The inequality of racism in the United States (a review of the 89th Academy Awards)

The racism that is less important to so many people, even though more prevalent.

Let's face it:  Asians, and to a lesser extent perhaps Hispanics, just do not excite the deep loyalty, admiration, and love bordering on the seemingly hysteria*, that blacks do, the point that racist jokes about them reach the screens of over a billion people, without white or black people batting an eyelash.

Realistically speaking, whatever some people write or say about this phenomenon, it will not change within my lifetime or even within several generations.  No amount of rational self-examination is going to change this, although the number of Jeremy Lins, and at least one or two (living) Asian movie stars, can and would affect the perception in the U.S. of Asians.

Blacks had Sidney Poitier by the fifties and by the seventies, the number of A-list black movie stars had doubled or even tripled.  The number has since then at least quintupled (Will Smith, Denzel Washington, Eddie Murphy, Halle Berry, Morgan Freeman, Beyonce...).  There is not one A-list Asian-American movie star today.

Consumers across the globe Sunday night had to sit through an hour of commercials just to listen to a black celebrity interminably harangue white people for racial while at the same time he made racist marks about Asians.

I just dashed off a message to Cheryl Boone, the president of the Academy, a black woman:

The host of the Academy Award ceremonies Chris Rock insulted a quarter of the world's population in front of over a billion people.

I vehemently protest the racism against Asian-Americans that was part of the evening's ceremonies, which included having three young Asian children dressed up as Price-Waterhouse accountants as part of a tasteless skit while the host mocked them ("accurate, hard-working"). Late on he referred to Asian men and their "little dongs."

This is very racist humor at its worst. If the skit had had blacks in it and the host made fun of them, you can be sure, that would be "the end," i.e. massive protests.

What about a boycott by Asian-Americans, not just of the Oscars, of black movie stars, pop stars, athletes, and other entertainers until this kind of racism is properly addressed?

Unfortunately, in Hollywood as in the rest of the U.S., the kind of deep, widespread love that African-Americans inspire just isn't there for other minorities. Asians never get leading roles in films and rarely even supporting roles. This is true to a lesser extent for Hispanics. When cast in roles at all, other minorities have to speak with thick immigrant accents!

By the way, there have been plenty of African-Americans as hosts of the Oscars (Sammy Davis, Jr., Whoopi Goldberg (a four-time host), Richard Pryor Chris Rock...) but never an Asian or a Hispanic, or any other racial minority for that matter.

To be really "racially progressive," the Academy must make major changes that benefit not just black (when "people of color" is mentioned, it is invariably black people that the speaker has in mind) people but other minorities as well.

Please, no more Chris Rock.

At least Leonard diCaprio used his minute and a half not to make racist jokes but to make a case for the environment.




* In a country which places a premium on "action" and on assertiveness and/or aggression (the NFL is 75% African-American) as well as on a Judaeo-Christian sympathy for the underdog, maybe this should not be surprising at all.

Asian-American academics and civic leaders, as could be predicted from their culture of "not making waves," fall in line behind African-Americans, as "people of color," and "studiously" refrain from even minor criticism of African-Americans, either individually or collectively.

N.B:   In the past two years, two films about racism were chosen Best Picture by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences over arguably better films ("Crash" and "12 Years a Slave").  During the past two decades, African-Americans have made up 11.5% of the acting nominees (they are about 12% of the total U.S. population).   Asian-Americans have received 2 acting nominations, total, or 0.5%.