This Week in Racism
One Thing That’s Not Fake About Pro Wrestling: The Racism
It’s an embarrassment of riches in our weekly roundup of the world’s most preventable disease!
Update 6/7/22: Level has a new home. You can read this article and other new articles by visiting LEVELMAN.com.
Death and taxes used to be the only two certainties in life. But no matter how much progress it feels like we’re making sometimes, the sad fact is you can probably slide racism into that list. Are we in a moment of uprising that feels like it has the potential to create real, systemic change? Yes. Do people and organizations still show their ass on a daily basis? Oh, most definitely. And to keep tabs on all that ass-showing, we created a weekly racism surveillance machine. If you already get our newsletter, Minority Report, you’ve likely seen this — but now the rest of the internet can get a taste.
🗑 WWE puts its own racist history in a sleeper hold, gets slammed for it
In the ever-expanding sea of streaming platforms, NBCUniversal’s Peacock has managed to amass a decent library of exclusives. It’s now the only place you can find The Office, as well as [checks notes] Two and a Half Men and the Matrix movies — and last week it added the WWE, so wrestling fans now have a place to get their kayfabe fix. There’s just one thing: The league has a truly shameful history when it comes to race, and some of its most offensive moments seem to have been magically left behind in the move to Peacock. Moments like “Rowdy” Roddy Piper going half-blackface, or Vince McMahon going full… whatever this is. So what, that shit just never happened? For a league that as recently as 2019 released racially questionable (at best) merchandise, and has given Hulk “I’d rather have her marry an 8-foot-tall n****r” Hogan hosting duties at the upcoming Wrestlemania, this doesn’t exactly inspire confidence. All Elite Wrestling, anyone? (New York Times)