SNL: Beyoncé Skit

[StrawberryBlond 15,041]

The fact that most of you find this genuinely funny...I have no words. SNL are rarely funny anyway and this is the one that gets people laughing? The most racist one? It's a shame how we have got so used to white racism not being a thing that we don't see any problem with such offensive, racist stereotyping of whites. Oh, and as usual, it automatically jumps to the most basic, wrong conclusion. Like there is no other reason why whites disliked this song. I'm white and I dislike it because it's a bad song, Beyonce's taking a social issue and making it all about herself and it alienates her multiracial (not just white) fans. But whites never have views as complex as that, right?

It deeply offends me when people make the stereotype not only that whites are racist but also that we are so ignorant and uneducated that we won't understand that we're being mocked and just not get it, basically. The issue of white racism never used to bother me until this last year, when it has suddenly come about in abundance so that I can't ignore it anymore. If there's one element of white privilege that exists, it's that we are highly unlikely to be dismissed because of our race. But this year, I have seen so much dismissal and experienced so much dismissal myself that I won't stay silent anymore. I'm sick of putting forward an intelligent, forward-thinking view on racism that suggests new ideas and I get accused of not understanding and of being racist. I'm sick of defending a white person and being accused of sticking up for my own kind. I'm sick of supporting a white rapper and being accused of racism for not giving the same love for a black rapper. I'm sick of whites getting put down for things that are praised in minorities. I'm sick of whites suffering racist abuse and it not getting reported on in the news and/or not being taken seriously when it is. I'm sick of whites being made to feel guilty for achieving something that they worked hard for because they're "taking away" the opportunity from a minority. I'm sick of people not taking personality, talent, capability, etc. into account and instead just vouching for a minority solely for the purpose of creating diversity. I'm sick of being made to feel guilty for being the race I was born as just because some long dead ancestors of mine once did some atrocious things (and what race hasn't got a murky history?) I'm sick of being made to feel like it's nothing if my feelings get hurt because I was called a racist name because it won't have a knock-on effect. I'm sick of being judged as a cookie cutter "white person" instead of an intelligent, passionate individual who's just as anti racist as the person accusing me of it (but far nicer, obviously). To fight against your stereotype with every fibre of your being only to see other members of your race undo the hard work is so frustrating, I can't even tell you.

What this skit makes me realise is how Americanised the view of white people is. The stereotypes put out here are indicative of white American racists, not white racists in general. I'm British and the racism that occurs here differs quite a bit from the American stuff. When the black comedian, Reginald D Hunter came over here, he admitted that the racism here is nowhere as extreme and there's a lot of differences in the way it operates. I mean, without the widespread nature of fundamentalist Christian movements and hillbilly culture here, obviously, it won't be the same type of racism. As a British person, I just roll my eyes watching this and am all "See these Americans who think all white people are the same..." Every white person who appeared in this should be ashamed of themselves. Racism will never end until every race is held to the same standards. So, if it would be offensive to say this to a black person, don't say it to a white person and so on and so forth. It annoys me that decent white people like myself fight so hard to change the perception of us only to see it undone by people of my own race for "comedy." Whites must be the only race on the planet who actively make fun of how racist they are. It's appalling. But suggest that we need more pride in ourselves and you're told to join the KKK. As long as these kind of jokes exist to make whites feel guilty for nothing, racism will never end. Let's end all racism, not just the stuff happening to minorities.