This Outkast/Grammy thing has been blown far, far out of proportion. Perhaps the post 9/11 21st century is the era of ethnic oversensitivity (a statement which I'll make no attempt to prove or support, I just wrote it off the top of my head. It's something to think about, but probably not too much).

Recent articles in NOW (Toronto) and this one from CNN reporting on CBS' apology for the "incident", frankly, baffled me. NOW, Toronto's wannabe social conscience, essentially destroys the reasoning behind Outkast's supposed wrongdoing while (somehow) still claiming that an apology from the band is in order.

CNN's usual disgustingly splashy sensationalist reporting is in fine form (via Reuters) in their article, where NAAC board member Sean Freitas claims the performance was the most disgusting racial stereotype of Native peoples he's ever seen on TV. Without consulting specific counterevidence, I'm quite sure that minorities were represented in FAR worse fasion in movies and TV fifty or sixty years ago than in Outkast's performance. But quotes like Freitas' = ratings and readers and controversy, therefore his extreme hyperbole is apparently acceptable

The recent attention given to Outkast has placed them on a lot of new maps, and therefore a lot of people have no contextual basis for evaluating their performance because of their very recent exposure to the band. If they had seen a previous Outkast performace (or even the Brit awards performance a few days later) then they'd notice that Outkast performances frequently consist of flashy costumes and sexualized dancing. It so happens that this time they did it while dressed up as Native people. That is completely different than racially exploiting a particular ethnic group or culture in the name of an awards show performance (or worse, to sell records).

Oh sure, it's easy for me to say that I wasn't offended, because I'm not a Native Canadian. However, I am Jewish, and Freitas also likened the performance to "white people dancing sexually in black face or yarmulkes". I am going to say this as succinctly as possible, to avoid any possible misinterpretation ...

Andre, PLEASE PLEASE PRETTY PLEASE, I want to see a Outkast performance with people dancing sexually while wearing yarmulkes.

I'm serious. The CJC and the ADL would freak, but screw them, they'd be guilty of the same miscontextualization that the NAAC is. If you want to see actual Anti-Semitic depictions of Jews, this ADL page is a good place to start. Outkast incorporating Jewish clothing into their stage show would be a blast, and it wouldn't offend me at all. It's COMPLETELY DIFFERENT from having a man dress as a rabbi and proclaim Michael Jackson as his personal Messiah, as was the case at the 1996 Brits. Anyone who can't see the difference would have to be incredibly shortsighted.