Band-Aids

Band-aids used to be a common example of white privilege, but not anymore. I know you’ve probably seen these ethnic-friendly band-aids online and thought “Hey, that’s kind of weird.” But guess what, they’re not weird. You’re weird. You see, band-aids are only the tip of the iceberg for brown people in America and frankly we’re tired of being forgotten. Do you know the name of the brown or black barbie dolls? Didn’t think so.

Without further ado, I would like to show one of these bad boys in action. This picture comes from our D.C. correspondent, Liz, who took this picture. In case you can’t see it is on the middle of his left calf, it just blends in so well that it may be hard to see.  Win!

 

The only disappointing part about this post is the fact that multicultural band-aids were invented only after band-aids that look like bacon.

“Midgees”

Technically this doesn’t belong on the blog because it doesn’t deal with brownness, but it is still an inappropriate find that needs to be commented on. On our trip to San Francisco, SJ was craving tootsie rolls so we stopped at Target to get some. Instead of getting the average brown kind, she decided that what she really wanted was the fancy white vanilla tootsie rolls. I know that I could go in-depth into that, but what I really want to emphasize is the politically incorrect label on the Tootsie Roll wrapper. Out of all the words that a company can think of to signify small, cute tootsie rolls was “midgees” really the best option that they had?

Fork in the Road

Thank you Indiana for keeping it real. I’m not sure who exactly is allowed to choose the names for cities but I have to complain about their lack of imagination. Colors with a ‘burg’ or ‘town’ stuck at the end of it? Haven’t you heard of Spunky Puddle, Ohio or Monks Hammock, Louisiana? Obviously the people who named those were enlightened.

The  sign makes me think of the Dr. Seuss classic, “The Sneetches”, which was later made into a crowd-pleasing production by my seventh grade drama class. I gave a harrowing performance as Narrator #1. Just like the star-bellied Sneetches and the Sneetches with none upon thars learned at the end of the book, let us remember that “no kind of Sneetch is the best on the beaches.”

Speedy Gonzales

On a trip to Vegas this weekend I came across this little statue of Speedy Gonzales and realized something for the first time. Speedy is a complete Mexican stereotype! He’s a rat with a sombrero and has the catchphrase “¡Ándale, Ándale! ¡Arriba! ¡Arriba!” But I guess he can also be seen as someone to look up to. He runs very fast and likes to dance to music at fiestas, which I definitely can approve and relate to. No worries Loony Tunes, you will forever have a place in my heart thanks to Space Jam.

A Step In The Right Direction (Sort of)

Starting the week off with one of my all-time favorite Internet finds. I think it is perfectly indicative of America’s approach to the road of progress. It reminds me of all the T.V. shows designed for children where each kid was a different race (i.e. Captain Planet, The Puzzle Place, Magic School Bus, etc.) complete with appropriate accents.

Don’t Tell Rosa Parks

Props go out to Ethan Parker for finding this little gem while on a trip to Chicago. Not sure of the background for this picture but I gotta say I love it. 2011 and segregation is still alive baby!

Para Los Ninos

The other day I was reminded of a product I came across while tutoring at a local Provo elementary school. They’re called “Multicultural Crayons” by Crayola, a seemingly family friendly company that shows a black boy on their website homepage.

Is anyone even slightly disturbed? First of all, unless albinos are their target audience there is no need for a white that bright. Secondly, Gingers are forced to go to another box of crayons to get the red for their freckles, thus leaving them embarrassed and filled with self-loathing that will only manifest itself more in the future.

Call me old-fashioned, but I miss the days where children had an entire box of colors to depict themselves. I’m talking blues, greens, and purples, you know… real colors. And here I was thinking progress was being made in schools with math questions like, “If Abdul has 3 carrots, Marta has 2 carrots, and Abakada (this is a real name) has 4 carrots, how many do they all have together?”

Crayola, reminding kids of their differences since 1903.