In Ditmas Park, Brooklyn, they are dedicated to the development of a multicultural population.
Two points:
First, as Angry Asian Man asks, why is the Asian child in a rice paddy hat? This anachronistic representation reminds me of what we do to American Indians all the time.
Second, the sign reminds me of the pitfalls of using euphemisms. What do they really mean when they say “multicultural”? They probably actually mean multiracial, but they don’t want to use a word with such harsh connotations (in the U.S.). So instead they use the word culture because it sounds nice and is often imagined to be restricted to things like language, food, clothes, and dancing (as opposed to inequality, oppression, and exploitation).
If they actually meant multicultural, then maybe the hat actually kind of makes sense! But I think they mean multiracial. In which case, see point #1.
Via Racialicious.
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Lisa Wade is a professor of sociology at Occidental College. You can follow her on Twitter and Facebook.
Comments 10
Alyssa — July 4, 2009
Even if they meant multiracial, what race are they trying to represent with the gray kid? The undead?
Sylvia — July 4, 2009
Still laughing at Alyssa's comment...
On the more serious note, if they really did mean multicultural, then why aren't the other kids wearing items of clothing that represents their cultures?
Duran — July 4, 2009
If you look at the image, it's clear that the Asian girl is wearing a rice paddy hat because they didn't want to give her typically Asian slant eyes. So they substituted one stereotype for another.
T B — July 4, 2009
"Multicultural" language is laid on thickly here in Canada --
which tends to be a farce around here. (We're not really such a 'mosaic' or a 'tossed salad'; yeah right.)
Anyway -
Is the term "multiracial" really preferable?
There are socially constructed and maintained racial categories, obviously. The phrases "multiple non-biological racial categories" or "multiple social racial categories" (which wouldn't fit so well on a sign) begin to point to some crucial nuances.
But standard notions of 'races' are a crock, of course (as this post indicates, for instance - http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2008/09/18/a-simple-lesson-on-the-social-construction-of-race/ ). It seems like people tend to consider "racial" categories to be biological rather than -- or, at least, more so than -- social.
Kate — July 5, 2009
Yesterday we were driving along when we saw some of those ride-along advertisements. You know the type - guy on a scooter with a trailer. Trailer has a sign on it advertising whatever.
Except this was for an asian chain restaraunt. Instead of a scooter it was bicycles, and the riders had those triangle hats over their helmets.
Everyone else thought it was hilarious. I was trying to see what it was advertising so I could write a letter of complaint.
Penny — July 5, 2009
Nope, they probably mean multicultural--it was a big focus in Ditmas Park schools in the 1990s, maybe still is; check this 1998 article from the NY Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/1998/07/05/realestate/if-you-re-thinking-living-ditmas-park-brooklyn-suburban-enclave-urban-setting.html?pagewanted=all
The signage is certainly ill-conceived, but it's also almost certainly an amateur job--doesn't look like something that went through a design committee or any much discussion.
:) — July 5, 2009
hehe
reading from left to right, from up to down, the hierarchy is white boy, white girl, non-white boy, non-white girl.
WE
AND THEM.
Christine — July 6, 2009
I think the problems here stem from the low skill levels of the illustrator. The faces aren't distinct in any way - remove the coloring from the "black" child and he'd look the same as everyone else. The two white children have slightly more individual noses, but that's it.
The hat actually looks like it might have been added on as an afterthought. I imagine it went something like this:
Volunteer: "Sure, I can draw some kids."
(Draws disembodied heads of children)
Program overseer: "Is that three white children and one black kid?"
Volunteer: "The one in the lower right is supposed to be of Asian descent... but I didn't want to give her slanty eyes, because that's racist."
Program overseer: "Right, right. Well... give her one of those Asian hats. We don't want people to think our idea of multicultural is all white people and one black kid."
Volunteer: "Um, okay..."
Meep — July 10, 2009
It's interesting to me that there are two white/Caucasian children, a boy and a girl, but only one African-American and Asian-American (male and female, respectively) and no Latin@ children ... or anyone else, really.
Cricketbird — July 14, 2009
Why is an Asian wearing a paddy hat "anachronistic"? I live in Asia, travel all over Asia, and (a) there's a lot of rice farming almost everywhere you go and (b) most rice farmers wear paddy hats.
Perhaps "class-ist" is the more appropriate term (for assuming that the Asian kid is a poor farmer and not the urban elite).