Anjelah Johnson: Racist or Not?

Bumping this up, since I received a comment from a fellow blogger this afternoon. Blogger Ashleigh mentioned a video Anjelah is in called "Bon Qui Qui". I went to Youtube to check it out. HILARIOUS! I didn't even realize that she was on Mad TV. She has really come up! See below:




=================================

Orignally posted on 1/31/07

Anjelah Johnson is a Latino up-and-coming stand-up comedian and actress. I found a Youtube clip on the blog TheThink with Anjelah doing a routine about a visit to the Nail Salon. In this 4 1/2 minute clip, she does a very good imitation of the Vietnamese women that work in these salons with a pretty good Vietnamese accent to boot.

I should note that blogger Angry Asian Man made a good point in that he's not a fan of non-Asians doing comedy that mocks Asians. I feel him on that one. If Anjelah were doing a routine where she was mocking Vietnamese in general , I would have a major problem with that. In fact, you may remember that I was very hard on Rosie O'Donnell for offending Chinese on "The View", and it would be hypocritical of me to give someone else a pass for doing the same thing. In Rosie's case, she mimicked the way all Chinese people in-general would sound if one of their networks ran a story about Danny DeVito. She used nonsensical mutterings such as "Ching Chong Chonk" that don't form real words in Chinese. That was very offensive to Chinese as a group. However, in Anjelah's case, she is recounting a specific experience in a nail salon. The humor is based on the dialogue she has had with women that work in nail salons, not a mockery of Asians in general. Angry Asian Man also points out that he has received lots of email on the subject of Anjelah's video clip from Vietnamese. 50% of the email has been pro-Anjelah, and the other 50% has referred to her as a racist! Such is life.

This clip will most likely be funniest to those who have ever visited a nail salon. I live at Nail, Talk, & Tan in midtown, so this was right up my alley! She was 100% accurate and her timing is impeccable. See for yourselves and make your own decision.

Baba Wawa...your prejudice is showing

It is becoming increasingly apparent as time moves forward that the host of ABC's 'The View' is not as tolerant as many would like to believe. And it looks like I'm not the only one who has noticed either.

When Star Jones was a panel member, I couldn't help but notice that certain people didn't like her very much. Don't get me wrong, it's difficult to find very many people who were particularly enamored with her regardless of their race, gender, or political affiliation. She could definitely be pretty annoying at times with her tendency to hijack many of the discussions and her never-ending focus on her wedding. But I never despised her the way many others did. When I questioned people who seemed to have a major problem with her about the source of their disdain, the responses were pretty consistent. "She talks too much". "She's too opinionated". "Everything is about her". Hmmm, okay. I guess that's enough to cause some people to strongly dislike someone, although most people that I know have many of these qualities.

So what happens? Star Jones is asked to leave the show gracefully while a new panel member is selected: Rosie O'Donnell. Great choice. I mean, Rose hardly speaks at all, and tends to keep most of her opinions to herself. Of course, the consensus regarding Rosie among many of the same people who practically hated Star Jones was, "I guess she can be annoying sometimes, but she's just passionate!". Yeah, okay. We all have a way of justifying things to suit our fancy, don't we?

This brings us to Barbara Walters. I'll make this succinct, yet informative. Pay attention to the way Barbara Walters treats black co-hosts as opposed to the way she treats everyone else. The show is on everyday at 11am on ABC if you want to set your DVR. Also Youtube has plenty of footage of previous episodes. But I will cite four examples of Barbara Walters' obvious weirdness/prejudice against strong black women for your viewing pleasure.

Example 1: Singer/Actress Brandy Norwood appears on 'The View' as a co-host during the Rent-A-Negro period when a new black cast member was being sought out. (See the video linked in Example 2 below)

Example 2: Celebrity Tanika Ray also appeared during the previously mentioned period. Here is the video. Do I need to say anymore? Barbara's behavior is so ridiculously archaic; it's 2007, not 1957, Baba.
Barbara Walters puzzled by Black Women

Example 3: Comedienne/Actress Monique appears as co-host during twice mentioned Rent-A-Negro period on 'The View'. At the time of the interview, Monique had recently given birth to twins. Barbara asked Monique about her new babies in the rudest, most offensive way I've ever heard a 'host' speak to someone.
Barbara Walters asks Monique about her little creatures

Example 4: The infamous Star Parker interview. Black, conservative author Star Parker was a guest panel member a few months ago. Barbara's posture while Star spoke was so tense; she was clearly irritated with Star being there. 'The View' has had its share of conservative guests over the years but I've never seen any treated the way that Star was treated by the panel members. Barbara's face and responses to Star read "Stay-In-Your-Place-Uppity-Negro".

Star Parker can't get a word in

Video corresponding to link directly above of Star Parker on The View

Disney creates first black princess

In 2009, a new Disney animated film will be released entitled "The Frog Princess". It will feature a 19 year-old, beautiful, black chambermaid named Maddy. Read more here.



I'm not really excited one way or another by this story. I mean, of course I think it's really cool. I've done some surfing around recently, and apparently there are a lot of little black girls that grew up in my generation that wondered why none of the beautiful princesses looked anything like them. As a child, I never dealt with this issue. Personally, I was all about ballerinas. I even was one for about 11 years! But even when I saw blonde and blue-eyed princesses, queens, etc,...as a child it just never occurred to me that I was excluded from this group. Never. I always thought that I was just as pretty and elegant as they were.

I can't help but wonder if this new creation from Disney is based on pressure from various "groups". Disney doesn't have the best reputation regarding race relations. I'm not sure if you know the story of Mr. Walt Disney, but he was not a jolly, happy-go-lucky guy sitting around whistling while drawing pictures of Mickey Mouse. No sir. You may not know this, but there is actually a standing rumor that Walt Disney was anti-Black and anti-Jew. There is a book written by Walt Disney biographer Neal Gabler entitled "WALT DISNEY: The Triumph of the American Imagination". It doesn't appear that the rumors get put to rest in this bio, either. Gabler states that Walt thought hiring African Americans would "have spoiled the illusion at Disneyland" and that Walt's anti-Semitic reputation is due largely to his membership in an executive organization that was famously hostile to Jews. So waiting until 2007 to create a black princess for release in 2009 doesn't seem so far-fetched. Maybe there will be a Jewish Disney princess created by 2010. :-)