posted November 26, 2013 05:22 AM            

Now, admittedly, it doesn't seem racist at first, right? When you think racism, you think hate towards a race, but racism is more than that. Racism is ignorance and appropriation as well, and not only that, racism is systematic and institutionalised.

When watching it, you see Katy Perry wearing Japanese-esque clothes while her backup dancers prance around in more costume that look like kimono. All of the aesthetic is there! It's supposed to be Japanese inspired. But, the show itself pays no respect to Japanese culture - hell, she even has people wearing the kimono costumes up and spinning around on wires. It uses all of the aesthetic with none of the content, it's just another pop show otherwise.

Can you see the racism yet? She is using a culture's aesthetics as props. You could picture it with anything, and this is easier to understand if you are a minority like myself. I am Native American, and I would be outraged if someone used costumes made to look like powwow regalia for a show then ditched it - like a prop.

This paints a problem with our society, especially since various websites have caught that this is a racist performance but audiences fail to see it. People do not think it is racist, and this is where it gets even worse: the systematic and institutionalised part. People are not accustomed to spotting racism that isn't blatant and aren't aware enough to see that racism isn't always violent or hateful. They cannot identify the problem, and that makes fighting a problem so much harder. In fact, people may and will try to resist - and have, saying that they think it was a beautiful show. Maybe it was! But she was ignorant in borrowing from another culture, and this is something you must learn to see.