Racism or overreaction?

So, there's a Vogue cover with LeBron James and Giselle Bundchen, and apparently it has caused quite the stir. Before I read the article, I looked at the picture for a couple of minutes and tried to figure out what the issue was. And, I admit that I couldn't figure out what would be so offensive. It's a picture of a powerful basketball player who looks like he's ready to dribble down the court or prepare for a slam dunk, and a supermodel who is actually smiling instead of pulling off some contorted pose and face. So, I was kind of stumped. The subject they were posing for was "Shape Issue: Secrets of the Best Bodies." Well, LeBron and Giselle certainly are in shape.

I then read the article and figured out that even the author of the article, Jason Whitlock, isn't sure whether he should actually be offended. So, what is the issue?

"According to the allegations, King James looks like King Kong clutching Fay Wray on the latest cover of Vogue, and the image, according to potential handbook writers, 'conjures up this idea of a dangerous black man.'"

I looked back at the picture again, and I guess I kind of get the King Kong reference, but wasn't Fay Wray screaming her lungs out and not smiling like Giselle? I guess I kind of thought more of a reference of LeBron as someone who is taking the basketball world by storm. I didn't get the "dangerous black man" reference. It seems a bit of an overreaction to me, but perhaps not.

The thing I appreciated about Whitlock's article is that he goes on to talk about how there should be a handbook explaining exactly when people should and shouldn't be offended, because the lines are blurring. For instance, if something is for a predominately white audience, the black community should be offended, as in this case of the Vogue cover. However, if something is for a predominately black audience, the black community should not be offended, as in the case of Tyler Perry's latest film. In other words, stereotypes are OK to carry on as long as they were perpetuated by the black community.

Whitlock points out that this is confusing, and thus there should be some official source like a handbook that can tell you exactly when you should be ticked off about something. He makes a good point. It is getting increasingly confusing to see where people are crossing the line.

Take the N-word for instance. Recently there was a lot of controversy about rap and hip hop artists using the word in their lyrics. I remember when J. Lo said the N-word in one of her songs, and there was a huge uproar because she is Latino. So, despite the fact that her peers in the industry are spouting the word out at every chance they get, she cannot use it. It's an ugly word, to be sure, but I didn't realize that your heritage alone was what gave you the right (or lack thereof) to use it.

This word turned out to bother Dave Chappelle, too. I saw an interview after he left his enormously popular show on Comedy Central a few years ago, and said that it freaked him out when white people would come up and tell him how much they loved such-and-such skit, reciting lines that included the N-word. He took a step back and thought about what was going on. I'll be honest. I loved Chappelle's show, and I have the DVDs. I still love his skits and standup comedy. And when other friends would get into the show, and we'd be talking about some of the skits, we said the N-word for sure - not because it's a word we'd use, but because it's the word that Chappelle used. For example, one of his skits was about a white family called the "N***** Family". And one of the first skits I saw had him running around as a black man who was part of the KKK. Just imagine the dialog in that episode.

The thing was that Chappelle was brilliant in this regard. Some of the best comedy comes from pointing out absurdity, even if that absurdity cuts like a knife the way that race relations in America do. Think of Richard Pryor or Eddie Murphy. Chappelle was like that for our generation. And his stereotypes of white people were just that - stereotypes. I never took offense to his portrayal of white people because in most cases it was an exagerated view of white culture just the way that his portrayal of black people was an exagerated view of black culture. It's the extremes that make it funny, but not necessarily the truth.

In some ways, the N-word controversy is similar to the way that I feel about women using terms like bitch or c*** to talk to describe their friends - in a positive way (if there is such a thing). But watch out if someone (especially a man) actually used those words in the negative way in which they were intended. Those same women would be pissed off. I recently saw an episode of America's Next Top Model (I know, I know...) where one girl got into an argument with another girl and girl 1 said something to the effect of, "I'm a bitch and I know it." So girl 2 called her a bitch and girl 1 flew off the handle completely, and was completely offended that girl 2 called her such a name. The horror... It was totally funny, but also sad because you just know that girl 1 isn't playing with a full deck. Don't call yourself a bitch and be proud of it, and then be pissed off when someone calls you on it.

Bit, I digress. As I write this entry, I'm using the terms "white" and "black". Here's another confusing thing. In this highly politically correct world, I would normally use the terms "caucasian" and "African American." I admit that I don't really understand when I'm supposed to use either, but I also don't want to offend anyone, so I typically go with the safe option. But, I chose to use white and black in this entry because that's what Whitlock did in his article and what I'm talking about here. Maybe someone can explain the correct usage to me sometime.

Anyway, this all leads to a bigger question of where we're going as a country. Over the last several years, we've been moving in a more and more hyper-sensitive direction, and mulling over these things. But, tell me... Are we getting any closer to an answer? Why is there rampant use of the N-word in music and the black community? Are we failing to educate kids today about the awful history attached to that word? Or has it just taken on an entirely new meaning and the older generation is getting riled up over nothing?

And why is it such a double standard as to who holds the magnifying glass up to the culture? No one but a black man could have gotten away with Chappelle's material. If he'd have been white, he'd have been condemned a total biggot. Sometimes things work against you and sometimes they work for you. I'm not saying it's right, but it's definitely how things are, at least in our world today. Whitlock uses the example of Tyler Perry in a similar way.

I don't know the answers. I wonder if we'll answer these things in my lifetime or not. I'd certainly hope so. But considering that this issue has ebbed and flowed in our culture for so long, I wonder if we'll ever truly get there. Maybe the best answer is to try and live somewhere in the middle, and take things with a grain of salt.