“Clitoridectomy Cake” (2012), also known as the nigger cake, the Painful Cake or the Swedish racist cake, is a blackface birthday cake created by black Swedish artist Makode Linde. Its cutting in April 2012 by the Swedish minister of culture, Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth, went viral across the Internet.
The cake shows a stereotyped naked black woman. The outside is black chocolate, the inside red velvet cake. The head is played by Linde, the artist himself, in blackface: his head sticks up through the table next to the cake. It looks like something straight out of the Jim Crow Museum or Tintin. He cries out in pain every time someone cuts a piece of cake.
The cake was supposed to draw attention to female genital mutilation (FGM) in Africa, which affects 140 million people. The culture minister, in fact, in cutting the first piece of cake, was herself genitally mutilating the cake.
It gets worse.
The culture minister, along with the rest of Stockholm’s assembled cultural elite (all white) smiled and laughed at the whole thing, drinking their wine and eating the cake. As if female genital mutilation or blackface is something to laugh at.
It seems that Linde tried to shock them to make them think. But they were too racist to see black pain, nakedness and dehumanization as something serious. They were too racist to be sickened, shocked or angered by the cake.
It showed that Swedes can be racist too even though they were never deep into the slave trade, even though they never took part in the Berlin Conference that cut up that other birthday cake: Africa itself.
Linde says he was misunderstood because the event was torn out of its context by the Internet.
I believe he was misunderstood because of his use of blackface: its dehumanization of blacks angers many blacks no matter what the “context”, while it amuses many whites. Just like in Spike Lee’s “Bamboozled” (2000). So for many blacks it overshadowed his message about FGM while for many whites it undermined it by making its sufferers seem even less human than they already were in their racist eyes.
Linde grew up in Sweden, born of a white Swedish mother and a West African father. Linde always felt like an outsider in his own country. Swedish white racism in his experience is subtle and not talked about.
Much of his art is about racial identity. Blackface is a common theme. He says he wants to out the racism of Swedish society by being over the top and in your face.
That he certainly achieved with his cake.
But that seemed to have been an accident in this case: Linde regards neither himself nor the minister of culture as racist.
Some are calling for the minister to resign. She does not think she did anything wrong.
Yet would she still be laughing and smiling and eating cake and if it were of a naked Jewish Holocaust victim? Or simply of a genitally mutilated naked white woman?
See also:
- makodelinde.com – the artist’s website
- Kola Boof: The Cake is Baked – her take on it, herself genitally mutilated
- The Jim Crow Museum
- blackface
- Bamboozled
- Cutting up Africa like a birthday cake
- Sarah Baartman
- The four kinds of humans
- Grada Kilomba on racism in Europe
This stuff makes me sick.
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using “shock art” to raise awareness is always iffy because artists are pretty crazy so it’s probably not as black and white as you make it sound. Bad comparisons though: FGM isn’t something that affects whites and the holocaust has been over for awhile.
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If he really wanted to drive it home, he should have made it less cartoony and more realistic looking. Well, as realistic as you can get with cake anyway.
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Epic fail by the artist. The culture minister should not be fired.
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It’s entirely possible that the Swedish culture minister and the other attendees are bigoted, grossly insensitive, and guilty of trivializing FGM.
Another likely scenario is that this is just more sour fruit from the political correctness tree.
One dictum of the PC movement is that each group is empowered to define and impose their own standards of what is offensive, rather than a universal standard which a plurality of people specify and subscribe to.
Oddly, the converse of this principle is also usually true. Therefore if a black artist says that a certain depiction of a black person is non-offensive, the non-black persons are encouraged if not obligated to accept that adjudication and behave accordingly. It’s an interesting side-effect of the supremacy of contemporary moral relativism now playing out as farce.
Now can we laugh at the PC foolishness of Eurocrats and the leftelligentsia?
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All I see are smiling/laughing white faces in that pic. If it really was about bringing awareness to FGM, then where are the young, black girls being affected by this? *smh* Again, it’s all about white people.
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I can’t believe how much shaming we got, because ‘eating people’ that ‘s what we african people do, right ? Europeans are sooo over that ish ?
And then you see a human shaped cake, and then what ? you eat it !!?
These people aren’t monsters so why is there this abysmal lack of empathy.
Could you look at a person the same way after eating a cake that looked like him. Would you eat a cake that looks like you ?
Sure , a farmer has a certain level of empathy for his beasts, he certainly cares for them and sees that they are well treated and not abused … but that is that, and at the end of the day , some dines and others are food.
What’s the excuse? that the cattle couldnt possibly expect a better treatment because it does not look like the farmer ? And what if the cattle looked like the farmer with some minor differences ?.
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I saw this story on Sxe Phil the other day.. I guess the intentions are noble.. but the cake and idea? not so well wtf? the cake over powers the message. the white people smile because hell, there’s cake!
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Cringe-worthy, but I won’t lose sleep over it. I’ll agree with James about artists’ mentalities: they can sometimes look beyond the box in terms of common thinking and see something beyond the laughter.
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@ Randy,
You’re blaming political correctness for that? Wouldn’t you, instead, be better off blaming an anti-PC sort of mindset where the ability to shock and offend at will is more important than the impact it has or the meaning of what’s being said?
I would honestly think that if something directly applies to a certain group, they would be the ones to decide whether or not that thing is offensive, not “everyone else, who conveniently aren’t the ones being portrayed or having an issue that affects them parodied for art’sake.”
And no, I do not believe they are “obligated” because one black man is not going to be the judge on what is appropriate in regards to the portrayal of black women, no more than they’re obligated to approve a “rape cake” because a man (who made it) thinks it’s appropriate. That’s where personal responsibility comes in, correct?
@ Abagond,
And yet again, the very real pain that black women go through is parodied by people who will never see it as something to take seriously. Hm. Maybe the art actually does make a good point if you think he planned the dichotomy with the people cutting it.
I actually think the artist succeeded at revealing the racism in a way that he probably didn’t anticipate (or maybe he did). The work shocks and disgusts me (and I’m a gore hound and digital artist on my free time), but I’m not much into that weird performance art stuff. Part of me thinks he planned out just how fitting it is to see smiling white people laughing as one of them cuts into a racist caricature of a screaming black woman, as that’s how black women are treated (and viewed) in societies anyways. Dehumanized into a cartoon and humiliated for the amusement of their “betters”. The African women who are forcibly circumcised usually have their pain and situation ignored by the Western World (not important enough to get asylum in countries like that), or trivialized because, as black women, they are not allowed to be victims worthy of Lifetime Specials or UN Intervention. If his goal was to reveal some European racism, he definitely achieved that.
If he were really planning it all, I’d honestly think his attempt to explain that his actions or the minister’s weren’t racist puts the icing on the cake, because of course someone laughing at a black-face cake version of a black woman having her genitals cut into totally would have nothing to do with being racist…right? According to a racist, it would be “normal” to find that amusing, dehumanizing black people and trivializing their struggles is always “amusing”. Maybe this is part of that performance?
I actually thought of the “Invisible Man” when I read this today. Mainly the fact that the main character has to humiliate himself (and his race) for the approval of white people who are just seeing black people as something to humiliate and entertain themselves with (not actually taking his hard work seriously). I’m not saying that the artist is humiliated or anything (not like the black women he’s “portraying” are), but I am saying that a bunch of laughing, smiling white people cutting into a “black-face style clitoridectomy cake” seems similar, and just as disturbing. His mistake is in thinking that those people would get the message he was trying to put out there, instead of laughing at a black face version of a black woman being literally tortured and eating her cake body.
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@ Leigh,
You actually made a point I failed to…
If the purpose was to bring awareness to FGM…why are there no black women there, or why is there not a more respectful way to present the issue? Why is something that affects black women portrayed in a way that caters to the perceptions of white people?
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All those pasty white smiling faces…
***sighs***
Whites have dropped another notch in my book.
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ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!!!!! Awareness my a**. Leigh is right. All I see is nothing but Swedish rednecks LAUGHING. There’s nothing funny about the mutilation of black women or ANY woman. And the minister need a nice big healthy dose of lighting striking his a**.
Boy I tell you. White people are THE MOST stupidest melanin depleted basters of the earth. Lets see some white women get mutilated and see how funny it will be.
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@leigh204 & Ace, I guess white folks pay Linde.
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I would say the cake is as much an allegory of neo-colonialism and the “consumption” of African labor and livelihood that Europe and America owes it’s cushy standard of living.
Did no one find the metaphoric cutting and consumption of human flesh disturbing? Or can I just chalk it up to the inherent quirkiness of modern Western artists (whom I now despise even more)? And they started cutting at the genitals, Freud would have a field-day.
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Correct me if I’m wrong but the Dutch aint no better. They celebrate chrismas in blackface as santas helpers. SMH.
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@ D
I found it profoundly metaphoric of how whites are the true cannibals, but it seems Linde did not intend that. I thought the whole thing was a stroke of genius, making laughing whites part of the performance art, but then I heard Linde talk about it. I think he underestimated how racist white people are.
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For some reason, this incident provokes much less fury and outrage than even subtle “racism” on the part of “White Americans.”
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@ Randy
Right, nothing racist about blackface. Just black people being oversensitive once again. /sarcasm
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@Randy
No ‘Jury’s out’ approach to commenting now. What are YOUR personal thoughts on this?
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@ Abagond
This thread will probably become a bloody nightmare when the trolls get off work so I’ll be brief.
If this was a pure, blonde, white woman, outrage would be all over the net.
But a black woman, the lowest common denominator…it’s funny.
Notice their delightful smiling faces, taking many pictures, probably using it as their screensaver…
The fact that whites never got the euphemism tells me loads about their intrinsic sickness. I feel…bad for them, sorta.
Blindness, willful blindness, is a horrible thing.
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@ Demerera
Randolph has no personal feelings, remember?
He’s logical, educated and is here with us to provide much needed white, unbiased answers to us Emotional Negroid Thinkers.
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@ Truthbetold,’
I wouldn’t even go so far as to call it a “sickness”. A sickness implies someone can’t help being that way. They actually thought it was amusing, each and every one there, all smiling, taking pictures, and laughing. That implies something darker than pathology. They chose to react that way, no matter how much the minister plays stupid now that people get to see how she acts around “polite company”.
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Depraved, distasteful, disgusting.
When he heard people laughing as they were cutting the cake WTF was going on in his head? Surely he must have quickly realised that this wasnt having the desired effect? Also, Leigh has a valid point too – where were the females in all this?
I appreciate the desire to bring awareness to this, but to what end? Was it to try and urge prominent people to lobby against this? Is he part of a group/organisation campaigning to stop this? At the moment, it smacks of a way to gain notoriety merely by being inappropriately controversial.
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It’s to bad that the museum had to host this, apparently they have had bomb threats..but no explosives found.. I understand that this was wrong and controversial but come on Sweden! There is no need to break laws because of it!
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There is more to the story than presented. Abagond comments on the trivialization of female genital mutilation, but the truth is Sweden is one of the Western Countries who are more intent on trying to stop it.
It seems to me, given how he has reacted to the whole thing, Linde was trying to make some commentary on the issue of FGM and the attitudes and obsession Swedish and other Westerners have toward the practice as it relates to African and other non-Western nations rather than one about race directly.
But unfortunately it’s difficult to make such commentary because the act is instinctively and inevitably analyzed on its basest level and in black and white terms. The issue of attitude toward FGM is passed over for the issue of this cultural minister’s individual racism.
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I also think he would have had a better effect if he did not do the black face make up. but It depends, was he trying to inspire racism through laughter? or was he trying to promote disgust? Did the people of Sweden truly know what it that were laughing at in the beginning, and then realized after seeing the footage or just remembering? if it was supposed to promote awareness, he should have used a female actress to do the sounds and without the demeaning black face and too make it look real. who knows.. in all honesty this almost makes me lose my pride as a white individual. but more or less makes me wonder in disgust.
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abagond
On the contrary, I think it’s absolutely racist and in terrible taste. Same thing with using FGM as the basis for a humorous art installation. My point was that political correctness argues against that type of non-relative judgment being applied.
Under the paradigm of deep political correctness, a white person isn’t granted the moral agency to judge a black artist’s creation as being “racist”.
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Also, why is Linde getting a general pass here? He is a Westerner. How does he have the authority to present a caricature of a culture he is not part of? Did anyone watch the video? He is making as much of joke of situation he has little connection to as these Swedish whites are.
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Not to mention he is male.
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Just like whites, men think they have all the answers and can offer all the best commentary, even if it means making a huge goofy caricature out of the other sex.
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It should have been just a photo exhibition over champagne
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@WTF, Not true. The problem is that Yankees celebrate Saint Nicholas, you know that guy with that old tradition of being depicted as a darkskinned old man with Christmas, for some reaso, and after that he grew white. That the guy got a black companion, is a fact and in itself not a bad development (the fun part is that we do not know how, personally I guess it is probably a result of trying to combine the “white saint” with the “black saint” or it could have started small, with an actual black person, helping the saint impersonator and becoming a legend. (I spare you Wuotan’s raven, an abolitionist statement in Roman Catholic code, the chained devil, the shaman and the like…).
Very interesting phenomenon, shows a lot of fossilized views on black people, and the mass manifestation of it is offensive, sure, but has nothing to do with CHRISTMAS!
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Abagond:
This episode is an example of folks pretending to care about blackwomen when they really don’t. Caring about black suffering is chic nowadays, but, those who claim to care don’t take genuine steps to fix the problem. To make themselves feel less guilty about their white priviledge, they use abused and exploited black people as photo-ops for their own benefit. Abagond, at some point, whites in europe have to take responsibility for the damage they have caused in africa and around the globe as well. We shouldn’t give them a pass just because. White folk are screwed-up, let’s call a spade a spade.
Tyrone
Aquarius Vision
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Bizarre.
It was the artist’s own use of blackface, the deformed shape of the cake itself (how many young girls have bodies shaped like that?), and the artist’s less than realistic hooting and howling in the background, which turned this whole thing into a joke. I probably would have snickered myself, though not openly as did the apparently dim-witted Swedes in attendance…I definitely would have chowed down on the cake!
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The problem is, its not a joke and the artist as well as the people participating are morons. THe pure insensitivity of this whole situation is just sickening, I am an artist so I am aloud to be insensitive.
“LET THEM EAT CAKE”
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I don’t know why anyone would think the Scandanavian countries would be exempt from racism. Look at that horrible person who shot all those children/youth because of some racist idealology. Keep in mind that he killed all those white children because colored were “taking over”. The total population of non white Swedes are 2%. Racism is a sickness that I don’t think these people will ever be cured of. They have a history of going around in Black face, making lynching post cards, alligator bait memorabilia, Mammy memorabilia, Golly wogs, ect. Yet you NEVER see people of color engaging in such juvenile antics. It’s like there’s some creepy obsession with Black people. I have yet to see Blacks engage in this form of ridicule. It’s beneath us. Watch, if you will, this video. It is about this Ducth tradition called “Black Pete”. Black Pete is supposed to be Santa’s helper and is used to scare children into acting “nice” for fear that Black Pete will get them. The Dutch will say it’s not racist, that it’s meant to be a homage. That Black Pete is harmless. Some say that Black Pete is not even Black but just sooted from climbing down the chimney. Yet they are strangely silent when you ask them why, if he is supposed to represent a dirty white person, he is depicted with WOOLY hair when they dress up as his character. I didn’t know that soot made ones hair extremely curly. These people truly think we are stupid. Which is sad because we may be “stupid” but we certainly aren’t engaging in this kind of weird fetishitic behavior.
Here is a video of good ol’ Pete.
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@ leigh
“All I see are smiling/laughing white faces in that pic. If it really was about bringing awareness to FGM, then where are the young, black girls being affected by this? *smh* Again, it’s all about white people.”
Exactly.
Also, it is in poor taste. If you wanted to bring awareness to sex trafficking, would you use a cake in the form of a child being raped, complete with screams while everyone stood around smiling? I. Think. Not. Fail all around.
I said more but it’s caught in moderation.
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I saw this last week. 10/10 on the scale of racism. The racism here is more than just overt.. They are infusing the idea that black people are sub-human and the idea that “they” are superior.
Look at them symbolically feasting on her, all the while they laugh and have a good time despite her suffering emphasized by the sound effects thus showing there complete lack of emotion and empathy.
Sick people.
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Should also emphasize the self hate on the part of the artist in order for her captors to approve of her and her work….
The symbolism here is pretty amazing.
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^^^At first, I was disappointed with the artist as well. But then, I came to realization that this guy may just be a genius. Like you said, It symbolizes lots of things( the mocking of our pain, the grotesque imagery of the african women, the dehumanization of blacks ( specifically women), the consumption of our bodies.) It ultimately symbolizes the relationship Europeans have with Africans or ‘ those that are considered the cultural others’.
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After reading nearly all the comments I think I need to better explain my “self hate” comment about the artist since nobody else said it. Secondly I should say he is a he and not a she. My mistake.
Personally, seeing the cake and how it depicts black people, it reminds me of how black people used to be depicted in comic books like Tintin and Asterix, like abagond stated in the article. To me this is how stereotypically, the racist white person views the black person. Before this cake, I have to confess I have never come across a black person who used this image in there art through there own free will to depict their race.
To me it is dehumanizing. It does not represent black people. It only represents the old racist stereotypical image of black people.
So I thought the artist went for this because his art was being judged by a white panel and there was probably competition so he decided that for his work to get accepted he had to feed that white image of blacks. That is why I said self-hate.
I could be wrong though. Maybe he is a genius but also maybe he is a victim of his upbringing.
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LMAO at this entire issue. Wacko from top to bottom. I wouldn’t want to involved with this in any way.
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@ Abagond and everyone else who wants to have a serious discussion about this without derailing into the usual “racism is an illusion in you minds” argument that certain people enjoy starting.
Kola Boof, a Sudanese-American woman who was herself vaginally infibrulated, but did not have a clitorectomy because her mother was Oromo, and not a muslim, has an excellent post on her blog about her reaction to the tape:
http://www.owlasylum.net/?p=1823
She says explains how the black media basically shut Africans like her out of the discussion. I think her indictment is based on misogyny, which is very evident, than “nationalism” of American blacks. But still very interesting.
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What is wrong with y’all?
You want TASTEFUL art commenting on genocide? Murder? Rape? Child abuse? Why? If the topic is SHOCKING the art may be shocking.
Concerning Black Pete, interesting but a totally different topic, there is no doubt anymore that as far as we can trace back the character was a Negro, and OBVIOUSLY A FREE ONE, granted some incarnations like Schenkman’s original edition gave the impression they could give you the time they were free in hours, if not minutes, but free nevertheless… That soot stuff is just a reaction to political correct attackers.
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@Abagond
I’m really interested to know how you Abagond, think the Swedish minister and the rest of the guests should act, to not you finding this as an evidence that they are racists? Its a quite absurd situation, and you should be quite smooth not to do anything stupid in front of the camera. I don’t think that they expected that cake in their wildest fantasy.
Its excellent art by the way; its provokes an reaction, makes important people act and look stupid, and makes a debate even in the U.S.
@leigh204
Sweden didn’t have any colonies or imported any slaves. Before 1980 most people in Sweden most likely believed that Africans look like in “Tintin in Congo” , and before 1990 most Swedes had probably only seen a black person on television. Black African living in Sweden today are mainly Somalian immigrants, at least if we talk about a big group of African girls affected by FGM. The young grown ups are first or second generation immigrants. In Norway you have some young Somalian women who are anti FMG activists. Most known are Kadra Yusuf. She lives on a secret address and have police protection. Its not easy for a first or second generation Somalian immigrant woman to face publicly against FMG, you running a risk, mostly to be outcast, but also physical violence.
You can may say it all about white people again, showing of their goodness and kindness saving Africans, and you may right. But think about this: FGM for Somalian immigrant girls was more or less “accepted” on the account of “tolerance of cultural differences” in Norway until you got activists like Kadra Yusuf. FGM was not legal, but no one did anything about it.
The population in Sweden are 9,3 million, maybe 80.000 of these are of African origin (guessing, not know for a fact).
So yes, in Sweden it’s all about white people, or about white people meaning something, because its mainly white people in Sweden.
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Mats M L:
More bitter fruit from the political correctness tree.
How tragic that a nation which prides itself on secularism and gender egalitarianism would abdicate its moral responsibility to instill and enforce those treasured values among its immigrants out of a perverse sense of “tolerance”.
Surely this is an example of cultural and ethical cowardice.
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@ Wong Chia Chi
Thanks for the Kola Boof link!
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From that Kola Boof link
More:
http://www.owlasylum.net/?p=1823
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@Randy
Maby, but is it wrong? No one outside did anything about it before someone affected by it brought it up in daylight. I think that women affected by FGM must lead the fight against it, and draw the first stroke. Do you like other to fight for your rights without even ask your opinion?
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@teddy
What is wrong with y’all?
You want TASTEFUL art commenting on genocide? Murder? Rape? Child abuse? Why? If the topic is SHOCKING the art may be shocking.
I understand shocking art. I’m just shook up because THEY ATE IT! GENITALS FIRST!!! WTF!!!
If you’re set upon protecting the bodies of Black Woman, and then devour a cake that looks like a minstrel caricature of a Black Woman, then you’ve kinda missed the point.
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That project revealed a lot.
1. Racism is not just an American pathology.
2. Whites anywhere have little or no regard for black/African life.
3. Whites are entertained by the use of blackface and black pain.
On the other hand, the way the artist went about presenting it was full of many questions.
1. Why use blackface in the first place? Could it be just as strong if it wasn’t stereotypically presented?
2. Why present the issue as–of all things–a cake?
3. Did he consider the possibility that whites would take this as–at the very worst–one big, edible joke?
This doesn’t seem quite as black-and-white (no pun intended) as it’s shown first hand. One thing is for sure, racism is not–by a long shot–exclusive to America and England.
I’m just trying to wrap my head around this as I’m a little bit of an artist myself.
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One more thing,
When I first saw a picture taken of that exhibit and read about it, I immediately thought of Spike Lee’s “Bamboozled”. I saw that movie the other night for the first time, and it left me speechless.
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@ Teddy
Shocking art succeeds if it gets people talking and debating about the problem it was supposed to address. This shocking art has failed, simply due to the fact that everyone is talking about the cake and not the issue. Personally, this cake got me thinking more about racism and Europe; genital mutilation was a distant afterthought.
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@ Mats M L
First, I would not be caught dead cutting that cake or eating it. Sorry.
Second, if I were the minister of culture I would find out who the hell it was who had that cake put in front of me and then (in private) chew them the fuck out.
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@ brothawolf
It reminds me of “Bamboozled” too. In fact that is pretty much how I read the whole thing: Linde tried to use the shock of over-the-top racist imagery and it backfired.
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I really did not get what the artist wanted to say, but I would have never eaten that thing, nor gone anywhere near it. It is grotesque and horrible. And really, the issue was the mutilation of girls. As a culture minister I would have ordered that cake to be taken away, not laughed at it.
As for the racism in Scandinavia, it has always been. The swedish “scientists” were the leading lights in the field of “racial biology” which the nazis suscribed so eagerly.
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@brothawolf: Brilliant movie! Recommend it to everybody.
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Wow, excellent commentary by Kola Boof, I have to say.
An uncomfortable topic for sure, how much of a right do Black Westerners have to speak for Black Africans, let alone Male Black Westerns for Female Black Africans? Is it more than Female Westerners have to speak for African Females?
I have to agree that it is interesting that the misogyny of the piece was all glossed over by most commentators (not just here, but in general) for the discussion of it’s racism. I think it is in part because the minister is female and as Kola indicates, people are hesitant to chastise the artist.
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@abagond:
Just a thought, but this is a ritualistic cannibalism at its purest form. In ritualistic cannibalism there are few rationales behind it: first, to gain the powers of the one to be eaten, and two: to destroy or to make dissappear something evil or bad. Here these fine hughly educated swedes, many of whom are ladies, are doing just that.
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@ Randy,
Wouldn’t political correctness have prevented this sort of thing in the first place? I think political correctness really isn’t the issue here, the issue is that something meant to bring “awareness” backfired because of over-the-top racist imagery and the failure of the people it was presented to to take it seriously. Of course there’s a racial controversy but the people it’s meant to bring “awareness” to got the short end of the stick…again.
And why should white people be given the discretion to discern what can and can’t be racist for different black people? I don’t think we ask men what can and can’t be sexist for women, right? But we do expect men to be able to use good judgement. This is an example of a failure to use good judgement. ;
If they’re rational adults, they should be able use some empathy and tell when something might be hurtful or damaging, or when it might not be a good idea to find humor in that sort of imagery.
@ Brothawolf,
I’m an artist too, I can agree. I’m sort of mixed on the work itself. It brings awareness to one thing, but in a way that has backfired (or has it?)
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Wow I urge everyone to read that link posted by Wong Chia Chi. The story of the author is quite something and what is even more potent is her refusal to be a victim. Astonishing show of human strength in the face of overwhelming adversity. I totally agree with her view on Linde. He has sold out, he is black but really he is swedish, his struggle is to fit into swedish society, get his “black” half accepted.
Also if we were to be honest, his art didn’t get people talking about FMG. The conversation instead is centered on racism. Maybe this is what Linde feels of himself. It is quite telling that the face is his. Maybe it is some kind of cry for help? Maybe he is locked in an environment that doesn’t quite allow him to be at peace with his half that isnt exactly swedish.
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@ Earl,
I think it’s because for black women, race and misogyny are not separate things they have the luxury to “gloss over”. The image is not of an “African woman” it’s of a racist caricature of an “African woman”. Even in a work about a form of misogyny, the racism is visible in it’s portrayal, and therefore is a part of the discussion.
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It is possible to be a racist and not know it. Implicit racism.
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@Earl
I have to agree that it is interesting that the misogyny of the piece was all glossed over by most commentators (not just here, but in general) for the discussion of it’s racism. I think it is in part because the minister is female and as Kola indicates, people are hesitant to chastise the artist.
I agree that it’s misogynistic and racist, but I’m so hung on the cannibalistic I can’t even scratch all the things wrong with this. Artists bewilder me.
I will say that I immediately took Linde as the quintessential tragic mulatto fool. I’m more disappointed with him than anyone else in this farce.
Wow, excellent commentary by Kola Boof, I have to say.
An uncomfortable topic for sure, how much of a right do Black Westerners have to speak for Black Africans, let alone Male Black Westerns for Female Black Africans? Is it more than Female Westerners have to speak for African Females?
I agree, Kola’s writing was excellent. I’ll have to read more of her.
I think we should have very little to say about Black Africans because of how little we know. We risk being colonizers in our own right. So, as a Young Black Western Man, I’m more than a little disappointed with Kola’s treatment by my “intellectual” brethren. As if I didn’t have a bone to pick with them before too.
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@ Wilson
As I wrote in a book once: ‘The Black Woman is the most unprotected, unloved woman on earth…she is the only woman on earth…that grows unwatered.’ In America, where they believe (or want to believe)…that that Bitch in New York Harbor is their real mother…it sticks to their fingers like frosted truth. Since none of us in the Black community plan on staying black—we don’t have time to care about Black women.
The whole piece is interesting but this hit home.
The only thing I don’t agree with is that she’s saying this like it’s only African Americans, mixed race blacks that have this problem. I’ve seen Africans that kiss up to white people too, and put down other blacks. That’s a door that swings open in both directions.
And we care. People like me definitely care. Kola can be myopic. This has been denounced on the blogosphere.
I definitely feel that as a black woman no one values or respects my life. There is this palpable contempt in my daily interactions with people in the community that confirms this and that always lets me be aware of this fact. From the victim blaming that rape victims get to the victim blaming that Trayvon Martin got, I can’t escape it , no matter how hard I try.
My personal situation is such that my support system is weak. It’s a wonder that I have survived all I’ve been through being so young.
But her refusal to be a victim gives me a sort of comfort. I mean people can go through all kinds of bad things, THEY SHOULDN’T, despite what other people would say, and still affirm their right to exist and live the way they choose.
Her perspective on vaginoplasty, clitiorectomy is interesting.
I’m still disgusted by the fact that this happens to women, despite the fact that they live with it and accept the culture that fosters it. If it was their choice that would be different, not necessarily okay, but it’d be different.
The fact that a human organ is mutilated in such a horrific fashion, both to deny the recipient pleasure, and to give pleasure to the person who impells it is sooooo sadistic.
What kind of man enjoys causing someone that much pain, even if the physical sensation supposedly feels so good? I thought sex was about two people connecting. Even sex workers get “paid” to fake orgasms, so that the men feel better about it.
And with this these men know the women don’t enjoy it. But they still do it?
And what are the women thinking who impose that on their daughters? I guess it’s like with foot binding or anything else, the community wants it, and they go along with it because it’s the cost of belonging to a community.
Still though. Wish I’d learn more about this whole issue because women are the ones performing it on other women, just like with foot binding.
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“The culture minister, along with the rest of Stockholm’s assembled cultural elite (all white) smiled and laughed at the whole thing, drinking their wine and eating the cake. As if female genital mutilation or blackface is something to laugh at.”
Exactly. This was my first thought. Why in the world are they laughing at such a serious subject, why is such a serious subject being turned into a minstrel show? I was extremely offended by the whole thing. It seems the intent Linde had totally backfired.
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Mats M L
Well-functioning societies generally set civil rights standards which they enforce regardless of the acquiescence of its citizens. For example, if you came from a clan where forced dental mutilation was traditional, I don’t believe that any western country would permit me to be a practitioner of it, even if you didn’t object out of fear or obedience.
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Ace:
I don’t think our perspectives here are necessarily so different. What’s considered “racist” or otherwise prejudicial ought to be a matter of common sense.
Otherwise, you may have a situation where white people are willing to play along with a stunt which is obviously in bad taste because the artist is black and doesn’t deem it to be “racist”.
Your first sentence alludes to the double-bind: if the black artist deems the installation to not be racist, just who are those white people to say it is racist? Isn’t that an example of paternalistic racism?
And then what if some black people say it’s racist and others say it isn’t? They’re damned if they do and damned if they don’t. Oh my, what a tizzy!
Watching the common sense-impaired work themselves up into cognitive contortions in an attempt to conform to an ever-shifting standard and then inevitably fail is rather amusing.
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Ace,
You can be trying to say something about misogyny and inadvertently be highly misogynistic in the act. You have to question the the worth of sparking and engaging in such a debate when it is capable of bringing someone, perhaps thousands of people to tears.
Perhaps glossing over was the wrong term to use. What I meant to question was isn’t there something more than a little bit off when you can have people on seemingly the same side musing how “brilliant” this act was while others are saddened to tears? There must be a undervaluing of the misogyny in this case, I would think, and a misunderstanding of what an artist can appropriate to spark discussion.
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I think we should have very little to say about Black Africans because of how little we know. We risk being colonizers in our own right. So, as a Young Black Western Man, I’m more than a little disappointed with Kola’s treatment by my “intellectual” brethren. As if I didn’t have a bone to pick with them before too.
I know right? Those house Negroes do not speak for me or to me they speak to/for the white elites that they wish to curry favor with. No maam.
In regards to FBM I’m not sure if it was introduced because of Islam or if it was just a cultural practice because of other reasons? Does anybody know?
In any case I don’t feel comfortable speaking about it from an African perspective because I’m not African.
Like most Westerners though I find it bizarre and brutal. That’s my reaction. I find men mutalting/piercing their penises to be the same thing though but this bothers me more just because it’s so bloody.
I obviously just don’t know enough about it though, And I’m not going to impose my Western views on a culture that I’m not a part of. Just saying it needs to stop is not enough, since I’m coming form a place of ignorance.
If it wasn’t performed when the women were babies, well I would still find it brutal and bizarre, but it’d be different if women underwent it voluntarily.
Still not trying to be a white savior by proxy either. Lots of brutal things in this culture to deal with that I feel comfotable speaking about, confronting.
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@ Earl
I agree completely. Absolutely 100% with what you are saying right there.
Yeah, i think I read “glossing” and thought too much into it. I came off as a little combative.
Your right. I don’t see the art as “brilliant”, in fact, it greatly disturbs me, I was musing over how, as an artist, I could rationalize that sort of imagery and hope it was used for a decent purpose, because (if not) then yet again, the pain many women go through has been used (in possibly triggering fashion) to send a message meant more for Westerners than for them. I’ve always been the sort who thinks that an artist has a responsibility to care for what (and whom) he portrays. Appropriating the pain of someone else to provoke can backfire.
Actually…now that I think of it, I doubt that someone can take it into a pure issue of misogyny just because the cake is portraying an image of African woman that African women have not chosen, that black-face look was a racist invention. It’s this gross mix of racial misogyny that sort of disturbs me even more.
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I think some women even get surgery to have their vagina tightened, a cosmetic procedure.
And in China some men undergo a procedure to make themselves taller. The get a piece of bone removed in the shin I think and then a piece of metal placed or the bone regrows or something.
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I’m speechless with shock……………….
The sight of those hideous faces smiling, truely nauseate me!
Yet another occasion to belittle Black women. How awful!
It is so shocking how far people can go in thrusting out their hatred towards others.
Anyway, as for Makode Linde; i think that was a very bad taste, on his part!
If he wanted to arouse Social sensibility, he could have done it in a more refined way, he lacks originative.
Well I think he’s just another Uncle Tom!
They needed a “Black Face” for their disgusting and offensive personal enjoyment.
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I find all of your comments interesting but you are all looking at it from the eyes of blacks in the diaspora…Linde is “black” but he is not of the diaspora
Abagond, this is what Grada Kilomba was trying to say about the disconnect of having African ancestry and being European.
“Growing up black in Europe leads to alienation: you see yourself through the eyes of white people, not through your own eyes; you talk about yourself through the language of white people, not through your own language.”
Linde may be in the process of trying to find and connect to the African part of himself, using his Art to bridge both his African roots with his Swedish heritage and society.
it’s a tough road to walk in a country that has never had to deal with overt or institutional racism or any kind of political correctness when it comes to the people racism affects.
I believe most Europeans with very small “black” populations are ignorant of what is considered offensive
it’s obvious that the n-word is a worldwide no-no but “blackface” has no historical significance to Europeans; so no, they don’t “get it” when people say they are being racist for cutting the cake. These people took his Art as a joke, so they laughed and played.
FGM is no laughing matter, so they should have got a clue on that one, but once again, ignorance is bliss.
The fault of this spectacle rests with Linde, this was his teaching moment and he failed.
I don’t think Linde understands the historical significance of blackface either or that using it as Art is tasteless.
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He certainly caught everyone’s attention, but it has not brought the focus onto female genital mutilation. On the one hand I think the cake he created is what he believes White people see Black women as: inhuman. On the other, I feel that portrayal already dehumanises Black women and trivialises the topic he wished to bring attention to.
The people there aren’t even laughing awkwardly. They all look giddy with glee. If I were there I would have felt very uncomfortable.
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Linda, great you tied this in with the Grada thread. I think you hit some nails on the head.
Why does Mick Jagger pucker up his lips and walk like a rooster, that is his words by the way? And Jamiriquai will say something like ” …word to the brother hood..” in a kind fake “black lingo”. These things are almost minstrel or black face if you ask me…for sure its what whites in America do in a differant way, but, in England they dont have the same society paramaters that America does so some of the entertainers in music almost seem minstrel in their interpretations.
I thought your observations on blackface were correct
Just my opinion . But your referance to the Grada thread and what she said and other things said on there are certainly relevant here
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Peanut,
Thanks for the link to the article.
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I don’t see how Linde could have believed that this event would bring serious attention to FGM. He turned a serious issue into an ugly spectable with that hideous cartoonish CAKE. He did bring to light the racism and callousness of the attendees who saw fit to mutilate or laugh at the mutilation of the Black woman caricature.
FGM is not a specifically African or Muslim ritual. Africans who are not not Muslims engage in it as well as some non-African Muslims. From what I heard, it’s not proscribed by Islam. FGM however, is connected to the worldwide phenomenon of men seeking to control the bodies of females and restrict or erase their sexual autonomy. Why can’t Western women speak on this just as they do rape culture in the Americas or any other misogynist practices? It’s all connected and it damages ALL women.
Finally, FGM is not performed on women. It’s done on girls in infancy up through puberty. I will not hesitate to call FGM savage or brutal. It serves no purpose than to deny the female sexual pleasure to ensure that she doesn’t stray from her owner (husband).
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Why does Mick Jagger pucker up his lips and walk like a rooster, that is his words by the way? And Jamiriquai will say something like ” …word to the brother hood..” in a kind fake “black lingo”. These things are almost minstrel or black face if you ask me…for sure its what whites in America do in a differant way, but, in England they dont have the same society paramaters that America does so some of the entertainers in music almost seem minstrel in their interpretations.
I always thought he just puckered his lips because they were his best feature back when he was young.
Seriously though, racism isn’t universal. And I don’t think it was a prevalent in Europe as it was in America when Mic Jagger was coming up. He’d one of those “try my hardest to be black cause I love black culture” but he’s bisexual and from a working class background so he probably doesn’t have the same prejudices as the dominant white culture. The Rolling Stones and Beach Boys never played a note that Chuck Berry didn’t play first but Stones were honest about this. And Mick Jagger gets my props because when TIna left Ike he sent a private plane to fly her out to Paris so she could buy whatever she wanted. True he was probably trying to hit it, but that’s still an incredibly nice gesture. He always held her in such esteem and wanted to work with her musically but Ike got in the way. I think Ike even whooped his ass one time.
I think European racism has increased in recent years due to the fact that the small minority population they have is increasing hence they view blacks/non whites as a threat.
That’s why when Euopeans hold themselves above Americans and consider themselves more enlightened about race I remember that this is the continent that had the Holocaust. Their racism is usually more subtle but it’s there. I just don’t think it’s as determinant as it is in America society because there are too many other isms (sexism/classism/ethnicism) to compete with. Classism is definitely worse and being white doesn’t guarantee social acceptance, especially in the upper echelons of society like it does in America.
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I see this cake as the artist’s representation of himself.
His gender indentification issues layered with homophobia.
Makode is denied his feminine nature by the presence of his male genitalia.
He tries to relate this to FGM…the huge bust and small arms, i think symbolizes his state of having to hold back from nurturing or reaching out.
Society’s racism is something he actually shields himself with via Blackface.
The pregnant stomach being cut into could symbolize the un-natural release of ideas or the death of them.
Personally, the cake pisses me off.
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Well, I was meaning that in the context that Jagger is as naive about what he would do on stage , as this artist is with these people cutting the cake. Sure he can have the best of intentions but part of Jaggers schtick is doing a gross parady of a black woman. Im not sure if you can pick it up, but I can.
Just as these people and this artist are naive about how they apear, I thought Linda described that well, Jagger, with the best of intentions comes off minstel. Just like Jamiriquai with his “word to the brotherhood…”. Again, their intentions arnt bad, but, its a naivetee about it. Fans of Jagger are not going to see it, Im no fan, so its kind of obvious to me. And, I think its this naiveness that penetrates this incident.
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@ Wong Chia Chi
“I definitely feel that as a black woman no one values or respects my life.”
Well as a black woman, you happen to be black and female at the same time. That is generally a bad combo in today’s world. So I can understand where you are coming from. I think it comes down to your own personal battle, you have to find peace within yourself and be comfortable with yourself. Not to be a narcissist but instead to develop a healthy relationship with yourself.
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licking ass its a good job too
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I would say racism in europe is more strong than in america and always has been. In europe it is more deep rooted. This is the place that started that whole thing in the first place. They came up with the science of race. Because of the enlightenment age, they think they are the most superior intellectual bunch in the whole wide world that have ever existed in all of time. Emotions get relegated for intellect. In my opinion, this means that sometimes europeans can do and say some stuff that in their minds appear to make sense and as a result they won’t consider the emotional fall out. Also as a black person growing up in europe my general experience has shown me that europeans think they are culturally superior to black people. Heck, to the whole wide world. It’s kind of understandable considering they pretty much run the world.
Just look at the american middle class white person aspiring to climb up the ladder, exactly what kind of culture are they trying to emulate….? European is the point of reference.
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People are shocked that white Europeans don’t really care about issues affecting people of color? Anybody lived there? Hello?
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I would say that this cake artist wouldn’t have a business profiting off white antipathy for blacks if there wasn’t so much white antipathy for Blacks. You cut the demand for such hurtful caricatures of Blacks and the supply will dry up too.
But that would involve whites actually taking responsibility of their prejudice. Maybe too much to ask for …?
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I would like to add that this was the artist’s fault. He didn’t brief the cultural elite on how they were supposted to react. A few examples and maybe some small cards with acceptable phrases printed on them would have helped.
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“… but he’s bisexual and from a working class background so he probably doesn’t have the same prejudices as the dominant white culture…. And Mick Jagger gets my props because when TIna left Ike he sent a private plane to fly her out to Paris so she could buy whatever she wanted. True he was probably trying to hit it, but that’s still an incredibly nice gesture. He always held her in such esteem and wanted to work with her musically..”
************
Wong
Have you ever SEEN the lyrics to the Rolling Stones hit, *Brown Sugar*??
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[…] https://abagond.wordpress.com/2012/04/23/clitoridectomy-cake […]
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[…] https://abagond.wordpress.com/2012/04/23/clitoridectomy-cake […]
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Interesting that the trolls have not descended on this one…
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@Silver
“People are shocked that white Europeans don’t really care about issues affecting people of color? Anybody lived there? Hello?”
I’m amazed also, I mean can’t blame the guy for trying but we obviously don’t care as it does not affect whites (but then again stating that is in itself racist I suppose).
Damned if we do, damned if we don’t.
Helping folks while being white garners the “white saviour” outlook, and ignoring them garners the “thinks their savages and not considered worth helping! Racists” outlook anyway.
I say better to be apathetic towards situations where we can’t possible win anyway.
“I would like to add that this was the artist’s fault. He didn’t brief the cultural elite on how they were supposted to react. A few examples and maybe some small cards with acceptable phrases printed on them would have helped”
All in all I think he had his hopes up for a different reaction without fully realizing the people he’s dealing with.
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Abagond: I have a feeling that will change soon. If it hasn’t already …
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JT,
I thought you’d be particularly pleased by the outcome of this event. Here you have a whole room full of white folks subsuming their own moral judgments in lieu of that of a Person of Color. How much more deferential can they possibly get?
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@ JT
I believe the artist, like most artists, had a vision and his backfired because they didn’t get it. Fault isn’t with him per se, but with the audience for not understanding the underlying message.
You see this all the time with performance artists who starve themselves, mutilate themselves, etc…
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LOL. Sorry I can’t even respond to that except laugh.
Whiteness makes strange bedfellows. Xenophobic American whites will partner with anyone and I mean ANYONE, if it positions them in with their in -groups (other light-skinned people).
Look at the culture minister of Sweden – and xenophobic American whites despise European plutocrats!! They will fight to the death for her right to a guilt-free conscience for digesting a genital mutilation cake. How was she and her plutocrat friends ever supposed to know that clitoral castration humor is off the table! I mean she’s ONLY the culture minister – what does she know!?!
Look at Zimmerman – a Jewish/hispanic child murderer. They will sprint to his defense, even when he represents two historically hated out-groups to xenophobic whites: Jews & Hispanics. Not only that, but a third traditionally hated out group; child murderers. Even if it groups them in with traditional enemies of xenophobic whites, they will take that position because it gives them the comfortable distance they need from identifying with Blacks and the oppression they befit upon Blacks.
Its quite hillarious once you connect the (xenophobic white) dots.
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@ Truthbetold,
I am for exposing the racist caricaturization of Blacks because that caricaturization still persists today in mass, albeit to a less accepted fashion than previous generations .
It is an ugly, ugly side of whites that we take little time to expose but they engage in it and then claim not to be racists. The definition of two-facedness and the danger of quieter forms of racism.
To this end, i think want Linde did was very valuable. He made art that was political and enlightened.
He didn’t expect that the unenlightened would enjoy it in the way that they did.
So I think “event” sort of blows back the veil of more subtle and surreptitious forms of white racism. Something infinitely more difficult to track and trace.
In this sense, the artist deserves to be applauded. The white racist “Culture Minister” (what a joke!) deserves to be sacked.
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@ JT
That’s why I’ve always said that the pathology is deeper than we realize. Historically, whites will side with ANYONE if it means the humilation and death of blacks for we are not human. When the black torment has subsided, they return to hating the other perceived threat.
This is not new and will continue forever.
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@ Truthbetold,
It is ingrained in their subconscious. Which is why they revile to being confronted with it – they realize the truth on some level but abhor the ugliness of it simultaneously. It messes with their self-concept.
“Cognitive dissonance”
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Thanks for confirming that Linde is the product of a white woman and black man. I suspected as much. This means he is by nature conditioned to identify and be more comfortable with white women. Do not underestimate the power of “the hand that rocks the cradle”. Linde will never truly know the essence of African women. This is a huge unspoken factor to how his ‘art show’ played out. There are key elements of knowing Linde will not, and cannot, ever possess.
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“Wilson
I would say racism in europe is more strong than in america and always has been.”
Linda say,
Wilson, you need to come and visit America USA and stay for at least 6 months. This will help you with your myth that Europe is more racist than USA.
northern Europeans are xenophobes who have stereotypes and prejudice about people of colour and other ethnicities but their is no historical hatred against blacks like their was in America (USA).
The historical hatred that the Americans had in society, their government, their laws, and their institutions does not exist in Europe. It’s this historical hatred that the black America civil rights movement had to fight in the 1960’s.
This attitude didn’t disappear overnight, it just got watered down and manifests itself differently because black and white Americans have to deal with each other openly in society now.
I am not saying their is no racism in continental Europe but the degree is no comparison.
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@Linda
Direct racism and indirect racism are one in the same. What we see in the US is direct racism, in Latin-America it’s indirect racism. Which is worse as it relates to black people? Of course, most folk would say that american blacks have it the hardest, Maybe? American blacks have more ish to deal with, but, we’re stronger because of it. On the other hand, spanish blacks have a more deceptive form of racism to face, but, they’ve become weaker, not stronger. In my mind, american blacks have the stronger argument. Subtle racism is more destructive over the course of time because it keeps black people off track, meaning, affected blacks don’t connect the dots…Ditto!
Tyrone
Aquarius Vision
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Today, Liljeroth issued a statement about it all. She says, in part:
“I am the first to agree that Makode Linde’s piece is highly provocative since it deliberately reflects a rasist stereotype. But the actual intent of the piece — and Makode Linde’s artistry — is to challenge the traditional image of racism, abuse and oppression through provocation. While the symbolism in the piece is despicable, it is unfortunate and highly regrettable that the presentation has been interpreted as an expression of racism by some. The artistic intent was the exact opposite. …
“It is perfectly obvious that my role as minister differs from that of the artist. Provocation can not and should not be an expression for those who have the trust and responsibility of Government representative. I therefore feel it is my responsibility to clarify that I am sincerely sorry if anyone has misinterpreted my participation and I welcome talks with the African Swedish National Association on how we can counter intolerance, racism and discrimination.”
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/04/18/150871279/swedish-official-calls-racist-cake-a-piece-of-provocative-art
The Swedish disreputable WHORE knows that she can just use an elaborated apology, and that’s it! It will all be swept under the rug, and in a few months time it will be forgotten.
That was why she and her undiscerning and deliberately obtuse fellows were showing high-spirited merriment while cutting that repulsive cake.
Shameless beings (they are not even worthy to be called beings) neither animals because most animals do have sensitivity.
Their smiling silicone- ugly-faces tells it all; it was all premeditated.
If not, why wasn’t there a single black person present (although it was a bloodcurdling scene; and personally i would not have just stand there and assist such an horrifying scene)
If they had done the whole thing especially the cutting of the cake with a little bit of humanity and earnestness the result and impact would have been great; it would have elicited reflection. But instead, they delineated their racism.
I have just finished showing those pictures to my friends and colleagues, just to see their reactions (not neccessarily their comments) and i could clearly see the disgust in their faces; the comments i received most were ” It completely lacks taste” and “that’s not a good way of sending out such a delicate message to the society because the smile in their faces and their attitude in those pictures are contradictory.
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“Tyrone
@Linda
Direct racism and indirect racism are one in the same. What we see in the US is direct racism, in Latin-America it’s indirect racism. Which is worse as it relates to black people? Of course, most folk would say that american blacks have it the hardest, Maybe?”
On the other hand, spanish blacks have a more deceptive form of racism to face, but, they’ve become weaker, not stronger.
Linda says,
Tyrone, in a sense, you are right as far as Latin America, but it is not black and white like it is in the US, you’re comparing “apples to oranges”
What you are describing as “indirect racism” is in essense Colourism (inverse racism) which is also a problem in the Caribbean; Colourism is linked to priviledge, money, and power.
Inverse racism diminishes African heritage and contributions to society because Africans were of the slave/lower-class; while glorifying the European heritage and culture, which is the ruling class. The more “mestizo /mixed race” the country, the less African heritage is acknowledged.
Skin colour is a determinant of how you are perceived.
A light-skinned black American could also be considered white or mestizo /mixed race in certain Latino countries and would received the “white” priviledges that comes with this colour heirachy.
This is just one of the problems that “blacks” in Latin America have to deal with, coupled with classism –it’s difficult to move from lower class to middle class. The opportunities and structures are not there like it is in the US.
In places like Honduras, the middle class mestizo (mixed race black, spanish, indian) population has “white” priviledge that the lower class “black” or mixed black/indigineous indian population doesn’t have.
I know it must be frustrating as a black American to see these so called “black” Latinos come to US and mimic the racial stereotypes of white America.
Latino blacks are not trying to “fight the power” they are trying to “join the power”…this may be what you are describing as weak because it seems like a denial of their “black” self.
Hugo Chavez is mestizo and proudly talks about his African heritage. In the US, he could also be called “black”…would Chavez take up the cause of black Americans, probably not, because the way to rise in Latino society is to be a part of the ruling class..La Raza
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@ Linda
Thank you! Excellent explanation.
I’ve seen many “black” Latinos leave their heritage behind when trying desperately to adhere to White American culture. They too know that in America, the colour advantage will benefit them.
@ Tyrone
I agree that the subtle forms of racism keeps us, or at least tries to keep us, under wraps. Tyrone, many Cubans, Puerto Ricans, Mexicans etc who identify as mulatto or black come to America and call themselves “white” as long as they can “blend” in. My next door neighbor, a farmer in the Dominican Republic, who is as brown as I, calls herself “white” in America.
This is not new.
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@ Bell
Whites are masters at the non-apology or as my cousin calls it Fauxpolgy.
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Truthbetold,
I like that word, fauxpology. 🙂
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Fauxpolgy
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@ truthbetold
“Whites are masters at the non-apology or as my cousin calls it Fauxpolgy”
“Fauxpolgy” I like it!
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“Latino blacks are not trying to “fight the power” they are trying to “join the power”…this may be what you are describing as weak because it seems like a denial of their “black” self.”
****************
Not all.
Sociology professor/author/researcher Eduardo Bonilla-Silva (of Duke University) is an outspoken critic of whiteness/racism who self-identifies as an African Latino.
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@ Linda
Thanks for the explanation.
In europe it isn’t so much in your face, less direct. I agree with that. With it being less direct though, it can play a wicked game with your mind because sometimes you might experience something and you don’t know exactly why or what it was. So maybe that argument of “it’s just in your head” that whites sometime use to dismiss racism is more true in europe than in america.
Also I think being black in america has its advantages compared to being black in europe, in america it is clear as day, so you know what you’re up against, in europe, well Linde is the perfect example. Chances are, if you ask him personally, he’d say he has experienced minimal overt racism, yet look at what he has produced.
Your description of race in latin countries is amazing. Only other person I have heard describe it just as you have is Henry Louis Gates Jr.
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/black-in-latin-america/featured/qa-with-professor-henry-louis-gates-jr/164/
One thing I never knew was in brazil the blacks are a majority numbering over 200m. You wouldn’t know this though if you looked at the ruling structure and positions of power in public and corporate life.
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@ Linda
““Growing up black in Europe leads to alienation: you see yourself through the eyes of white people, not through your own eyes; you talk about yourself through the language of white people, not through your own language.”
This quote aptly applies to the experience of being black in America and from what I understand, Latin America as well. Please refer to psychological theories of black and white identity development and check out the incredible Dr. Joy DeGruy for an insightful view on this matter.
@Matari; I adore Dr. Bonilla-Silva! Great mind and freakin hilarious!
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Well, you aint kidding, Wilson…in the congress, the universities, the media, especialy the TV, the gates at the airports, etc it looks like a white world. And white Braziians will tell you that if you look at the USA one drop rule, then there are plenty of black people in those places, but, that is a lie. The phenotype at the top is white.
I just saw right now a news report down here about the judicial debate about quotas in the univerities. The white woman was arguing against them. but , a morena woman who was in the feild with understanding what is happening said that the quotas was helping with the desegragation. That is all I needed to hear, because you have no idea how bad the hiarcial racism is in Brazil
The only TV shows that are about black families and black lives are the imported ones from the USA
But, I dont think this country will ever want to be or try to be like the USA as far as dealing with their race problem. And I dont think it might be the best way also, but, they need something really badly.
The inception of the TV was the biggest set back to black people in Brazil, it promoted colorism to the fullest,” white is the elite and is right”
And, I dont think Europe is going to go through the same thing as the USA does to deal with its racial dynamic.
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@ Linda
I do not know whether Europe or the USA contains more racism than the other, but I think Europe does have a `historical hatred’ of other races. It may not have been as obvious, but it was most certainly there. How else would Europeans have owned slaves and started the slave trade? They also had segregation, banning certain races from entering countries, riots and massacres of people of colour. They also had laws forbidding interracial marriage and White mothers who birthed mixed race children gave them away to avoid being ostracised, having their child murdered and themselves violently attacked for daring to `taint’ their race by sleeping with a man of colour.
I will also say that, even if intense hatred were not to exist in Europe’s past, that is no guarantee it can never develop in the present. Several countries have swung to the right and there has been a lot of anti-immigrant discussion. Just a few years ago, parties like this were not taken so seriously and you hardly heard a thing about them, but now it is quite different. White Europeans are now afraid of `dirty brown people’ taking their jobs, just like White Americans are. But one thing they fear more than that is `them’ destroying their culture and `taking over their country’ with other religions and customs. Mass murderer Anders Breivik didn’t just pop out of nowhere.
I have not lived in the US, but I have lived in Canada and several European countries. I am not Black. In fact, I am half White, half East Asian and ambiguous to some. I do not know if anyone can say Canada is at the same level as the USA with regards to racism. Yet, I can safely say I have experienced far worse racism in Europe than in Canada (even in 99% White places). In my childhood and teenage years in Europe I was physically attacked many times while told to `go back to China’. In the late 90s, my then 8-year-old brother got a brick thrown at his head while someone screamed, `Get the f*ck out of our country, chink!’ Sadly, I have found my experience is not unique to me, nor to my home country!
In Canada–and perhaps the US–people in general at least get the idea that racism (or at least expressing it) is bad. There are many parts of Europe in which people do not seem to get that, or only equate racism with blatant violence. So even though adults are rarely going to chase me down and beat me, many more hurtful things are going to be said and done and all the White people will find it acceptable. I understand there are also White Americans who think only KKK enthusiasm is racist, but Europeans seem to be able to get away with far more blatant racism than Americans. Many things deemed acceptable in Europe would cause an uproar in the US. It is okay to make fellow citizens of your country feel less-than and like they do not belong. Black- and Yellow-face are okay in some parts. After all, `stereotypes are true’ is what they claim. Or, `it’s just a joke, you’re too sensitive.’ Or even, `it’s in honour of your people!’ In some places, it’s even possible to go into a store and get every customer to join in bashing Black or Brown people. Nearly every time I have returned to Europe to visit family I have had my surname mocked at least once, whether it is at the airport, or at some random store. Another reminder I will never be completely welcome since I’m not 100% White. Whether any of this is equal to the US or not, I cannot say, but racism is certainly alive and well in Europe.
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@ Matari
I have seen those lyrics, but I always thought they were intended to be ironic/darkly comic because….doesn’t Mic Jagger have several children by black models? And his “alleged” ex lover David Bowie is also is married to a black model.
I mean a lot of blues style song can get pretty raunchy offensive. Like “Sissy Man Blues”.
Still you are right, that song has some pretty racist overtones/meanings.
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“Iris,
I do not know whether Europe or the USA contains more racism than the other, but I think Europe does have a `historical hatred’ of other races.
Another reminder I will never be completely welcome since I’m not 100% White. Whether any of this is equal to the US or not, I cannot say, but racism is certainly alive and well in Europe.”
Iris, I am sorry to hear about the things you experienced as a child, and I agree with you, Europeans have less of a filter when it comes to what to say or do, or what is offensive to people of colour, than in US.
I went to University in Germany, so I am familiar with their attitude towards foreigners and dark Europeans.The things that came out their mouths sometimes floored me but I viewed them as being ignorant and of course, nationalists.
I would ride the tram into town with my Spanish and Saudi roommates and the old people would stare at us and say, (in German) “If he (hitler) was still here, then these people would not be here” I would say, “He is dead, Germany lost the war, get over it”
Once people realized I was a student, they would often ask me “what I would do when I returned to Jamaica”…hint, hint, hint…”when are you going home?” I believed I received good treatment from the locals because they knew I did not plan to stay, so I was an honored guest.
I would hear stories from the Italien, Hungarian,Turkish, Somalian, and Eritrean immigrants who I made friends with and I felt that they were having a hard time of getting ahead because of their status as foreigners and the locals gave them a hard time.
One Italien guy had to marry a German woman in order to own a restaurant even though he lived in Germany for 15 years and for whatever reason, he was having a hard time getting his citizenship.
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Iris,
You sort of highlighted what I’ve been trying to convey about Europe. Because of their Nationalism and xenophobia … stereotypes and racism is directed to anyone who they consider non-white European, not of their ethnicity, or foreign–it’s not just based on skin colour.
It’s well document that Europeans don’t have much tolerance to mass immigration (ie the Jews) but blacks were able to benefit from laws applied in certain countries (France) unlike in the US..such as when France abolished slavery.
when Thomas Jefferson brought his slaves from US, once they hit French soil, they were no longer slaves and were given the opportunity to stay and receive French residency.
I am not saying that European countries did not ever use exclusionary policies against certain racial or ethnic groups — they did so when they wanted to get rid of these groups (Spanish inquistition)
and for sure, most of their wars have been fought because of historical hatreds towards each other ie Germany and Russia always trying to conquer Poland.
Why do I say racism is worse for blacks in America than Europe?
Because America is a country formed by immigration. And from the inception of the US, blacks have been here but they are looked down upon in their own country.
they didn’t just start immigrating 50 years ago like Caribbeans, Africans, and Asians have in Europe.
Blacks Americans are a part of America’s development and history and have made strong contributions to American society, but if you look at America’s institutions, corporations, or media, (and believe the things some whites say) you would think black Americans just appeared on the scene since 1960’s…
their roots run deep in America, yet they had to fight to participate fully in a country they helped to build– to me, this is ridiculous.
When I first came to US, white Americans would tell me sh’t about black Americans–I would point out that “I am black”, and they would say, “no, you’re not really black, so this doesn’t apply to you” WTF
It’s this willingness to elevate any other immigrant group or show acceptance towards other non-white groups, just so that they can put down their own countrymen (black Americans) –this attitude stinks and it’s one I do not like.
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(aside about Jagger, one of those models that had his kid is Braziliian and she is white as the snow. Again, I think its being naive in his case, but for someone aware of stereotypes ,his paradies of a black woman are ridiculas)
I think Linda is on to something about immigration in Europe and slaves being in the USA since the begginning.
As a matter of fact, can anyone tell me here if there is any country in the Caribean or South America, where they brought slaves from Africa, is the dynamic any differant about the elite are white and from the colonizers and the descendants of African slaves are on the bottom and have obsticles to get anywhere? Is Haiti any differant, for example ? Of course there is the dynamic of the Indians that were there first, the differance is , black slaves were brought from AFrica, and, were subjected to the most horrible things just because they were black slaves, like families being ripped apart.
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Just wanted to add this in.
Mass migration of whites and asians started to happen in europe like 50-60 yrs ago like Linda said but people of other races have been coming here for centuries. Here is an example of how one was treated. Don’t know if it has been mentioned before: Sara Baartman.
Viewer discretion is advised.
Tell me, is that racism or xenophobia? Where is the line? From what I gather from Linda, europe is higher in xenophobia compared to america but america is higher in racism compared to europe. What is the difference?
Linda says
“and for sure, most of their wars have been fought because of historical hatreds towards each other ie Germany and Russia always trying to conquer Poland.”
I might be wrong but these wars were driven by kings against other kings, for land, for thrones, for money, for control. Europe is united under the banner of christianity, before protestants, the vatican had power over the whole continent. Therefore, I don’t think you can compare the aggression between different european countries(where everyone is white, equal in the eyes of God) to aggression between european countries and other places of colour(Where people are not equal in the eyes of God). For the latter, it is more than just land, control and wealth, it is historically also about civilizing, spreading christianity; bringing grace to other lower human life forms.
In conclusion I think the turmoil people of colour face may be different on both sides of the atlantic(racism vs xenophobia/nationalism) but the pain inflicted is pretty much the same.
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@ B.R.
How is it that Brazil, black people are misrepresented in high society despite having such a huge population of black people? Does the racism become more overt the higher up you go? Like for example you aren’t going to get promoted to CEO or Director level(if one is qualified) because you are black? or the university refuses admission because you are black? What about TV, are there no black tv producers/executives?
In america I have read it becomes more covert, that it is why you’ll find a higher percentage of black people in high society : at the bottom it’s overt, in your face, at the top, it is clandestine, indirect.
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Wilson, in my opinion, Brazil is a major example of the exact problem of bringing slaves from Africa . In Brazil, more than anywhere in the Americas this is a reality, and, it is how the society just never opened up for the slaves to enter in. Slavery was abolished in 1888, and for 10 years after they still brought slaves from Africa up to Pernambuco. The dynamics from the colonial times just didnt go away as far as who is elite and who isnt.
Brazil is trying to change and it dosent have the virul violence that hangs over the USA. I sometimes think its this violence there that gave such power and voice to the black struggle there.
The media in Brazil, now has a token presence on TV,in a country that is half black , even the mixed black population isnt well represented ( they have no in depth look at black life day to day).And you get these strange phenominons like in carnival in Bahia the most black state in Brazil, you have three white women who get the biggest attention.
Its very complex and I cant really address it in one post at all.
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…for example, I mentioned the virul violence, meaning racial violence in the USA, but, there is a huge amount of vioence in Brazil based on class struggle and drug dealing and sub economies
The Sao Paulo police kill more people than all the USA police combined , that is a heavy figure and most of the people killed are brown and black , you can be sure. So there is part of the dichotomy, it doesnt play out in klan racism ( there are neo nazi busts though ,and i hear white people there swear they have none), but, there is a huge race/class barrior set in place that is going to take a long time to break through
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…by the way, Wilson, you may have not seen this before about me on here, but, Im a white American , married to a black Brazilian wife we have one son and I ve been living in Brazil for the last 26 years
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@ B.R.
Well thanks for trying to explain. What you said plus reading through henry louise gates interview helped me develop a better understanding of race in south america and latin countries.
Someone here, can’t remember who said that power only yields to power. Black americans acted out and threatened the power in america, this was done 2 fold, there was an intellectual movement where they attacked the ideology that justified extreme open racism, [they first did this by naming it what it was, racism] the kind under jim crow, then there was disruption to civil life through the civil rights movement. I think both these efforts made them “gain” something that those in south america haven’t.
In south america as far as I am aware it seems that people of colour haven’t realised that the system is systematically against them and thus haven’t made attempts to really challenge the prevailing ideology. My impression from what you have written is that, they are trying to follow normal avenues but the problem with the normal avenues is that they favour whites…
So the situation does appear to be complex, even more complex when you add in the huge mixed race population in south america. One things for sure though, at the top is white, middle is mixed race, bottom is black.
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@wilson:
“I might be wrong but these wars were driven by kings against other kings, for land, for thrones, for money, for control. Europe is united under the banner of christianity, before protestants, the vatican had power over the whole continent. Therefore, I don’t think you can compare the aggression between different european countries(where everyone is white, equal in the eyes of God) to aggression between european countries and other places of colour(Where people are not equal in the eyes of God). For the latter, it is more than just land, control and wealth, it is historically also about civilizing, spreading christianity; bringing grace to other lower human life forms.”
Actually “racism” has always been part of the european wars. It is just that europeans have considered each other of being a different race too. Romans thoughed all outsiders of being a foreign race of men. During the anglo saxon invasion of Britain in 450-550, the british lamented their wretched race. During the viking invasions from 800’s to 1000’s, the anglo saxon monks lamented their wretched race. During the norman invasion of Britain in 1060’s and later, the anglo saxons hated the norman race, who concidered both celtish and anglo saxon people as inferior race etc. etc.This went on for centuries.
Finally Adolf Hitler and nazis considered all slavic people as half men, slave people, whose place was in the slavery under the master race, the germans. Then there were semipeople, like the finns, who could be as servants of the germans. Then of course, there were non humans, like the gypsies, whom should be get ridden off. And the jews who were not even animals but pests. All of these are now considered as whites.
As for blacks or people of other color, William Shakespeare got one of his main characters to be a black and that was one of the most successful plays even at its time in 1500’s. Other main chacarters were white, like Julius Caesar, Macbeth etc. but Othello was black. Even during the crusades the great muslim leader and war lord Saladdin was looked upon as an equal with the king of England, Richard the Lionheart. An enemy, no doubt, and someone to be killed, for sure, but still noble and kingly. Even Columbus represented the tribal leaders of the caribbean to his spanish queen as kings and noble men. Sure, they were to be killed, but not simply for their race. But for gold and money and land.
All that changed when the great slave trade began, for the need of slaves in Caribean and American colonies. Once that machine started to roll, racism towards blacks and people of other color became The Thing. The great race theories were created to support both colonatisation and slavery. Church was at dilemma because it had condemned slavery before but scientists came up with the race biology and theories after which the church could condone slavery and colonisation with full gusto.
In Americas, all the whites who went over were staring again, running away from the past, serving time in colonies as a punishment etc. BUT all the blacks who came over, were slaves. From the day one the white community in Americas saw black new comers as slaves and nothing else. Period.
This, I think, is the difference between european racism and american racism.
And still, I do not know what the artist was thinking when creating the piece but I know what the lovely middle aged swedish women were thinking: Det här är mycket specielt och jätte rolig, och det här kan inte vara fel däför at den artis är ju svart. (translation: This is very special and very funny and this can not be wrong because the artist is black, right?).
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@ B.R.
“…by the way, Wilson, you may have not seen this before about me on here, but, Im a white American , married to a black Brazilian wife we have one son and I ve been living in Brazil for the last 26 years”
Oh OK. Wouldn’t have guessed that since you speak so passionately for the plight of black people. Wow, I guess it must be tough especially being white. Do you struggle with the element of “I don’t want sell out my own race but also I need to speak out against the injustice mainly perpetrated by my own race against other races”? How do you reconcile both? Tough…
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@ Sam
Well it does appear that there is a pattern. It appears that in order to do something bad to other people; conquer, exterminate, enslave them, leaders have to make the other people appear inferior, savage like or deserving of what is coming to them in order to motivate their subjects into actually carrying out these acts. In this context the concept of race as is deployed in the ancient/modern world is a created phenomena for socio/political/economic reasons.
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@ Yawn: I say better to be apathetic towards situations where we can’t possible win anyway.
This is why engaging in discussions on the meta is interesting but ultimately futile.
I take it one friend at a time, which is what I think most Americans do.
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Also, the overgeneralization of “Latin America” is itself an indulgence in stereotypes, since it is an entire continent with a diverse patchwork of peoples and cultures. In the Caribbean and Central America, color lines are not so distinct. Yes, you have a thin white crust that is usually on top, but the vast majority, 90% or more mingle freely.
In the Northern part of South America, there is less mixture between blacks, indians and European-descent people. It’s a whole other thing again in the southern cone, so I would caution against broad-brushing it, especially when engaging with people who have never lived there.
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More mixing in Argentina? Think again…By the way, I speak of Brazil where I live…I dont like to generalise on the rest of the Americas and I asked questions about it…
Wilson, I hate to go off topic with my personal life, but, if you look on the Miles Davis thread , I go into my past a little, which was a past, based on my parents didnt do the white flight thing, and I was integrated into the black community.As I look back, I think I never really bought into the whole “whiteness” thing and like I have to “defend” “whiteness”, at the same time I have no pangs of guilt or self hate…My first wife was black from the now defunct Roosavelt Taylor Homes projects on the South Side of Chicago..and, I always had affinity with black Afro and AFro diasporic culture from all over the Americas and the roots in sub Sahara Africa
About Brazil, I want to clarify , I have my personal opinions and beleive me, there could be some other people, especialy Brazilian or white Brazilian, or another American living there who would argue with me on my opinion
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that cake gives me chills, how could people be so nonchalant about it? I wouldn’t even want to eat it!
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What the hell am I looking at?
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@ Y
The white mind, personified.
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you know I almost threw up when I was looking at the picture.
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@Y
Welcome to the party! We have cannibal cake.
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@B.R. More mixing in Argentina? Think again…
I never said that. I said there was more mixing in Central America.
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“In the Northern part of South America, there is less mixture between blacks, indians and European-descent people. It’s a whole other thing again in the southern cone, so I would caution against broad-brushing it, especially when engaging with people who have never lived there.”
Sorry if I misunderstood you, I consider South America to mean the continent which isnt Central America , so the southern cone would be Argentina
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This cake perfectly illustrates the European’s racism and actually shows the world exactly how the white European persons views black people!! It’s just that the Europeans always wants to portray themselves less guilty than their white Americans counterparts of practicing white supremacy because they did not have slavery or colonialism on their door step but their method is even more damaging to black people. However, research every European countries (Britain, France, Italy etc) history and treatment of black people/countries and you will see their true colours. Don’t do be mistaken racism/white supremacy is alive and very well in Europe and the hatred/dehumanization of black people is worldwide!!
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After watching the video I would have to say that Mr. Linde made a very poor artistic choice. Creative but poorly executed. Mr. Linde apparently believes that FGM occurs only in Africa. That is not accurate. It also occurs in West Asia (“Middle East”) and was even occurring slightly in Europe secretly for women who moved there and wanted their daughters to be “prepared”. it is clear that FGM is vicious against women but what does his perception of “blackface” have to do with it? FGM is a method to “preserve” virginity for marriage (or to create the illusion of being a virgin). That is a women’s rights issue not an oppressive force imposed by white Europeans on African/West Asian women and girls. The brutality of FGM is clear but to make it into a mockery with that fantastic cake and “cries of pain” only dehumanizes the real brutality of the act of FGM (NSFL). http://www.middle-east-info.org/league/somalia/fgmpictures.htm I wonder is Mr.Linde ever seen the faces of those affected by FGM rather than just heard about it. As far as the Minister is concerned i don’t feel she should lose her job. I feel that she needs to help the people who are affected by FGM directly and talk to them, see them, and understand their pain and that would hopefully make her re-evaulate her behavior during that event and consider how her laughter can be seen as her being de-sensitized and unaffected by FGM. Still agreat post by the way abagond.
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@ Bulanik,
I feel that it is both. Much of the misogyny that black women face is related to their race. The fact that people use FGM as an excuse to condemn their cultures, but still ignore the women in question can often demonstrate that fact. The way the black woman is portrayed is done in a way that a white racist would imagine a black woman to look like, not in a way that would truly bring FGM to life. I would have hard time seeing it from a purely misogynistic perspective when it’s presented in a way that so blatantly resembles the typical racist, black face interpretations of black women.
You are absolutely right on Marion J. Sims.
I can probably chalk it all up to the idea that black women are often seen black first, and their womanhood is sometimes recognized second. So they aren’t expected to notice the misogyny of things before the racism of things.
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@Bulanik
What I meant by statement is Europeans laughing and cutting to the cake have a compete disregard for black suffering- THAT WHAT I MEANT!! Which shows White Europeans still view black people as sub human.
In regards to the artist , who is bi racial by the way, I think is he suffering from a form of self hatred and I don’t believe this is art. My statements in relations to white supremacy is very true, unless you born and live in Europe as a black person the effects of racism is very damaging. There as denial process that goes on in Europe about their racism even when they are confronted by it by black people. This is a my point!
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@wong chai chi
SMH at Kola Boof. Every time she has something strong to say, she waters it down by turning it into some crazy grab for attention. This time, it’s her one-of-a-kind infibulation. I’ve read a good deal about the subject since the cake story hit, and nobody — I mean, nobody — except Kola Boof says that, in addition to stitching closed the vagina, it includes shortening vaginal muscles to tighten the vagina (on infants, no less!). Likewise, nobody except Kola says infibulation involves branding girls with men’s names.
I read a black books site where she would do this on a regular basis. She got a story published in a Swedish magazine, and posted a photo of her piece in the magazine. There was an unrelated photo of some luxuriously decorated room on the same page as her piece, so Kola volunteered that the photo was of her home. When another reader pointed out that it was actually a photo of a famous building in Spain (and provided a link to the original photo), Kola fell back to claiming that her home features an exact replica of that room. She’s her own crab in her own bucket.
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Yes. This too has been my impression from reading that above link and other comments I’ve seen her make elsewhere on social web sites. Which is a shame really because she obviously has some unique and insightful stories to tell.
On Swedish Culture Minister Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth (seen cutting the cake) Fauxpolgy following statement about this::
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/04/18/150871279/swedish-official-calls-racist-cake-a-piece-of-provocative-art
“…to challenge the traditional image of racism, abuse and oppression through provocation…”
This was simply Re-enforcing – without really challenging – the traditional image of racism, abuse and oppression through provocative imagery???
Where was the challenging and contrasting, alternative non-racist imagery? When no alternatives are presented in the usage of stereotypes like this you run the risk of re-enforcing these images in an already racist mindset.
This is what she is really sorry for….re-enforcing these images in an already racist mindset!!!
And Yes!!! You are right Bulanik: The fact that this was highly misogynistic seems to have been glossed over.
…Re: FMG
Absolutely a woman’s ıssueş prımarıly – let us not also forget that many of people who undergo thıs mutılatıon are not even old enough to be called women – because they are chıldren. As I’ve poınted out ın earlıer posts about thıs cake/Lınde (on both Open Thread and racısm ın Europe threads and was ıgnored…) thıs cake strıkes me as mısogynıstıc than anythıng else, but I have the feelıng that many commenters kınd of overlook that part (smh) and want to make ıt entırely about race.
Btw – let’s not forget too, how Marıon J. Sıms (the USA’s Father of Gynaecology) used and cut up the bodıes of enslaved black women to further hıs scıence. Wıthout usıng any anaesthetıc for hıs patıents may I add…
Which makes it even more appalling that a white female Swedish minister can be seen laughing and jokingly condoning this racist and misogynistic mess!!!!
Finally…Which just goes to show that even when it comes to calling out “common sensical” and obvious demonstrations of women hating bias even white women can mis-judge and get this wrong. Or so it would seem when “race” is involved. It seems to scatter the logic and rational neurons of the brain?
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Africans shocked by uncivilized antics of European savages
DAKAR. Africans say they have little hope that Europe will ever become civilized, after a week in which Spain’s King Carlos went on an elephant-killing spree and the Swedish Culture Minister was entertained by a racially offensive cake. “You can take the European out of the jungle, but you can’t take the jungle out of the European,” sighed one resident of Kinshasa.
August Mwanasa, of Libreville in Gabon, said the latest atrocities didn’t surprise him as Europeans were still “savages”.
“I don’t want to sound racist, and some of my best friend are white, but let’s be honest: violence is hard-wired into their DNA,” said Mwanasa. “I mean, Europeans killed over 20 million other Europeans in the 1930s and 1940s. That’s barbarism on a scale unprecedented in history.”
Jenkins Odumbe, a Nairobi milliner, bemoaned ingrained attitudes of entitlement in Europe.
“If they’re not going on the dole they’re asking for bail-outs,” he said. “Why can’t they just get up earlier and work harder, that’s what I want to know?”
Liberte Aidoo, a Ghanaian travel agent, said she had been “shocked and disgusted” by what she found on her first trip to Spain.
“The brochures promise sea and sun, but they’re still incredibly backward in Spain,” she recalled. “Basically they all live in mud huts called haciendas, and they sleep for two hours in the middle of the day. In Europe they call it a ‘siesta’. In Ghana we call it ‘being fucking lazy’.”
But, she added, this kind of “depressing inertia” was to be expected in a country with more debt than most of Africa combined.
Meanwhile, most Africans have dismissed calls for Swedish Culture Minister Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth to resign following the debacle in which she was photographed eating a cake designed to look like a racist caricature of an African woman.
“The only people calling for her to resign are European liberals hiding behind a thin veneer of civilization,” explained Burundian sociologist, Descarte Tugiramahoro. “We Africans are not shocked in the slightest.
“All she’s doing is engaging in two ancient European rituals: giggling at people who look different, and symbolic cannibalism, as introduced by the Catholic Church. It’s all completely normal.”
http://www.hayibo.com/africans-shocked-by-uncivilized-antics-of-european-savages/
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@ Linda
I am sorry to hear you have also been unfortunate enough to experience European racism.
I can’t believe people would actually speak this way! As if Hitler was anything but evil… Then again, I shouldn’t really be surprised after all I’ve lived through.
Yes, this attitude appears in the rest of Europe as well. I was treated very well if I was wandering about with a map in hand (obvious tourist), but if I were doing something that a tourist would be less likely to do (e.g. buying furniture, opening a bank account) I would often be treated with contempt.
I understand what you mean to say now. Thank you for explaining it. While European racism mainly comes from viewing everyone who is not White as a sort of `foreign invader’, American racism comes from the very birth of the country when all Black people were slaves and had no option of returning to their own countries. Early immigrants to Europe helped in ways that go unacknowledged (e.g. fighting in wars for the country they had immigrated to), but not to the extent that Black Americans have helped create the US and yet remained oppressed with their contributions brushed aside as if they’re nothing.
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Iris,
Actually, I am glad for those experiences in Europe. It’s necessary to learn how to swim with the sharks if you go into the water.
I found the episode on the tram to be humorous in a way…here was this old woman, frustrated beyond belief…imagine, they killed so many Jews trying to reclaim the country–Germany for Germans– just for her to live and see Germany, 40 years later, being infiltrated by people they considered more ‘inferior’ than the Jews … that’s got to hurt!
I enjoyed her discomfort. Every morning, I smiled at the old people because me and my dark roommates represented 3rd reich failure.
When I travelled to UK or Europe, I didn’t feel hurt by white peoples behavior because I know what to expect…no surprises (just like in US)
I know what it is like to come from a country where the majority of the people look like me and govern the country. We share the same culture and similar heritage and have a minority population…So in a crazy way, I can understand how the Europeans feel about having all those foreigners moving to their countries.
I do think France, England, Spain, and Netherlands should shut up and take it though…it’s payback time after they invaded, occupied, and sucked out the resources of so many countries around the world
I don’t want to stray too off topic, so anything else I say about Europe, I will say in the Grada Kilomba post
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@Bulanik
Thank you for the reply to my comment. Hopefully, it did not come across has been rude! I think the wake call up for black people in the UK was the riots last year and how the black community came under attack and the racism which had been there all along had come to the surface from the white English and other ethnic groups in the UK.
I’ve posted below a new report from CNN looking at Black British women thoughts/experience of British society.
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/10/14/world/europe/black-british-women/index.html
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Invisible women: Black Britons struggle to be heard.
last year, I could remember watching it , as well as many other related reportages. It was so dead on target and penetrating .
About the riot; I could remember saying: “There we go again , negative description of blacks brought on by wrong and misleading representation in the media.”
As Scott rightly said:
“The depiction of rioters has been disproportionately black and surprisingly female as well.
“There has been a pernicious representation of black women even in the riots, and an overall depriving image of black people in general.”
Everything in that reportage was wholly true!
They don’t; perhaps i should say, “NEVER” miss that malicious satisfaction of shedding light on blacks especially when it comes to something discredited and negative. Let alone when it involves black women, it becomes plummier for them! So they can keep sending that message of black (especially the women) being ill-natured, loud and belligerent.
And keep strengthening that notion and message that black especially the women are just like that, and that’s why no one wants them; not even their men!
I totally agree with all the women that were interviewed. They all said nothing else but the the pure truth.
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I don’t know what kind of culture she’s ministering, but how could she just cut that image of racism and hate and just think that it’s all fun and games?!?!? Would she be laughing if somebody had cut off her clit?? No, didn’t think so
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& Bella and Bulanik
I’m glad you both found the article and interviews interesting. I completely agreed with the women in the interview. We don’t have the opportunity as black women to express openly our thoughts on how British society treats us and the affects it has one’s life.
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I read a study where they found that White people don’t respond with mirror neuron activity when seeing a person of a different ethnicity, all the other ethnicities had mirror neuron activity for every other ethnicity– including whites.
Still, looking at the photos is …, I don’t know.
Maybe they can’t biologically sympathize? What does this mean globally and for the future of mankind?
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Reblogged this on turcanin. cu ţ. and commented:
Ridendo castigat mores?
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[…] Clitoridectomy Cake Rate this:Share this:TwitterFacebookEmailMorePrintDiggLinkedInRedditStumbleUponTumblrPinterestLike […]
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Well the artist is Black, so don’t get the racism part. Have any of you ever look at Africa arts, it’s not that much different. Blacks art tend to be quite primitive looking. So what is the point. Go to Africa, or the Caribbean and check out the masks (most of them looks just like that cake)
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Oh I remember this! That artist has a sick mind and belives he can get away with anything since he is half black. The rest of his so called “art” consist of golliwog blackface statues and disturbing paintings of white men raping black women. I guess it is some kind of shock horror reaction he wants. The culture minister is just an deranged weak culturehag to my opinion. And if you want to fight racism(or genital mutilation) I dont think it is a good idea to spread blackface art and rape/mutilations pictures because the average masses are generally far to stupid to see the real meanings and messages behind it ….. one of Makode Lindes even hung up cyklon-B cans by a Synagogue and called it “art” sigh…
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Yet another episode of passive aggressive attention seeking from professional attention hoes;nothing to see here! These are the same people who set tens of thousands of dollars alight in 2009 to protest the gender income gap.
Btw,stop internalising MSM messages about Africa! You’ll just get confused. Yes,FGM still happens but the opposite cultural practice of labioclitoral elongation still happens all over bantu Africa which is the great majority of the population.
“Also in Africa is the common practice of clitolabial elongation,particularly prevalent in bantu Africa, the DRC,Malawi,Zambia and Tanzania as far as S.Africa. However,thanks to the deafening ululations about FGM the world has never heard of this ancient rite practiced wherever there are Africans as far as Polynesia.”
http://karanjazplace.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-mahogany-princess.html
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This was always sick to me. I wondered about the artist, I think I read he was biracial. I wonder if he hates his black heritage. I think this is just ugly and sadistic.
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I have been rather one dimensional in my thought process, so I have another POV about the clitoridectomy cake. Perhaps it is a symbol of the ugly and barbaric assault on a woman’s genitalia. The cultures that foster this practice must be paternal and force this on the females in those cultures.With that being said, the smiling faces of the white people in that photograph are quite disturbing.
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[…] Clitoridectomy Cake – Cake of Black woman, eating her private parts […]
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