Without wasting time I will get down to the issue…too shocked. I find awkward moments funny but this was not funny….it was DEMENTED!
I was invited to a private dinner which seemed like a great place to be, the house was breath taking, the hospitality was almost prefect – I am too demanding, the whole six course diner was worth the drive and the conversation about television in South Africa and what could be done to advance it, enabled a professional debate with intellectuals. However, this took a very nasty turn which left everyone shocked and their mouths open for more than a minute in the deafening silence. I would have laughed at this, if only the reason was not horrible.
Please note, the dinner was attended by a mix of races and everyone there was from a position of influence in their respective field in entertainment and businesses associated with entertainment in some way or the other (finance etc). It was a grand affair and we all wanted to have a great time talking about digital television, satellite television, blog’s, programs, etc if its on television the night was all about discussing ways to improve it “if there where any”; laugh at it; praise it and wish we were in it “guilty pleasures” or owned it.
After we gave praise to the chef for a wonderful meal. The discussion took a sharp curve when we suddenly found ourselves discussing how executives dress and people who ask for appointments in general. It is at this juncture that we started admiring how certain people make advances in television due to their intelligence and sheer passion that the host (someone not from entertainment) shocked us with this statement.
He said
“When a black person walks in to a meeting all dressed up and talking English and sounding intelligent. All I see is a baboon, well dressed and spoken” Mind you the room had a fare share of black people and the temperature dropped to arctic levels, instantly.
I took a second to look at everyone on the table and all I saw was unbelievable shock and utter dismay. He (the host) kept going, but I could not listen to any of that vile statement. It took a good minute after the interjection, for the guests to regain their calm. Before anyone could say anything since we were all CRAZY SHOCKED and ready to explode.
I stood up and told him (the host), that no one in their right mind would be so stupid and as racist as to say such vile things in the company of black people and I expressed complete anger and outrage that such a statement would be said even if it was in jest. I made it clear that it was not acceptable even in the privacy of non-blacks. Of course black guests were obviously upset whilst other races were completely taken aback and showed concern for black guests but for me that was not good enough.
Needless to say, I stood up and left. I could not spend my precious time with a person who was a racist and has black people in his employ. I could not at the time understand why the black guests never said anything. I took a couple of minutes next to my car just trying to come myself down before hitting the road. When on my way home, I got a call from one of the guests who told me that seconds after my departure everyone proceeded to leave the dinner and very little was said expect the explosion of not so pleasant words in an act of complete distaste at the hosts audacity.
Now get this….. the host is
black!This got me so conflicted…. I could not fathom how a person can consider their own race baboons. I thought back at the blog I wrote about language on TV for some insight at this since most of the people providing comments were of different races. It did not help much but offered me an optional avenue to review.
When I got home my phone buzzed and it was a text msg from the host that read:
“I don’t understand what was so bad. I believe white people consider black people baboons despite what you might think. They do. Thank you for ruining my dinner”
I could not respond. I was completely taken aback since everything I could have text in anger would prove him right in a way. So kept to myself! All I could think was erase, delete and forget. But I thought no, let me write a blog and find out if others feel this host was correct or not!
I even thought, maybe it’s those Nigger analogies black people give…. As in
“black people can call each other Nigger, but white people are not allowed”. As Oprah pointed out on one of her shows, that they are both not allowed and when used it becomes an energy which feeds from such use (negative or positive). Or women saying
“they can call each other “bitches” but men are not allowed”. As the case was on an episode of Girlfriends when “Joan” addressed the use of the word “bitch” after Maya discovered her son using it on his myspace video.
Does this mean black people can call each other baboons and the rest are not allowed?
Consider the result if a white person drew parallels between the behavior of black people and baboons. PRIME TIME NEWS SPECIAL ALERT!
Mr Enright, 40, a partner in London law firm Howe & Co, was appalled when he and his black wife and two young children found Tintin In The Congo a children's book in the shop in their home town of St Albans. In a letter of complaint he wrote: "Before passing the book to my wife and two boys (aged two-and-a-half and seven) I opened the book. I was utterly astonished and aghast to see page after page of representations of black African people as baboons or monkeys, bowing before a white teenager and speaking like retarded baboons."
The store agreed to remove the book from its children's section and stock it instead in its adult "graphics" section, but a CRE spokeswoman said that did not go far enough. Despite being published in 35 languages, Tintin In The Congo has only been available in English since 2005, and even then with a warning about the treatment of its subject material.
I am drawing this example because Steven Spielberg is producing The Adventures of Tintin" which is supposed to be the next Harry Potter. Production has been postponed for December.
Could it be that multinationals and writers including the our very own media, have such views of race that they are engraved in peoples minds so much so that they believe to a point of such extreme versions of their reality. How sad it must be to go through your life thinking such horrible references to oneself.
I want to know what you think about how certain black people discriminate against their own kind. Even if it’s in jest. Also, what do you think of the use of the following words on television:
Bitch towards women - no racial preference!
Nigger towards black people by either white or fellow black actor/person!
I also would like to know the following:
Have you had a boss, colleague or friend who refers to you or others in any degrading word either same race or different race? If so can you share?Have you experienced a racist comment or situation taking place in your full view? What did you do when it happened?Please answer as best as you can.
By The Observer
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