Not having seen Top Gear- is that part of their shtick, where they say stunning horrible things and then essentially dare the people they're insulting to complain? Is the viewer meant to be laughing at them or with them?

While this is arguably the worst national generalisation that's come from Topgear, no-one would have said there was an issue of race when he bagged out Australia in the Monaro review.

Jeremy Clarkson is well-known in the UK as one of those opinion-column journalists who bang on about 'political correctness gone mad'.

Although this is clearly racist, bear in mind that Mexicans have not been a traditionally harassed or persecuted group in the UK. I would argue that the impact of a racist statement is based largely on the context in which it is made, and here (the UK) there is no history or political context of anti-Mexican sentiment which might add weight to the offense.

From this single clip one can assume Top Gear is full of racism. It is not. What is it is is full of xenophobia. What they say here about the Mexicans is to par with what they say about the French, The Germans, The Japanese, The Irish, the Americans ( oh the Americans again, because it IS their favourite target ), the Italians, the Scots, the Welsh... and people from Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, York that are regularly portrayed as slobs, dirty, uneducated, etc. ... everything and anything that is not London.
So I must disagree with the white/other or west/other racism take on the clip. It IS unacceptable and it SHOULD be stopped, but I would not label it racism but xenophobia. Not even nationalism, but city-ism if we can coin that word.

I see the same thing, to less extent, anywhere there is a big metropole, and even though I have cannot see a moment where I would make a comment based on race, gender, religion, etc I must admit I catch myself from time to time making remarks about such and such small cities/villages in my country because I live in the big, civilized, educated, clean urban city ( /sarcasm! ).

After race, gender, religion, class .. I think the next barrier will be urban/countryside.

IMO.

Top Gear really is a show that utilizes crass and inappropriate humor, mostly by Jeremy Clarkson, that as Susana Machado pointed out, is geared toward putting down just about everybody except for Londoners. Even so, certain Londoners aren't still ridiculed for whatever the reason. And, as much as the annoyance or anger expressed toward this clip isn't off the mark in the US, there really is a different mentality of race (rightly or not) in the UK and other parts of Europe. Remember the ad by the Spanish Olympic Basketball Team? Slanting their eyes with their fingers? They said it was for laughs. Ridiculous to us who have had extensive exposure to the way in which Americans have dealt with history and concepts of race; not necessarily so for other cultures. And from what I've gleaned about Clarkson, he is a controversial figure, in culture, politics, and at the BBC. You should have seen the episode where they had to incorporate Korean-made vehicles in their review because their show got bought to be aired in Korea. That was only 1-3 years ago. One of the more tame ones was something along the lines of "Hello, you little industrious fellows." But it is actually quite surprising that Hammond is taking the lead in this one, as he usually sits there during such segments laughing it off.

What would Jeremy Clarkson say about the latest car from Tata Motors? Or would he value getting home in one piece enough to tone it down?

hey, is this really meant to be FUNNY??!!
its outrageous

Stewart Lee already called Top Gear on their bullshit better than anyone ever could.

Watch this video and see the UK redeem itself!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0i0RXMvzMs

My son loves cars and I was willing to get this channel from my cable company.

After reading and learning more from this program I can't let my son watch these people no way.

Some Brits are talking shit about Mexican food? The irony.

I think these guys have mistaken Taco Bell for "Mexican food".

This is really disappointing but unsurprising. The Top Gear hosts are rather funny and clever when they're screwing around doing dumb stunts in cars (the one where they had to build a police car for like, $3000? Classic!).

As soon as they start talking about politics or other nations or anything like that, oh god, here come the dumb jets.

From the same Racialicious site that is hyperlinked in the beginning of this post:

..."this incident continues a recent trend of foot-in-mouth incidents for the show, and Clarkson in particular. Last year, he was chided by a British blind-person’s group for calling then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown “a one-eyed Scottish idiot” at a stage show in Australia. And two years ago, he had the remarkably bad idea of making a joke about lorry drivers killing prostitutes not long after a forklift driver was convicted in the murder of five prostitutes."

-snip-

So it appears that it's not only People of Color and non-Londoners who are the targets of this show's "banter". Whether you call it xenophobia, or racism, or city-ism, or not me-ism, these comments are hurtful, and reinforce negative stereotypes.

I wonder why the BBC keeps this show on the air. Could the motive be viewers and money from ads?

These guys are reknowned shithouses, i'm English and i would never let that filth contaminate my home, even before this. They are a bunch of priveildged arseholes who most people hate but some, just some adore this bullcrap.

It's not an honest look at britain, most of us are horrified.

So sorry

Being a joke does give it a free pass you white-guilt ridden liberal babies. Get this uppity when they do the exact same portrayal of every other nation (including Americans) on a weekly basis. You crybabies, stop trying to thought police people making jokes just because you have no sense of humor.

The comments made in the video are disgusting and inexcusable; however I would like to comment on something said in the post:

"Many white people truly do oppose racism and they want people of color to trust them; they want the benefit of the doubt. But occasional exposure to people like this, even if just on television, and the ongoing daily experience of prejudice, some mild, some severe, plus the hundreds of things that happen every week that may have been racism or may have been somebody having a bad day, add up. This makes it very scary to trust white people."

This comment seems to legitimize the feeling of mistrust against the whole of white people based on the actions of a few; relieving the people of color of any responsibility for overcoming their prejudice.

If I said that I don't trust people of color because I saw a black comedian making fun of white people; would you defend my position by suggesting that it was the comedian's actions that made it very scary for whites to trust black people?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jG0D2nRGrQ

Hey, here's a hysterical, yet terrifying, riff on White America by Top Gear.

This comment seems to legitimize the feeling of mistrust against the whole of white people based on the actions of a few; relieving the people of color of any responsibility for overcoming their prejudice.
-Grizzly

Speaking for myself (I'm African American), I don't have "feelings of mistrust against the whole of white people" nor do I believe that most People of Color have "feelings of mistrust against the WHOLE of white people". First of all, some People of Color have White family members by birth and/or marriage, not to mention that many of us have White colleagues and friends.

Secondly, in my opinion, "mistrusting people" isn't always the same as being prejudiced against people because of their race/ethnicity. One online definition of "prejudice" is "an irrational attitude of hostility directed against an individual, a group, a race, or their supposed characteristics" http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prejudice

Furthermore, I believe it's very important to distinguish between "personal racist (prejudicial attitudes) and "institutional racism". One definition of "institutional racism" is "societal patterns that have the net effect of imposing oppressive or otherwise negative conditions against identifiable groups on the basis of race or ethnicity."
http://civilliberty.about.com/od/raceequalopportunity/g/inst_racism.htm

-snip-

I don't know how a person can live in a society such as the USA that has such deep rooted personal and institutional racism without acknowledging that they have had prejudicial feelings. Once that is acknowledged, the difficult job is then to work through those feelings, and be alert to their possible reoccurances. When I was a teenager (in the mid 1960s) I remember reading about the murder of Emmit Till and other Black people and White supporters of Black people. I remember watching the Black civil rights demonstrators being sprayed with water from fire hoses, beaten by angry White people, and bitten by dogs. I also remember seeing crowds of White people threatening the lifes of Black children trying to go to an integrated school. I remember watching televised reports of innocent Black children being killed in church bombings etc etc etc. I remember as a teenager and young adult going through a period of time in which I prayed that I would meet some "good White people" so that I would know that they existed. And I'm sure that some White people who had gnegative experiences with Black people or who read negative things about Black people may have also prayed to meet some good Black people.

Have I since met "some good White people?" Yes.

But have my experiences and those of other People of Color I know led me to believe that there is still institutional racism against People of Color in the USA? Yes.

Based on my experiences and those of others I know, do I trust institutions (and people in charge of those institutions to be fair, regardless of a person's race/ethnicity. No. Some of the inequal treatment is because of economic factors, but I still believe that institutional racism is a significant factor in what I consider to be unequal treatment in the education system, the housing system, the health care systems, the juvenile justice system, the child welfare system, the criminal justice system, and the mass media system (televisio/movie castings, scripts, and productions).

But Grizzly, with regard to your statement "If I said that I don't trust people of color because I saw a black comedian making fun or white people; would you defend my position by suggesting that it was the comedian’s actions that made it very scary for whites to trust black people, I think what is pertinent to me is "trusting people to do what?"

Personally, I don't like comedians (or anyone else) making fun of individuals or groups of people because of any physical trait or because of their religion, sexual orientation, nationality, or economic circumstances. However, while it's possible that under some circumstances, hearing jokes making fun of White people might be scary, more White people have MUCH more power to negatively impact people's lifes than do most People of Color-which is why more People of Color are probably still concerned about (if not afraid) of certain situations and circumstances than they are concerned about or afraid of White people.

cuando el humor se basa en el discriminación, la xenofobia y las ideas de supremacía ya no es humor: Es violencia.

I feel pretty dense...I love Top Gear, and I've never felt uncomfortable because they love to use the ignorant/stupid American stereotype, and I guess when I'm the target of some of this talk I don't mind the rest of it so much. I am always finding out how poor my critical thinking skills are.

Hari Kondabolu talked about Mexican stereotypes briefly: http://vimeo.com/6901066 (3:05)

update: the BBC has issued an "apology"! says "sorry you were offended! you just don't get our humour!"

"Whilst it may appear offensive to those who have not watched the programme or who are unfamiliar with its humour, the executive producer has made it clear to the ambassador that that was absolutely not the show's intention," the BBC added.

and we all know that intent is magic.

It's interesting that everyone is jumping up and down about the Mexican stereotypes brought up by Hammond, May and Clarkson, but no one has mentioned the German or Italian stereotypes ('well-built and efficient' or 'flamboyant and a bit quick').

Of COURSE the Mexican stereotype is the one that is most insulting, but if we're getting shirty about racism, isn't it just as racist to assume that all German people are efficient, all Chinese people are good at maths and that all British people are polite?
Any generalised assumption of personality or aptitude based on nothing more than racial grounds is racist, whether that assumption is positive or negative.

I'm not trying to defend what was said, I'm suggesting that there is a cultural dissonance here, with insult taken where none was intended.

The dialogue between the three presenters is *designed* to foster camaraderie between the viewer and presenters and reflects a particular type of 'laddish' relationship prevalent between 20-30 year old males in Britain - everyone is trying to outdo the other by saying or doing the most outrageous thing they can think of.
There are strong similarities between the three presenters and the behaviour of squaddie friends I have had in the past. They are not bastions of tolerance and understanding - they're three middle-class white comedians from South England. This time they went too far and they'll be reprimanded for it. Next week, they'll laugh it off and carry on making fun of each other's driving, height, appearance, musical preferences, clothing choice, home town or any one of the hundred other things that friends of this sort joke about amongst themselves.

I always thought there was something a bit off about Richard Hammond. He's a gurning little nonse with very little wit or intelligent thought. Surprisingly, Jeremy Clarkson almost seemed to be trying to steer the show away from the racism, but he unfortunately relented and fell in with the Mexicans like to sleep joke.

There's a CiF piece about it
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/feb/04/mexico-top-gear

I guess it's like when the Simpsons offended Brazil.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=645RJuZvgxM&feature=related

That's pretty bad and stunningly unapologetic, no? In the US, I don't think many people were offended by it, although I do remember hearing about Brazilians being offended.

If this show was in the US, I hope the audience would have reacted differently.

As an American I am familiar with several of these stereotypes (Lazy, "bean eating," sleeping). The one that surprised me was the characterization of Mexican food as "sick with cheese on it." In the US, I think that so-called Mexican food is very popular. There are at least 3 fast food chains with Mexican themed menus, plus national "casual dining" chain Chili's, plus I'd say local Mexican style restaurants are almost as common as Italian style restaurants. In addition most "American" restaurants (say the neighborhood sports bar, Applebee's, and even Jack in the Box) have at least 1 or more Mexican foods (Nachos, tacos, burrito).

I tried to think of a "foreign" food that would get this type of description in the US. Perhaps Indian? Though that's growing more common. Does England have many Mexican style restaurants? How about Chinese?

There's a whole load of people here who presumably wake up each morning to the great smell of colon. And I suspect for the majority that's all they smell all day, as they spend their lives with their heads firmly wedged up their rectums.

The comment was extremely funny, and it annoyed the Mexican ambassador, that's a plus! I don't see the "right on" brigade getting upset by the comments that have been made about the Welsh and people from Derbyshire being sheep-shaggers, nor about the Scots being miserable skinflints. I've sat in bars in various countries and heard the locals joke about the English and the Americans and the Canadians and the Welsh and the Irish and the Scots and the Germans and the Belgians and Swiss and the Italians and the Spanish and French... or are those all fair game because they are white?

No wonder the clip was edited out in the American broadcast, bunch of overly-sensitive pansies. Nobody in Britain cares about Lisa Wade, a dumb (white) yank with a pathetic self-hating diatribe.

What Lisa doesn't mention with her selective Wikipedia sourcing, are some comments Clarkson made about the German company BMW, the Welsh language and his general attitude towards Americans. Of course she doesn't include them because then she cant go on with her bigoted diatribe about whites being untrustworthy (they do say Americans have no sense of irony)