The Italian and Chinese Laundry Commercials are RACIST and WRONG! Why? CONTEXT!

Recently a Chinese laundry ad went viral, making it's rounds on social media as viral videos do. Of course it's no normal laundry ad - in the ad, an Asian woman puts a laundry detergent pod into a black man's mouth and throws him in a washing machine. After screaming for a few seconds, he comes out Asian [almost white actually, but we'll get into that later]. The insinuation, of course, is that he was cleaned or made better by the laundry detergent. The ad angered many people - and likely humored many as well - and as it spread many people referenced a similar video from Italy in which a white man was turned into a black man.

The Chinese ad is for Qiaobi-brand laundry detergent and the Italian ad is for Coloreria Italiana. They are more similar than you'd think, but probably not for the reasons you think. And NEITHER is funny.

Let's start here and let's be CLEAR ... both the Italian and Chinese commercials are RACIST and WRONG. Y'all have to stop using the Italian commercial to justify the Chinese one. CONTEXT and HISTORY make them different and we should ALL understand why by now.

Certainly some people see the Italian one as ok while seeing the Chinese one as racist. While I think BOTH are horrible, excusing the Italian one and condemning the Chinese one - for the obvious reasons - is not a double standard. [Although, arguably, it is a double standard for other reasons, which I'll explain later]. It's NOT the same. Why?

Context.

Anti-blackness is RAMPANT in Asia and among Asian Americans here in America. Consumption of American culture, which is filled with stereotypical and anti-black images, is heavy is in Asia. Consumption and appropriation of black culture is HEAVY in Asia and yet just like in America so is anti-blackness. People who are mixed with black in Asia face harsh judgment and criticism for not being "pure." Black people around the world still face harsh realities because of anti-blackness. So no - it's not ok.

Context.

The worst part is that the anti-blackness among Asians is often cultivated without full context, so explaining why it's wrong is even more difficult. That doesn't excuse them though. They consume the culture and history that they want to. The allusion to whiter skin being better and cleaner than black skin is clear. Whitewashing.

Context.

Still, the Italian commercial is a problem. But for reasons people seem to be overlooking. 

The Italian commercial fetishizes and stereotypes black men. The abs, the white woman lusting over a black man. Think about all those stereotypes about black men and sexuality and aggression - mandingo, black men as rapists, SIZE - you can come up with the rest. REAL HISTORY, REAL CONSEQUENCES. Many people died because of these stereotypes. Much of this comes from America, but it has been disseminated worldwide. Keep in mind, racism and anti-blackness are STRONG in Italy. Did we forget about the bananas thrown at Italy's first black minister Cecile Kyenge?

And then there's the rap music in the background. Come on. It's ridiculous.

Context.

They're BOTH stupid and wrong. Yes, black men obviously agreed to do the commercials. That doesn't make it ok. It's all rooted in white supremacy - Asians have issues with colorism, whitewashing of culture, etc. as well. Notice that the Asians in that commercial are very fair. Asians with more European features are considered more attractive by western standards, which many people - including Asians - have adopted.

And before somebody says it - the Italian commercial isn't anti-white and there is no racism against white people. White people have too much power for that commercial to affect them collectively. That is very important in distinguishing why in these commercials, "cleaning" a black man to a lighter color is NOT the same as changing a white man to a darker color. They simply don't hold the same weight. While the Italian commercial is tasteless and tacky -  it's not racist against white people. On the contrary, it actually perpetuates anti-black stereotypes, even in making the black man desireable. Why? You got it ...

Context.