Thoughts on The Ghetto Tarot?

[Laura Borealis]

The name's in poor taste, yeah. I get that she wants to be confrontational with the name, to generate discussion about the topic, but the using the word ghetto that way is a slap in the face to many people. For someone who wants to appear compassionate, she's being remarkably insensitive.

 

[gregory]

The name's in poor taste, yeah. I get that she wants to be confrontational with the name, to generate discussion about the topic, but the using the word ghetto that way is a slap in the face to many people. For someone who wants to appear compassionate, she's being remarkably insensitive.

I don't think she realises what it means to English/US speakers.

 

[Laura Borealis]

That's a valid point, but even allowing for differences in cultural backgrounds, she says she's reclaiming a "slanderous, derogatory term" (her words) so she knows it's offensive to some people.

My sense on reclaiming words is like sevenstars said at the beginning of the thread. You don't come in as an outsider and "reclaim" someone's words for them. You only get to do that if you're a member of that group. I believe this artist has the best of intentions, but she's going about it the wrong way.

 

[jolie_amethyst]

My sense on reclaiming words is like sevenstars said at the beginning of the thread. You don't come in as an outsider and "reclaim" someone's words for them. You only get to do that if you're a member of that group. I believe this artist has the best of intentions, but she's going about it the wrong way.

This exactly. Her heart may be in the right place, but that doesn't change the fact that her approach to the problem is ill conceived.

 

[tarotbear]

I was missing the 6th Cup in the little girl's hand; I was wondering why there are 'Two' 5 of Cups cards ...

 

[UrbanBramble]

Off the bat I have a couple of questions.

Do the people in the photograph live in the ghetto? Is that the word they use to describe where they live?

Why do I ask this? Because the people that I know in the States who live in the ghetto claim it. Literally. It's a word that describes living in a certain part of the city, generally not just a poor neighborhood but specifically in the projects. So if the word is referring to a place, and the people living there use that word and gave the artist permission to use it, then what right do we have to judge it?

If it's only the Belgian artist who uses the word, or an international group of artists, then we have a problem. Why? Because people who don't live in the ghetto don't have a right to name a deck after it without permission, because it's offensive. Which I think is what folks here are getting at.

As far as I can tell the artist is using the word completely out of context... to describe international poverty... which is inappropriate.

I'm also wondering whose profiting off this project. Is any money going back to the communities the photos were taken in? Are the subjects getting paid? My bets are on no. If it's just the artist and her organization that are befitting, that's even more troubling then the name. That's exploitation, plain and simple.

I am REALLY curious to see what M. Squee's kids have to say.

 

[Zephyros]

I actually don't think the name is that bad. This doesn't seem to be a deck for mere art purposes or even for use, but to make a statement, to draw attention to the poverty in Haiti. That really can't be portrayed aesthetically. Even "capturing the humanity" of the subjects could be construed as trying to beautify reality. Of course ghetto has negative connotations, that's point. Even calling the deck something like the Favela Tarot would be missing the point, because the word "favela" isn't as gut-wrenching to English-speakers as ghetto is.

I think the name is important, and poignant, and drives the point home. They're not just beautiful people, they're beautiful poor people. I don't see any racism here, and the discomfort I feel is the good kind, the kind that comes from interacting with thought-provoking, arresting art.

 

[Madame Squee]

Please read this blog post. I seems like it addresses every question in this thread, including whether or not participants have been or will be compensated for their work:

https://mellissaelucia.wordpress.com/2015/04/17/cultural-appropriation-and-the-ghetto-tarot/

Also, please be sure to watch the video "Don't Cash Crop On My Cornrows" linked at the bottom of the page, which ends with the question, "What would America be like if we loved black people as much as black culture?"

I will be back later this weekend after I've had a chance to catch up with my kids.

In the meantime, I agree with closrapexa.

I actually don't think the name is that bad. This doesn't seem to be a deck for mere art purposes or even for use, but to make a statement, to draw attention to the poverty in Haiti. That really can't be portrayed aesthetically. Even "capturing the humanity" of the subjects could be construed as trying to beautify reality. Of course ghetto has negative connotations, that's point. Even calling the deck something like the Favela Tarot would be missing the point, because the word "favela" isn't as gut-wrenching to English-speakers as ghetto is.

I think the name is important, and poignant, and drives the point home. They're not just beautiful people, they're beautiful poor people. I don't see any racism here, and the discomfort I feel is the good kind, the kind that comes from interacting with thought-provoking, arresting art.

 

[seven stars]

That is so racist to say that ghettos are for minorities. I'm white, from an upper middle class background (boarding school for a while even, some private schools, bachelor's degree, no drug or alcohol issues, and a high IQ) but I'm totally in the ghetto (not a Haitian one though) and have been here for a while....

From dictionary.com here's what is listed as the definition of the word Ghetto:

1. a section of a city, especially a thickly populated slum area, inhabited predominantly by members of an ethnic or other minority group, often as a result of social or economic restrictions, pressures, or hardships.

2.(formerly, in most European countries) a section of a city in which all Jews were required to live.

3. a section predominantly inhabited by Jews.

4.any mode of living, working, etc., that results from stereotyping or biased treatment:
job ghettos for women; ghettos for the elderly.

5. pertaining to or characteristic of life in a ghetto or the people who live there:
ghetto culture.

6.Slang: Often Disparaging and Offensive. noting something that is considered to be unrefined, low-class, cheap, or inferior.

_________

So, there's really nothing racist at all about this thread - as in, it being racist because I think it's putting the people of Haiti in a bad light to say this is the Ghetto tarot, rather than that this is the Tarot of the People of Haiti or something. I have no idea what environment you're living in if you're calling it a "ghetto" & it's not inhabited by an ethnic or minority group. Maybe it's an area of trashy white people? or something? I don't know - it really doesn't matter to this particular thread & I don't mean this comment to be confrontational, but I do think sometimes people think someone is "racist" for saying things that we're actually not racist about. Which, would include me saying I think it's derogatory to call this deck of Haitian people the Ghetto Tarot AS WELL AS Smeets for naming it the Ghetto Tarot to begin with. I am pretty positive she didn't "mean" it in a bad way. But, me, I could say the "N" word and not mean it in a bad way and it would Still be ill-received.

 

[SarahJoy]

The title is so full of nopes for me I just don't even know to begin. White folks from Belguim cannot just name a Haiti-themed Tarot the Ghetto Tarot. Nope nope nope. So many nopes.