Tag: Language
Aziz Ansari on Acting, Race and Hollywood
The hilarious Aziz Ansari recently wrote an article for NYTimes about the lack of opportunity for PoC actors in the entertainment industry. He notes that even when the rare non-white character is available, the challenges of casting tend to lead to either a white-washing of the role or to the casting of a white actor in black/brown/yellow-face.
“Even at a time when minorities account for almost 40 percent of the American population, when Hollywood wants an “everyman,” what it really wants is a straight white guy. But a straight white guy is not every man. The “everyman” is everybody.”
On Facebook, Ansari calls for more effort on the part of producers to cast non-white actors to represent diverse roles: “We are all more sophisticated, compelling, and interesting than our ethnicities, accents, and stereotypical jobs. Let’s see that on TV and film.”
Click here to read the full article.
Ansari’s been on a roll tackling Race in America; during his Tuesday night interview with Stephen Colbert on The Late Show, Ansari pointed out the rare 50% percent diversity rate of a white guy and an Indian guy sharing the stage… “an all-time high for CBS!” ???
Delinquent. Dropout. At-Risk. When Words Become Labels
Much of our recent reporting, especially from New Orleans, has focused on young people who are neither in school nor working. There are an estimated 5 1/2 million of them, ages 16 to 24, in the United States.
But what do we call them?
And does the nomenclature matter?
VIDEO: The Many Problems With, “You Sound White”
This video is not only well articulated, but it hits on topics we’ve learned such as double-consciousness, race-talking, and ascription. Enjoy!
The new threat: ‘Racism without racists’
Article Highlights:
- Whites and blacks don’t speak the same language when they talk about racism
- For many minorities, racism is less about overt hostility and more about bias
- One sociologist calls it “racism without racists” and says “we are all in this game”
- A new conversation on race can start with three phrases that often crop up
LIST: 18 Things White People Seem To Not Understand (Because, White Privilege)
I don’t wake up every morning with the intention of pissing you off, I swear, and whether or not you believe it, I’m here to help you. I want you to recognize that on a daily basis, you hold a set of advantages and immunities that are a direct result of the oppression of people of color. That doesn’t sound nice, does it? Makes you squirm in your chair a bit and maybe feel a little uncomfortable, right?But here’s the thing – I’m not here to make you feel comfortable, that’s not my job. I’m here to erase the invisibility of the privileges you have that continue to help maintain white supremacy. I’m here to show you what your White Privilege is.—-1. White Privilege is being able to move into a new neighborhood and being fairly sure that your neighbors will be pleasant to you and treat you with respect.
2. White Privilege is being able to watch a movie, read a book and open the front page of a newspaper and see yourself and your race widely represented and spoken for.
3. White Privilege is being able to seek legal, financial and medical help without having your race work against you.
4. White Privilege is living in a world where you are taught that people with your skin tone hold the standard for beauty.
5. White Privilege is never being told to, “get over slavery”.
6. White Privilege is having the prevalence and importance of the English language and finding amusement in ridiculing people of colour/immigrants for their accents and their difficulty in speaking a language that is not their native tongue.
7. White Privilege is arrogantly believing that reverse racism actually exists.
8. White Privilege is being able to stay ignorant to the fact that racial slurs are part of a systematic dehumanization of entire groups of people who are and have historically been subjugated and hated just for being alive.
9. White Privilege is not having your name turned into an easier-to-say Anglo-Saxon name.
10. White Privilege is being able to fight racism one day, then ignore it the next.
11. White privilege is having your words and actions attributed to you as an individual, rather than have them reflect members of your race.
12. White Privilege is being able to talk about racism without appearing self-serving.
13. White Privilege is being able to be articulate and well-spoken without people being surprised.
14. White Privilege is being pulled over or taken aside and knowing that you are not being singled out because of your race/colour.
15. White Privilege is not having to teach your children to be aware of systematic racism for their own protection.
16. White Privilege is not having to acknowledge the fact that we live in a system that treat people of colour unfairly politically, socially and economically and choosing, instead, to believe that people of colour are inherently less capable.
17. White Privilege is not having your people and their culture appropriated, romanticized or eroticized for the gain and pleasure of other white people.
18. White Privilege is being able to ignore the consequences of race.
COMIC: I’m Latino. I’m Hispanic. And they’re different, so I drew a comic to explain.
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Click through for the rest!