Uncle Ruckus

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Rd4xalR78gg


This clip was found on youtube.com com, http://youtube.com/watch?v=Rd4xalR78gg, The Boondocks is written and created by Aaron McGruder.

The Boondocks originated as a comic strip which gained national attention and has since become a television show on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim. Within the series a character referred to as Uncle Ruckus. The character is an African American who is racist towards blacks. In this segment his prejudice surfaces during a conversation with a friend. The reason I chose this clip is because I am an big fan of Aaron McGruder’s work which is primarily racially, politically, and socially based. In his work he takes an obscure perspective on these topics from a black middle class standpoint. I also chose this clip because it is one of several moments in which racial issues are more focused.

The first thing I’ll address is conversation about R Kelly and Jerry Lee Louis’s situation. Uncle Ruckus’s excuses are weak arguments that take a clear standpoint that he admires Jerry Lee Louis for being white. He call’s R Kelly a “chocolate monkey” and immediately considers him as less civilized which is something Takaki repeatedly uses to show that the European culture was superior to others. Ruckus, having thanked whites for creating foliage, clearly believes whites are better. He also uses Jerry Lee Louis’s title as “The King of Rock and Roll” as a way to elevate him. This is similar to Zinn’s article about how Euro American’s have overlooked what Columbus did to Natives with his achievement of “Discovering America”. In Uncle Ruckus’s mind this achievement or statues negates any previous wrongs.

Later in their conversation Uncle Ruckus talks about the advantages of “The white man’s code of law.” This again goes back to Takaki but also goes along with a number of other readings, videos, and classroom discussions in which African American’s have trouble obeying laws and controlling themselves. In the videos we watched this topic was continually brought up because stereotypes of the past have carried on into today’s society. He repeatedly uses various slurs like “nappy headed children”, “nigger”, and “black sum’ bitch” to demean African Americans and further prove his delusional position on racism.

As for my response to this piece it is mixed. The first time I saw this particular segment I was shocked and confused by the conversation. As time has gone on though, and having an understanding of the comic and show, I find the scene to be both comical and to have a level of triumph to it as Robert defeats Ruckus after one of his odd rhetoric’s. My response to the character though has been somewhat changed though due to our discussions in class. The self hate this character exudes is almost found in real life where blacks aren’t little putting themselves down but there is an idea that somehow white society holds something better. This causes me to wonder just how much damage has been done to the African American psyche over the last several hundred years.

Cartoon of Mohammed

This image was first published on September 30, 2005 by a Danish newspaper called Jyllands-Posten whom began a controversial twelve part cartoon series. Most of these cartoons depicted the Islamic prophet Muhammad but this one in particular became the most well known and was created by Kurt Westergaard. The reason I chose this piece is because of the extreme reaction that resulted from its publication. It also contains the issue of both race, religion, and ethnicity instead of just the singular race.

First lets approach the issue of ethnicity. This piece further perpetuates the idea that those of Middle Eastern decent, not just Islamic, are extremist/fundamentalists who suicide bomb locations despite their actual association with such radical groups or if they even identify with the Islamic faith. This idea, more often than not an irrational fear is extremely similar to the thoughts once held about black men and their violent/sexualized natures. That the actions of a few have attached a stigma to the whole, which is interesting to me because of the scale in this case. Formerly we look at racism and discrimination on a national level. American’s believing false information about Native Americans, Jews, ect but in this case it has become an international identification where other cultures have clearly accepted these stereotypes.

The issue of religion is an odd one and one of the primary reasons I chose this piece because unlike someone’s race, ethnicity, or social standing their faith is a decision made by the individual that incurs a reaction similar to that of blacks moving into white suburban neighborhoods. That reaction being how upset American’s of non-Middle Eastern decent were simply by their proximity to them. Oddly though not all practitioners of Islam are of Middle Eastern decent but there is also a large black and growing white population that is a part of this faith. What this means is in the public eye individuals almost don’t have a say in what faith others believe their a part of. This is similar the situation where two men, one Japanese and one Indian, both tried to apply for white citizenship and both were denied because what whiteness was not had been decided and what it is was left vague and undefined.

I’ll admit this is a slight stretch but when we consider that the information most have about Islam is vague and undefined but what the majority believes it isn’t becomes much more assumed due to this little information that’s actually possessed.

At the end I couldn’t find the cartoon offensive. I can understand how it would be offensive but not being Islamic or Middle Eastern it cannot harm me in any sense. I was surprised at the reaction of the Islamic nation and to how far that reaction spread.

How To Spot A Jap

http://www.ep.tc/howtospotajap/index.html

Milton Caniff created this piece in 1942 as an informational piece for American soldiers fighting in Asia. When the piece was made I’m sure it was welcome but to look back on it one can clearly how saturated it was in stereotypes.

The piece begins with two white soldiers being asked to demonstrate how the Chinese are different from the Japanese with two different men picked up on patrol. As per our experience it is again white males designating what distinguishes a person’s race much like the examples from those men who tried to apply for US citizenship and the use of science to even keep non-Angelo Saxton whites from “whiteness”.

The two men then begin to explain that the Japanese are much shorter, walk a certain way, speak a certain way, and have more slanted eyes. I found it interesting that the comic book covers we went over in class had only a few of the traits listed in this strip. They had the yellow skin, slanted eyes, and odd mouth. They also made the Japanese seem very small even when made to look large and monstrous, which plays into the “its as though his knees are attached to his chest.” Another statement that struck me as odd was when it is mentioned that the Japanese wore a special style of sandal until the military gave them boots. I believe a reason this is mentioned is because of the idea that the British held that all other cultures were incapable of higher class society. Mentioning this allows US soldiers to thing that they are from a more advanced society and thus superior.

There is however some actually practical information. That a Japanese soldier may have hidden weapons on them and would take advantage of them even under capture. Another stereotype though is brought up in terms of the “intelligence” of the Japanese. That they are all “masters of comic strip style weapons.” Several of the comic book covers portrayed the Japanese characters as mad scientists or that they were performing strange experiments that were dangerous and evil.