Southern Girl in the City

Racism Still Exists

I don’t expect today’s post to be long, but I saw something last night that didn’t sit well with me.  Anyone that knows me know I LOVE “Big Brother”!  My favorite summer guilty pleasure premiered about two weeks ago, and what I missed during its regular airing, I caught up on On Demand.  During last night’s episode, I saw something that didn’t sit well with me.

The current Head of Household (for those of you that don’t watch, this person won this week’s competition and nominates two houseguests for eviction, along with getting their own private room with personalized items), Aaryn, is a 22 year old college student from Texas.  I’m not sure who mentioned it first, but numerous houseguests commented on Aaryn’s derogatory comments and behavior.  Next, clips were shown where Aaryn made disbaraging comments regarding Asians and Asian-Americans.  (Let it be noted that one of the houseguests, Helen, is Asian-American.)  And clips were shown were she and another houseguest, GinaMarie referred to another houseguest, Candice-an African-American woman-as a “darkie”.  Various houseguests, including Howard (an African-American man) and Amanda (a Caucasian woman) stated that they noticed and overheard Aaryn making comments they deemed as racist. I’m not sure why Amanda did not approach her, but Howard stated he didn’t say anything because: 1) the comments were not directed towards him and 2) he felt himself getting upset and wasn’t sure he could contain his anger.

I applaud CBS for showing these clips of Aaryn making her comments.  As one houseguest was overheard saying-“Doesn’t she realize she’s on national television???”  Maybe she didn’t care.  But her comments show that racism is alive and well in this country.  And she obviously learned this from somewhere, since she’s only 22 years old.

So the next time someone tells you racism is a thing of the past in America, kindly correct them.  Because Aaryn proved last night that it is not.  Until next time I’m just a Southern girl…in the city.

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6 responses to “Racism Still Exists”

  1. authorsherysenoelledubose Avatar
    authorsherysenoelledubose

    I’m an avid watcher. I was surprised by the comments but not surprised. I think the word is “enraged.” When a contestant goes on BB they know they are filmed 24/7. Right now I feel like an atmosphere has been created where people feel like they can get away with saying these racist things and they think thry won’t be called on it. I’m just happy that when Aaryn and GinaMarie leave the house, they will find that they have been fired from their modeling and pageant jobs,respectively. I’m glad CBS aired these comments as well so people know the true faces of these people. In addition to the racism there is the mysoginistic (sp) Jeremy. Who tells a woman to “shut up?” Ladies beware of this guy because he strikes me as emotionally, if not physically abusive. And is it me or are these house guests meaner than in years past?

    Reply
  2. Nae Avatar
    Nae

    I’m a big BB fan as well and am glad that CBS chose to air this “reality”.

    Reply
  3. Precise Avatar
    Precise

    We are at the tipping point when it comes to this idea of racism. Everything that had been festering in the hearts of people is coming to the surface. I’m not surprised just more aware. I’m also not worried about it. It’s part of our growth.

    Reply
  4. Precise Avatar
    Precise

    Not sure if my last comment made it thru..however I am not surprised by this and I see this time in the world as one that is cleansing and bringing what was once in the dark to the light.

    Reply
  5. Dave Quammen Avatar
    Dave Quammen

    Racism, bigotry and all its variations has been around for perhaps 5,000 to 10,000 years – unfortunately, it’s part of human nature. In my own experience over the past 73 years, prejudice, bias, et al, has surfaced between Norwegians and Swedes, Protestants vs Catholics, the more-well-off vs the poor, discrimination also exists against those with physical disabilities – or differences – right now, and for the previous 12 years, everyone is against the Muslims –

    African-Americans, Asian-Americans and any other form of expression of racism, discrimination, etc — is actually a more recent thing in the human race.
    Dave QUammen

    Reply
  6. Oh, (Big) Brother… | Southern Girl in the City

    […] or watch it on On Demand. (Don’t judge me.)  I’ve written about the current season before, regarding the racist rants of Aaryn and GinaMarie.  (I SO was waiting on Julie to go IN on them […]

    Reply

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