Song argues that we should keep the term 'racism', but we must more
clearly differentiate 'racism' from individual concepts of racial
prejudice – by using different terminology to define various
instances of racial hostility. Song draws upon various examples,
questioning whether the actions were racist or acts of racial
hostility – in sports and in politics. Omi and Winant (1994) argue
that for something to be racist, it must draw upon racially
essentialist categories (beliefs about racial differences and
stereotype) and create or reproduce structures of domination based
upon these racial categories and generalization. Rattansi (2007)
argues against the binary of 'racist' versus 'non-racist'.
Perez discusses the history of racism in comedy. The article states
that humour was used to force immigrants to 'Americanize' through
ridicule of language and customs. I would like to discuss this
statement in particular. This reasoning probably makes sense to many
researchers. The practice is still evident in various television
sitcoms and animated shows – The Big Bang Theory,
American Dad, Family Guy, The Simpsons,
the list goes on. Minorities are still being ridiculed through
comedy. Have we not reached the point where we assimilation is
complete? Moreover, do we not live in a globalized world, where
people are no longer seen as the 'Other', and diversity is real in
many parts of the West?
Perez writes that it was during and
after the civil rights period that ethnic and racial minorities began
to openly engage in anti-racist comedy, or 'reverse discourse as a
form of resistance to oppression. For years, we've had to endure
ridiculous portrayals of minorities, but I think we are finally
starting to see minorities fight back against these portrayals. Aziz
Ansari, Mindy Kaling, Alan Yang
are the new generation of comedians, taking ownership of their
culture and changing the ways minorities are portrayed in Hollywood.
References:
Song,
M. (2015, March 4). Challenging a culture of racial equivalence,
DiscoverSociety,
6. Retrieved from
http://discoversociety.org/2014/03/04/challenging-a-culture-of-racial-equivalence/
Perez, R. (2013). Learning to make racism funny in the 'color-blind'
era, Discourse and Society,
24(4), 475-503.
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