As a kid we used to say “sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me”. Well that is not exactly true. In the hyper-aware, socially connected, diverse landscape that we find ourselves miring through today, what you say matters and can get you in big cyber trouble if people don’t like it.
USA Today faced sharp criticism in social media space with its headline: “’Holiday’ Nearly Beat ‘Thor’ as Race-Themed Films Soar”.
Tweeters wanted to know why the movie Best Man Holiday, Director Malcolm Lee’s sequel to the popular Best Man movie had to be described as “race-themed.” USA Today was quick to respond (within the hour) and changed the headline to “‘Holiday’ Nearly Beats ‘Thor’ as Ethnically Diverse Films Soar.” However that did not seem to completely eliminate complaints. Some asked, how is this any better?
Obviously there is a lack of cultural competence here. Perhaps the decision makers were operating in the space of “unconscious incompetence” initially and when the headline was changed they moved to “conscious incompetence”. They knew that there was something amiss but their solution seemed to lack an understanding of what the issue was in the first place.
At issue was calling out that the movie had a black cast and therefore the assumption that it would be targeted primarily to black movie-goers. It was almost as if the writer was surprised that a “race-themed” or “ethnically diverse” (whatever that means) movie could do almost as well as Thor, the Marvel superhero sequel.
I don’t pretend to know what was in the minds of the writer of the headlines, however for those of us who are tired of being singled out as a minority or an exception to the norm, unusual, causing surprise, it is gratifying to see how social media is becoming an effective voice and teacher for those who don’t get it.
As I have said many times before, it is not enough, though, to show our outrage and admonish those who are culturally incompetent, we must exercise patience and be willing to help others understand our point of view. Here is the lesson: we are all ethnically diverse because everyone comes from some ethnic background. Is the term “ethnically diverse” simply code for “Black movie”, like “urban” is code for Black neighborhood? Movies with all white casts are race-themed too, aren’t they? Do we make note of those movies as race-themed? How about this as an alternative headline: “The Top Two Movies This Week: ‘Thor’ and ‘Best Man Holiday’”. (By the way, the USA Today headline now reads, “‘Best Man Holiday’ nearly beats mighty ‘Thor’”.)
There is also a business case message here. As our country becomes more diverse, movies that feature different identity groups will become more popular and will also have cross-over appeal.
