Robert Crumb's drawings of black people are, by todays standards very racist and are very degrading representations of them. But, sadly, I think that was the standard of the time. I feel very sorry for them to have had to put up with stuff like that for years.
Many have said that Crumb isn't a racist in the sense that he hates black people and thinks they have no right to live- which I agree with, he doesn't seem to be a racist in that sense. What he did do was really take the piss out of black people, by cruel politically incorrect humour, the kind of humour that comics and cartoons tend to, or used to, employ. I'm not saying this is right, because it isn't, but that is what comics/cartoons were like. If you check out some children's novels from the time they are filled with far worse racial stereotypes- e.g always the villain or an uneducated caretaker.
Crumb's work often showed how badly black people were treated in the white-run society, and while he did that he unfortunetly made the black characters look stupid. This may be just reflecting that black people weren't given any opportunities back then. That's the truly disgusting part of all this.
Crumb is, in my opinion an important cultural figure, by his other work- Keep On Truckin', Fritz The Cat etc. While I can really understand how offensive those images look and that you have a very very good point to make it's probably best to take them with a pinch of salt. I would certainly hope that the racial images were meant to be ironic.
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kpbaca
20 years ago
"Robert Crumb's drawings of black people are, by todays standards very racist and are very degrading representations of them. But, sadly, I think that was the standard of the time. I feel very sorry for them to have had to put up with stuff like that for years." <---Your self-righteous sympathy is just as insulting as the stereotypical illustrations that bewilder you.
You clearly have little capacity to think outside the box. Do you really understand the meanings of satire and irony? The depiction of white children eating "N***er Hearts" is OBVIOUSLY a poignant cultural satire. The lack of imagination and insight from some of the posters on this thread is shocking and disturbing. Crumbs work is a direct expression of his ego, tempered by a sophisticated rationalism, which finds its roots in the political and social backdrop of the civil rights and anti-war movements of the 60's.
You are supposing that Crumb was unaware that his depictions were insulting. You giving him a break for being a product of a racist generation is superficial and misguided.
"Crumb is, in my opinion an important cultural figure, by his other work- Keep On Truckin', Fritz The Cat etc" <------You gotta be kidding, these are both examples of his most benign work.
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MilfordCubicle
20 years ago
What's wrong with you people, whether or not it was the social climate at the time, shouldn't matter. He was creating art, he was drawing the way he thought, maybe he was a racist, maybe not. He drew Blacks as he saw them, and wanted others to see them. I think that seperation of races is important, not as a measure of degredation, but because we are different, he was doing a caricature of blacks, which is only skin deep. Why does there have to be an uproar whenever someone points out a difference? He was just pissing people off, thats what juvenalian satarists do. Give the guy a break.
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antvolley
10 years ago
Crumb has drawn more "positive", non racist images of black people than he EVER did bigoted ones, trust me.
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bron-tay
11 years ago
>>I think that was the standard of the time.
Then you don't know the first thing about Crumb and his depictions of Black people. Here's the first clue: he was not a conformist.
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Please put some dashes above your sig line so I won't think it's part of your dumb post.
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