Harry Connick, Jr. was a judge on the Australian variety show “Hey Hey It’s Saturday,” and the actor/singer was less than impressed with the “Jackson Jive,” a blackface act they insist was a humorous tribute. The act is pretty painful to watch, but Connick lays a delightful smackdown at 2:15, then comes back after a commercial break with a polite but firm “this is actually very insulting to black people” explanation (see 4:40).
I understand that other cultures have different senses of humor, and just because something is conventional wisdom in America doesn’t necessarily mean it should translate across international boundaries. But I think the rest of the world really needs to follow our lead on the blackface issue. You can tell us what is and isn’t racially insensitive after your country fights a war over white people owning black people.
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Corporate – your comment here
“The real crime here is Australian humor. How lame can they get! Just watching it makes me feel dumber. It’s not funny its just mentally challenged.”
is just so bloody true. If you’re religious at all, please say a prayer that the Australian people outgrow “Hey Hey It’s Saturday” as quickly as possible, or better yet, that Channel Nine just don’t bother resurrecting it. Could you imagine Steve Irwin with a lobotomy, trying to be funny?
There are perfectly good reasons to think that a hell of lot of Australians are culturally retarded. Hey Hey It’s Saturday certainly is one of them, but let’s face it … look at some of the cultural dross that’s been oozing out of America and the UK like puss from a gangrenous wound in the past forty or so years.
As far as mediocrities with nothing to offer go, Harry Connick Jnr’s actually pretty benign.
Considering that one of his biggest appearances in Australia was going to be at a shopping mall in western Sydney, does anyone else think that maybe he seized on this moralizing opportunity to grab a bit of relevance?
Why do all these arrogant dickheads assume that the particular Australians who perpetrated this act of witless mediocrity were white?
http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/hey-heys-jackson-jive-explain-why-we-did-it/
Instead of slagging off at white Australians and feeling all puffed up on self-righteousness,GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT!
When I saw this my jaw dropped. I know its probably an American knee jerk reaction but I question their judgment to have an American soul singer from New Orleans judge that performance.
To the guy who said the US started black slavery: Many black slaves who were brought to America were sold to the powers to be by black African slave traders. The Africans themselves were involved in the enslavement of the black people. This is something that most people forget to mention or probably do not even know, because they don’t know anything about history they just like to talk like they do! It is true that America has a dark past, but that is what it is the past. With all the persecution going on in the world the difference between white and black is a minor issue. The real crime here is Australian humor. How lame can they get! Just watching it makes me feel dumber. It’s not funny its just mentally challenged. PS: If you’re going to do some blackface thing like that at least make it realistic… I don’t remember any of the jackson 5 being that dark I mean seriously.
The Civil War (ours…not every other one in Africa and elsewhere) was fought over slavery. It began with South Carolina firing on Federal troops at Fort Sumpter. Then it just got a bit out of hand. People carried picnic baskets and wanted to see a jolly good fight, near Washington, DC in what is known as “First Mannases” (sp). When about 6000 men were mowed down, the woman picked up their crumpets and fled the field. And I never liked Harry, but I like him now….Yeah, yeah, he did a ‘black preacher skit in ’96. With Damon Wayons, on a show produced by Keenan Wayons. If that was offensive to those ‘real’ black guys, it wouldn’t have happened. Cheers from CT, USA. And ‘the land down under’ fascinates me still. Too long a plane ride, Ringo said.
Gosh, some of you got it right on this, most of you didn’t.
The American Civil War was NOT fought over slavery. The vast majority of slaves in America were White anyway. Harry Connick Jnr is a washed up hack, eager to come across as “liberal” and “PC” as he can be, lest he endanger what’s left of his career, and whose own muzak is a poor imitation of Black music, most of which originally comes from White music itself!
Australia is suffering now from the ill affects of mass immigration, those pulling the strings in Australia have failed to heed (or ignored) the lessons of America and many other failed/failing nations. So the Black slaves were freed after the war, how did that improve anything? America is still a hot bed of racial tension, and as White’s become the minority, it is only getting worse.
This skit was exactly that, a skit, a joke…as other’s have said, how else can White/er people portray Black people? Looking like them is a good, and logical, start.
There is so much fashionable political correctness, and trendy liberalism, coupled with exagerrated senses of “guilt” from so many responding to this Hey Hey skit, it’s been blown out of proportion, for NO good reason.
It was good to have a show like this back in these dark times, and it shows how bad the times are that so many sickly, vicious, arrogant, ignorant people have come down on it.
Wake up everyone!
Scott – an Australian !
Harry is nothing but a wimpy kiss ass!!! Loves sucking up to blacks just because he wants thier acceptance. But its ok to do SNL skit if it helps his populatiry…. selfish bastard!
And by the way, “Australian” is a nationality, not a race.
Wow. 5 idiots are dumb enough to not realise the minstrel thing is offensive to many people. And one television show is also dumb enough to allow them on air. And somehow that makes an entire country a racist backwater? Come over here, experience this place for yourself, then make a judgement. There is racism here for sure, but it is the exception, not the norm.
Alex, You are racist yourself saying “stone the Aussies for being racist” Not all Aussies agree with what happened hence the uproar about it in Australia. You idiot.
I am not white. That is horrible. WOrld should nuke australian racist people. you can’t make fun of any people. That is below human. Unacceptable any evolved humans. People should stone aussies.
I understand his position because I am an American and WE have the shameful history of minstrels in blackface playing black people as buffoons. The shame comes from OUR past, which is why it doesn’t really cross borders or oceans.
Telling the rest of the world what’s racist isn’t really America’s job.
those jackson jive really did deserve the score zero, they were just not funny at all and offensive to others too.
way to go harry!
we purchase everything from china and they are leaders in blackface. I still have my salt and pepper shaker set and I still get pissed every time I look at them
I think this was all blown out of proportion. If a group of white people want to do a humorous skit where they pretend to be black people, HOW ELSE are they supposed to make themselves look like the individuals they are pretending to be? Should they just keep their white skin, and do a piss-poor job of looking like the people they are pretending to be? Or, is doing a funny skit about a black group off-limits for whites? For that matter, should everyone stick to impersonating people of their own race? That would be really boring.
I think everyone needs to take a chill pill about this. If they wore black make up and did a skit in which they were obviously trying to make ALL BLACK PEOPLE look bad/stupid/buffoonish, then I can see how that would be racist. But that’s not what was going on here. They were just doing their own humorous rendition of a musical group, whose members happen to have dark skin.
Portraying one black person, or a small group of black people, in a silly way doesn’t mean you’re saying that that’s what ALL black people are like.
Thank you, SavetoFavorites, and a note to Tim Was Tim: the American Civil War was not fought over slavery, it was fought over incongruent taxation, Northern vs. Southern states benefiting from revenues, etc. Slavery was an issue, but a peripheral one. These days it’s erroneously portrayed as the ONLY issue leading up to the Civil War, however, and many people today just do not know any better.
HARRY IS MY NEW HERO!!! Thanks man for sticking up for my race. Those guys needs a beat down, royally. Thanks again, man!!!
needs more dijiridoo
I doubt they were aware it was so controversial and meant to cause any offense. I guess they won’t do that again.
so, what you’re saying, aussie1, is that you hate white australians? wow, racist, much? …thank you, yes, it was funny, wasn’t it?
oh, and matt my dear boy, other countries didn’t have to fight a war over slavery. we simply said, “shall we not do this anymore?” and then we didn’t do it anymore. about 100 years before you had to have a very dramatic and showee war about it. “ohh, look at us. fighting a war about slavery and what-not. aren’t we the bees knees etc…..”
Now we know why Harry reacted on this show. He has been caught doing it himself.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooKaCbMvaZ0
How arrogant & rediculous the comments below are..
The POMs & US created slavery and black racisim and then you critisize a multicultural/multi-religous country…
These are your problems dont be all rightous to the rest of the world over your own guilt..!
BTW – The true white Australians are your Pommie convict grandparents…they just are comming home…!
As to Smegga…you POMs don’t know how to swich on a fridge to cool your beer……You should see how many POMs are now moving to Australia & are sweeping our streets…!
States’ rights to own slaves.
To be fair… we didn’t really fight the civil war over slavery. It was really much more a matter of states’ rights, with a number of underlying socioeconomiczzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
If you must use blackface in Australia, at least call yourselves the Aboriginal Kings of Comedy.
I hate Australia,
We need the Aussies over here in England. The vast majority of pub workers are from Australia, and they are wonderful at fetching me beers. Plus their accents are great and every time it rains, you can see their souls die a little.
Damn, now I need a beer.
Was it Bill Hicks who described Australia as “Arkansas with beaches”?
Vodka – Roger Sterling. Blackface is ALWAYS funny. Much like black people doing the rare whiteface (Chappelle).
Those guys need a good booting.
Was blackface ever funny? Seriously. It just looks weird and lazy.
Also, did anyone else think that “We’ve spent so much time trying to not make black people look like buffoons” sounded a little awkward? I think “portrayed as” would have been a better choice of words, but that gave me a mini record scratch moment.
Why haven’t we nuked this god forsaken penal colony yet?
/never met one I liked
//certainly never one I could trust
Krikey!
Japan still leads the world in black face performers on variety shows.