Thursday, June 30, 2005

Mexico: WTF?

I recognize that Mexico is not the only country that has problems with obvious signs of racism (my first trip to Germany comes to mind, when I found out that the local equivalent of Hostess-style cupcakes had little white smiles on them and the lovely brand name of "N Kisses" - if you get my fairly freaked out drift)...

But, man, you'd think that so soon after Vincente Fox's recent questionable comments, these deplorable things would have been deep six'ed.

Again - Mexico: WTF???


Anonymous said...


It's been a long time since I have seen a "Mammy" depiction... that is quite off the wall.

Interestingly enough, a lot of people collect "Mammy" items off of ebay, they sell for quite a bit. I always wonder who is collecting them? Whether it is black folks or white folks, you would think that somebody would be offended by their collection (if displayed). *shrug*

Now, regarding Jesse Jackson's outrage over this Mexican faux pas... isn't he outraged over just about "everything" anymore???

He was the recent defender of Michael Jackson and insisted that MJ was being persecuted, not for his "boy loving ways", but for being "black"... I think the only way Michael Jackson would look black is if we put some shoe polish on him and a bandana and dressed him up as a "Mammy".

I bet someone off of ebay would buy it. LOL!


Merujo said...

I know that there's actually an African-American antiques dealer up in Baltimore who specializes in representations of blacks in Americana-style art. He's on Antiques Roadshow fairly often. He's mentioned that the main market for his goods in the U.S. is within the black community.

Then again, those are items that aren't being produced anymore...

Anonymous said...

Well, the alternative would be unnecessarily censorious political correctness. Like the case of the Golliwog and the Councillor in England.

Merujo said...

I don't know if you're in the DC area or not, but a couple of years back, a DC government official had to resign because he'd used the word "niggardly" in describing some fiscal issue, and there were several complaints from people who didn't know what the word meant, but assumed it was connected to The N Word. It was very, very ugly.