And this week's John Wiley Price Awards for foolish and embarrassing complaints go to:
• Johnny C. Taylor, founder of RushmoreDrive, an Internet search engine he says is "more targeted at the black community" than too-white Google. Get this bullshit:
… a black person searching for "whitney," for instance, probably wouldn't be looking for the Whitney Museum of Art, which comes up first on Google, or Whitney Bank, which comes up second. Instead, Taylor said, the searcher would likely be looking for Whitney Houston, who doesn't come up in Google until No. 4. That's why a search for "Whitney" on RushmoreDrive, which is part of Barry Diller's IAC/InterActiveCorp conglomerate, turns up the vocalist as its first result.
Because art museums and banks are white things, not black things! Blacks wanna know about washed-up crackheads!
and
• Sameer Reddy, who actually believes clothing – clothing without swastikas or slurs adorning it – can be offensive!
The biggest sports-related news stateside has been the redesign of the U.S. [Olympians'] uniforms by Ralph Lauren, who took the reins from Canadian company Roots. … the WASP aesthetic he sells—think of characters from "The Great Gatsby," clothed in tennis whites and delicate tea dresses—has come to represent a classist and racist set of ideals, hardly representative of the current multicultural social fabric of the United States.
His designs for the Olympic team's appearance at the opening ceremony consisted of navy blue blazers (emblazoned with a gargantuan Polo logo) paired with white button-downs and matching trousers, accessorized with a jaunty white newsboy cap and red, white and blue silk tie or scarf. His ensembles for the closing ceremony are more casual, with white sleeveless knit-sweaters and crisp cotton-shorts. Social conservatives would probably fail to read anything insidious into these outfits—after all, at least the U.S. team looked pulled-together and semi-formal—but the clothes, in and of themselves, are not the problem. [Ed. note: But you just used that last paragraph to say the clothes were the problem?!] The issue is that the Polo brand is built upon an aesthetic intended to communicate to the world, the wearer's successful assimilation into the traditional institutions of upwardly-mobile American culture—the elitist world of typically WASP-only country clubs, prep schools and cotillions.
Forgive me, dear readers, for I'm in a Polo shirt at this very moment. What a vile and traitorous trespass. I'm off to drape myself in American Apparel's "Afrika" line post-haste.
Interim Editor
Cord Jefferson Editorial Director
David Hauslaib Publisher
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I don't have a problem with what Sameer Reddy said. Maybe for you, you don't get it since you're Western/American, but for "Third World" nations with native clothings, there has been a huge struggle to be "modern" without losing their identity (ie: native clothes). many people in India still wear Indian clothes to work and to school, but many upper class Indians don't (and wear Western clothing) and are accused of being Westernized.
but I do think, though, that Sameer Reddy's article was un-necessary in the first place.
I thought the USA team looked "fly" in their gear… well, it was kinda odd seeing the chicks wearing the same outfits as the dudes.
But I kinda agree… I didn't think they looked "all-american." I've always seen Ralph Lauren a more European (british) look. Maybe they should've worn something from Levi, The Gap, or soething… lol.
Blacks wanna know about washed-up crackheads!
Wow. I was about to say "damn Lauren" but actually not that shocked considering…
As for Sameer, I find his claims the more offensive as Ralph Lauren is on my top 5 list of best designers. He's #4 and the only male on my top 10. I was under the impression that cotillions were mostly for black people. Maybe I need richer white friends. Also, why hate on prep schools? I would encourage anyone with a kid who knows how to act right when no one's watching to send them to one. I have August 2011 marked for when I need to send my brother's ex some information about Prep for Prep and A Better Chance. Gee. What a crime it is to want your kid to have. I'm sure some of these elitist institutions admitted people of color WAY before the elite or even some mediocre universities. I love the CT chicness, even if it's referred to as Republican dressing.
The article is ridiculous… and I feel uncomfortable admitting this… but I do think brands like Polo are built on the concept of making your social station clear. I'm so unsure of my ethics when it comes to purchasing clothing… but I do know that, as a well-off teenager, I feel ashamed wearing Versace et. al. My dad came from the ghettos of Iran, and I don't want to seem like I think one's class defines him or her. Even when my friends lend me a shirt that says "Armani" on it after a sleepover, I make sure to wear a hoodie. Even if I find a Burberry top for 2 dollars, I would not purchase it. Even if I get it for cheap, it's marketed to make people wearing the attire feel more significant because of their income.
I think… I don't know…
@Daria,
Thanks for including the names of those programs in your comment. I'd never heard of those programs. But I've got the sites bookmarked now!
I was very offended at some pumps that nearly killed me last week– but other than that, sheesh!
"Because art museums and banks are white things, not black things! Blacks wanna know about washed-up crackheads!"
Brilliant post, Cord.
The "black" search engine idea strikes me as insulting on numerous levels. Not only does it assume all black people share a homogenous range of interests, but also that blacks won't bother either to scroll down four results on Google, or type in "Whitney Houston", if that's what they want. Is this Taylor guy black or white? Because if he was white, he'd be run out of town on a rail.
As for the Polo nonsense, how about we just label his aesthetic "elite" and leave out the "white"? Sure, it's purely Western, but I disagree that the aesthetic has been building "racist" connotations. If anything, it's lost them over the years. All Polo means these days is that you have money, whether you're Kenyan, Sri Lankan or the Great Gatsby himself (and Gatsby was born poor in the book.)
Johnny Taylor was being offensive, regardless of his colour.
A polo is a style of shirt only. A t-shirt with a collar. Ralph Lauren doesn't have the monopoly on it, nor did he invent it.
I am presently wearing a no-name black polo (purchased for $12 at The Bay) and I have no "private club" leanings or longings.