The Arthur Meme Is Causing A Whole Mess Of Controversy Because Arthur Was "White Washed"
This is such a perfect internet story, and one that’s gotten so big it’s even got the Boston Globe writing about it
What I believe happened here is Seerat Sohi made a comment that was largely in jest, but it went viral and a few people took it seriously so they started up with their “Boston is racist!!!” stuff, which then caused even more people to get offended at the accusation and fight back, and around and around we go.
I hate to be called a racist as much as the next non-racist but, objectively speaking, the idea that Boston is so racist we even make our cartoon aardvarks have less melanin is fucking funny. Like every issue that’s ever existed, people with super passionate views about this Arthur meme are goddamn lunatics. If you actually think a Boston station intentionally made a cartoon whiter, you’re a moron, and if you’re offended that people are making a joke about Boston intentionally making a cartoon whiter, you’re a moron. Everyone’s a moron, that’s the lesson as it always is.
However, one thing that sucks about the Boston racist stereotype is that it’s not one we can just lean into. Take Philly fans for example, they’re all drunk and violent psychopaths. That’s a fun one. If you’re from Philly and get mad at that stereotype rather than saying something like, “Yeah, fuck Santa. That dude shows up at the Linc and I’ll try to fucking kill him too, just like my grandpappy did.” Raiders fans are the same with the violence and can just joke that if you don’t want to get your ass kicked don’t show up at the Blackhole in order to defuse that attempted burn. Little more difficult for us Bostonians to pull that move off. “Yeah, we hate black people! I don’t even give a fuck!” doesn’t have the same appeal as a joke about hurting Santa. Makes it a tad difficult for us to have fun with this stereotype.