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July 03, 2005
Empty Protest
Once again I am compelled to speak up on the Memin Pinguin controversy. I am finding myself annoyed at African American demands for changes in Mexican policy over their exposure to a cartoon. I expect blackfolks to get upset at characters like Mugabe, not fictional ones.
Not that I have been paying close attention to the international scene, but right about now there is a full-blown humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe.
According to the United Nations, the destruction of shanty towns has left at least 200,000 people homeless.The statement from the bishops was unequivocal: "We have on our hands a complete recipe for genocide; we're witnessing a tragedy of unprecedented enormity."
It's one of the strongest statements yet from church leaders in the region on the human rights situation in Zimbabwe.
There is nothing remotely approaching this situation in Mexico, and yet pundit after pundit is yelping for apology and soothing statements. In fact, there is no crisis in Mexico. Listen to Ofari:
Many Mexicans refer to dark skinned persons, both Mexican, and non-Mexican, as negritos or little black people. This is not seen as racially offensive, but rather as a term of affection even endearment. A popular afternoon telenovela has a comedian in blackface chasing madly after light-complexioned actresses in skimpy outfits. Ads have featured blacks in Afros, blackface, and distorted features. The most popular screen stars in film and on TV, and the models featured on magazines and billboards, are white or fair-skinned with sandy or blond hair. That's the standard of beauty, culture, and sophistication that's held up as the penultimate standard to emulate, and that standard is unabashedly commercialized, and peddled as top commodities in Mexico and other Latin American countries.
Memin signifies that there are no black video hos television spokesmodels in Mexico. Awww.
This is a situation which is generated out of a politics that has no sense of priority or perspective. It is a reaction machine working on autopilot, mindlessly looking for offense, assuming evil and lodging complaint after useless complaint. It is nothing more than the continuously operating principle of bad faith, and I urge sensible people to break from its cycle of despair and cynicism.
Step away from the cartoon.
Posted by mbowen at July 3, 2005 08:52 AM
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Comments
You are right Cobb, people are overreacting. But at the same time this should be a message to us that just because a person is Latin does not mean they are automatically the allies of black people, or liberal in their politics. It should help to disabuse us of the continuing fantasy that one day we'll get together with other peoples of color and then do I don't know what, something monumental.
Posted by: Anita at July 5, 2005 07:49 AM
well, if you want to see a voluptous black Mexican woman there is Sabelle of "las chicas tentacion".
Posted by: Eduardo at July 8, 2005 11:58 AM
I think that this is a Mexican issue(It is an idependent country), I wished we would spend as much time on sexist/negative Hip- Hop artists and video directors instead these so-called leaders are spending on Vincente Fox.Maybe (and it's my opinion) that many of these so-called leaders on the Hip- Hop dole, instead of criticizing the real threat to black youth(negative hip-hop and it's cultural negativity in the past 15 years) they would rather could after people who have no influence on the lives of black youth.
Posted by: ericd at July 12, 2005 06:24 PM