Tuesday, May 20, 2014

This week in racism (part 2): Macklemore


Last night, I caught up on Louie on my DVR. At the end of the episode, Louis CK made the following observation about love:
How do you know when you really love someone? When you can reveal your secret racism to them.
Well, damn, Macklemore must love us all, because at a concert Sunday night he performed dressed as a stereotypical Jew—wig, beard, and large, stereotypical hook nose—while singing a song about saving money (photos here).

For his part, the rapper denied any anti-Semitic intent, tweeting, “A fake witches nose, wig, and beard = random costume. Not my idea of a stereotype of anybody.” He later posted a half-hearted apology on his website, again claiming the getup was unintentional.

When you are conducting investigations in your workplace, let common sense be your guide. If it looks like a bigoted stereotype, and dresses like a bigoted stereotype, no amount of implausible deniability will make it anything other than a bigoted stereotype. Does anyone really believe that wearing a big hooked nose while singing about money was unintentional? Use your BS sensor to sift out the nonsense and reach the truth of the matter. It will make your workplace investigations that much smoother.

Until tomorrow: