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S I G H T S
Whitewash
by Chris Wright Oh, the irony: The black contestants have been kicked out of Survivor: Africa, leaving an all-white tribe to do battle on the Shaba National Reserve. Though this season marks the fastest disappearance, blacks and members of other racial minorities have never fared well at this game. Is this mere coincidence, or is prejudice at play? On the surface, at least, it all seems benign. In the original Survivor, the two African American castaways, Gervase and Ramona, came in seventh and 13th respectively out of 16 contestants. The doomed Pagong tribe voted off Ramona early because they viewed her as sick and weak, while the dominant Tagi alliance later found Gervase a physical threat to win immunity challenges.
Survivor: The Australian Outback featured Kel, whose mother is Peruvian, and African Americans Nick and Alicia. Kel, a military officer who quickly became a social outcast, lasted only until Episode 2, when Jerri’s kids targeted him following the notorious beef jerky incident. Nick and Alicia placed seventh and ninth, respectively, after the Ogakors decided they, like Gervase, were physical threats. In Survivor: Africa, minorities have fallen like dominoes, finishing 10th, 13th and 15th. Boran targeted Puerto Rican beauty queen Jessie in Episode 2 because she was weak and dehydrated (and had some nasty chapped lips); Samburu’s Mall Alliance knocked out Linda, who is black, in Episode 4 because she, too, was weak (and acted mighty strange). And now Clarence, the 24-year-old basketball coach from Detroit who was under scrutiny since the bean incident in Episode One, has been evicted. It’s all simple enough, right?
" Courtesy of: However, some would argue that prejudice is to blame here. They would point to the case of Clarence in particular, the social outcast of his tribe and possibly the hapless victim of manipulation. They would frown upon "hick" Tom’s comment that he would shoot Clarence if he had a gun. They could argue, too, that Linda’s eviction was at least partially the result of her sermonizing about Mother Africa and its spirits, which may have unnerved her tribemates. And they would view with suspicion the fact that Boran dumped Jessie — Hispanic, 27 years old and a sheriff’s deputy — rather than Kim J., a white 57-year-old retired school teacher whose physical limitations had already cost her tribe a challenge. It’s hard to put a finger on any of this, given how little of the action we actually see on television. Certainly it’s possible that underlying prejudice led to the early departure of Ramona, Kel and others. In a 1999 ABC News poll, one in three Americans admitted to having "at least some racist feelings." And those are just the folks who owned up to it. Did racism lead Boran to believe Diane’s story over Clarence’s regarding Beangate? To vote out Jessie so early? To dump Clarence as soon as they merged with Samburu? Your answers regarding the role race plays in such decisions may depend on your own skin color. In the same ABC News poll, 22 percent of white respondents said they believed blacks are discriminated against in this society "a lot"; 57 percent of black respondents agreed with the statement. A 2001 Gallup poll on black-white relations found that 69 percent of whites believe blacks are treated ‘the same as whites’ in their own community, but only 41 percent of blacks believe that to be true. So here we have another eye-of-the-beholder quandary. (That said, it should be mentioned that this writer is a 20-something white male, and likely bears the biases that come with that status, knowingly or not.) Even if a person holds certain prejudicial views, he or she may, of course, make individual exceptions. The best Survivor example of this would certainly be homophobic Rudy’s friendship with openly gay Richard Hatch during the first season. As Rudy grew to know Rich, he gradually cast off his assumptions about homosexuals; however, Rudy later said the experience had not changed his overall feelings about gays. The fact that Gervase, Alicia, Nick and Clarence were all in great physical shape probably had more to do with their eviction than anything else. Gervase, Alicia and Nick also just happened to wind up in the, well, minority tribe (numbers-wise) post-merge and were therefore easy targets. We can’t make the same case with Clarence, as he and his original tribemates held the majority after the merge in Africa. And, as always, editing plays a big part in our perceptions. For example, after CBS aired the episode where she was booted, Linda complained in interviews that her portrayal was skewed: Every time she opened her mouth onscreen, she said, something about African spirits came tumbling out. In reality, Linda claimed, the editors chose to air every such comment she made, but left out the 99 percent of her other dialogue, which had nothing to do with Mother Africa. This complaint is reminiscent of former Survivors Nick and Gervase, who claimed they were portrayed as being much lazier than they actually were. If Survivor’s editors are indeed guilty of character manipulation, it is less likely that the white Survivors associated Nick and company with these traits and faulted them for it. Actually, Episode 7 exposed the problem of such rampant selective editing. Frank, edited as a jerk in Episodes 1, 2, and 3 and then as more sympathetic in Episodes 4, 5, and 6, is now suddenly a socially inept loner who’s never even heard the word “brunch” and mimics elephants. Such inconsistencies are not only annoying, they can confuse viewers and make it harder to identify with any of the contestants. And if you can’t do that, why bother watching? If this were a regular TV show, its writers would be accused of character assassination. Now, of course, the editors have only white tribal members left to manipulate. But while the inability of minorities to survive Survivor is worrisome, the small sample (eight people), tiny amount of footage we actually see, and myriad other possible factors for the bootings make it nearly impossible to assess what role, if any, racial prejudice plays. If a jury searched for evidence of racism on Survivor, they’d find circumstantial evidence but no bloody glove — and plenty of reasonable doubt. Next episode: It’s unclear whether the Nov. 29 episode is new or a re-cap of what’s happened so far, but in the next new episode, whenever it airs, an angry Lex tries to "smoke out" who voted against him, while Teresa and the other original Samburus try to swing a Boran to their side. Chris Wright, an admitted Survivor addict since Season 1, Episode 3, spends his days as a copy editor for Federal Computer Week in Falls Church, Va. He previously wrote about how the media turns crime stories into narratives. His take on Survivor will appear here each week.
Related Sites The Lowdown: Episode 7 Samburu developments: Brandon, surprisingly, is glad Lindsey is gone. Kelly wishes she could vote off Lex. Immunity challenge: The tribes are merged upon arriving at the challenge, which involves standing with your arm raised for as long as possible. Moving your arm sends a bucket of water down on you. Kelly is the first out, after some 10 minutes; Clarence and Teresa are the last two and, after six hours, play Rock, Paper, Scissors to determine who wins. Teresa is the victor, after wrapping Clarence’s stone with paper. Moto Maji developments: The merged tribe names itself after the Swahili for "Fire Water," but then no one can remember the name (Frank calls it "Moto Java"); Frank feels isolated socially and tries communicating with a nearby elephant (seems he’s caught Linda’s wacko bug), while his tribemates party and play "I Never"; Lex, wishing to be honest, tells Clarence he is getting voted off. This seems to annoy Kelly and Kim J. Tribal Council: Mr. Bean is dumped anyway, 8-2, with Teresa and Clarence voting for Lex. |
