Posted on 09/06/2006 12:50:13 PM PDT by gopwinsin04
'Survivor' Stirs Up Supremacists Web Posters Embrace Show's Racial Split By James Hibberd CBS's plan to racially segregate the tribes for the 13th season of "Survivor" has white-supremacist Web bulletin boards buzzing, prompting concern from the Southern Poverty Law Center civil rights group.
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"It has lit up the white-supremacist world," said Mark Potok, director of the Intelligence Report at the SPLC. "It's been a fairly remarkable reaction. [The format] plays into the hands of many people in this country who have racist feelings." The upcoming season of the 6-year-old CBS reality show has contestants separated by race into four groups: The African-American Tribe, the White Tribe, the Hispanic Tribe and the Asian-American Tribe. The tribes will stay segregated for about half the season.
Since the format was announced two weeks ago, the plan has been widely criticized as a racially inflammatory ratings stunt. Show creator Mark Burnett has said the format was a response to criticism that the reality program didn't include enough minorities.
People posting messages on white supremacist Web sites such as Stormfront.org and Vanguardnewsnetwork.com, are greeting the "Survivor" format with a mix of hope and suspicion: Some hail the idea as a way to foster racial pride among whites, but others fear Hollywood will portray whites unfavorably.
"This is a great idea," wrote poster "Drafli Hakon" on Stormfront, which claims 120,000 members. "This will get all those millions of couch potatoes who watch the show [rooting] for their own. Win, lose or draw, millions of whites will start to remember that they ARE part of a tribe. If the Whites win, they will feel pride. If they lose, they will feel resentment towards those who won. It's win-win for us."
Another poster, "Krom," agreed. "This is great and should be really interesting!" the poster wrote. "One benefit I see is that people will really see racial differences are real PLUS they will be able to root for their own people; a sense of racial solidarity. Good luck to the white team!"
Much of the reaction is tempered by fearful certainty that the show will portray whites in a negative light.
"The show will choose the weakest and most indecisive whites to be on the island, and the opposite for the other races (except the asians, maybe)," wrote one poster, "Kragen." "The show will also be carefully edited to fit their agenda ... to make people think whites are nothing without non-whites."
CBS declined to comment about the message boards. Mr. Burnett could not be reached for comment by press time.
Mr. Burnett has denied the show will inspire racism and has called critics "less than open-minded."
Mr. Potok, whose nonprofit group investigates racist organizations, said segregating players is an unhelpful way to address diversity issues. "I'm not sure if creating a mini-race war on TV is much of a solution to an affirmative-action problem," he said. "To some people, this is a chance to get up and cheer for your race. And that's not helpful at a time when race relations are doing poorly in America."
One poster on Stormfront noted that the new "Survivor" format might "double or triple [CBS's] ratings"
GM & Proctor/Gamble already backed out, I expect most of the other sponsors to do the same.
You can always count on the stormfront girls for a laugh.
Stirring up the haters again.
Where are the gays?
Stormfront, eh? Lousy racist cretins. Anything Stormfront members have to say, I'm automatically against.
I have a suggestion. Keep the format. Make one team a group of lardass Stormfronters and the other team a group of NFL football players. Make all the competitions physical ones.
Watch the sweat bead up on the Stormfronters foreheads as they try to lift a 50 lb. bag of sand. Buncha skinhead cretins!
This is only ONE race, the human one. Idiots. These groups portray people of European descent worse than this show probably will.
Paging through it, it paints a picture of the US as full of nazis.
Just about every page has a scary picture of someone snapping off "Sieg Heil" salutes, or spoiling for a fight on the Arizona border.
If you were an alien coming down to Earth, looking at that magazine you'd be completely amazed that the US is fighting a war against muzzies instead of against Israel.
I have been a survivor fan for many years, but I don't like the idea of this one.
I do have a suggestion for another survivor. I would pick members of the military. You could have 4 teams: army, navy, air force, marines. I would love that show.
Somewhat smart of them. Asia traditionally was and could be in the future the leader country over Europe, and as Europe wanes, these people can still cling onto their delusions as Asia waxes.
Well, since black-supremacists now outnumber white-supremacists in America by about five to one, are you going to tell us about their reactions?
I didn't think so...
The show doesn't go far enough. They should have one tribe of white Klansmen, one tribe of Al Qaeda terrorists, one tribe of ninja warriors, one tribe of Mexican drug runners and one tribe of inner-city black gang members. Mix in a surpise visit by a real tribe of islander headhunters.
Forgo the stupid little games for tribal supremacy and tell them only one tribe gets off the island alive. No matter who loses, we all win.
What's wrong with ninjas (they're simply martial artists). How about the jukooza (gaijin, do you know how to spell it properly?), the Japanese mafia.
That'll work.
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