A new Oxfam report has some shocking numbers about poverty and income inequality. And the developed nation with the most rapidly growing income inequality? The US–we’re number 1, baby! Expect to hear the words income inequality a lot this year as the focus on it grows.
Richard Sherman is $7875.00 away from putting this week’s scream-obsessed circus behind him. The Seattle Seahawks’ cornerback has taken the week to turn an outpouring of criticism over a live on-camera interview into an opportunity to school us in stereotypes. Now he just needs to pay his league fine and go on to play in the league’s biggest event where he will have the chance to respond on the field. In case you missed it, at the conclusion of the Seahawks Forty-niners playoff game, Erin Andrews stopped Sherman for a little post-game chit chat.
Sherman delivered an earsplitting takedown of his rival on the field. Within hours the Twitterverse lit up with criticism of Sherman’s “outburst”, and TV followed suit with a days worth of attention devoted to Sherman’s interview that used the word thug 625 times, according to Deadspin. It didn’t take long for Sherman, not known for being quiet, to shoot back with some commentary of his own.
Instead of delivering a dose of profanity, Sherman wrangled the criticism and elevated the conversation. While he brushed off any implication that the criticism may destroy him, he did point out that he was bothered by the use of the word thug as a code word for the infamous n-word. He correctly reminded us that in American parlance, when they call him a thug, they don’t mean that he is lurking around with brass knuckles, but that he is one in a long line of totally expected black brutes.
Is he right? Sure. You don’t need a word that starts with N to ring the bell of racism against black men. What other choices do you have? Try thug, brute, street, gangster, threat, hood, ape, pimp, dropout and a host of other names that trace a line decade by decade back through American history. These words come and go like fashion, but the pattern of racism persists.
Richard Sherman, Ivy League graduate has proved that he is not these things. He’s chosen to use this moment to draw our attention to the use of code words in common conversation to link black men who are public figures to long standing racist historical misrepresentations. Sooo excellent. This time it turns out that Sherman was the wrong dude to mess with.
But here’s the thing. You shouldn’t have to be the right person to not be treated the wrong way. Whether you are a Stanford graduate or just a guy on the grind, no man deserves to be defined by stereotypes.
This week, gangsta rapper actor and celebrity Ice Cube live tweeted front the premier of his latest movie Ride Along. Even with a number one film, he can’t help say what we’re all thinking.
And here are those words:
mazel tov wow they are good we’re never gonna win you’re right two chains that’s why you’re the big brother resolution revolution dad get out of here you’re embarrassing me no dad I’m serious I told you to sit in the bathroom all night go away sorry my dad is so lame melody stop that’s my dad dad we don’t want to talk about school that’s probably why you had to repeat 7th grade twice yeah
This week Saturday Night Live debuted their latest cast member, Shasheer Zamata. Her addition to the 39 year old comedy ensemble came after well-publicized and deserved criticism led to the show bowing to pressure listening to the criticism and—surprise, surprise—finding the talent they thought was so elusive. Shasheer brings the total women of color on the show to 4 of 138 cast members over 39 years, or almost 3%, still well below the 18% that women of color make up in the general population. Hype bubble busted.
Shasheer’s talent is undeniable, but let’s take a look at the actual episode. First let us say that this talented young actress has earned her spot on the show, with a solid track record in comedy. Shasheer appeared in several of the opening skits to satisfy the hungry eyeballs. But making media diversity work is about two things—the number of people of different races and also the quality of the character that they portray. While Shasheer did make it into 4 sketches with 5 characters—more than some of the other new cast member added in the fall–I’m not so sure we really got to see her stretch her wings.
In her debut episode, Shasheer played Keenan Thompson’s wife at a bar mitzvah, a dancing smoking Rhianna-as-Blossom, Two Chains’ younger sister, a backup singer, a girl hosting a slumber party and a student in detention. Ground breaking? Not yet. So while SNL did finally get it together and try to do the right thing incorporated more diversity into their line-up by adding a black female, the jury is still out to see if they will provide the opportunity for her to play characters that go beyond stereotypical roles.
Here’s the bigger story: stealing the diversity card for the show was the guest host Drake. Of course he appeared in more sketches, but what made the night his was the diversity of roles he played. Drake himself has a background that breaks stereotypes: rapper but not gangster, Canadian, multiracial and, as he told us, polite. Because we know him to be all these things, SNL played with the kinds of characters he portrayed with barely a nod to playing a chain-wearing gang banger.
It seems like SNL was able to write interesting roles for Drake that asked us to question racial boundaries as we laughed. The range of charters he played brought a sparkle of diversity into an otherwise typically stereotypical episode. Now if they can just learn to keep those roles coming for their regular cast members, they may be on to something.
This week the Pew Foundation released a report confirming that so-called “Black Twitter” exists. In case you thought this meant that Black people are finally discovering the interwebs thingy, Okayplayer–a long time round the way site–lays down some history of Black net nation. If you remember Black planet, you know we didn’t just get here, but welcome to the party, Pew.
Susan X Jane 