Filed under: News, Race and Civil Rights
A racist telemundo skit (pictured) that actually came out in 2009 has most recently gone viral on YouTube.
In the skit, adults pretending to be grade school students insult and berate an "African" exchange student who is visiting Mexico. The insults are nothing new, with complexion, thick lips and his intelligence level all giving in to well-known stereotypes that have been circulated throughout the United States since the antebellum period. As soon as foreign exchange student "Jhonny" (also alternatively called "Jorge") enters the room, a number of bananas seem to miraculously appear on the floor. Jhonny is introduced with the idea that he was caught playing in the mud.
In a dialogue that is poorly conceived, fellow students mock foreign-born Jhonny for having brown skin ("lightning turned [him] black") and coming from Africa.
A few minutes later, the script takes an illogical turn, when Jhonny proudly declares in Spanish that he is "purely Mexican." Immediately, the teacher, who brandishes what looks to be a ruler and never tires of hitting Jhonny and the other students with it, responds that he actually looks "full-blown Cuban," which, by the raucous laughter, seems to indicate that, that association is negative.
Jokes are also made about Jhonny's hair ("When he gets white hair, he'd look like an extinguished cigar"). Then another student decides to poke more fun at Jhonny's complexion, saying:
Student: "Hey, boy, you played for a long time in the sun, didn't you?"
Jhonny: Why do you say that?
Student: "Because you are burned."
Of course, the skit wouldn't be complete without the dusty monkey-in-the-tree reference. Jhonny appears to enjoy meeting his fellow classmates' stereotypical expectations by actually jumping on the teacher's desk ... (surprise, surprise) like a monkey. Throughout the video, Jhonny makes a number of self-deprecating jokes, repeatedly disrupts the class and conveniently drives home the point that all black people are both foolish and barbaric.
I covered Dr. Henry L. Gates' "Black in Latin America" series last week. His series underscores how and why a "comedy" such as this one could be made so recently. Obviously, Latin America is decades behind the United States in its treatment and perception of its darker-skinned population, and that is particularly disturbing given that America, with its treatment of this nation's first black president and African Americans in general, isn't exactly so post-racial either.
When I was growing up, one of my best friend's was from Columbia, and her mom watched Telemundo all day. In my time there -- and we played for a few years -- I never saw a black person on TV, so I thought there were no black people in Spanish-speaking countries.
We did have a Dominican hair dresser, though, who was darker than both of my parents, who are African. Even though she did our hair for years, I found myself very confused that she was black and spoke Spanish. I think I eventually just thought her and her family were an aberration of some sort.
In later years, my husband swung me by Spanish Harlem on a date and I was shocked to see how many "black" people were there. He had to explain to me that African people do indeed live throughout Latino countries and islands.
I soon began to understand that the African people of the Spanish-speaking Caribbean and South America have had a similar experience to African Americans, but without Dr. Martin L. King Jr., the "black is beautiful" movement or the Malcolm X consciousness that exploded throughout the United States -- a freaky reality to consider!
In a way, it is positive for this video to go viral. Perhaps Mexicans and other Latin countries like it can be internationally shamed for their ignorance and legacy of humiliation and discrimination. On the other hand, I am more concerned for the "Jhonnys" of the region. How many Afro-Hispanics accept this marginalized and distorted imagery?
This question troubles me the most.
Watch the racist skit here: