I cannot begin to express all that is wrong with the following image:
But I will try to.
In an attempt to sell “the best of our best” in household cleaning, a product found in a Lebanese grocery market features a caricature of a shirt-less Black man flexing his muscles as his mighty physique punctures the “Negro” product’s slogan: “leef al-3bd.” The slogan literally translates to “loofah of the slave” or “slave loofah.” “3abd,” a derogatory term equivalent to the West’s “N-word” carries a shameful historical legacy of referring to Black people as “slaves.” But this product and its imagery is proof positive that the history has yet to be exclusively relegated to the past.
Although I know very little about the contextual background behind this product, other than the fact that it is sold in Lebanon, here are some of my initial reactions to it:
1. When did 21st Century Lebanon turn into Jim Crow South? Or has it been joyfully marketing unapologetically racist household cleaning products for quite some time?
2. Are they insinuating that the “leef” or “loofa” of the 3abd is symbolic for a Black person’s hair that acts like magic steel wool absorbent? Wow…
3. I feel like a seminar on Critical Theories on Race could devote a whole semester to analyzing this image alone.
4. How have these very American minstrel show-inspired images, ones infused with Arabic racist epithets, made their transnational voyage to Middle Eastern factories and into market place shelves? How were they visually and intellectually transported?
5. Dude, I feel like dropping out of school to devote time to securing an import deal with Shamwow in the Middle East so this chamois can come in and save us all from this economically-motivated minefield of belligerent racist posturing. Yo Vince, you down for the cause?
Tarboush Tip: Nimr
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- More From the Courageous and Brave Lebanese Army
- Even MORE Disturbing than Busta Rhymes “A-rab Money”
3. I feel like a seminar on Race could devote a whole semester to analyzing this image alone.
And where would you hold the seminar? In Southern California? For what purpose? This is not an American social problem, and if American students are to study racism in other cultures they wouldn't have time for anything else. They already live in the least racist country in the world, and it didn't get that way by examining what everyone else is doing. Everyone else is fucking up. We aren't.
4. How have these very American minstrel show images, ones infused with Arabic racist epithets, made their transnational voyage to Middle Eastern factories and into market place shelves? How were they visually and intellectually transported?
Where are you getting "minstrel show images" from that graphic? The dude is wearing a turban and one of those little silk vests I always associate with the turks of 500 years ago. There isn't anything about that graphic that looks to be inspired by the US, as far as I can see. In any case, minstrel shows were white actors in blackface and the guy in that graphic certainly isn't that.
Posted by programmer craig | January 11, 2010, 5:47 pmand what's your explanation about this then PC:
http://redemption48.wordpress.com/2009/12/22/neve…
Posted by maytha | January 14, 2010, 3:15 amThis sounds precisely like something the Germans would do…like UNICEF Germany's blackface "save Africa" ads a few years back or all of the blackface candy they sell.
Posted by JillianKF | January 12, 2010, 5:29 pmIt's a German company that sells in the Middle East: http://www.negro-steelwool.com/englisch/print/sta…
Posted by Moh | January 12, 2010, 9:40 pmThe Germans brought soft-Nazism to the Middle East and carry on the legacy of the Fourth Reich dawah to this day through rijs like this.
Posted by Micah | January 13, 2010, 3:36 amThanks for posting this May. This type of product demonstrates the continuing prevalance of anti-Black iconography on products. The products remain on shelves and carry outdated stereotyped images and unfortunately serve as cultural primers for people. With limited exposure to Black people, this image, product, and wording could easily become the set of images that connote Black folks' roles to people in Lebanon or wherever this product is sold. Throughout the Diaspora even in places were significant Black populations are, including the United States, these types of images serve to reduce the experience of African peoples (particularly sub Saharan Africans) to labor in the service of others, while washing away historical contributions. Seminars on matters like this should occur throughout the world, whether New York City or Lebanon.
Posted by Dumi | January 14, 2010, 2:35 amAunt Jemima syrup and Uncle Ben's instant rice are sold everywhere in the US. We're not really that far ahead when it comes to rascist imagery in advertising.
Posted by zara | January 24, 2010, 9:20 amOddly, I bought some yesterday and it no longer says ليف العبد but ليف نجرو
Posted by edb | February 25, 2010, 6:07 pmyou guys are idiots. you are the REAL racists, stirring shit up. Big fucking deal. Leave shit alone.
Posted by mackmackmack | August 15, 2010, 6:54 pmIt is true. People who call attention to racism are racists. Great point. Mumtaz.
Posted by Micah | August 16, 2010, 12:00 am