However, all of these people and their catchphrases are found to be entertaining due to their vernacular and how it is "different" from the standardized way to speak in the US. According to Martinez, it is African American Vernacular English, which to many has become equivalent to poverty and poor education.
Martinez even references the blackface comedy radio show Amos n' Andy, and how as a society we would like to believe we are beyond that form of comedy. He goes on to mention the autotune and song versions of these individuals' interviews to be even greater evidence, of nonblack Americans forcing Dodson and Ramsey to be "musical negroes:" as a form of instant and easy entertainment, much like the amateur minstrel shows of the 1900s. Martinez's, point that unlike the characters Amos and Andy, Ramsey, Dodson, and Sweet Brown are real people, which makes our enjoyment of their videos that much more racially apparent and inappropriate. Is it still wrong to find them funny? I now definitely will questions the future viral videos that are similar to the ones mentioned.
3 comments:
I also think it's very interesting that by creating these videos, people are forgetting that fact that this originated from a girl being held against her will and raped or a man saving his sister from a potential rape.
People are literally making money (by getting so many views, selling the song on itunes as well as the merchandise) off of another person's incredibly traumatic and triggering experience.
I know I wouldn't want to have to deal with that as the victim or the person who decided to risk my life to save someone.
I honestly can say that I have not thought about these viral videos in terms of their context in our class discussions of race and more specifically minstrely. After reading the Daily Dot article I agree with their observation of the perpetuation of racism in these videos.
I am not surprised that people don't think it is necessary to point out that these videos are people making money off people's suffering. Today, this is the case for everything and in this case it reminds me of amateur minstrelsy. A pre-packaged minstrel segment is sold or broadcasted across the country gaining immense popularity. Similar to amateur minstrelsy there is a neglect for the sufferings of the party who is being parodied and a focus on their entertainment value. These videos, as Smulyan said, are the commodifying of racism, the modern day amateur minstrelsy. Soon these videos become central to popular culture with people quoting them in daily conversation and judging those who haven't witnessed theses videos.
Black Americans have historically been known to combat their oppression via music, dance, poetry, and humor among other art forms. The predominantly Black social environments that I have grown up in and around have often times been characterized by loud talking, animated storytelling, plenty of jokes, and lots of laughter. Whenever my Black friends from home and I come together to discuss heavy subjects we always approach them in a humorous way. It lightens the mood but we're still able to engage the severity of the subject. I'm not sure of the extent to which this is a cultural practice specific to Black American/Caribbean communities (I come from a black community that is predominantly Jamaican), but this tendency (that I have observed) to have a good time in the face of tragedy, to cry and laugh at the same time, to turn a problematic experience into a funny but insightful story is very interesting. I'm not entirely sure what to think of it, but it does seem to illustrate that seriousness and humor are not mutually exclusive.
When Dodson says "hide your kids hide your wives and hide your husbands too cus they rapin errbody out here" he is using a non-normative, alternative way of saying "sexual assault is a danger to everyone in this community". I find the content to be funnier than the language. The use of words such as "rapin" and "errbody" is not as funny as the notion that we should be hiding everyone, men women and children. I wouldn't hesitate to consider that Dodson is more than capable of saying "sexual assault is a danger to everybody in the community". Many black people are bilingual in that they can understand and communicate in both the "standard American vernacular" and the vernacular of their home environment. I find the decision to reject the "standard American vernacular" in a public and open forum despite the consequences that may follow (specifically stereotyping) is a revolutionary act. It is admirable and commendable. And we must not forget that Dodson was funny long before he made the 6 o clock news.
The song versions and auto tuning of Dodson and Ramsay's interviews may or may not come from a racially sensitive place. Many American viewers may see nothing but poverty and poor education manifesting itself in an inarticulate, and thus, humorous expression of tragedy. In other words, the humor is perceived to be in the inarticulation. Yet I found Dodson to be extremely articulate. He got his point across, he declared the severity of the situation, and he got some laughter in the process. Ramsay was equally articulate in expressing the casualty of his activities (eating McDonalds) before he rescued three girls. The American public is witnessing and engaging with a significant cultural practice, one of beautiful, detailed, entertaining storytelling. Perhaps racism is the inability to see the humanity in Dodson and Ramsay, the ingenuity of their articulation, and the power of their persona. Perhaps, racism lies not in the laughter but in the sight of Dodson and Ramsay as entertaining and nothing else.
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