By Andrea Plaid
While Twitter is having a whole bunch of brilliant fun at the expense of Paula Deen and her racism (and rightfully so), Above Average Productions makes fun of those white folks who feel they should be congratulated for basic manners and human kindness toward people of color. (Though I’m not sure why the woman at the end of the vid is doing Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra…)
Speaking of speaking out on racism, Racialicious fave Adrienne Keene was quoted in Elle Canada this month about the latest in Spring fashion–the co-opting of First Nations’ cultures:
Adrienne Keene, whose popular blog NativeAppropriations.com brings many cases of stereotyping and appropriations to light, tackled the issue of present-day invisibility in a letter she wrote to Paul Frank after his Fashion Night Out bash last September. (The designer held a “Dream Catchin’ Pow Wow” party that featured neon tomahawks, feather headbands, bows and arrows, and signs at the bar that read “Pow wow and have a drink now!”) “When society only sees us as the images you presented, it means that our modern issues of poverty don’t exist; nor do our modern efforts like schooling and economic development through sovereignty and nation building,” explained Keene. “We have sophisticated tribal governments and communities, but how will we be able to be seen as modern, successful people if we are continually represented through plastic tomahawks and feathers?”
Both of these post were the top two faves on Tumblr this past week. And check out who and what else is people’s faves on the R’s Tumblr!