July 10, 2010

Dudesons controversy in NY Post

Native Americans rage over MTV's 'The Dudesons' "There's no other racial group that has to put up with this harassment. People may think it's funny to do the fingers in front of the mouth and yell, 'Whoo! Whoo! Whoo! Whoo!' but that's deliberate discrimination," said AIM director Michael Fairbanks.

The group wrote to MTV in May asking it to scrub the episode from the network and online. Then AIM called for a boycott of MTV and "Dudesons" sponsors, including Frito-Lay, Burger King and Pepsi. The petition site has already gotten 1,000 signatures. Fairbanks is also threatening to file a federal suit alleging the show violates Native Americans' civil rights.
Comment:  If you've been following the controversy on Facebook, as I have, there's no new information here. But it appears the New York Post printed this story on its infamous Page Six. If so, a million or so New Yorkers are now aware of a controversy they hadn't heard of before.

How did this happen? It happened because of AIM's persistent protests: the letter-writing, the street demonstration, the petition, the call for a boycott, and the threatened lawsuit. These efforts combined to draw the attention of the mainstream media. The story is out there now.

Proving the point, the Celebrity Mound blog and a USA Today business blog have picked up the story. Who knows where it'll appear next?

The protest's goal(s)

AIM's primary goal may be to get the episode off the air. My primary goal is to educate people about the ongoing problem of stereotyping. With this controversy, we're doing it.

As with Alcatraz, Wounded Knee II, and other protests in recent years, Americans are learning that Indians are still here. That they're not going to take racism and injustice lying down. That they're going to fight back when people ignore, insult, or attack them.

For more on the subject, see Indians Shouldn't Act Uppity? and Devil's Advocate Defends Saginaw Grant.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Interesting how they used a photo of Saginaw Grant that did not even come from the Dudesons but from a special event he attended. AIM Santa Barbara is behind all of this and they even promised Saginaw that they would NOT bring his name into this and guess what??AIM Santa Barbara did the opposite and they DID mention Saginaw's name because their main mission is to bring this elder down and discredit him in the industry!!!! AIM Santa Barbara wants to file a Federal lawsuit against MTV??? Well, I think it is about time now for Mr. Grant himself to file a counter lawsuit agains AIM Sanata Barbara and for those who wrote that he only did this for the money? Really? For the money??? Only if people knew that money here was not even an issue for Mr. Grant? If only people knew that little money was even involved!! So, for those who has been "assuming" this...be very careful of what you say or write. Defamation of character and slander...talk about lawsuit! Get that!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

AIM Santa Barbara, you will be up for a lawsuit now if you continue to mention Saginaw Grant's name in your protest to boycott MTV. You need to stick to the main issue here and NOT Saginaw Grant!

Anti-anonymous said...

Mr Grant has profited from increased publicity. How is this considered a bad thing for him?

Anonymous is saying the rights of the one sellout outweighs the rights of the many and the culture being seen as fodder and entertainment for the status quo is more important than a complete race or tribe of peoples.

I say backoff of AIM and make an example of MTV and Grant both.

If Grant has the money for lawyers, then his juvenile rendition of his people in the name of white populism surely paid well enough.

Slander? Didn't the slander begin in airing The Dudesons to begin with? Where is your brain?

I'll be the first to slander Mr Grant as an embarrassment and sellout apple. He is a starving cow feeding in the troughs of ignorance reaping glorification and defense for the continuation and preservation of a bastard culture!

There, anonymous, now sue me for slander!

Anonymous said...

Anti-Annonymous...hell I know you who are!!!!