana Rancic.

Anyone can wear a hairstyle, but black women are reduced to stereotypes with it. White celebrities flaunt black culture while black people are ridiculed and ostracized for it.

3. The joke about the death of The Notorious B.I.G

In a skit alongside Mike Will Made It and Tyga an Ouija board was asked to reveal who was at fault for the death of The Notorious B.I.G, the board responded "LAPD." Hilarious. Death is never a funny topic, let alone at the hands of the police force. It's amazing to me that the suffering of a certain group of people can be considered funny let alone amusing. Yes, Biggie died years ago but the fact still remains that there are numerous amounts of young men and women being killed by police officers around the country. MTV is known for their anti-racism commercials - I guess all of that positivity went out of the window at this year's ceremony.

4. The "White Squad commercial"

Apparently this campaign commercial was a part of MTVs anti-justice campaign. Whose bright idea was this? SERIOUSLY. I honestly don't think people take the time to think about how ridiculous advertisements such as this will be perceived. When it premiered I watched the commercial in its entirety with my brow raised the entire time. Not ONCE did they mention anything about anti-justice, let alone explain the premise of the commercial. Apparently, we're not capable of doing simple things for ourselves such as hailing a cab - "as usual" we have to depend on whites for the simplest of things. C'mon. The point of the entire commercial was lost in translation - their main objective was to point out prejudice but in turn they managed to offend most of the country.

So apparently White Squad is a new MTV campaign to confront prejudice but...these jokes on the #VMAs??? Girl. Bye. Yall full of it.
— Care Free Black Girl (@DaisahR) August 31, 2015

5. Taylor Swift's debuted video "Wildest Dreams"

FYI: Taylor Swift went to Africa to film a music video and there’s only white people in it http://t.co/LqSdpNoaTA pic.twitter.com/lQpRElpASA
— The FADER (@thefader) August 31, 2015

Now, this may not be as detrimental as some of the other events last night, but I find it very interesting that she premiered a video shot in Africa- with all white people. I'm sorry, but I can't help but laugh. Now most people are jumping to her defense by saying that the video was shot in SOUTH Africa - which they say is predominately white. I guess we can just ignore the fact that Africa is 90% BLACK. This reminds me of the Exodus Gods and Kings movie that premiered in 2014, with an all WHITE cast. Remember, they were retelling the story of Moses and Ramasis, yet the main characters were WHITE. Am I missing something? Why in the world was that acceptable. Black main characters would have been unappealing I suppose. Despite the fact that the real people were black. America... smh.
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Amazingly enough, whenever a black person decides to speak about the blatant injustice in today's society we are berated and labeled as "sensitive" yet white people can express their feelings about the Holocaust at the drop of a dime and never once do they hear that they should "get over it." It's almost as though some believe that slavery is a thing of the past and all blacks should suck it up and move on. Well, guess what, until the day that black and brown skin is considered HUMAN in EVERY country we'll be clinging on to the fact that we were treated like animals, and labeled less than human. It's 2015 and we're STILL dealing with disgusting amounts of injustice. Something has got to give.

How did you guys feel about the awards? Sound off in the comments.

-

Sassy ' N ' New York

Images: (dlisted,mtv,swurvradio,twitter,reverseracisim.tumblr,youtube)

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Sassy ' N ' New York