2008 Woodie Awards
The racist world of Disney
Esme Mazzeo
Issue date: 1/31/08 Section: Op/Ed
When I was younger, Disney was my parents' lifeline. They put on The Little Mermaid to keep me quiet before we went to a birthday party, and Jasmine from Aladdin was my role model. I could sing any song from Aladdin by heart. My parents were entertained by it, but I'm not sure they'd be so thrilled if they realized that the original versions of songs such as "Arabian Nights" from Aladdin contained lyrics such as "They'll cut off your ear if they don't like your face; it's barbaric, but hey it's home." And I doubt my abuela would be thrilled to learn that every single Latino character in Disney films is represented as a dog. Some of them steal cars, some are locked in the pound, and all of them have thick, stereotypical accents.
Although these instances of racism were the most evident to me, there are many other examples of racism, which can be found in almost any Disney film up until 1999. Some other examples are the siamese cats in Lady and the Tramp who possess stereotypical Asian almond-shaped eyes, thick accents, bucked teeth and a mischievous nature. Also, Dumbo features black characters working in the fields ,singing an extremely racist song containing lyrics such as "We work all day, we work all night, we're happy-hearted roustabouts…back near breaking…keep on working! Stop that shirking! Grab that rope, you hairy ape!" Also, in Dumbo there is a black crow character named Jim Crow, which is a reference to the discriminatory laws against blacks in the South in 1876.
I was extremely disturbed when I found all of these examples, because if little kids are receiving racist messages from Disney films, of all things, where can they find entertainment? It's kind of disturbing for me to think that the most wholesome choice of programming for five-year-olds is now Hannah Montana.
Although these instances of racism were the most evident to me, there are many other examples of racism, which can be found in almost any Disney film up until 1999. Some other examples are the siamese cats in Lady and the Tramp who possess stereotypical Asian almond-shaped eyes, thick accents, bucked teeth and a mischievous nature. Also, Dumbo features black characters working in the fields ,singing an extremely racist song containing lyrics such as "We work all day, we work all night, we're happy-hearted roustabouts…back near breaking…keep on working! Stop that shirking! Grab that rope, you hairy ape!" Also, in Dumbo there is a black crow character named Jim Crow, which is a reference to the discriminatory laws against blacks in the South in 1876.
I was extremely disturbed when I found all of these examples, because if little kids are receiving racist messages from Disney films, of all things, where can they find entertainment? It's kind of disturbing for me to think that the most wholesome choice of programming for five-year-olds is now Hannah Montana.