while i have been musing on the issue of my own privilege, and trying to understand racism better, i have noticed that it has changed the way i look at things i used to really like. it has put a sort of lens over my view of the world and such.
one tiny way it has changed me is that now i see pop culture differently. i am suddenly sensitive to things such as the way POC are treated in the everyday things we see, like television and music videos. even before i post an “ear candy” post i watch the video all the way through to make sure there is nothing that i think could be objectionable or offensive. case in point, this morning, while i was getting myself ready to head off to the evil place where i keep my paycheck i had the song “Africa” by Toto in my head. this is usually how an “ear candy” post comes into fruition, it’s an attempt to get some 80’s tune outta my head so i can move forward w/ my life.
so i ran over to YouTube and searched for the video. i watched the whole thing all the way through, getting kind of caught up in the tune. i have always liked the song. so, here, i will share. see if you catch what made me decide not to post it as “ear candy” (video after the jump):
this is a song that i have liked as long as i can remember, but did you catch that near the end? the brown hand w/ the spear, and the implied chaos?
now, i find myself in a weird place. is this racist? it kinda jumped out at me as such…but is it b/c i was looking for it? i totally think it is, hence, i didn’t post it. or am i starting to see things differently b/c of my attempt to educate myself and be aware of it?
i am kind of a pop culture nerd. i can walk through my day and make references left and right, and get a little nerdgasm every time i make a really good one that someone doesn’t get. i can have entire conversations in movie quotes, and can communicate solely in “Gilmorisms”. i am an 80’s and 90’s music junkie. i have been notorious for my real life to Star Wars comparisons, and make gamer dork jokes that make the Guy laugh. but now that i have begun reflecting on issues of racism, sexism, heteroism, ableism and all the other “isms” out there i have little flashers going off in my head all the time. is that racist? did they portray that asian man fairly? is using that word sexist? is that making fun of someone and i didn’t know it? the more i pay attention the more i learn. i took the red pill!
so, how do i continue to enjoy pop culture w/ the dog whistles and such flying around me? is it OK to enjoy these things as long as i am aware of what i am seeing/hearing? do i need to avoid them? do i have to speak up and point every iniquity, real or perceived, out to those who don’t see or hear them as well?
now that i am seeing these things, how do i navigate them?
am i finished w/ Toto?
Ouyang Dan
The Guy
This is the first time I am seeing this video, though I am very familiar with the song as sort of an 80’s junkie myself. Your question about the speak is a difficult one. Are there black tribes in Africa that throw spears, … most certainly. Does their portrayal of them by a white western band make it a racist video? I think that is answered by reviewing the lyrics of the song.
I stopped an old man along the way
Hoping to find some long forgotten words or ancient melodies
He turned to me as if to say, hurry boy, its waiting there for you
I find this a problem as western nations have sought Africa for the purposes of taking something. It is simply appropriation put to music. Whether it is her people, her culture, land, resources, Africa has been and continues to be the land of plunder.
The wild dogs cry out in the night
As they grow restless longing for some solitary company
I know that I must do whats right
Sure as kilimanjaro rises like olympus above the serengeti
I seek to cure whats deep inside, frightened of this thing that Ive become
In his fascination just like Africans himself he has become Africa. It is his fascination with the “dark continent” has made him a “thing”. Is acknowledging what is right, to mean acknowledge that he must own the wildness inside that can only be “cured” by Africa?
Gonna take some time to do the things we never had.
On its own a simple statement, but when added to the rest of the lyrics perhaps not. To me this implies that African experience is a unique experience. Again not such a bad thing until we connect it with the fact that it turned him into a “thing”. True wildness can only be experienced in Africa.
At any rate that is just my humble two cents, do with it what you will.
well let’s hope your finished with Toto!
All your questions are good ones and I have no answer except for the fact your are asking them means you’re on the right road
thanks, renee. it is this portrayal of Africa as some kind of wild thing that disturbs me. i know there are in fact tribes, as you said…there are tribes here in the US that use spears (mine was one of them). to me, combined w/ what you added here, it felt the same as when i see Native Americans portrayed as wild savages (such as in my Disney post).
pido…i always appreciate your two cents as well
at least you are here reading and thinking along w/ me!
of course i am where else would I be?
I’ve been lazy and still have your cool WoW item in my office but I;ll try to get it in the mail soon
Ok babes- here’s getting into some heavy duty colonial examination.
We look at non-western places through one of two lenses, either scary bad evil (see most of the Arab world at the moment) or super-romanticized, which is called “idealizing the native”. As a native woman- you should be familiar with the second one. It’s the one that makes all Native Americans into peaceful noble savages or that makes dumb Californians flock to Buddhism as the one pure religion without a history of corruption. Either way- scary bad or romantic refuses to look at people as people or things in an honest light.
In the romanticizing part, even the way we talk about the land turns it into a sexual conquest (ah racism and misogyny- like peanut butter and chocolate how they go together). We talk about how there is a virgin wilderness to be conquered or passages that need to be opened up.
Kippling is probably the king of idealizing the native in literature.
And the problem with this video is that it is very Kippling-esque. Lead singer is the intellectual conqueror, I’m not quite sure how I feel about his black librarian (it’s actually kind of a plus, but…)
hurry boy she’s waiting there for you is very much a call to conquer. Africa- she’s waiting for you!
(I say this and my little adventurous spirit likes this song and wants to run away to Africa after listening to it over and over again. )
And shit- now I have another book I need to send you