Patrick Cox

Patrick Cox

Patrick Cox runs The World's language desk. He reports and edits stories about the globalization of English, the bilingual brain, translation technology and more. He also hosts The World's podcast on language, The World in Words.

Is It Racist When a White Guy Mimics Jamaican Patois?

February 1, 2013 ⋅ Post a comment
VW Super Bowl ad

VW Super Bowl ad

In some white American circles, it is completely socially acceptable to “do a Jamaican accent.” Reggae and marijuana tend to bring this on; so does a trip to Montego Bay. And there aren’t other black accents that white Americans can fearlessly mimic. There are certainly far fewer socially acceptable circumstances under which they could put on a black American accent for comic effect.

Now, on the eve of the Super Bowl, there is criticism that a Volkswagen ad due to be broadcast during the big game is racist because it features a white guy speaking Jamaican patois. This appears to be a spoof of a spoof: the lilywhite Minnesota office setting (complete with token Asian man) appears to be playing off NBC’s The Office, which has had characters faking Jamaican accents.

But Jamaicans seem happy that the ad is giving their nation and culture some free publicity. And they also seem to understand that in the ad, the joke is on the deeply unhip white office guys.

Also in the podcast: will a 15-year-old Icelandic girl get to officially use the name her parents gave her? A court in Reykjavik has decided.

Discussion

3 comments for “Is It Racist When a White Guy Mimics Jamaican Patois?”

  • aknman49

    Jamaica is the arguably the western world’s most homophobic society.  When it comes to a damaged public image, methinks they have more than white-boy Minnesotans mimicking their accent to worry about. 

  • M4_Uncensored

    I DOUBT that ANY Jamaicans are bothered by the VW ad. The thing that somehow has escaped recognition is the fact that Jamaicans are from diverse racial origins, hence the motto “out of many one people”. There are White, Chinese, Black and Indian Jamaicans who speak patois. A white man speaking patois in NO BIG SHOCKER to anyone who truly knows anything about Jamaican culture. Barbara Lippert’s comments on the Today show about the VW ad further highlighted ignorance about Jamaica/the Caribbean as she made a point of referring to the accent as a “black accent”. There is nothing black about a Jamaican accent. For that matter an American accent cannot be used to specify race.

    Personally I think we have FAR more serious issues to worry about……… Recently the CNN ORC polls reported that Americans are more divided now than ever before and a significant percentage of Americans reported that they “hope the current president fails”. How intelligent is that? Regardless of our political persuasion “hoping” that our president fails is “hoping our country fails”. I am saddened to learn that there are persons so blinded by their hatred that they are willing to go as far as to “cut off their nose to spite their face” as the saying goes…… but hey who am I and what do I know.

  • http://twitter.com/jamaicanize jamaicanize

    No problem mon. You’d be surprise to know there are a lot of whites and asians living in Jamaica. I try to teach Jamaican at http://www.jamaicanize.com