Racist Stamp?

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nbcrusader

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I can't believe this hasn't hit FYM yet.

Mexican stamp called offensive to blacks

MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AP) -- The Mexican government has issued a postage stamp depicting an exaggerated black cartoon character known as Memin Pinguin, just weeks after remarks by President Vicente Fox angered U.S. blacks.

The series of five stamps released for general use Wednesday depicts a child character from a comic book started in the 1940s that is still published in Mexico.

The boy, hapless but lovable, is drawn with exaggerated features, thick lips and wide-open eyes. His appearance, speech and mannerisms are the subject of kidding by white characters in the comic book.

The character Memin Pinguin is considered a positive character in Mexico. Today's standards do not permit such a drawing.

Should Memin Pinguin be remembered, or should it be banned?
 
Anyone familiar with racist merchandising in America during the first half of the 20th century will be offended. The problem is that, while we will never forget the Holocaust, most people have long forgotten this rather embarrassing part of American history.

But the fact is that consumers went crazy for merchandise that had exaggerated stereotypes of blacks with big lips and were often little more than stereotypes that extended from the slavery era. One of the last remaining products from this era is "Aunt Jemima." She was originally depicted as a fat, ugly slave woman, but was later reinvented as an aesthetically appealing woman for the modern era.

Mexico, apparently, has never realized it's offensive. While Mexico says it's part of Mexican culture, blacks in Mexico still often complain of being stereotypes or automatically assumed to be foreigners. In other words, it appears that Mexico hasn't even acknowledged their issues with racism, while America did decades ago.

Melon
 
That is BULLSHIT, how could they in this day and age print such garbage!!?? :madspit: I agree Melon pop and MrsSpringstien:yes: They need to recall those and once they get it back burn it, Stuff like that is just a reminder of the ignorance that plague's this world today, we need to learn from history not to repeat those same mistakes that destroyed so many lives:sad:
 
Irvine511 said:
Speedy Gonzales, anyone?

Speedy Gonzales is a mouse. I won't engage in a complete taxonomy of ethnic caricatures in pop culture, but I think that most people would find the use of a person, primate, or other humanoid as a caricature more offensive than the use of some other animal.
 
speedracer said:


Speedy Gonzales is a mouse. I won't engage in a complete taxonomy of ethnic caricatures in pop culture, but I think that most people would find the use of a person, primate, or other humanoid as a caricature more offensive than the use of some other animal.



well, speedy walked, or ran, upright on two legs. note the depictions of his friends as well. and we also have Cheech and Chong.

also, for anyone who's drive on I-95 S down the East Coast will note the rather racist billboards for South of the Border featuring a sleeping man in a sumbraro.

the point is more that none of this is particularly good, though i think our reaction, as Americans, to the stamp is more visceral because of our country's history.
 
nbcrusader said:


The character Memin Pinguin is considered a positive character in Mexico. Today's standards do not permit such a drawing.

Should Memin Pinguin be remembered, or should it be banned?

Wait I'm missing something. How is Memin Pinguin a positive character? The article said:

His appearance, speech and mannerisms are the subject of kidding by white characters in the comic book.

I don't remember the "picked on" as ever being positive characters.
 
people aren't as uptight in latin america about race issues, everyone makes fun of everyone and no one takes it seriously. race, age, sex, region, heritage, sexual orientation doesn't stop anyone from being poked fun, it's the norm over there. i don't see why US makes a big deal about these issues in mexico when they have plenty to own up to nowadays, it's easy to point a finger and not face the issues in this country.
 
I think that defending something like this on the grounds of "cultural heritage" is complete rubbish. As if cultural heritage and racism are somehow mutually exclusive.

I don't see how what in one country is an issue to own up to is somehow perfectly ok and harmless in another.
 
Irvine511 said:
Speedy Gonzales, anyone?

Speedy Gonzales presents an interesting situation. He has been eliminated from the Warner Brothers "Looney Tunes" (they probably don't call it that anymore) and Cartoon Network catalog in the U.S. (not "America"). However, he and his compatriots are Cartoon Network Latin America's most popular character. Even some Latin American groups lament his banishment here in "the States." Maybe we go a bit too far with political correctness, I don't know. I do think it is a bit differnt than the case of this little stamp character.

~U2Alabama
 
BonoVoxSupastar said:
Anybody know the black population in Mexico?

I lived in Mexico for 2 years, and I only saw one black person the whole time, and I moved around quite a bit. I did see quite a bit white people living over there.
 
Saracene said:
I don't see how what in one country is an issue to own up to is somehow perfectly ok and harmless in another.

That is an interesting side question on who gets to set those standards and who enforces those standards.
 
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