Is This Racism?

Our Ugandan daughter and I recently had a discussion on how black is used to mean bad and white is used to mean good or pure. Black sheep, black spot on your soul when you sin - a pure soul is white, a black mark on your record, etc etc. She did not grow up with racism, it had to be explained to her. There is no racism in Uganda against blacks, obviously. But there can be prejudice against different tribes.
 

And then there is the phrase, "Tall, dark and handsome".

People have perspectives. Calling it "racism" indicates something to condemn and, possibly, a need for government intervention.

Personally, I prefer divergence in appearance and in opinion.
 
well the first post that was posted here was about an ad for Dunkin Donuts that was written in Arabic and translated into English. Fur asked " Is this racist?" I don't think someone can really speak off the top of their head about Arabic culture without knowing anything about the culture or having lived in it for any length of time. Comparing it to American culture won't really do because it isn't American culture. In Arabic culture a woman will remain living with her family until she is wed. During times when men cannot find steady employment a man will be declined as a suitor for a single female if her parents feel he will not be able to provide the basic necessities. It is also during bad economical times that only the 'prettiest' girls will wed with many other women becoming spinsters living with their families for life. So, if a dark girl is considered 'less than' from birth she truly will be discriminated against in life and possibly not marry , so a female can be very affected by this 'light dark thing within that culture. Marriage is extremely important in that culture because relationships outside of marriage are still considered taboo among the Christians as well as the Muslims. We are not talking about American society we are talking about Arabian society which is where the ad of the first post came from.
Children who grow up with a bad self image about the things they cannot change in their lives most usually suffer from a bad self image. Really talking about the culture of another country is not going to fix the social problems in their country. It's just outsider speculation. Sadly , most of these 'dark' girls are not even going to view what's being done to them as discrimination , they are going to blame themselves for not being 'good enough' or feel cursed for not being 'light enough'. You will not ever see a dark woman doing a commercial there. This is why showing a broad color spectrum in movies and commercials is important for a child's sense of worth. Also, outsider speculation. Many times when I was there they would watch Jerry Springer on satellite and think American families and society must be a lot like Jerry Springer. This is just one example of how hard it is to judge a culture based on what is seen or heard on television.
Here is an interesting video about self image and color with children:
 

Yes to all this -- but to translate that to donuts??
It really was a dumb approach to sell donuts on social media, especially since food is more about the flavor, etc. This was posted later ..


@DunkinDonuts

@nfm (1/2) As soon as we became aware of the social media post by our Egyptian franchisee, we asked for it to be removed…


@DunkinDonuts

@nfm (2/2) … Our franchisee immediately complied. We apologize for the offense this posting caused.
 
iman-abdulmajid-photos.jpg
 


This is why "Political Correctness" is so important in every aspect of society. One never knows what another may be taken as offensive, so in business and politics, before one writes or says anything, they must take into account what they are saying and how it may be perceived by the public, especially minorities and special interests groups.
 

Back
Top