Debate Outkast ticks off Native Americans. Too sensitive?

Outkast ticks of Native Americans. Too sensitive?

CBS Apologizes for OutKast Man CBS has been apologizing for everything lately.

I was a bit surprised by their costumes (at the grammies) and knew someone was going to be pissed. Sure enough, "Indianz.com launched an online petition calling for an apology from Benjamin."

Native Americans seem to be an especially touchy group. I haven't heard outcries from Swiss groups about Ricola ads or Christians wailing about crucifix imagery in the Matrix Revolutions.

You even have to be careful what you call them. In the Who watches Indian movies? thread (which was about movies from India) someone freaked out about the use of the word Indian, but it's apparently OK for them to have a website called indianz.com

It's a freaking double standard is what it is. "We'll call ourselves this, but if you do you are a racist bastard. And you can't use parts of our culture in entertainment. Want to buy a dreamcatcher?"

I'm obviously seeing this from one side: mine. Are there any Native American members who'd like to weigh in on this? Help me understand. I don't want this thread to come back and haunt me in a presidential race someday.

 

2 things;

1) due to a minor typo on your behalf "Outkast ticks off Native Americans. Too sensitive?" i read it as a new album title, ticks of Native Americans. So i was about to say... yeah thats a teeny bit sensative :sweat2:

2) Damn double standards... unfortunatly the more you argue about this little irony, the more of a racist you seem to those who are somewhat close minded in the whole racism issue due to fear of being called a racist themselves :/ even though half the time there being racist towards racists ^_^

 

I suppose that if it has offended so many people then it would be best if Outkast did apoloise for the insident.

Maybe people should take into account that they (outkast) were not aware that what they were doing was upsetting to the native american people. Though it shows that sometimes artists should put more research into their performances before they go on live air.

Since i haven't seen the show my comment in this is very limited and if it was as bad as it sounds then i don't think i'll be seeing the outkast dance anytime soon. It will probably be cut before it's shown over here.

That actually makes me think. If the materal was so offencive then why id the network allow it to go ahead in the first place. Why did'nt people during the rehersals warn them that what they're doing may upset somebody. So matbe not all the blame lies with outkast. And who was the person who came up with the choryographey (<--theres no way thats spelt right but you know what i mean)?

 

LOL I noticed that. Mods of the debates forum: please change that title. Pretty sad when I try to avoid typos in the article and let one into the title. Ordinarily I'd delete the thread and post it again, but there's already responses.. blah

That really would be an offensive album title

 

Yeesh.....I am somewhat irratated with Indians right know....mostly because I live in Connecticut and we have these two Indian casinos(Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods) and now ANOTHER Indian tribe wants to bulild a casino, which we don't need, because we have enough people gambling as it is....

OK, that's enough of my Indian rantings. I don't hate Indians, just that fact that they want so many freaking casinos. /me trying to not seem racist.

On the topic at hand....well, I didn't see what happened, but unless he actually did something that is offensive to Indians, I don't think he needs to apologize...people are just so touchy.

 

Well, being largely Native American myself... :sweat2: I didn't see the show. I tend to not watch awards shows like that; too much controversy for my tastes.

From what I read in the article, I can easily see where people would be upset. If I read correctly, they introduced the song "Hey Ya!" with a Native American traditional drum song? I would get p-oed about that. As I believe it was Kain who said before, if they had done perhaps a bit of research, this could have been avoided.

As for boycotting: they saw their mistake, they apologized, boycotting now is going a little overboard.

 

Wuh-oh. Hope I didn't offend you. I have nothing against you, if it's any consolation.

 

No, you didn't, I understand completely why you don't like the whole casino idea. It's legal because the government sorta felt bad about relocation, so they tried to make it up by allowing for a somewhat higher income. Good idea if you don't factor in any effects on the society, but once that happens it turns ugly. *my two cents on casinos*

 

well iaf, if they dressed some people up as leprachauns and played a few fiddles in the background.. I wouldn't give a ****.. I don't see why anyone else should either. whatever their culture

ack!

if something is going to offend you, or DOES offend you.. switch it off. don't watch it, don't listen to it.. don't read about it. just because you are offended by something (and i'm not talking about you personally kain, this is a general you) you do not have the right to have art/opinion/shows censored to your liking.

or maybe you do in the US, but that's just sick.

 

I kind of see your point Mordeth.

If somebody started dressing up like leprachauns and playing the fiddle i wouldn'd give a crap either. But the thing is that there are other people may not feel the same way. They may have a greater love for their heritage then we do and would like to protect what they believe in and not see it get rubbed in the dirt.

 

I see that they are hypocrites. They call themselves Native Americans and get really pissed when they call them 'indians', but then they go putting a website calling them indianz.

 

Actually, when most of those movies came out, there was many a boycott of them by the Native American community. It's just that most people don't tend to notice when they make a political stand, because no one really cares about them. 'Tis what you get for being here first, I suppose. :anger2:

 

sounds much like the problem we've got over here with our 'natives'. we can't call them aboriginies, blacks or anything, but they can call us 'white people'. personally i don't give a damn what they call us, but they should have the intelligence to realise that they're being hypocrites.
i can see that using a native drum song may be annoying, but they should learn to take it in their stride. if native americans sang a scotish folk song, i wouldn't expect anyone to kick up a stink.
on tv shows here, broadcasters have to put warnings on some shows that say, 'aboriginal's may find the following offencive as it may contain voices of deceased persons." i mean really, this is just *&^%ing stupid... nearly every damn show on the planet would have a similar warning if everything was equal.
it seems to me that we're trying so hard to be politically correct, that we're discriminating against ourselves more than the natives. you can have pride for your culture and still be normal. i don't get shitty everytime willy gets laughed at for being scotish on the simpsons. if i did take something as being offencive to my background, i'd think the other person ignorant and move on. not set up a website and boycots and protests and such garbage.
some ppl really need to learn to take something without yelling and screaming about it and demanding retractions and money.

*edit* i hearby start a petition where native's can no longer call me 'white', 'non-native' or 'caucasian'. and i demand that the government gives ME money to attend school, and call it 'oz study' a fund which aboriginals aren't entitled to... ,(as opposed to Ab study) and i demand a 'scotish building' on campus, where all us scots can gather freely to play the bag-pipes without discrimination!

you can take me as racist if you want... but i think if we really had reconciled, then we would never need to have special considerations and all the rest for natives.

 

:glazed: Why not?

It's another word for native, or earliest inhabitant.. I guess if it's come to be considered derogatory the term should be dropped, but it certainly wasn't in its original meaning.

 

i don't know why. personally i don't think it should be dropped. it has no negative conotations to the word.

 

I agree that we all should just call each other whatever we want, we're all people anyway.

Nor would I. The problem I have is not someone else playing the song, that's actually a good thing in many ways. My problem with it would be that it was used in almost a dirogatory fashion, from what I read. If it was not, I drop my case with it.

Well, it is the aboriginal people's religion to worship and respect the dead. I'm glad their beliefs are at least respected.

Again, agreed. By being cautious with what we say, we limit relations.

Actually, I find jokes about racial stereotypes to be breaking barriers between races, because it's looked at in a positive light now. However, making fun of a person's heritage is something different to me, and I find it incredibly offensive and hurtful.

As I was saying with Dr. Nick before, I completely understand and agree with this. There's no need for a monetary settlement in a case like this, just an apology will do.

And that is exactly what I find wrong with society - that one race, regardless of which it is, is given advantages over another simply because of their color.

Okay, I apologize for picking this apart, but as I said before, I am part Native American, as it were. This topic does touch home for me, because I deal with it regularly.

To clarify what I said earlier about the difference between racial stereotype jokes and heritage bashing: I find jokes about Native Americans being lazy, non-working people funny because it is a jab at the racial stereotype. However, say I was to say something with reference to how Islam was founded by a shepherd who was both high and drunk (I'm not, that's just wrong), THAT is incredibly offensive.

EDIT: The reason I think they can't be called "aboriginies" is because it's the same kind of thing that formed the word ni**** - a change of the original title. They should probably just be called aboriginals. Again though, words for people are just that.

 

You can't be racist towards racists. Racist people aren't a race or ethnic group, they're some people who don't like some people, normally ununified. ^_^;

 

Well usually i would just agree & say it was merely a joke... but upon a couple of arguements ive had with racists, they use there excuses & more often than not they use terms that they dont really know so they use there own defination... & well ive noticed that the racists around here are ironically steriotypical "Nazi punks" or "football supporting queen & country beleiver neds" & seeing as they aint to bright they think they can argue that they are "Pure blood" or "Aryan race" by merely shouting louder than me :/

(Following is an example of sed arguements " ~ " denotes editing on my behalf ^_^

so they consider themselves a race

(I consider them twits but meh) but on the opposite side of the racial issue you have some people... mostly steriotypical "Snobby Students" who absolutly hate these haters & spend most of there time argueing or rare occasions... attacking them. & thus i say (Mostly to annoy the students ^o^) that they are racist towards racists... it doesnt make sense as you pointed out, but then again neither does the majority of the situations about this issue -_-'