Blackface: The newest ultimate sign of respect?
By contributing hater, Kenny Darter
I’m not in tune with journalistic do’s and don’ts in Turkey, but I’ll tip-toe out on a limb and say Doing the News in Blackface is not a requisite course at the country’s universities.
Perhaps Bamboozled 101 – Spike Lee on the Effed-up, Degrading, Shameful History of Blackface and its Historic Damage and Cultural Impact, You Racist Douche, should be.
It could have been a really awful, unfunny spoof, but insanely enough, some Turkish news anchor actually did that – painted his face black and talked about Barack Obama’s visit to Turkey this week.
“You took our hearts with your hospitality,” the blackface anchor says in a rough translation. “We appreciate your kindness. We will do whatever America asks of us, as friends. Now, we ask the same of you.”
Sure thing, a-hole.
Maybe we’ll find out in the next few days or weeks that Turkish blackface means something entirely different than it does in the States.
The Intertubes are buzzing with possibilities, including that the gesture was a sign of respect, an epically terrible attempt at a spoof or a deep-rooted metaphor that should be analyzed in film schools across the planet. Yes, somehow, this might be “a metaphor for the way the Bush administration ‘darkened’ the face of the Turkish public, and how the anchor hopes Obama will turn things around.”
Makes sense, right? I mean, what else could it mean when a newsman paints his face black while he reports on the first black president’s first visit to his country? Way to get back at Bush, news guy. You showed him. Dubya’s probably devastated.
Your metaphor stings, anchorman.
It’s only too clear that he would have done the same for John McCain or Hillary Clinton if they had won the White House.
Turkish anchorman's buddies were rooting hard for Hillary last year.
Blackface in the post-Civil Rights movement, post-first-black-president era is not any less unforgivable than 100-some years ago, when a blackface minstrel show was a hootenanny of a Saturday night for the fam.
I’m using my powers of observation and rudimentary demographic and historical knowledge when I say blackface probably doesn’t carry the same emotional charge in Turkey as it does in the US of A. It’s not that Turkey has been slavery-free — Greeks have long memories, it seems — but the skin color of their enslaved and downtrodden was different. And I’m going to guess that brutally-offensive minstrel shows caught on in the US in a way that wouldn’t translate to other parts of the world.
Still, it’s 2009, and this Turkish anchor guy definitely has a whole rack of interns. Next time, have your peons peruse the web for reasons why painting your face black might incite riots on the other side of the Atlantic.
Blackface’s history is a long one – and honestly, I’m not gonna write 10,000 words on its sociological implications – but if you don’t see the horror of what this Turkish dude did, I highly suggest you click here, here and here.
Consider it your take-home hatework for tonight.
Greek Independence Day (from Ottoman Tyranny and Enslavement): 3/25/1821
Emancipation Proclamation: 9/22/1862
We all have long memories.
Please note: I am OUTRAGED that this anchorman put on blackface. I think it’s despicable. Perhaps there is some crazy cultural explanation, but from where I stand, it’s at the very least disrespectful, especially in view of the words of friendship he was professing. Would I tell my glasses-wearing friend how cool they are while wearing horn-rimmed specs and crossing my eyes? Yeah… I can’t see how that would go over well.
Also, can we guess that Americans showing they are friends of the Turks will include continuing to deny Armenian genocide? I certainly hope not.
Excellent post, Kenny! I guess we not only have to worry about folks in America not knowing how to talk about and market a black president, but we have to worry about it even more when it’s coming from abroad (I’m preparing myself for Russia. Oh wait: http://thaswassup.wordpress.com/2009/03/25/dark-on-the-outside-white-inside/).
I wonder how people feel about the whole idea of racist gestures being relative or whether they’re inherently racist. Blackface is very emotionally charged in America and other countries because of the historical context of it, but in other places that same historical context doesn’t exist. Does that make the action alright? Does it matter if it is to “imitate” an American or is that irrelevant? Do we need to even concern ourselves over what connotations blackface has in other countries, or do they just need to get with the program and realize how messed up it is? To this, I offer no answer, but rather I’m curious as to how people feel.
Here’s an example (although it doesn’t apply directly to the Turkish anchorman situation since he was definitely trying to mimic Obama): the Iranian New Year (a holiday that’s thousands of years old) has a version of Santa Claus. He dresses in white and his skin is painted black and he brings toys and such. I’ve tried to find out how this tradition started and whether it’s meant to mimic blacks (there were some slaves routed through Persia, but it wasn’t common), started with symbolism in Zoroastrianism (the holiday is Zoroastrian in nature), or something else, but there’s nothing really conclusive on “Haji Firooz.” Does that mean I should be okay with this character? I obviously am not down with Iranians dressing up as Haji Firooz in America (although some have done it in parades in the past— BAD move), but should I vilify this character in Iran? I’m torn.
So anyway, should we treat this anchor differently b/c he’s Turkish and in Turkey doing this or does no one get a pass on this? Comment!
PS: One thing is for sure — Obama must have A LOT of patience to deal with all this.
I can dig that the black-face thing is not at all appropriate – if this were America. But I simply don’t know enough about the Turkish culture to understand where this reporter is coming from with this gesture.
Certainly the words he speaks are very respectful. I tracked down a NY Times article on the internets which help explains the actions a bit better: http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/10/turkish-tv-anchor-dons-blackface-to-address-obama/?hp
I understand the importance of responding to this – but there are different cultural and racial signifiers around the world. It is telling that Americans respond so strongly to this – that I support. We shouldn’t let something like this go un-examined. But we should also understand that different countries have different racial histories.
Not everyone around the globe understands American racism half so well as an American. 
We need to make sure we’re teaching other countries about our culture of oppression when we’re going abroad, so that they can interact appropriately with it, just as we would want to understand what constitutes a racist act within their borders.
First of all, I hope HCC offers Bamboozled 101 – Spike Lee on the Effed-up, Degrading, Shameful History of Blackface and its Historic Damage and Cultural Impact, You Racist Douche so I can take it for my summer class.
And b) first cockamamie and now hootenanny? Next up, rigamaroll.