Happy Fourth of July from Seattlest
Seattlest Day Trips to Mount Rainier (in Photos)
Can't Miss It: Weekend Edition July 3-5
Weekend Theatre: July 3-5
Kakuta Hamisi, a member of the Maasai tribe of Kenya, is working over the summer at the Woodland Park Zoo, talking to zoo visitors about Maasai culture and conservation.
Hamisi, an Evergreen State grad, evidently likes his job--he recruited several members of his tribe to work with him.
But Catherine Claiborne, a grad student at UW's Evans School, has a message for Hamisi: You are being exploited.
She tells the Times that the exhibit could cause visitors to "associate African people with animals, and African Americans with animalism."
I suppose this could be true, for people who see the guy who holds the owls and associate middle-aged fat people with birdism. Or for people who totally misunderstood Animal Farm.
Hamisi points out that he and his co-workers are paid employees in Western clothes. "We're not out there holding monkeys," he told the Times.
But Claiborne isn't buying it, and held a re-education camp forum last night so intellectuals could explain to Hamisi what he is doing wrong.
"I find the irony is lost on him," Femi Taiwo, director of African Studies at Seattle University, told the Times.
It's lost on us too, but if children are being exposed to something as pernicious as irony, it must be stopped right now.
What else have these Maasai been doing--giving children good advice that they just can't take? Free rides when they're already there?
Barring an intervention by thinkpol, Hamisi and his Maasai co-workers will be exploiting themselves ironically through September 30th.
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Not that I don't partially appreciate the point of these UW academics, but seriously, do these people not realize how patronizing they're being? Isn't treating Africans as too dumb to think for themselves just as bad as treating them as human curiosities?
If I get a Masters and a teaching post, can I then begin to display my personal hang-ups over my identity in the newspaper? And wouldn't it be a lot more appropriate to give the weight to an actual African's opinion in this matter, as opposed to someone of "african-american descent"? I've got Irish ancestors, but you won't find me railing against the oppressive depiction of the Irish as drunken leprechauns during the St. Patrick's day parade. Mostly because I'll be too busy puking up pints of Guinness into my pot of gold. And what exactly does a studying for a degree in "public affairs and international studies" entail? An RSS feed to Google News on her Facebook page?
This is so Seattle. Just keep telling yourself, "There is NO racism in Seattle. There IS NO RACISM in SEATTLE. THERE IS NO RACISM IN SEATTLE.". White people here really blow a gasket whenever there is any suggestion of racism in this city.
Years ago, I noticed the African Village right next to the entrance to the zoo. I walked around in it. I said to myself this is racist.
Go ahead and insult someone who was brave enough to stand up and say what the zoo is doing is wrong. Go get a beer. Put "Investigate 9/11" and "Save Darfor" bumber stickers on your car. You'll feel better. Racism is just so 60's.
First off, nobody stated anywhere that there was no racism in Seattle. To do so would be naive at best. There is racism everywhere, and will be until most people stop acting like the scared little primates that they are. There will also be "isms" of all sorts, whether based on genetics, geographic origin, monetary wealth, and anything else that serves to differentiate people from one another. Racism isn't the point. It's a f**king African Savannah exhibit! What is so damn offensive about having the representatives of people who live on the African Savannah telling the zoo visitors about the animals that have been part of their culture for who knows how many hundreds of years? If there were white people born in Africa manning this exhibit instead of black people born in Africa, this would be ok? That would be a different race, according to your classification. Would that be acceptable?
And I will gladly insult anyone who stands on their soapbox to spew out something so inane and pretentious on an issue that has absolutely nothing to do with themselves. I have a beer, thanks. Bumper stickers are for people who like to fool themselves that they are making a difference. I feel fine. And by the way, it's spelled "Darfur".
I've been to the zoo a lot, and really liked the Maasai Journey this summer. All of the Maasai guys are very knowlegable and have shared many stories and experiences I would never learn in a book or a tv show. It was awesome! It's their life! They showed us pictures and that's how it really is (at least for them) back home.
How do the protesters expect other people to learn about each other if they don't talk to each other? And if I'm not rich enough to fly to their village in Kenya-- how would I ever have met them and talked to them?!!
I don't feel that there was any 'racism' and 'exploitation' going on. They were great and it just made me want to learn more about them and about Africa in general.
I'm embarrassed by the teachers or whatever they are at UW. Why do they think they are the only people who really know what's going on? I think that is rude.
If everyone at UW is this stupid and narrow-minded I'm going to choose a different college!