Bruno and Carmen went to see black stand-up comics. Bruno hoped the comics would trash white people. Even though he’s been told that kind of overt racism is rare, he just can’t seem to absorb the information. Carmen noticed the persistent use of the N word. Bruno finally caught on to the fact that it’s a completely different culture, and was still disappointed at the lack of white jokes. It occurred to me that black people have a whole life which is not fixated on white people. Whites are not necessarily uppermost on black people’s minds all the time. Get over yourself, Bruno. Carmen explained why white people don’t have the right to use the N word, but black folks can say it all they want. Bruno doesn’t understand that, and frankly neither do I, although I do hate having something in common with Bruno, who annoys me.
Bruno meets with a successful black man to find out what makes him tick. Fernando is the African American teacher of the year. Bruno expressed frustration with complaints about slavery, reparations, affirmative action, lack of responsibility. He talked about the problems in the black community, hip-hop culture, fatherlessness. Fernando objects to the blanket statements, and ultimately says he feels Bruno is insensitive and wondered how his wife puts up with him. Not to worry, Fernando, they deserve each other.
I can understand about the desire for reparations – a formal apology, a tangible display that says, Yes, slavery was wrong. But I can’t see why anyone living today should have to pay it, or why anyone living today should receive it. Now, reparations for Jim Crow, I could understand. That was less than 40 years ago, and even after the laws were repealed, people’s hearts did not change overnight. Reparations for the Jim Crow laws to black people who are 40 years old and up make a lot of sense to me. I wouldn’t object to paying toward that. But how can you implement a tax for that? What about Yankees? They didn’t have Jim Crow in any official way, so why should they pay? What about people out west, and people who immigrated here since then? What about people my age who had no part in making those laws, should we be penalized for the fact they existed? It’s too impractical to implement a tax for reparations on white southerners who are 60+ years old, and all of them did not approve of segregation so it’s unfair to penalize them for it. So at the end of the day, I think we have to say that life is unfair but there’s no practical way to make amends for it. We would do better to work to free the people who are currently enslaved. And we would do better to have more education on the idea of white privilege and racism (for both whites and blacks) as it exists today.
The Etiquette class met at the group house. They rudely dug around Nick’s room and the rest of the house. When Nick told them he was black, they seemed to respond pretty well at first, but then they started trying to give him tips on how to act white. Later a white boy called another white boy the N word. A white girl objected and Nick defended the practice, saying “We use it all the time so it doesn’t matter.” But when the white boy said it again, Nick looked uncomfortable.
Brian and Renee were furious that Nick was not bothered that the other kids used the N word. They went back and forth, referring to the incident as if the kids had called him that word (they didn’t) and as if they just used it in his presence. Either way they were still furious. Brian said he was ashamed that even the white girl was offended and Nick wasn’t.
Brian takes Nick to a black barbershop for a lesson in racism. The barber agreed with Brian about the use of the N word, said it was a lack of respect, but he also said, “We kind of took the power out of that word by using it so much.” Yes! I was so glad he said that. The extreme outrage against any non-black who uses that word IS hypocritical when so much of the black community uses it early and often.
Carmen, Rose, and a black poetry classmate of Rose’s went to a white neighborhood Rose was familiar with to do some shopping. They were ignored and avoided. They were refused job applications. Carmen came back to a recurring theme for her – can you imagine this being your normal life? Carmen is a ditz but even a stopped clock is right twice a day.
Bruno’s middle aged white guy rap was frankly embarrassing. ‘Nuff said.
I’ve seen comments on other blogs that Rose is an actress, and that the Wurgels are not actually a family. Semi-true. Carmen and Bruno may not be married – I’ve read different reports about that – but they do have a relationship. Carmen is actually Rose’s mother. Rose is a college student and actress. She’s been appearing on Disney’s Movie Surfers for some time. Bruno identifies himself in the show as a teacher but has been acting since 1987. Substitute teacher, maybe? Why downplay the acting histories for both of them? And Carmen is involved with the industry as well. Was there no white family in the country who was not involved with show biz who could have been selected? This casts doubt on the whole show, especially since apparently a fair amount of the show is staged.
Disappointing, but I’m still glad that it’s opening up a discussion on race. Two more shows to go, and the big question is will Bruno at least get to the point that he acknowledges the issue?
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