Unfortunately, even in today's progressive society, race is still an uncomfortable issue. Many artists, entertainers, and scholars have developed different methods for dealing with the issues of race. Some deal with racial issues in a strictly serious manner. Adrian Piper is serious and confrontational with these issues. In "Cornered: A Video Installation Project" Piper confronts her audience with race as a problem in need to solving" (Kocur and Leung 186). After she enlightens the listener to the fact that the majority of white Americans have varied amounts of black genetics in their makeup; thereby technically making everyone black, she says, "So if I choose to identify myself as black whereas you do not, that's not just a special, personal fact about me. It's a fact about us. It's our problem to solve... What are you going to do?" (Kocur and Leung 186) She directly addresses her audience as responsible for taking on and battling racial problems. Stereotypes, prejudices, and other racial issues are serious problems that should not be ignored, but is Piper's confrontational tactic beneficial or detrimental in defusing racial tensions? Other artists and entertainers deal with issues of race with a lighter attitude.
Lyneise Williams and Iona Rozeal Brown discuss the use of humor in confronting race problems. In "Black on Both Sides: An Interview with Iona Rozeal Brown" Brown responds when asked about Japanese culture appropriating black culture, "There can be humor in mimicking" (831). Is humor an appropriate way to handle racial issues? Black comedians like Richard Pryor, Kat Williams, and Dave Chappelle use racial humor in their acts. Some say this is detrimental to ridding society of racial stereotypes. However, it is human nature to create stereotypes, and it is not something that will merely disappear no matter how hard we try. If we cannot laugh at the absurdity of cultural stereotypes, we cannot move past them. Humor opens up the floor for a more relaxed discussion, and as long as respect is shown and there is an attempt to understand the cultures discussed we can come together to move past the racial issues of the past. As Brown states, "It is only a negative confrontation when there is no understanding" (831). Perhaps with understanding and a little humor society can come closer to freedom from the prejudices and problems created by racial issues.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
To give my opinion on your question at the end of the first paragraph: "Stereotypes, prejudices, and other racial issues are serious problems that should not be ignored, but is Piper's confrontational tactic beneficial or detrimental in defusing racial tensions?" I find Piper's work, generally to be an interesting indictment of the status of whites in America, and the stereotypes that go with it. Confrontation is always exciting, and can be very effective, and in Cornered it was to some degree, but I found it to be more of an overly abrassive generalization. Additionally, she seems to want to seperate herself from whites, insisting she claim her blackness. She seems interested in destructing labels of "black" and "white" by informing the reader that he or she is part black, but it jsut doesn't really make much of a point.
ReplyDelete