Someone else noticed, too

It seems we aren't the only ones who have noticed the biases and stereotypes at work in the comments about Justin's hair. From darkparables.blogspot.com:

They also are unaware of their prejudices against non-normal physical attributes. Of course they are all into beauty and cosmetic surgery and looking good for the cameras. But it goes even further. For instance, on idol chat, Rosanna and Kimberly were mocking Justin Guarini's afro, comparing his hair to Bozo the clown. On E's commentary on the golden globe fashions, the hosts -- and Miss Jay a black person with transgender issues should know better-- got a lot of laughs mocking Vanessa Williams and Will Farrell's hair. Why? Because of the afros and curly hair. Why should curly hair and afros bring knee-jerk laughter? Yet, all over television there is a continued mockery about afros which shows that subtle racism is still alive.

Justin's reply, by the way, was to go along with the joke by patting his hair lovingly and saying something to the effect of "Why yes, I stole it and dyed it brown." The setting was light-hearted, and both co-hosts would probably be horrified to know someone saw their actions as "subtle racism." Still, it's worth thinking about how we continue to denigrate differences in our society, even if we do it unconsciously.


On a happier note, Justin is now a correspondent on the TV Guide Channel, appearing on Idol Chat and later on Idol Tonight. Putting aside the Afro issue, Idol Chat has been fun to watch. There's great chemistry between Justin and Kimberly and Rosanna (they keep cracking the show's crew, making you wonder if the show will in fact go on). We're waiting for them to let Justin loose behind the scenes at the tapings of American Idol. That should be a real hoot.