Quote:
Originally posted by ktsnake
It's an interesting concept... If you'll bear with me
Say he goes to this "safe" place... Communication does not occur unless a signal is sent AND recieved. So at least the offensive message inherent in the communication would not exist since there is no inherent meaning in ANY communication. It almost becomes one of those "if there was a tree that fell in the forest and no one was around to hear it" type things. Although I'm pretty sure that at least someone there would hopefully have some clue as to what was going on and put a stop to it.
If he goes to a place where he knows he'll offend... Well why not just drive his car into a brick wall? Should provide you with the same results.. Only difference is people would respect him a lot more if that's all he did
I'd even wager that many african-americans have no clue as to the meaning and the inherent offensiveness of blackface. Many probably don't understand the historical context from which it comes and wouldn't care anyway. I'm NOT arguing to say it's right.. just pointing out that this occurs because of a lack of sensitivity and a lack of understanding and most of all a lack of communication. If people don't understand that there are boundaries they will probably at some point unwittingly cross them. They need to be taught what's okay and what's not.
I'm wondering though what the proper forum should be for this type of education? Not enough people pay attention to the media (or the informative aspects of it) to make it effective at disseminating this... Perhaps schools need to make sensitivity part of their curriculum? Of course with all the subjects competing for attention I don't see that happening anytime soon.
It's an interesting thought though.
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actually, i'd venture to say that lots of black folks know what the connotations of blackface means. but that's beside the point, if one can't do something out in the open, then what makes it right behind closed doors? or is just said person a coward?