Fashionable Bigotry 101- A Crash Course on Hipster Racism

8/12/2019 Fashionable Bigotry 101- A Crash Course on Hipster Racism

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Fashionable Bigotry 101: A Crash Course on Hipster Racism

"Wong Brothers Laundry Service—Two Wongs Can Make It White" and

"Wok-N-Bowl—Let the Good Times Roll—Chinese Food & Bowling." were a couple

of T-shirts that were released and dramatically recalled by Abercrombie & Fitch a

decade ago. Years later, Urban Outfitters had a similar scandal when they carried an

“ironic” form of monopoly called Ghettopoly “which rewards players for building

crack houses and pimpin' hoes” on the premise that because of the numerous ethnic

groups depicted in the game, it isn't racist. “Ironically” mispronouncing l’s as r’s to

your Asian friends or introducing your black friends as “your black friends” for

jokes, as Lindy West notes, to show everybody how totally not preoccupied you are

with your “colored” friend’s “coloredness”, is becoming part and parcel of the

lifestyle of the young privileged and progressive. Hipster racism, or ironic “racism”

or just plain old racism as I like to call it, is quickly emerging as the newest

manifestation of acceptable racism among the educated elites in the US.

As an Afro-Jamaican male, the first thing that my parents warned me about

before coming to Amherst College wasn’t illegal drugs, the rigorous academic

environment or even the often immobilizing winters that plague the North-East, but

the perils of simply being a black man in the United States. Although both of my

parents currently live in Jamaica, their colorful experiences in the US with overt

racism rightfully scared the living shit out of them. My mother recounts the story of

me as toddler somehow getting lost in a South Florida grocery store and her

subsequently overhearing the store employee who ultimately found me, describe

me as a “little monkey”. Or my father, who like myself was also fortunate enough to



study in the United States, but at Yale, was subject to frequent disrespect by

students and professors alike despite the progressive reputation of the school in the

1970’s. My eldest sister (Class of ’92) paints a similar portrait during her time at

Amherst College during the late 80’s early 90’s. However, despite their cautionary

tales about this country and its people, in my nearly two years here, I have not

experienced an instance of overt racism. On the other hand, my experience with

racism at Amherst is masked by “irony”, “sarcasm” and “comedy”. When I think back

on the times I’ve been most offended on this campus I reflect on the saddening

frequency of off-color jokes that have come my way. From fried chicken to

watermelon, I’ve gotten them all, of course only in the cont ext of “irony”. My

national identity is also subject to similar fashionable bigotry. Dance and track

stereotypes, and the movie “Cool Runnings”, generally comprise the subject matter

for these non-jokes.

This type of comedy is becoming socially acceptable because of the

prominence of the “hipster” culture. Rachel Fudge suggests that “hipster

misidentified irony” is the cause, where these liberals have a “nothing should be

taken seriously” attitude while demanding protection from condemnation for the

sake of comedy. These individuals are self-professed post-racial, with supposedly

enough education to simply be above racism. They are so post-racial in fact, that

they have complete license to say extraordinarily offensive things in a normalized

way. Commenting on the fact that Hispanic heritage month starts on September 15th,

a sombrero clad Stephen Colbert “joked” that “Yes, even their heritage month jumps

the border”. There was no controversy over that statement because he was making



fun of the “real” racist s at FOX News. But whether it’s being used by the racist or the

“racist”, these “jokes” only become funny because the normalization of racial

stereotypes.

For every protest against hipster racism comes a defensive yet beleaguered

response of “It’s just a joke, stop being so sensitive”. These comments come from

white racists and minority racists alike. Another generic response is “Why do they

take everything so seriously?” A thin line separates comedy and tragedy in these

contexts. What exactly is being laughed at through these jokes? Why are they being

said in the first place? Is it an at tempt to reclaim a discourse on race? If that’s the

case then why is that? Just because overt racism has decreased in comparison to our

parents’ generation doesn’t mean that racism has ended. It survives in more benign

forms like “ironic” racism and instit utional racism. Whether or not the hipster racist

wholeheartedly believes in his comedy is beside the point. What makes the hipster

“racist” a racist is the awareness that they know better but choose not to care. As

West states so eloquently, “You cannot unlock some secret double-not-racist

achievement by just being regular racist. Otherwise Bill O'Reilly would be president

of the NAACP.”

Works Cited

Fudge, R. (2004). Kiss Me, I'm a Fashionanble Bigot . Retrieved 1 3, 2014, from

Bitchmedia: http://bitchmagazine.org/article/fashionable-bigot

Read, M. (2012, 4 20). A Girls Writer's Ironic Racism And Other 'White People

Problems' . Retrieved 1 3, 2014, from Gawker: http://gawker.com/5903468/a-girls-

writers-ironic-racism-and-other-white-people-problems



West, L. (2012, 4 26). A Complete Guide to 'Hipster Racism' . Retrieved 1 3, 2014, from

JEZEBEL: http://jezebel.com/5905291/a-complete-guide-to-hipster-racism

Documents

Fashionable Bigotry 101- A Crash Course on Hipster Racism