ok..the past few days its like i'm living in the twilight zone ;-)

but i'll give it another try:

the act was racist there is no question of this, summers and red and the HHIS producers are entertainment professionals, while some audiences might legitimately claim ignorance of the symbolism of blacking up, for the entertainment professional there is simply no excuse. it must have, at some level, been "allowed".

racism was then modelled to children, right across this wide brown land, on a prime time high rating icon of Aussie light entertainment. racism was sanctioned. just a bit of fun eh? lighten up it wasn't racist......

these small, yes small, moments of racism are what allow the potential of serious racist outcomes to emerge. they are like seeds, sometimes dormant, waiting for the rain and sun of someone like, say Hanson to feed them. If we choose not to challenge them at every single turn, then we allow the possibility of horror. History is unequivocal in this. let's look and learn from history.

The act, does not change just because someone of the panel was from the US, or one of the performers was indian, racism knows no bounds, it is not just the domain of white folks. For me the issue here is not HCjnr at all, or what the performers intended, or the jackson 5, or what anyone in the world thinks of us..the issue is about us, australians...do we choose to behave like decent human beings in front of our kids or shall we just ignore our own history, the history of the world, and just...go on behaving like complete ignorant morons and then, god help us, celebrate how moronic and ignorant we are by calling it a storm in a tea cup?

this isn't PC gone mad, it's not wowserism, it's decent human behaviour, its treating others (whoever they are) with dignity and respect. on prime time tv, in front of our kids.

racism: in the media or round the dinner table, we have to call it out, every time. anything else is cowardice.

I think it is a very sad day for Australia, nay a sad day for the whole world when we lose our sense of humour and cannot laugh at simple issues such as the skit in "Hey, Hey".

There will always be the colours Black, White, Brown and all the shades in between, but when we make the fatal mistake of applying it to a person`s skin shade, we have created a "racial issue".

This issue is never going to go away as there will always be "different" coloured people on this planet, so why don`t we all get on with life and simply recognize that there is good and bad in all races, and we all have the same right to live here, unhindered and unostracised!

I remember "Steady Eddie" once having an advert on television, asking people to "come along and buy ticket to my show, ...or I will come around and dribble on you!" or words to that effect! He was a classic example of uncontained humour and showed a person who could laugh at his own inadequacies.

The world today is becoming paranoid about "political correctness" but sanity must prevail or we will all end up chewing each other to death over the garden fence!

Dear csteele,

I appreciate your presenting your views
in such a fair and well reasoned way.

Dear Fractelle,

I haven't accused you of being "short-sighted,"
or lacking in tolerance - and it's a bit
disappointing that you think I'm being
"deliberately myopic," simply because I disagree
with your take on the Hey Hey skit.
To me, it was definitely not a parody of the
Black and White Minstrels.

However, I really don't care to continue this
discussion any further. You're entitled to your
opinion, and I to mine. Let's leave it at that.

Clownfish,

"If it wasn't racist, then on what basis was the jibe at Kamahl included? What other possible connection is there between the Jacksons and Kamahl, except (vaguely) the colour of their skin?"

Umm he is the well known singer who Hey Hey parodied extensively in their day. Is that a trick question?

Can't people see past Kamahl's skin colour and the makeup? What is the obsession with race that blinds people to the apparently obvious? Colour is only skin deep. Why can't we look past it? Some international celebrities will have dark skin and people will imitate them also. Why does it take Whoopi Goldberg to tell Australians the obvious?

I could go lateral like you and say that one of the performers was Indian like Kamahl so that must have been the basis for bringing in Kamahl but that would be equally unhelpful and would also avoid the obvious.

Fractelle,

"I get the impression that posters are now merely defending their opinions on Connick than actually looking at the appalling origins of "blackface" and acknowledging that this form of mockery is no longer acceptable."

But if in our opinion it was a send up of the Jackson's not a mockery of people because of their skin colour what relevance would it have? I am happy to acknowledge that blackface entertainment as described in your links is totally unacceptable and should always have been. However I maintain the opinion that this was a specific imitation of the Jacksons.

Same ol same ol,

Fractelle thinking anyone who doesn't agree with her 'doesn't understand' her (too thick) or is being 'deliberately myopic' and we all should 'grow up'.

Watch out, if anyone replies in kind, they will obliviously be 'bullying' her.

Maybe even because she dares to have an opinion while being female!

I think she really just wants people to 'acknowledge' her 'contributions'. ie: This amazing thing called google she's discovered.
Read my links dammit and tell me I'm clever please!

mjpb?

errrr..so blackface is unacceptable as long as it's far away and long time passing in another country.....but its not unacceptable if we black up and imitate the jacksons on prime time tv in front of children in 2009 in australia because we are just sooooooooooo different from everyone else it's just a laugh and doesn't matter?

yeah, good aussie logic that. thanx.