You may have heard (newspaper story here) that a couple of white students at the University of Minnesota Duluth posted an online video (below) of themselves wearing dark brown facial cream mimicking black racial stereotypes. In emails to the newspaper the students claimed that the facial masks required being left on for twelve minutes and they made the video as a way to kill time. One student noted, "This video does not define our true selves at all," while the other student said, "That video does not define who we are… it was accidental… we did not intend to hurt anyone with it."
White college students mimicking people of color with offensive racial stereotypes seems more common than ever. A simple Google search of "college party black face" brings a flood of stories about this happening. It would be easy to say all of these students are horrible racists and stop the conversation there. While their behavior is no doubt racism in action, I believe there is something more happening here.
This country is plagued by a dirty little secret that happens far too often to be considered much of a secret. When homogeneous groups of people with cultural power and privilege get together (white people, males, heterosexuals, people of financial means, etc.), they sometimes engage in "off the record" conversations, jokes, and mimicry of people of color, women, gays, and poor people respectively. It takes on such forms as male locker room talk, the use of fake accents, and mimicry as seen in the video below.
Many of the people who engage in these "off the record" moments are very mindful and supportive of diversity when others are looking. In fact, they might go so far as to be outraged or even confront offensive public comments made by others. They would never want to see anyone they know or see be hurt by prejudice or oppression. So, why do they engage in these types of "off the record" conversations?
Anyone who was born in and grew up in this country has been bombarded with racial, gender, class, and other stereotypes constantly since they were born. These messages are conveyed through media, families, schools, religious institutions, workplaces, and peer groups. Most of us are also slowly taught by the same environments and institutions that these messages are false and to respect all areas of human diversity, but unfortunely the negative reinforcement is often much stronger and more frequent. By the time we reach young adulthood, most people are intellectually on board with, for example, racial and gender equality, but have been socialized with deep and often unconscious beliefs that people of color and women are inferior to whites and males respectively.
Holding these uncomfortable feelings back, which most people recognize is the right thing to do, takes a great deal of energy and work as they can slip out at unexpected times (cut off by somone in traffic, behind an "annoying" person in the checkout line, etc.). In "safe" homogeneous environments, people relax their filters and these socialized feelings towards others tend to bubble out more freely and evolve into "off the record" conversations. Even in these situations, some participants in "off the record" conversations feel uncomfortable with the conversation, but they believe everyone else is okay with it and begrudgingly go along for the ride.
As a straight, white, middle class, male I have had countless moments where someone with one or more matching identities has tested me to see if I am a safe person for them to have an "off the record" exchange with. I have also seen these conversations break out in numerous environments and have reacted with both action and disappointing inaction. As I reflect back on my life I also know that I have participated in more than a few "off the record" conversations, many of which I did not want to be a part of.
What these two women did in making this video was awful and they deserve to be held accountable for their actions by the school and society. I am sure there are people of color, especially on that campus, who are rightfully frustrated, hurt, and without much room for forgiveness having seen this type of thing all too many times before. That said, I think we must save some of our scorn for the culture at large that has done similar things, but is not foolish enough to videotape and post their "off the record" conversations online. This includes many of us who claim to be "good people" who are deeply supportive of diversity and against discrimination and oppression, but sometimes look the other way or reluctantly participate in "off the record" moments. To put all of the focus on how horrible these students are takes away any responsibility the rest of us might have to address roles we have played in the "off the record" conversations in our lives.
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