American entertainer Nick Cannon made headlines recently with his controversial promotion of his newest album entitled "White People Dance Party." The promotion involved Cannon out and about in public dressed in "white face" wearing makeup to look like a caucasian person. When we compare and contrast Nick Cannon's publicity stunt with the actions of Julianne Hough, who dressed in "black face" for halloween, a double-standard begins to appear.
There are some key differences between the two cases:
1) Cannon is black, and part of a perceived racial minority, whereas Hough is caucasian and part of a perceived privileged white majority. Poking fun of those deemed less fortunate in our society is considered to be in bad taste, and frankly, it should be.
2) Cannon's stunt used social media as a promotion for an album. Hough simply chose to portray a certain character for halloween, which was captured on social media, but not orchestrated for it.
3) Hough's character, however fictional, has already been visually defined. Cannon's character was made up for the publicity campaign. Furthermore, the name Connor Smallnut implies that white men have smaller genitalia than black men, also a racial stereotype.
Hough felt pressured by public opinion to issue a public apology for her actions. In other words, public judgement of her actions was in the negative. Cannon, who has been accused of being a racist and a hypocrite, has not issued any such public apology; granting no concession to the accusations of racism in his campaign.
The movement towards equality is most certainly a good and noble cause, but is true equality even possible? Humans are inherently competitive, and implanted deep in our instinct is the basic survival sense to band together with others who are the same. This has kept the human race alive for millions of years. In fact, to this day, such diametric oppositions endure in humanity; Israelis and Palestinians, Syrian loyalists and rebels, Duke and North Carolina, or Real Madrid and Barcelona. Are we too busy pointing the finger at Nick Cannon while people are dying every day because of racial, political, and religious affiliation? It really comes down to a question of perspective. Perspective adds clarity to any situation. I feel that both incidents are very inappropriate given our heightened sense of racism in North America. If we lived in Europe for example, racial diversity is more commonplace and incidents of racial portrayal are taken in a more humorous nature. As Cannon attests, "there's a big difference between Humor and Hatred." In North America, although the difference may be big, the line between humor and hate is very narrow.
Whenever I find myself comparing between the sexes or the races, I like to reverse the roles of those involved in order to see things from another perspective. If Julianne were black and portrayed a white TV character for halloween, would she have been pressured to make a public apology? If Cannon were a white person dressing up black, promoting an album called Black People Dance Party, under a demeaning black name, would the public outcry have been greater? I think that obviously there would have been a big difference in social acceptance for these two incidents.
What exactly was Nick Cannon trying to accomplish with his publicity stunt? Well, for one, his intent was commercial, to promote, and sell his new album. Here's a little side fact about Nick Cannon; he's a brand that was developed by Nickelodeon, a network owned by Viacom, the fourth largest network in the world. Let's also keep in mind that Nick Cannon makes music for the pop-masses in the music industry. Lastly, good, or bad, we are talking about his album right now. The campaign; however crude, is functional.
Not all publicity is good publicity, and this can certainly be said for how the public received the White People Dance Party campaign. Albeit received negatively, I feel that the campaign would have been far more controversial if it were a white person portraying a black person. We as a society have a little more tightly defined understanding of racism towards black people. I personally am not offended directly by the campaign of Nick Cannon, but more so by the lowbrow decision to run a campaign of this nature. Perhaps it's a sign of how far pop music has fallen since the glory days of the Beatles and Elvis Presley. I personally would not buy Nick Cannon's album one way or the other, being that I don't buy pop music. If the publicity campaign behind the release of the album is any sign of what's to come, then I think I'll pass.
Julianne Hough I believe did the right thing by making a public apology. A double standard certainly exists between what constitutes racism for black or white people. The level of public outcry does not compare between Hough's choice of a costume for a traditionally celebrated holiday versus Cannon's deliberate creation of a character for the sake of album sales. The intent was more deliberate in Cannon's case. Far more deliberate. Julianne Hough, for said reason, must feel a little bitter over the double standard that she has been dealt. The entire Cannon campaign, sadly, rests on the fact that he hasn't issued an apology. Controversy makes headlines, and sadly that's probably the only kind of headlines that the album will receive.
If I were to report these stories, I would treat both stories as being allegedly racist. I would not take a particular stance on the controversial topic, but would report the facts dutifully and let the listener draw their own judgement. If I were a black person would my position be the same? In all honesty, my Canadian sense of ethics would keep me from passing judgement in my reporting. I have taken great strides in life to be "colour-blind", seeing people for who they are and not what they look like.
~ SG
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