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Al Barger and MoreThings - getting people's goats since 1998.
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July 27, 2005
City of Miami sponsors youth ''Ghetto Style Talent Show'' and ''Watermelon Eating Contest"
From the Miami Local 10 tv news:
Miami city leaders are apologizing for a news release that invited summer campers to a ''Ghetto Style Talent Show'' and ''Watermelon Eating Contest.''
The release said that children participating in the summer camp who "know the meaning of ghetto style" would have a chance to "prove just how ghetto they are.''
Members of the black community expressed outrage at the wording of the invitation to the talent show. The show will be part of the grand finale picnic for the city's summer camp program to be held Friday at Hadley Park.
After being criticized by residents of the nearby Model City neighborhood and community leaders, Miami Parks Director Ernest Burkeen, who is black, released a formal apology and announced the renaming of the talent show.
The show will now be called the "Funky Talent Show," according to Burkeen's written statement. The watermelon contest will still be part of the event.
File my objections under fish-in-a-barrel, but MLK have mercy, what is wrong with Ernest Burkeen and the entire professional staff around him that such a thing as this gets done? What in the world could he be thinking?
I object here, of course, purely on grounds of stupidity. There's nothing wrong with eating watermelon. Mmm, cold watermelon on a hot summer day. Plus, people are way too nutsy with carefully nurtured hypersensitivity about racial stuff to be offended by something that is not even perjorative, like eating watermelon- which by rights would be considered health food.
But promoting their summer camp activities as "ghetto" is kind of unavoidably at least a little bit perjorative, then combining it with the watermelon- which is obviously going to make that much worse. If you left out the "ghetto" tie, maybe the watermelon would be fine. But both things put together- how did they think people would react?
"The word 'ghetto' was used to imply a down home show, not something offensive, but embracing the culture of today's youth and their language" according to Mr Burkeen. The problem is that city officials would be publicly describing their "down home" as a ghetto. MLK knows I'm not PC, and I'm not shy about calling folks out for nursing ridiculous oversensitivity on racial stuff. But even I think this is disrespectful. People at least partway do have something legitimate to mad about here. Gee, perhaps next year Burkeen can organize a Slum Singin' contest for the kiddies.
It would be one thing if this event were a private event, say a picnic sponsored by Snoop or 50 Cent. You might consider the source. Hey, Snoop does it out of love for the hood.
But the government really should not be trying to be cool and hip. That's not their job. What would be cute coming from a rapper just looks dumb and insensitive coming from a city bureaucrat. Jeff Foxworthy could sponsor funny Redneck Games, but the city parks department would look like big jerks.
posted by Al at 7/27/2005 11:33:00 PM
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