October 08 2009
Blackface Act Backfires on Aussie TV Show
posted by Steven Shaw at 10:16 amThis edited clip, from Australia’s Hey Hey It’s Saturday variety show features a group of medical professionals who could maybe do with a brain transplant. Their act? A blackface parody of the Jackson 5, called the Jackson Jive. They also show a clip from twenty years back when the group, then medical students, presented a similar act. Celebrity judge Harry Connick Jr. is not impressed.
(Hat tip – Move The Crowd)
October 8th, 2009 at 11:38 am
Truly awful for a myriad of reasons.
October 8th, 2009 at 8:09 pm
Awww, Connick Jr is just a stick in the mud.
October 9th, 2009 at 6:40 am
Come on! This was a bit of harmless fun, after all, nobody ever made fun of Michael Jackson for imitating a white man
October 9th, 2009 at 7:05 am
I didnt think anybody needed to stop making black people look like baffoons!! maybe just stop dressing up in white sheets burning crosses and hanging them from trees, ow an i hear equal rights helps too!!!
October 9th, 2009 at 7:32 am
I am glad to see that things have changed in 20 years. We come a long way: from rewarding those kind of jokes to actually thinking how those silly jokes can affect some people. I am a white woman but I dont found this thing funny …
October 9th, 2009 at 7:56 am
It says more about problems in America when a skit about a pop band is taken this way. A funny skit that ended too soon. Thank god for Pulp Sport, Rove, Hamish & Andy and the many others that allow us to laugh and cringe at ourselves.
October 9th, 2009 at 8:31 am
I think a better understanding of Blackface might help. Go here.
And maybe this?
October 9th, 2009 at 8:44 am
Surely a cultural thing, some cultures ok with eating dogs, some ok subordinating women, some ok with standing on toilet seats… Australia is ok with cultural insensitivity, or so it often seems. How the host, producers and performers all misread the outcome of this is as amusing as it is ignorant,
especially in front of Connick Jnr. Didn’t they read his bio saying he was brought up a poor black boy?
October 9th, 2009 at 8:45 am
Put in the context of historic Blackface acts, I can understand why some people might find this offensive. However, was it really the makeup that made these acts offensive or was it the way that black people were portrayed in the past? I think that it’s the association with the black face make-up is creating the offence now, not their actual act. The act itself was hardly something to get that upset about.
October 9th, 2009 at 8:48 am
Oh, I forgot to say… should we all be mortally offended every time an Australian does a parody of a NZer involving sheep? I think we should be able to laugh at each other without dragging up old issues.
October 9th, 2009 at 9:04 am
Actually, Maggie, people made fun of Michael Jackson all the time. You are doing it yourself right now. How did Michael Jackson humiliate white people?
October 9th, 2009 at 9:32 am
Harry Connick Jr is right, this parody was not funny and very offensive. I guess Australians struggle to put their past as a British colony behind them. It is not a surprise they still segregate the aborigenes from the rest of their society.
October 9th, 2009 at 9:43 am
I think you need to look up the definition of segregation Charles.
October 9th, 2009 at 9:49 am
They can’t sing, they can’t dance. I can’t see the entertainment value. Perhaps someone more racially minded can?
October 9th, 2009 at 10:18 am
Funny when you look in the audience, ALL WHITE!!!! Typical of Australia, no talent so let’s resort to old racist taunts. Of course some of the people who have commented here think it’s okay, cos there white.
October 9th, 2009 at 10:23 am
I remember a group of NZ men on red faces – doing the Haka to “old MacDonald had a farm”. Can’t find it on Youtube though. Maybe some other readers can find it. Very funny and it won – (Red Symonds gave it a 10). If they performed the same act today, would it still be funny or racist?
October 9th, 2009 at 10:36 am
Fiona, What makes it racist? Is the Haka so sacred that it’s not allowed to be made fun of? Are we now so PC that we’re not allowed to make fun of any other culture, race, sexual orientation or religion? Should Mike King only be allowed to tell jokes about Maori and not Pakeha for fear of being branded racist? We need to take ourselves less seriously and not find offence where ever we look.
October 9th, 2009 at 10:45 am
My point exactly Dave. I found it very funny – however there are members of our society who would be offended by the idea of laughing at one’s own culture. I found the skit on Youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44yVGNAmm1g&feature=related By the way … who is Mike King?
October 9th, 2009 at 10:49 am
A shame really, if they came on and performed this dressed as the middle-class doctors they are, it might actually have been funny/funnier.
October 9th, 2009 at 11:05 am
Mike King is a Maori comedian: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_King_(comedian)
October 9th, 2009 at 11:13 am
Thanks Dave. I am not in NZ so I have never heard of him.
October 9th, 2009 at 12:22 pm
It’s funny how the australians try to justify things
October 9th, 2009 at 12:24 pm
This is not only offensive to Black Americans but to Aboriginies “your people Australia, you know the ones your people committed genocide against” oh and also maori, Pacific islanders,
October 9th, 2009 at 12:26 pm
Read this Australians :The remainder of the Aborigines were placed on reserves and missions where white management had total control over their Aboriginal lifestyle. The hunted and gathered foods were replaced with high carbohydrate rations. Language and ceremonies were forbidden, as it was seen as paganistic to the invaders’ superior, Christian values. The colonists brought with them their social order and notion of property, their birth rights and Christianity. With their invisible luggage they brought their racial prejudice. Aboriginal men were drastically losing their role in society by being used to slave labour. The women were used as domestics and sexual partners for the white invaders. Raping and killings continued as a sport. And I quote: “One gorges at the Sunday afternoon manhunts of sexual mutilation, of burying live Aboriginal babies up to their necks in sand and kicking their heads off after tying with a rape the severed neck of the husband around the raped spouse.”
October 9th, 2009 at 12:29 pm
R – Why? Would making fun of someone white or asian be offensive too? I understand that this could be offensive because of the Blackface association but I suspect you’d find any joke at another culture’s expense offensive. And what does this have to do with Genocide?
October 9th, 2009 at 12:31 pm
R- What does history have to do with any of this? Do you think bringing this up is somehow helpful?
October 9th, 2009 at 12:51 pm
What does history have to do with any of this?
Ah. I think we have an explanation for the difference of opinion.
October 9th, 2009 at 12:57 pm
Actually, back in the day when Paul Holmes was being “ironic” about Kofi Annan, I did a sort of cartoon including him in blackface singing minstrel songs, by way of indicating that he was being racist.
So it’s fair to say at least one New Zealander is aware of the issue as a cultural background thing.
Also, I recall people who didn’t understand what the issue was with Paul Holmes. And said so in front of their Asian flatmate. So nothing new there.
October 9th, 2009 at 1:23 pm
The one impersonating Michael Jackson is especially racist, what with him being a paki.
October 9th, 2009 at 1:32 pm
R, All cultural groups are ethnocentric to some extent. I view other cultures in accordance with the teachings of my parents/granparents and while I may not agree with some aspects of other cultures I accept that these aspects are culturally significant to others – and this I respect. However, if all you pass on to your offspring is hurt, anger and injustice then how does it end? How can different cultures be understood if anger is the only emotion/action shown? I cannot be held responsible for the sins of my forefathers – I can only stop the perpetuation of cultural injustice by becoming a more understanding person.
October 9th, 2009 at 1:53 pm
Lyndon, my ancestry is Irish. I enjoy a good Irish joke along with anyone else, even if it’s being told by someone English… a culture that has oppressed the Irish for hundreds of years. It’s not about what you are or where you came from, it’s about how you think.
Nicely put Fiona
October 9th, 2009 at 6:58 pm
Fiona, I am a half caste Maori and Pakeha so I feel I see the issue from both sides. It is very hard to hear comments from white people or even people of any sort of colour to say this doesn’t offend anyone of colour. I was watching Youtube clip of a show on Australian TV debating this issue but the funny thing was these people were all white except for the one guy who seemed to be of maybe middle eastern decent, who tryed to argue that it was racist.
What no aboriginal person or even Marshia Hines even invited to enter this debate, or as was the case on Hey Hey it’s Saturday.
October 9th, 2009 at 7:05 pm
Hey Dave I think you are simplifying things a little bit too much. I think the hardship of the Irish is absolutely no comparison to what the black people suffered.
October 9th, 2009 at 7:11 pm
Look the issue here is that they didn’t dress like the Jackson Five at all, they dressed in a very offensive way towards black american people.
The only one that looks like they were dressing like someone was the michael Jackson.
October 9th, 2009 at 7:47 pm
Hey R, Maori’s are distantly decended from Asia, not Africa. Completely different continent. Newsflash bro, you’re not black! You’re not even close to being black. You’re about as black as the medical professional idiots that performed the skit.
Susan: Way to go for completely missing the point/joke. I bet you’re a bundle of laughs.
October 9th, 2009 at 8:58 pm
most white people dont know what racism is, cause they have never experianced it. Wake up ignorant white, middle class fools!
October 9th, 2009 at 10:43 pm
R – if you were sincere in what you were saying you would not be using such a derogatory term as “half caste”. Having a foot in each camp does not make you an expert on the feelings of being belittled, denigrated, ignored, beaten-up and bullied.
I am not saying this skit does not offend – I am saying I am not offended by this skit. You need to read up a little more on ethnocentrism and xenophobia – they are completely different things yet when mixed together become volatile.
Oh, Captian Cook declared Australia to be “Terra Nullus” and the British Government of the time had adopted the theory of Darwinism – as did the rest of Europe.
And Marshia Hines is American.
By the way … what does Pakeha mean, and where did the song “Puha & Pakeha” come from? Is calling a white NZ’er Pakeha – accepted racism.
Open your mind, let go of the anger and learn to communicate.
October 9th, 2009 at 10:52 pm
R – as for the hardships of the Irish in comparison to “black people” (and I detest that term), you need to read your history books. Start with the history of Sarah Island and Port Arthur or better still walk around the Isle of the Dead and read the headstones. Persecution is persecution – colour is not a prerequsite either. What is it MJ sang “I’m starting with the man in mirror” – you should too.
October 10th, 2009 at 1:40 am
The interesting thing is that most Aussies won’t consider that ‘the skit’ was racist.They will say,
‘Ah c’mon,we’re just having a bit of fun,that’s all’.And they really think that.
It’s the Aussie way,take the p**S out of everything and everybody.An Australian,usually a male,can stand in front of you,.look you straight in the eye and proffer the most racially insulting observation about you that he acn think of.
And if you oibject,he will get that most surprised of all looks on his face and say,’Jeeze Mate it’s only a joke,what’s the matter can’t you take a f*****ng joke’ and then walk away as if nothing has happened.And in five minutes he’ll be back talking as tho nothing at all had happened because by then he’s probably forgotten all about it and even if you remind him he won’t understand what you’re so upset about.
After all ‘it’s just a joke’……
But nobody’s laughing.
October 10th, 2009 at 6:33 am
As an American, I thought the “Jackson Jive” was just what it was: a parody. Having just watch the skit, I was rolling on the ground in laughter. Unfortunately, we in America, have seemed to lost our sense of direction…It seems now that everything has some type of a “racial” overtone attached to it. Harry Connick Jr. doesn’t speak for this American of Mexican desent. While I won’t deny him his right to show his disfavor towards this act, he doesn’t speak for this American. Bafoonery? How about Jimmie Walker’s “JJ” character on the old “Good Times” TV show? How about Kanye West’s recent outburst? I didn’t hear Connick Jr call for some type of apology from this bafoon. While I don’t deny racism still exists in my country (and in the entire world), does everything have to become a racial matter now?
October 10th, 2009 at 8:44 am
What we probably need is some kind of melting pot, a great big one… perhaps one that is big enough, big enough and, indeed big enough, to take the world and all it’s got.
That ought to do it.
October 10th, 2009 at 9:39 am
Aren’t we past all this? I mean, God, if we have to resort to this pathetic level of comedy to get a reaction then that says a lot for the South Pacific. As if we aren’t behind in the race enough.
Horrific.
October 10th, 2009 at 9:43 am
And by the way- I’m white. I don’t think it’s so much racist as it is stupid. We live in such a complex world, can’t we keep the simple things simple? It’s just totally unnecessary.
October 10th, 2009 at 10:28 am
Oh like a Curly Latin kinkies
Oh Lordy, Lordy, mixed with yellow Chinkees, yeah
You know you lump it all together
And you got a recipe for a get along scene…
Blue Mink had the answer, thankfully the Chinese were gracious and didn’t all jump up and down at once.
October 10th, 2009 at 2:00 pm
Paul “most white people dont know what racism is, cause they have never experianced it. Wake up ignorant white, middle class fools!”
Cheers mate. We have experienced it now. How does it feel being on the other side?
October 10th, 2009 at 3:18 pm
Yes, this was racist.
And if the show’s producers had spent 30 seconds on an Internet search when this idea was first proposed, they would have learned why Americans are hurt, angered and disgusted by it. This is one of the worst ways to offend, in U.S. culture.
October 10th, 2009 at 4:25 pm
D – Racism is not confined to colour. Racism is a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one’s own race is superior and has the right to rule others.
Racism, vengence and hatred are traits and attitudes our children learn from us – don’t teach it to the young, and why intentionally inflict harm or hurt onto another human being?
This defies logic.
October 10th, 2009 at 4:32 pm
R – when you talk about Genocide are you talking of this Genocide in New Zealand?
http://www.worldhistoryblog.com/2008/01/genocide-of-moriori-on-chatham-islands.html
October 10th, 2009 at 8:55 pm
Fiona – In case you didn’t realise, I was quoting something Paul wrote a few posts back. Don’t worry, I don’t intentionally inflict harm or hurt onto other human beings.
October 11th, 2009 at 1:53 am
Wasn’t funny at all. Blackface seeks to demean, mock and ridicule the racially unique features of black people. Very disappointed in the Aussies and others who approve, are those who do really, really so blind to how hurtful this can be? Held you all in such high regard until I saw the skit and read some of these comments….
October 11th, 2009 at 10:40 am
Hey Harry, don’t be so precious!
And how arrogant to perport to represent all of America in “being offended”. This level of preciousness & arrogance coming out of the US (esp by celebrities & American media) is what is causing many of the worlds problems.
October 11th, 2009 at 8:39 pm
What about the movie “white chicks’? oh that’s ok because it’s black dudes dressed up like paris hilton; it is just the other way that’s uncool. Toughen up people!!
I’m an immigrant women and my race is usually “other” while in my home country is “none” – Can I have a Nobel prize please?
October 11th, 2009 at 9:12 pm
I say who gives a sh1t. It’s ok for comedians to make fun of race, it has been the bulk of their humour for decades. It’s all good for a black comedian to make fun of white people but why is it so bad when the opposite is done?. People need to calm down and realise it’s not big fukn deal and just have a bl00dy laugh.
October 11th, 2009 at 9:25 pm
so lets enslave white people, treat them like sh*t, rape their women. then when they start suceeding we’ll do ‘parody skits’ ‘for a laugh’.
I’m sure they’ll laugh with us also, because after all ‘history has nothing to do with it’, neither does the ‘colour of their skin’, because it’s ‘just a joke’.
Get real. racism is racism, accept what it is and enjoy your laugh.
October 12th, 2009 at 9:54 am
“Why are people so unkind” Nobody seems to care that the programme was disrespectful towards Kamahl. That’s bordering on sedition.
http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsgeneral.php?id=445569
I know someone who said something negative about the great Kamalesvaran and soon after broke his arm. Beware the curse of Kamahl, kumbayah!
October 13th, 2009 at 9:09 pm
I didn’t find it funny, but I certainly didn’t find it ractist either. I’m part maori, and I grew up with shows like Billy T James and such, so maybe I just don’t find a lot of well-meaning entertainment as anything other than that.
The world is PC gone crazy.
The fact is, Harry said they don’t like to make black people look like baffoons, right? Well if you watch ANY show featuring African Americans, they do a damn fine job of that themselves. Not only that, but they make white people to be dumber than sh*t. So you tell me that skit was racist after all the ‘dumb and dumber’ mentality in African American shows, and a good many other sitcoms.
If you wanna say this is racist, well then so are all those sitcoms. So are most movies.
This is just craziness.
February 6th, 2010 at 10:20 pm
verything seems lovely when you start to roam
The birds are singin’, the day that you stray
But wait until you are further away
Things won’t be so lovely when you’re all alone
Here’s what you’ll keep saying when you’re far from home
Mammy, Mammy
The sun shines east, the sun shines west
I know where the sun shines best
Mammy, my little Mammy
My heartstrings are tangled around Alabammy
I’m comin’, sorry that I made you wait
I’m comin’, hope and trust that I’m not late, oh oh
Mammy, my little Mammy
I’d walk a million miles for one of your smiles
My Mammy, oh oh
Mammy, my little Mammy
The sun shines east, the sun shines west
I know where, I know where the sun shines best
It’s on my Mammy I’m talkin’ about, nobody else’s
My little Mammy
My heartstrings are tangled around Alabammy
Mammy, Mammy, I’m comin’
I, I hope I didn’t make you wait
Mammy, Mammy, I’m comin’
Oh God I, I hope I’m not late
Mammy look at me
Don’t you know me? I’m your little baby
I’d walk a million miles for one of your smiles
My Mammy