Surviving a Race War -- T.V. Version

[Seamus Fermanagh]

The American television program "Survivor" is, apparently going to open its 13th season/installment by grouping its contestants into four teams based on race: Asiatic descent, European descent, Hispanic/Latin descent, and African descent.

As a source of free advertising, this has -- predictably -- worked like a charm with all sorts of ballyhoo on the talking head programs (radio and tv).

What think you of the idea? A race war in the making or much ado about nothing?

Responders are cautioned that our dear moderators will probably deal swiftly and severely with posts that enact rather than discuss racism.

[Sasaki Kojiro]

It's a tv show. Ergo, much ado about nothing. Vis a vis, concordantly...

[rotorgun]

I think that the mention of it being the 13th installment bodes ill for such a venue. I can barely tolerate the normal editions of Survivor, so this one will not get any airtime from me at all. It just goes to show just how low the the quality of average television has gone. I hope that they get sued by some group that they have not included....the Alaskan Inuitt perhaps.

No offense to any who may enjoy such a program is intended, but ya'll can count me out.

[GeneralHankerchief]

Well, this is the opinion of a longtime watcher of the show.

At first glance, it seems like a cheap trick in order to gain publicity and ratings for the show, which has seen its numbers decline in recent seasons.

On another hand, I remember Mark Burnett (the show's exec. producer) talking one time about how he had received criticism for the show's lack of diversity, but scoffed at it, saying something like "diversity isn't needed to make a show great" (obviously, heavily paraphrased).

Being a faithful watcher of the show since Season One (and not ashamed to admit it!) I chalk it up to an annual new gimmick/rule for the show that went a little too far. Most likely it will be ignored and the teams will soon be mixed/integrated (for those who don't watch the show, they almost always switch the teams up).

[IrishArmenian]

Terrible Racism. Absolutely terrible. This seems to encourage racism. I just have a few questions: Do they just turn down those of Middle Eastern Descent? Do they just turn down Native Americans? What about an interracial person?

[Kanamori]

Pretty tasteless. Then again, what's new with American TV?

[Crazed Rabbit]

I am reminded of a quote from a Simpsons episode set in the future:
"Marge: Fox turned into a hardcore porn channel so slowly I didn't notice"

Crazed Rabbit

[doc_bean]

It encourages racism and is pretty tasteless imo.

[Philippus Flavius Homovallumus]

Lovely?

So what is Asian? Indian Subcontinent? Arabian Subcontinent? Far East Asia?

Also, can someone please explain to me the difference between "Latin" and "White"?

I just don't get it. Seriously. I mean I thought the Spanish and Italians in Europe were lumped in with the rest of us. Are the French "Latin" as they have a Latin language?

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Latin would be latin american.


Calling this racist is a bit like calling boys vs girls in gym class sexist.

[The Spartan (Returns)]

this would make the show a bit more interesting.

but it sounds rascist doesnt it?

[Ironside]

I'm agreeing with Sasaki with the add-on that if someone starts to read into the results too much (as they'll say nothing really), then it'll start to be racist though.

Is it still running strong in the US? It has declined quite drastically here, but we've seen it most years on the other hand.

[Leet Eriksson]

Lovely?

So what is Asian? Indian Subcontinent? Arabian Subcontinent? Far East Asia?

Also, can someone please explain to me the difference between "Latin" and "White"?

I just don't get it. Seriously. I mean I thought the Spanish and Italians in Europe were lumped in with the rest of us. Are the French "Latin" as they have a Latin language?

The Asian team consist of Vietnamese and Chinese. one of the members is called Cao Boi which is pretty

[scooter_the_shooter]

For crying out loud; lighten up people....I fail to see the problem with this. They did a boys vs girls one once I didn't see any complaints then.

[IrishArmenian]

This fules the fire that has yet to be put out. Many people feel strongly over racism and the last thing we need is people rooting for their own race and being angry at the others. It is in my mind a worse subject than sexism because with sexism, no one has been enslaved or beaten or made a fool of.

[Xiahou]

Well I wont be watching, I can assure you of that much.

But then again, I've never watched a single episode of Survivor in any season- so this wont be any different. There's very little reality TV I can stomach, 90+% of it's mind numbing garbage...

[GoreBag]

This fules the fire that has yet to be put out. Many people feel strongly over racism and the last thing we need is people rooting for their own race and being angry at the others. It is in my mind a worse subject than sexism because with sexism, no one has been enslaved or beaten or made a fool of.

I doubt most 'whites' would be able to pick out their race, or even if their race was 'featured'. Besides, anyone who supports other caucasoids for being a caucasoid is a fool and nothing will change that.

[Quietus]

The American television program "Survivor" is, apparently going to open its 13th season/installment by grouping its contestants into four teams based on race: Asiatic descent, European descent, Hispanic/Latin descent, and African descent.

As a source of free advertising, this has -- predictably -- worked like a charm with all sorts of ballyhoo on the talking head programs (radio and tv).

What think you of the idea? A race war in the making or much ado about nothing?

Responders are cautioned that our dear moderators will probably deal swiftly and severely with posts that enact rather than discuss racism.

Race has nothing to do with reality. It's a visual illusion.

[yesdachi]

Ratings dictate what is on TV, if people don’t like it they won’t watch it and it won’t be on.

People segregate themselves all the time in real life who cares if they do it to 12 people on a show. If one congressman speaks out on the subject before they come up with a viable plan for the future of social security I am going to be pissed. There are bigger issues in the world; people should worry about the things that matter and not about reality TV.

[drone]

Now we get to see idiots of all races on Survivor, not just the white idiots! Yeah!

[whyidie]

Hooray! Go Mutts!

[AntiochusIII]

Raise the Mexican flag over the island, I say!



And prepare for Donald "Appeasement is Nazi" Rumsfeld's bombers...

[IrishArmenian]

Yes, were are the cross racial people going? I am technically a light shade of brown. Me da is white, me ma is brown. What about me? They probably won't allow us in because we would definitley win...

[Oaty]

For those interested, it will be airing tonight at 8 pm eastern.

[Major Robert Dump]

Americans are obsessed with race, thats why racism will never go away.

If its anything like real America, the black contestants will kill each other and blame the white constestants, the latinos will invade the nicest island camp, the white people will all get eliminated first because they are too busy thinking about the cash prize, and the Asian contestants will take all the other tribes best idea, improve on them, and win.

[lancelot]

I think the issue is here is how to define 'racism'...personally I dont consider many things racist unless they invlove some element of hate in them.

I laugh at 'racist' jokes (even the ones that mock my race), does that mean I and the joke teller are racists?...of course not, because I know that a real racist is someone who hates people of a different race...

[Spino]

I fail to see how this particular season of Survivor is 'racist'. What I do see is people reacting strongly to an issue which has, thanks to conditional reinforcement via popular culture and social engineering (i.e. US public school curriculum) led your average westerner to be far too reactionary to even the slightest mention of the topic of race.

What bothers me about this season of Survivor is the inclusion of the Hispanic group. Hispanic is a cultural category, not a racial one. Even the US census does not classify it as a racial category. Hispanic is a convenient lumping together of people who just happen to hail from the Portugese and Spanish speaking countries of Central and South America and the Carribbean. Basically if your ancestors hailed from Portugal or Spain, were conquered by Portugal or Spain, intermarried with people from Portugal or Spain, were bought, shipped and bought again by Portugese, Spanish, Indian or Mestizo peoples living in Latin America AND you possess a Latin based surname you are, in accordance with plebeian logic, classified as being Hispanic. How f'ing ridiculous!

[Spino]

Yes, were are the cross racial people going? I am technically a light shade of brown. Me da is white, me ma is brown. What about me? They probably won't allow us in because we would definitley win...

No offense but I find it interesting that you've classified your status as being of a mixed racial background. I am inclined to agree with you but by modern western conventions I don't think you'd qualify as being the by product of an interracial marriage. Some friends of mine are of Armenian & Scottish ancestry and despite their swarthy exterior and decidedly non-Scottish looks classify themselves as being 'European' or 'white' without giving it a second thought (and are no less proud of their Armenian ancestry). It's all relative I guess.

FYI, I'm of Greek & Italian ancestry and consider Armenians to be fellow birds of a swarthy feather...

[whyidie]

I fail to see how this particular season of Survivor is 'racist'. What I do see is people reacting strongly to an issue which has, thanks to conditional reinforcement via popular culture and social engineering (i.e. US public school curriculum) led your average westerner to be far too reactionary to even the slightest mention of the topic of race.

Reacting so strongly that the show has been pulled from tv....

[Don Corleone]

Well, IMHO race is an illusion as our deck is so shuffled everybody has some diamonds, some spades, some clubs and some hearts in their hand. The American convention that one drop of African blood (i.e. 31 of 32 of your 4th generation ancestors came from Europe, one from Africa, you're still considered black) only serves to reinforce how absolutely foolish it is to continue this ridiculous convention.

What many people don't seem to realize is that "White" only goes back about 30 to 40 years, when the Klan couldn't get enough members restricting their recruiting pool to those of Anglo, Germanic and Scandanavian descent. In 1950, Irish, Poles, Italians, (even the French!) were all considered as less than desireable.

What are Jews? White or Middle Eastern?

Anyway, a couple of other points I'd like to make on comments I've seen so far:

What about an interracial person?

People aren't inter-racial (between races), they're multi-racial, and I would argue that if you look hard enough EVERYONE falls into this category. Relationships are inter-racial. {Semantics}

So what is Asian? Indian Subcontinent? Arabian Subcontinent? Far East Asia?

In American parlance, Asian is what you in the UK would refer to as Oriental. Korean, Japanese, Han and other Asiatic peoples in the USA get offended when you refer to them as Oriental (not sure why) and if you guess the wrong nationality, they REALLY get offended (that I can understand). So 'Asian' is a catch-all phrase for folks from China, Japan, Korea, Indochina, Indonesia or Malaysia. Interestingly, in the USA at least, it does not refer to people from the Indian subcontinent (whom we refer to as Indian, as a whole, regardless of their nationality). I'm sure the Sikhs and the Pakastanis seethe with resentment but they've yet to establish a viable alternative.

It is in my mind a worse subject than sexism because with sexism, no one has been enslaved or beaten or made a fool of.

You're joking right? Where do you think the expression 'rule of thumb' comes from? It was only in the mid to late 1970s in the USA that a man could be convicted of raping his wife. While I'll grant you that Africa, the Middle East and the Far East have a ways to go in terms of treating women better, let's not kid ourselves and pretend it's been any joy for North American or European women until this present generation....