WHEN IS RACISM NOT RACISM?

This may be a little late of a post, as everyone already has said their point of view about the much talked about cover photo of actress Bela Padilla for FHM Philippine's March issue. Even CNN, Reuters, BBC, The Telegraph UK, and other news organizations around the globe has also had their own share of opinions about the said controversial magazine cover. 

The covers shows Bela Padilla wearing a skimpy pink bikini which perfectly contrasts her fair white skin, being surrounded by sexy gorgeous black female models. With this alone, I do not find anything wrong, but what sparked the racism controversy is the caption at the bottom of the cover which says"Bela Padilla: Stepping Out of the Shadows". 

*image courtesy of Google Images*

Is this racism? Or just another blown-up petty debate about artistic expression over color/race discrimination?

Here are just few of my humble opinions, as I try to balance out every possible points about the issue:

RACISM is such a sensitive issue. Though here in the country, we do not have a significant black and white community like in the US, we Filipinos still act and react as if we are highly affected by racism issues.

Personally, I do not have a problem with the cover photo. (read: Talking about the PHOTO alone) I do not see anything racially offensive about it. Let me just show you this sexy photo of supermodel Daria Werbowy entitled "Let's Get Lost", where she is surrounded by black models, shot by Mikael Jansson. 

*image courtesy of Google Images*

This photo was rather touted as artistic and high fashion, and not as racist and discriminating. I DO NOT FIND ANY DIFFERENCE from this photo with that of Bela's. It is very evident that the main focus of the photo is the "white" girl. She is the subject and she is the star. The black models are the supporting cast. They give the highlight needed for the main subject. Just like when you add on the perfect jewelries to your outfit to make your dress or clothes stand-out.

Now, having said that, this is where the"sensitivity" issue comes in. A lot may say that using the black models in the background (as props) is highly derogatory and discriminating. 

Now what if the photo was presented the other way around? A black model is front and center and surrounded by equally gorgeous white models? I bet it will be praised to being bold and brave and artistic. In reality, the equation is simple: 

A WHITE SURROUNDED BY BLACKS = RACIST

A BLACK SURROUNDED BY WHITES = PROGRESSIVE

As much as I do not want to say this, but I would like to believe the saying that "Black people can NEVER be racist".

Second point, now this one I have to agree that there has been a naive, if not insensitive move on the part of the editors of the magazine. Having a provocative photo used for cover, the editors should actually have chosen a less condescending title and caption. I do not believe that "Stepping out of the Shadows" is the best title they can come up with.

Though I would like to understand that the title is a representation of the gist of the entire feature story about the actress, you could not really deny the fact that the title will be associated first with the cover photo before they can say that it talks about the story inside the magazine.

I agree, that the use of the word "shadows" while someone is pictured being surrounded by dark-skinned people, is a bit of inconsiderate. But then again, in an artistic point of view, I understand the use of the word. It is a metaphor.

To cut the my opinions short, I would like to say that the photo itself is not racist, though the caption was not intentionally racist at all, the combination of the two is a bit too provocative. Nonetheless, I DO NOT FIND THE ENTIRE COVER RACIST or in any way projects a message about RACIAL INFERIORITY.

I still find the photo as brilliant, both in conception and execution.

And knowing the very opinionated  Filipino public, we all react way too much on certain things. Even on issues of racism between black and whites where we Filipinos are not even directly affected, we always tend to cause too much uproar.

I guess we Filipinos should take our democracy of expressing our opinions into reasonable level. What I see about this whole racism issue is a negative effect of the Filipino crab mentality and over-sensitive views about everything. We have this sort of attitude that we always want to blow everything out of proportions.

Because of the fiasco, FHM Philippines has released an apology to the public and decided to replace the cover and title of their March issue into this: 

*image courtesy of Google Images*

And it makes me cringe. The first photo is waaaaay better. 

People have different opinions and views about things. Obviously, what is racist to one may be not to others. 

But when is Racism really Racism? And when is it not?