Making fun of how somebody looks is one thing if based purely on physical attributes without any other more deep-seated malice to go along with it (which is what happens in the Bale / RvN examples above).
However, the monkey insult to a black person goes far beyond just a physical comparison but is equating that black person with a monkey in terms of behaviour, intelligence etc.
When Bale is called a monkey, it’s because people think he looks like one. When a black person is called a monkey (and when bananas are thrown on to the pitch etc) it goes well beyond a mere physical comparison. It’s way more hurtful because of the historical association of the slur and treatment of black people that goes alongside it. That’s the difference. The history behind the slur makes saying it to a black person absolutely unacceptable regardless of intention.
There is a chance it was only an innocent joke based purely on physical appearance without knowing the stigma of the insult.
However, knowing how racist Indians generally are (I’m of Indian descent by the way), there is literally zero chance it was meant innocently. A well-educated, high profile figure like that absolutely would know the connotations of referring to a black person as a gorilla.
Her apology afterwards also indicates that she knew it was a racist comment and not acceptable to laugh at it.
So, in my line of work, for example, if the EXACT same thing happened (I “hahaha” a racist comment), I’m off the register. I can no longer practise. I have absolutely no doubt of that. My livelihood has gone.
She’s given a half arsed apology over twitter (not condemning racism) and she’ll go back to making shitty bollywood films or whatever the fck she does
How do we know that she didn’t just mean to do the exact same thing we do when we call Bale a monkey? I agree with you about when bananas are thrown on the pitch cause that is an indication of a more deep lying hatred and superiority complex against black people. But can we assume that she would do such a thing because she made fun of his physical appearance.
Now if you are saying it would have caused more hurt to a black person than a white person because of the history associated, I agree completely. Not trying to defend her BTW. I had to google her to find out who she was.
Really? Is she grown up and educated in the West or in India? We live in the Western part of the world and I think sometimes white people aren’t even educated enough about the history of immigrants to understand fully. In Asia the interaction between black people and ‘natives’ is almost non-existent. I think because there is no interaction that is also where the ignorance comes from. Hence why they would never understand certain subtleties.
Whilst that may be a (flimsy) defence for your average Indian person, it definitely isn’t for a person of her statute / reputation. There is simply no way she doesn’t get the racial connotations of that message.
I have lots of Indian family members, many of who live in India who know the racial association of a monkey to a black person. They range from people who live on farms in the sticks to people who are living in big towns / cities. In punjabi the word is “bhandar” and trust me, it’s used to racially insult black people in exactly the same way.
In my experience, education has nothing to do with it. You could hold two masters degree, hold an important position in a big multinational firm, and be considered a big deal in society, but have not an ounce of humanity.
Would you not feel hard done by that one comment could lead to that? Obviously too depending on what line of work you are in there can be deeper connotations to being found to hold such views than apply to a bollywood actress. Whether right or wrong that’s the way it goes…
But that’s exactly my point. Bollywood actress, not a white van man. There should be sanctions. There may be an institutional “boycott” against her, that won’t be public, but that’s the only we she (and others) will quite rightly learn.
At the moment, it won’t even break the news there. That’s the sad truth.
One is the physical one that really hurts you, injure you, affect your life (like job opportunities etc.).
The other one is verbally.
In the end, if someone call you this and that (just verbal)… call you an animal, call your mother… call you a loser, call you whatsoever… it is all about how you “receiving” that. You can choose to ignore it, stay negative or be positive.
p.s. AGAIN, racist is not right, I just think we have to stay strong no matter what. We should not be that offended and back down that easy.
