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“A dream you dream alone is only a dream; a dream you dream together is reality.” — Yoko Ono
Oct
27
Halloween and Racism: Both Scary
Filed Under bigotry, discrimination, human rights, products, race and racism | Posted by Cara |
So this is interesting: with all of the recent hate crimes involving nooses, some Halloween decorations are gaining increased scrutiny. All over the country, displays that include corpses hanging from nooses — very similar to the one at the left — have caused furor and distress over their racial connotations.In a dozen incidents during the weeks before Halloween this year, black and white Americans around the country faced a kind of Rorschach test of the national psyche: Is that a funny Halloween ghoul in a noose hanging from your neighbor’s tree? Or is that a racist symbol of lynching hiding in the Halloween tableau?
The question has frayed nerves in New Jersey, Connecticut, Indiana, Iowa, Wisconsin, Tennessee and Georgia. It has prompted protests from the N.A.A.C.P. and from black leaders who have raised questions about possible links between the displays and a rash of what have been considered race-baiting incidents involving nooses, from Jena, La., to Teachers College at Columbia University.
Unlike those incidents, though, the mock hangings — considered relatively new to the panoply of Halloween mock-menace — have been displayed openly. And they are defended vigorously by people like Jennifer Cervero of Stratford, Conn., who this week removed the figure of a man hanging from a noose in her tree, after protests, but still finds the complaints of racial insensitivity she received “completely overblown and ridiculous.” . . .
The Rev. Johnny Gamble, pastor of the Friendship Baptist Church in Stratford, heard complaints from parishioners and went to see it for himself.
“At first, I couldn’t believe my eyes. But there it was. A mannequin of a black man, hanging from the neck,” said Mr. Gamble, who is black.
When he knocked at the door, Joyce Mounajed, Miss Cervero’s mother, told him the figure was not meant to be a black man, but was dark-hued to convey the idea of decaying flesh. It was “just a decoration,” he said she told him.
“I told her, ‘We don’t decorate like that. That is a symbol of lynching,’” Mr. Gamble said. “What if my great-grandfather was lynched? There are no two ways of looking at this; that thing is extremely offensive.”
I think that this is going to be one of those situations where lines get drawn between stubborn white people and the people of color that they think are “overly-sensitive.” It also makes me think about my own history of Halloween directions.
One Halloween, my family went to some event where we got to make our own scarecrows. Ours turned out really well (probably because my dad was more into it than my brothers and I were). We put a hockey mask on his faceless head, called him Jason (duh) and stuck him on the porch at Halloween for a year or two.
Then, one year, my dad decided that it would be really cool to hang him from big tree in our front yard. He made an actual noose, explaining that he learned how, along with how to make many other knots, while in the navy. I never stopped to question why he was so clearly pleased with himself that he could make an authentic noose, or why in the 1980s the U.S. navy would still be teaching that kind of thing. But I knew that he thought the real noose was cool, so I figured it must be impressive and thought that it was cool, too. It was also a big hit in the (almost entirely white, at the time) neighborhood, which makes me think that the article is right in suggesting that such displays have only recently become popularized. Ours was a novelty.
We moved when I was 13 and my parents stopped doing impressive Halloween decorations. It has barely crossed my mind since then. This is probably the first time I’ve thought about it in years.
So, what to think of it now? Obviously, Jason is a white character. And I quite honestly do not think that any of the mostly-white people who saw it considered the racial history of lynching.
Which is, of course, precisely the problem. Yes, white men were hung as punishment. That doesn’t erase the racist history of lynching, which is that hanging was only used as a tactic of fear against black men. And white men were hung in gallows, in town squares. Black men (though also hung in gallows) were the ones hung in trees and left there to rot. It seems like the automatic excuse, and the one that all of the whites in this article use — it’s meant to represent any corpse, not a black man, there’s nothing racial about it. Sadly, that was my automatic thought — “but ours was white.” Thinking about it more carefully, though, bringing up the fact that white men were hanged seems to me an awful lot like bringing up the fact that there were some white slaves. It’s true, but how is that an argument? What purpose does that reminder serve? The fact that some whites were subjected the horrible treatment that all blacks faced (not all blacks were lynched, but they did all live with the fear of it in a way that whites did not) doesn’t disprove the racism. In fact, using a white figure as the hanged man can also be seen as an appropriation and dismissal of the extreme prejudice that blacks have historically faced.
In the article, Mr. Gamble asks the hypothetical question, “what if my great-grandfather was lynched?” The sad thing that even he is forgetting is that some lynchings still took place in the 1960s. Forget great-grandfather; depending on how old Mr. Gamble is, it could have been his dad.
I don’t think that everyone hanging these decorations is intentionally displaying racism, though I do have to question those in states like Georgia and Tennessee, where lynching histories are a lot more fresh. But that doesn’t excuse those who are only being inadvertently racist, it doesn’t excuse those in northern states (especially since our history isn’t nearly as better as we’d like to think it is) and it doesn’t excuse my dad.
Only, try telling that to a lot of white people. The fact is, most white people seem to think that they, of all people, know best what racism looks like. If I were to have this conversation with my dad, it would not go well. He would be pissed off, and he would rant about “over-sensitivity” and “political correctness.”
It’s yet another example of ignorant white people claiming “colorblindness.” If we don’t talk about race, it’s not there. If we would stop talking about racism, it would go away. If people of color would just “get over it” and stop acting like “victims,” there wouldn’t be any problem with equality. If I don’t use racial slurs, I’m not racist. If I don’t intend to be racist, it means that I’m not.
This is what makes race relations so frustrating. Especially since I expect at least one comment espousing those views and claiming that I’m nuts. It seems to be about winning, for white people. And in the quest to win a game that only negatively impacts our opponent, we miss the clear logic that a person who is the subject of racism would best know what racism is.
It’s true, I think, that with the hate crimes, people are more aware of the racist symbolism of a noose. I haven’t heard people of color making this complaint in previous years, but that could very easily just be because in previous years no one was listening. In any case, this year was clearly a colossally idiotic year to hang such a decoration. But that doesn’t make the other years okay. It doesn’t mean that when the noose-related hate crimes stop, it’s going to be okay to use these decorations again.
Whether it’s intentional or not, racism is still racism. Whether or not you think that a hanged man represents a black man is not the point. Clearly, many black people do. If, as claimed, you’re not actually racist, that should be more than enough. And no, to those of you who are wondering: the spirit of “fun” does not trump the wrongness of prejudice.
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“Men, their rights, and nothing more; women, their rights, and nothing less.” — Susan B. Anthony
EXCELLENT!
“The fact is, most white people seem to think that they, of all people, know best what racism looks like.”
That really says it all. If you are white, shut up and be humble.
Arg! This blog post frustrates me. Not of the material because I think it is well written and true, but because I find myself wanting to disagree. This whole topic stinks of white privlage. Being White, I am very prone to this thinking. I can’t help but think of all the people who have had the decorations for years or that people are honestly not trying to be rasist with their decorations. I also want to feel that people ARE over reacting. But I also know that my mind-set is wrong. That, no! people are not over-reacting. I am hoping that through this people will open their eyes and see that this is still an issue. That because of their race they havent had these racial symbols shoved down their throats their entire lives and maybe help the think before they do something thoughtless such as put of a (even innocently) racist symbol.
Hangings also hold an ugly significance to Jews, since the method was used quite frequently in concentration camps such as Auschwitz. No one should deny the terrible historical force behind a noose and the meaning it conveys to the people who were tortured and more often killed by it.
Hey Katie. This is, in fact, a process — a shitty but necessary one. And it’s not only you. I, too, find myself missing symbols and language that come from privilege. But then I think about that symbol or that language. I realize that it’s a problem, and why it’s a problem, and I work change it. And I’m glad to see that you’re doing the same thing.
Very powerfull piece Cara.
I think that there us no safe way, at least in the United States, to have a generic “hanged man” because no matter how innocuous is a person’s intention it still reminds a lot of people including me of that era.
To those who might bring up the “Picnic” (http://www.snopes.com/language/offense/picnic.asp) and “Crowbar” (http://www.snopes.com/language/offense/crowbar.asp) incidents – i hate shadow-jumpers and idiots as well and i think that they do the cause of fighting racism a great deal of harm – i hope Cara would agree with that – _but_ that doesn’t change the fact that lynching is still a very painfull memory for people of color and the symbol of a hanged person – it doesn’t matter if the white person only intended it to be a generic corpse – is deeply triggering and hurtfull.
Too often our racist history is minimized or “shoved under the carpet” or ignored when it doesn’t fit modern stereotypes of what happened (How many white people know or care to know or were taught that Jim Crow was not confined to the South and that the first such laws were introduced in the _North_).
Sadly, as Cara noted, there are also POC like Mr. Gamble but also many in my generation (Y) that do not know the full history of how things used to be or just how late they happened. I had parents that wanted to educate on our history and heritage but not everybody does.
I apologize for taking up so much bandwith but i was moved to put fingers to keyboard by this post.
Cara, Katie, it amazes me that people think like you. White or not, your awareness and forthrightness blows my mind; I’m glad that you bring seemingly innocuous points to the fore. In your defense, it’s not just a white thing; I think people in general don’t understand the import of the noose. Historically, it is a white oppressive phenomenon, but in today’s culture, it’s every race that fails to understand the force behind the symbol. It had never crossed my mind that a dummy (even if it’s white) hanging from a noose would be offensive, so thank you very much for bringing it to my attention. Don’t blame yourselves too harshly though; in 2007, it’s not just whites that turn a blind eye to such characterizations (I know it might seem like a black vs. white culture in this particular situation, but it is far more complicated than that).
So Michelle, I followed that link that you provided for “picnic” and I agree that the myth is a silly one. But this last paragraph just stopped me cold in my tracks (and I’m not saying that you support it, I’m merely pointing it out because it’s so outrageous):
What. The. Fuck. I never realized that snopes made a habit of editorializing, let alone in such a racist way. I don’t think that I’ll be going there for a while . . .
The constant fostering of political correctness in our society and pandering to certain groups will continue to create a nation of crybabies. Instead of nitpicking about perceived slights it would serve everyone well if people would focus more on making the most of their own lives. Attitude is everything and when I see a hanged man I associate it with just punishment for someone who’s commited a heinous crime.
Reading something darker and nefarous into it is really a relection of the person perceiving it, not the person who put it up. And personally I think that’s just too much damn energy to waste.
DING DING DING DING DING
. . . And Cara’s prediction wins! The grand prize is the opportunity to bang her head against her desk. Well played.
AND I get to fill in a square on my bingo card.
Don’t bang your head too hard. You might leave noticably dark bruises and be accused of putting on blackface. Then you won’t be allowed to bang your head anymore.
I don’t support snopes editorializing – i only despise the silly myths – something which we agree on.
Don’t bang your head too hard. You might leave noticably dark bruises and be accused of putting on blackface. Then you won’t be allowed to bang your head anymore.
Hmm, has anyone else noticed that racists don’t do “clever” well? My guess is that it has to do with the complete and utter inability to process critical and self-reflective thought.
I’m just going to ban S. I’m not going to be able to sit around and babysit all day, and I really don’t see this going anywhere good.
lol, Let me tell you… My first year of college was when they overloaded me with the concept of “white-privilege”, and I was so sick of that word! For the longest time I did not understand why they taught this concept except to make me feel guilty with no way of correction. I became paranoid that I was being unconsciously racist and blamed them because I assumed thinking about being racist would make me more racist than if I had not thought it at all. My logic had been if I saw a black man walk towards me and did not consciously think anything about it then I was not racist. However, since I was analyzing everything I would think, “Do I think he is going to attack me because he is black?” and wondered if it was racist to even think that. This is why I believe white people are so eager to “forget.” If they do not think, see, or respond to racism then they cannot be racist. Most people do not want to be racist, they do not realize it has become second nature to white Americans (and others too) to be racist at least to a point. For me it took many years to come to realize white privilege was not about making me feel guilty, it was meant to open my eyes and not take for granted that I was white and didn’t have to live with racism being part of my every day life. By being aware, people can help defeat racism. On a side note, I found a very great website you should see. http://colours.mahost.org/org/maleprivilege.html
Hi,
Could someone please explain why that last paragraph from Snopes is racist (on the part of Snopes)? I read it as Snopes explaining what the white supremicists think – which is indeed racist – not that Snopes thinks that way.
Could someone please translate so that I understand what the problem is?
Thanks very much!
Saying that the actions of a few “reinforce” prejudiced views indicates that the view is seen to have some actual validity. You can’t “reinforce” a view that doesn’t make sense in the first place. To say that a myth about racism gives extra validity to such an incredibly hateful view is outrageous, particularly since the two are not at all related. How does the picnic story, being false, in any way demonstrate the inferiority of blacks? There’s absolutely no connection there — that the writer chose to make a connection shows where her alliances are. She is basically saying “look at this thing that a few black people did that slightly lives up to a stereotype — it sure seems like evidence that the racists are right!” Here are some other very similar examples:
“The fact that women complain about sexism but still wear skimpy clothes reinforces the misogynist view that raping women is perfectly acceptable.”
“The fact that Hispanics complain about stereotypes and yet still insist on eating burritos just reinforces the white supremacist view that we shouldn’t let any brown people into the country.”
“The fact that many black people actually do eat fried chicken merely reinforces the racist view that slavery was a good idea.”
“Jews complain about antisemitism, but are often very wealthy. This reinforces the Nazi view that the Holocaust was necessary.”
See, I would hope that every one of those statements offended you. They offend me. They’re outrageous and nonsensical. The leaps of logic are meaningless and idiotic. And the fact that the writer/speaker would make such an insane leap shows the prejudiced way in which their mind works. It is espousing the very view that it claims to be “commenting” on. If you can say “So X group does Y, which means that completely unrelated prejudiced view F is true,” it seems to me that you’re desperately looking around for reasons to be racist.