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Author Topic: George played the lead guitar on basketball jones  (Read 9877 times)

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adamzero

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Re: George played the lead guitar on basketball jones
« Reply #20 on: December 24, 2008, 10:57:11 PM »

I hope I didn't come across as thinking "Basketball Jones" ought to be censored.  I just thought it was dumb and racist.  In fact, I agree with Sandra that it's good to have stuff like this on Youtube for people to see and judge for themselves.

Censorship often puts a veil over a very real racism.  Better to have BB Jones or Cosby Kids or whatever out there in the open so that people can react.  And communicate with one another.  I find BB Jones horribly racist.  And I know if I showed the clip to my students (many of whom are African American), they'd be pretty horrified at what they saw.  But I wouldn't hesitate from showing the clip, at the same time letting my students know that I don't "endorse" what I'm presenting.  

How different is the depiction of the cheerleaders in the "Basketball Jones" cartoon from the women (and booty-mountains) in Sir Mix-a-lot's "Baby Got Back" video?  

Where do you cross the line between humorous appreciation and exploitation/denigration of an ethnic group?

I want my students to have their own opinions, but I want it to be an informed opinion.  

I also liked Sandra's comment about the Simpsons.  Carl Carlson, the primary African American character, is never made fun of because of his race (unlike all the other racial stereotypes mentioned).  In fact, Carl's one of the few straight men (comically speaking, don't know about him and Lenny) in the entire show.  

I think the Simpsons doesn't make "black jokes" because most people wouldn't find them funny--given the guilt-ridden and seriously unfunny history of this country in regards to race--slavery, Jim Crow laws, lynchings, black-face minstrelsy, bus and church bombings, riots, the Selma March, etc.  Even old shows like "Amos and Andy" are pretty hard to watch for the overt racism.

The wound is too fresh to make fun of.  




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