An accidental racist joke?

I have a confession to make: The other member of my household loves Country & Southern  music. (I see you Mrs. Field.)




I didn't watch the CMAs last night, but I am pretty sure that she did. So I know that she heard some dude named Brad Paisley (Mrs. Field says he is a big deal) who was hosting the show make what some people consider a racist joke.




"The award show bumped ABC’s Black-ish from its usual spot. So Paisley made what seemed like only a fitting joke: “If any of you tuned into ABC tonight expecting to see the new show Black-ish, yeah, this ain’t it. In the meantime, I hope you all are enjoying White-ish.”




OK then, so where is the racism? A white Country music star telling the truth about Country music. It is  "White-ish". Let's face it, there aren't too many black folks involved with Country music. (Darius you don't count.) So he was speaking more truth than anything else. The fact that he even went there with the race issue at a country music program should be applauded.




So he took a shot at the sitcom, "Blackish". ----Which, truth be told, is a horrible show. Big deal.




Honestly, what I find racist is the fact that some folks find the title "Blackish" offensive. They are the same folks who whine about black folks having a television channel and black themed beauty contests etc. In other words, they think that black folks are getting special treatment because they have their own stuff. Forgetting, of course, that the only reason we have it is because they excluded us in the first place.




The fact that Paisley drew attention to white folks as a race is not racist, it is refreshing. I liked the fact that he pointed out the obvious: That a television show created for black folks was preempted by the very white CMA show.




I thought that this white person writing for Think Progress had an interesting take on the situation:




"Conversations about race in America almost universally focus on “race” as the identity of non-white people. When American media identifies something as having a race, that race is almost always black or Asian or Latino or Native. “Race” is hardly ever taken to mean “whiteness,” unless you’re looking at a census form.


But shouldn’t it be? I don’t mean that we should be advocating for white history month or talking about white people’s oppression. Just, simply, that we need to start treating whiteness not as a default but as yet another socially-constructed racial identity, one that comes with a lot of privileges." [Source]




Wait a minute, I remember this Paisley dude now. I knew his name sounded familiar.


He is the dude who teamed up with LL to make that awkward song about racism.




"Paisley’s first verse on “Accidental Racist” follows this formula to a T. He wants “the man that waited on me / At the Starbucks down on Main” to know that he doesn’t intend to telegraph his racial politics, that “The only thing I meant to say / Is I’m a Skynyrd fan.”


First a song and now a joke.


I think Brad just wants a black friend.