Can I have your number?

Attitudes on racial discrimination are varying. Some think racial discrimination is at an all time high--worse than ever! Others, however, hold the opinion that we have made leaps and bounds toward a just society over the past 40 years. The media reflects the diversity of people's perceptions of racial tension through the huge array of depictions of racial minorities. For the sake of a more in-depth analysis (and because it was the focus of today's reading selections), I am going to concentrate on the discrimination of African Americans, and the attitudes of White people on racism today.

The Culture, Media, and the White Mind: The Character of Their Content article pointed out the fact that although Whites say their attitudes have become more tolerant toward Blacks, but their actions show little proof to follow. The Racial Chameleon comments on this paradox of racial progress saying, "We believe the majority of White Americans experience ambivalent thoughts and feelings about African Americans, a complex mixture of animosity and yearning for racial harmony...//...the current culture rejects the most overt claims of Black inferiority--and this ironically cultivates White impatience and hostility."

Let's look at the popular MAD TV clip that's become a hit on YouTube, "Can I get your number?" (The reason I found out about this clip is because my sister was dating a Black guy at the time, and he showed it to her, who then showed it to me--just saying.) To me, it's humorous because the guy has no idea how to take a hint: SHE'S NOT INTO YOU!!! It would be funny regardless of the guy's race. But the clip if jam-packed with racial prejudices and uses the major stereotypes of Black men as a central source of humor. That's where things get tricky. Yes--it is humorous because it would not matter if the guy was White, Black, Asian or Latino. However, it completely blurs the lines between the funny, innocent humor of the situation (the guy) and the racial stereotypes that become inseparably intertwined in what you're watching and laughing at.

One question I am left with after watching (and enjoying) something like this is if he guy that showed this clip to my sister laughed at it, does that make it okay for me to laugh too? I don't think so. I think this is part of the lack of change in our actions: we say we're all for racial equality, but our actions (for Whites and Black alike) say something completely contradictory.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRbkkqZikx4