To start with, itâs called âThug Kitchenâ. âThugâ is shorthand for black male; regardless of how strictly you might try to adhere to respectability politics (i.e. cultivating an image for yourself that lets white people know youâre not like those black people), if youâre black and male youâre still seen as a thug whoâs guilty of something a la Trayvon Martin, Mike Brown, etc. (Hereâs an article about the racist use of the word âthugâ throughout the Trayvon Martin trial.)
On no planet can these white yuppies use the word âthugâ without racial implications or realistically deny that those implications are intentional. Thereâs a reason why they were anonymous until the release of their cookbook.
Second, itâs not just swear words, they use African American Vernacular English (AAVE, or âebonicsâ) and make the conscious decision to infuse it with vulgar language, which is, by the way, racist since AAVE is not innately vulgar. Thatâs just their interpretation of what it means to be a âthugâ. AAVE is a dialect like any other, using it does not reflect any aspect of your personhood, your intelligence, your class, your education, etc, all it means is that you grew up Black in America, or that your language is influenced by Black people you grew up with.
“All up in”, “Ainât nobody got time for that”, etc are examples of AAVE. If you read an interview with these people youâll notice they donât speak in AAVE naturally (some non-black folks grow up with AAVE; that is not the case here). Theyâre just white people who swear a lot. They could have created their corny brand around that vulgarity alone but the addition of AAVE and the “thug” archetype are exploitative and RACIST. The language theyâre using is the joke. When black people make jokes that involve AAVE, the language is just the mode of delivery. Everything about this is a mockery and itâs embarrassing, I hope the realization that these people are making money off this minstrel show inspires a serious backlash.
whit people are getting on my nerves more and more every day.
So this is basically literary blackface.Â
YES ^
Then letâs get them dragged. Iâm sure we can make it happen as a collective group (black tumblr/twitter) weâre a force to be reckoned with
-M
Send in comments on their Facebook and Twitter. THEY ARE DELETING COMMENTS THAT CALL THEM OUT ON THEIR RACISM AND ALLOWING THE WHITE PEOPLE COMMENTS THAT SAY âTHIS IS NO PROBLEMâ!!!!
