On KFC, Australian "racism" and American egocentricity

Several weeks ago, you may have heard about the controversy here over a KFC ad that was deemed by some people outside of Australia as insensitive at best, racist at worst. And many of you have likely already seen the ad, and perhaps have even heard plenty of people offer their unsolicited opinion. But even if you have, humor me here and read on; I think I'm in the position to have a unique perspective.

First, have a look at the ad:

From an American's perspective, in a vacuum, and without any context, this doesn't look good, right? Insensitive (or racist) Australians, right?

Well, not entirely. But before I can explain my rationale, we need to take a step back.

---

Australia has an ugly, ugly, ugly history with the people native to the land, the Aborigines. There is no denying this. Nor is there any denying that relations to this day, despite some good intentions from both sides, remain strained.

So there's that. But that's not what this post is about.

This post actually starts with the US, and its own history. Then it moves to Australia, and this country's interpretation/ignorance of that history. And then it ends by moving back to the US, and the reaction of the American people and media to that interpretation/ignorance.

Clearly, the US has as much – if not more – ghosts in the closet than Australia when it comes to its own race relations. And while those relations have improved over the years, just as they have in Australia, there are plenty of sensitivities that stew just beneath the surface of day-to-day life in the US. Those come to a head very frequently; for an example, look no further than the quotes from Harry Reid about Barack Obama that recently became public, and the subsequent media and political outcry.

It's an uber-sensitive society, filled with complexities that take a lifetime to appreciate, and one which has no sympathy for – and practically preys upon – just the slightest slips of the tongue.

Back to Australia. I've often described Australian culture as the intersection of English tradition and American pop culture. The connection to the English past goes so deep that time and time again, Australians have voted down becoming a republic, which would necessitate cutting all ties from the British Commonwealth. So to this day, the Queen of England still technically rules the country. But you turn on a TV in primetime or go to the movies or go to a newsstand, and odds are that you'll be consuming American-produced content. I was once told that my American accent wasn't exotic (if you will) because I "sound like TV".

This is all just a long way of saying that Australians are exposed to a lot of American culture.

But here's the problem: Australians don't really get American culture. Like I said, it's a complex society that takes a lifetime to appreciate. So without actually living in it, Australians' understanding of it is completely superficial. And that's where things get dangerous.

I can't tell you how many times I've heard an Australian casually throw around the n-word. Every time, it's grating to my ears. And yet every time, I have to remind myself that there are no bad intentions. They've heard it from a TV show or a movie or a song, and so they emulate it. But there are no racist intentions at all, certainly not like you'd infer if an American white person casually used it in conversation. If anything, Australians' use of the word is simply out of ignorance: ignorant of the history of the word, of how much pain it causes, of what it means today. Of course, it's the American media that we have to blame for this; no use of the n-word in the media would mean no misuse of the word by those who don't understand it.

But. If an American without this perspective visits Australia and hears that word – especially if an African American hears that word – we have a situation begging to blow up.

Which brings me full circle to this latest controversy. Or kind of. Because to get to that, I first I want to tackle another controversy from a few months earlier – also regarding Australian "racism" – that received a fair amount of media attention as well.

---

A popular variety show from the 70s, 80s and 90s, Hey Hey It's Saturday, had a few reunion shows back in September and October. And on one of the shows, with Harry Connick Jr in attendance as a guest, a group called the Jackson Jive performed a skit. Watch the skit and Connick Jr's initial reaction (until about the 2:45 mark), and then his more blunt opinion (from about 5:25 to 6:40)*:

*Don't want to watch it all? Here's the Cliff's Notes version:

A group of guys come out, dressed as the Jackson Five (even though, strangely, there are six of them), and perform a cover of "Can You Feel It". Unfortunately, the five guys who aren't Michael – again, not sure about the math there – are wearing blackface. The guy playing Michael is wearing, ummmmm, whiteface? (If you can call it that? Whatever. You get the point.) And Connick Jr, who's judging the performance, is less than impressed. While his distaste for the skit is somewhat understated at first, the host of the show gives him an opportunity a few minutes later to fully express his opinion, and he uses that time to make a more pointed statement in which he tries put the history of blackface in context.

This created a huge firestorm here, with Connick Jr stuck right in the middle. Yet amazingly, I found that most people sided against Connick Jr: "He doesn't understand our culture! We don't take anything seriously! How dare he project the sensitivities of his own culture onto us!"

I said it at the time: that is the worst justification ever. Seriously. The second you try to emulate something from another culture, the onus is on you to make sure you're not breaking that culture's rules.* The guys who put on that skit broke some serious rules, and they – along with everyone else who refuses to see why it was harmful – need to make a respectful effort to educate themselves on the history of blackface in America.

*It's like when you go to another country; you obey LOCAL laws, regardless of how absurd they might be to your own sensibilities. I don't see anyone bringing chewing gum to Singapore, unless they'd like that government to go Michael Fay on their ass.

Bottom line, that skit was insanely insensitive. And that's even before factoring in that it was only three months after Michael Jackson had died. THREE MONTHS!

---

And finally – finally! – we come back to what started this whole post: the KFC cricket ad. Just in case you need to refresh your memory, here again is the ad in question:

Again, in a vacuum, this ad looks pretty bad, perhaps as bad as the Jackson Jive skit.

But here's the thing: after the ad made its way onto YouTube, Americans watched it in that vacuum and took it way out of context.

Hmmm. I'm not sure italics on that "way" emphasizes my point enough. How about repeating it a few times, with bolded, italicized caps on the last one? And let's stretch out that last one, too: Way, way, WAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYY out of context.

Let's take another step back: I am an American, through and through. I love my country. I wouldn't trade my nationality for anything in the world. Despite some of the baggage that comes with it, especially living internationally, it's a source of pride for me. Having said that, America is a ridiculously insular culture. It's something that has always disturbed me, and this insularity rears its ugly head with all too much frequency.* It's done it again here.

*Fortunately, most of these occurences are pretty inane. Take, for example, the following passage from a Joe Posnanski blog entry a few months ago, in which he recounts a dinner with a friend:

One of the topics of discussion was how at any given time there is always one person who is widely considered the funniest person in the world (or America, anyway). This isn't necessarily the person WE think is the funniest person in the world; I've already told you I don't think Robin Williams is all that funny. It's more like the national plus international consensus. We did not spend a lot of time on the dates (and I should say here that I added a few names that Michael might not agree with) but we generally think the funniest person in the world title has, at one time or another, been the following people.

– Richard Pryor
– George Carlin
– Chevy Chase
– John Belushi
– Eddie Murphy
– Robin Williams
– Billy Crystal
– Dana Carvey
– Mike Myers
– Jerry Seinfeld
– Jim Carrey
– Adam Sandler
– Jon Stewart
– Will Ferrell
– Tina Fey

You all know I love me some Posnanski. Seriously... the man crush runs deep. But I couldn't help but note the absolutely insane hypocrisy in this passage. First he concedes that this list of the funniest people "in the world" may be just confined to America. Okay... so it's just the funniest people in America, I guess? But then he says three times – not once, not twice, but THRICE! – that it's an international list. Right... so now it IS the funniest people in the world. But THEN he goes on to list 15 comedians, all of whom were popularized by American culture! Riiiiiiiiight.

Anyway. Where was I? Ah yes – the KFC commercial.

Let's provide all the context that almost no one in America would know prior to viewing this ad:

• It's currently cricket season in Australia.
• The West Indian cricket team is in Australia to play some matches.
• KFC is a major sponsor of Australian cricket.
• As a major sponsor of Australian cricket, KFC is running a series of cricket-related ads.
• In each of the ads that KFC is running, Mick, the main character, is faced with some sort of inane obstacle that's preventing him from enjoying his cricket. So he uses the apparent magical power of KFC chicken to get others to shut the hell up so he can get back to the cricket.
• The ad in question is the only one in this series that features people from the West Indies. Not African Americans, mind you: West Indians.

So. There's that.

To me, this comment from this article on Media Bistro sums it up brilliantly:

Sorry Americans. It only the guilt of your hundreds of years of oppression against blacks that is apparent here. The stereotype of an African American having an affinity with fried chicken is an AMERICAN stereotype, fostered by AMERICANS and spread through popular culture by Americans.

KFC are a major sponsor of the summer cricket in Australia. It also happens that the West Indies are one of two touring teams this summer (including Pakistan) and the blacks depicted are West Indies fans. It really isn't a stretch to see this ad in its context as a supporter sitting solo amongst the opposition supporters and getting them onside by buying lunch. The rest is your guilty minds looking for somebody else to blame for a stereotype you created (and that only exists outside America thanks to American comedians whose black people/fried chicken jokes have made it outside your country).

Get a grip and get off your high horse.

The ad has nothing to do with African Americans, or the American stereotype that black people like fried chicken. But why confuse the American media with the facts when they can take it out of context, interpret it as they want, and blow the whole thing out of proportion? And we get to where we are today.*

*Frankly, I'm shocked that there's never been an outcry in the US about, ahem, Coon cheese. Exhibit A, B and C.**

Yeah. Context.

**If you click on ANY link throughout this insanely long post, please make it any (or all) of these. Classic Australian commercials.

---

Is Australia racist? Short answer: no. But if it wants to emulate the US – as it does with regular frequency, and as the Jackson Jive did – then it better make a concerted effort to understand it.*

*Ironically, the Aussies just got to try the shoe on the other foot when these idiots from Russia did a little Aborigines on Ice routine.

Do I expect this to give the entire nation perspective on the whole Jackson Jive thing? No. But still.

But America has some introspection to do as well, and it better realize that before passing judgment on others – as the media did with this KFC ad – then it too needs to stop being so egocentric and understand other cultures.

And then we can all put some shrimp on the barbie and gobble down some Coon cheese.