S27.E03: Where My Dogs At?

[aradia22]

I don't know if they had planned on anyone still eating that meat but my God, could they have rubbed it in the dirt any faster? That is food. An animal died for you to have that carcass. Treat it with a little more respect.

 

Texas, I'm pretty sure God doesn't care if you win TAR. Also, I don't know why but I still think they're gay.

 

I don't find Justin that obnoxious. I think he also gets bonus points for speaking in Spanish. He seems relatively good-natured at this point.

 

YES on ChacAttack finally putting some doctor skills to use. It's about damn time after all the doctor teams we've had. Boo on them not reading the clue.

 

The limping dog was an adorable mascot Tanner and Josh did not deserve.

[aradia22]

Bored dogs make the best reaction shots.

 

The cheerleaders not reading the clue was painful though. More so than the doctors. I hope both teams are more focused from here on out.

 

The doctors are going to be exhausted if they keep going on these unnecessary detours and tiring themselves out.

[RCharter]

I don't know if they had planned on anyone still eating that meat but my God, could they have rubbed it in the dirt any faster? That is food. An animal died for you to have that carcass. Treat it with a little more respect.

 

Texas, I'm pretty sure God doesn't care if you win TAR. Also, I don't know why but I still think they're gay.

 

I sort of agree.  I get suspicious anytime a guy goes overboard to prove he is straight.  When they were talking about how they were going to flirt with girls and how many girls they normally get, and how girls love them so much and how girls mistake one for the other, and how they steal girls from each other, it was just a little bit much.  

 

A bridge too far!

 

However, I do despise Justin, so by default I'm tricked into rooting for Texas.  I don't like them, but I hate them less than Justin.

 

Although I realize that mileage varies on the subject of Justin.

[TheOriginalDonald]

I'm keeping up hope that the focus will shift to some of the other teams as the field gets smaller.  I think it's natural for the producers to pick the strongest personalities early to keep viewers hooked, and with any luck it's not a sign that it's going to be the most disliked two teams in the final plus a sacrificial lamb.  I really hope it doesn't end up that way, unless there's some cosmic twist out of the blue, like the way Maya and Amy steamrolled the Dentists at the very end a couple of years ago.

 

At any rate, I thought they did a good job on the leg -- clearly things were set up in a way to hurt teams which were sloppy, and I liked the amount of on-foot navigation in the race.

 

I was also struck with the contrast to the Peru legs in the last season -- it really drove home how different Argentina and Peru are, and shows off some of the diversity of South America.

Want to know WHEN a season goes bad? When you see the ending and......you wish the villians won #SourTasteInMyMOuth

I don't know if they had planned on anyone still eating that meat but my God, could they have rubbed it in the dirt any faster? That is food. An animal died for you to have that carcass. Treat it with a little more respect.

You've never had warthog rectum I take it #AnthonyBourdainNoReservations

That's also what I remember. Wikipedia says that TAR premiered in the same timeslot as NBC's Lost

I hope ABC doesn't find out 

I don't see Justin being similar to Boston Rob at all. BRob was often scheming about the other teams, like making deals with bus drivers not to open the door most were hoping to disembark from, or strategizing about how to get them to take penalties. Justin is 100% focused on his own race, and I have not seen him think about what the other teams are doing or try to mess with them at all. He did want to make an alliance and not share information outside it, but not sharing info with the other teams, especially the frontrunner, I think is just sensible, and he hasn't been shown to be obsessing about them or trying that kind of thing again. He's just running his own race. I find him a little annoying sometimes, but he owns up to his own mistakes, and he clearly loves all the tasks and does not complain or blame anyone else for his problems, and he is all about his own performance, not about liking or disliking the other teams. I respect that. And for all his mistakes, his team is actually doing really well. RBob and Amber did well, too, but they relied on their fame to get local help, they obsessed about other teams instead of running their own race, and they seemed to be in it for their own glory more than because of any actual joy in the race itself. Justin maybe rough around the edges, but I get the sense that he actually is totally sincere in his excitement about the experience for its own sake.

I would think #EvilPaps would be more of a rival for #TMZ

[Tara Ariano]

In case you missed it, here's the Previously.TV post on the episode!

 

Watch The Amazing Racers Whip, Watch Them Neigh Neigh
Two of Argentina's most famous exports -- meat and horses -- take center stage, while another team pays the price for being too helpful.

[Lingo]

OK yeah, Justin is annoying! I agree with the comparison between him and the Afghanimals -- just too loud and handsy with the poor locals who just want their check. The biggest difference between them is that the Afghanimals acted kinda gross with the women (both locals and other teams). Justin's not much like that (though he did grab that dancer to dance with her), though if that's just because he's with his fiancee, who's to say.

 

I wonder who his favorite team was. I was originally going to guess the "Hippies", though the Afghanimals are a better comparison IMO.

Edited October 12, 2015 by Lingo

[blackwing]

Once again, an episode that seemingly focused 33% of the time on Justin.  Justin is incredibly irritating.  I hated the way he would call out "Gauuuuuuchooooo!!!" like he was auditioning in a play or something.  He apparently has some command of Spanish, but one of my pet peeves is when someone addresses a Hispanic-looking stranger as "mi amigo".  They're NOT your "amigo".  You don't even know them.  Calling them your "amigo" isn't going to make the guy help you any faster or better.  I have a friend that does this to every waiter and busboy whenever we go out to eat, and I don't know what it is, but I find it terribly condescending.  It's like "yes, I can speak Spanish, and therefore you must not deposit sputum into my glass of agua, por favor".

 

I thoroughly get the Justin hate, which is why I am so supporting Team Texas.  Justin is annoying to watch for a few minutes on TV.  I can't imagine having to run the entire race with somebody like him.

 

Diana speaks!  When the pickups pulled up to the meat place, Justin takes off.  She says "Well, OK, I guess I'll just help myself out."  That was actually funny.

 

Still don't care for Chack Attack.  Yes, I get it.  They are doctors.  They don't need to keep reminding us that they are doctors.  And unlike other teams which clearly are getting prompted in their confessionals ("as the wives of professional football players...."), these two twits are making their "we are doctors" comments spontaneously during tasks.  We had the female saying "they didn't teach us how to do puzzles like this in medical school" in Rio, the male saying "16 years of education and I'm picking up trash on the street", and now this week with the male saying "OH, this is just like a I'm-going-to-impress-you-with-medical-jargon suture".  ASSES, both of them.  Nat and Kat never lorded it in anybody's faces that they were doctors.  And apart from his intro where he was seen with some huge piece of medical equipment, I would have never known that Blair was a doctor because he never mentioned it.

 

I'm not too torn up about the dancers.  Yes, they seem like nice guys, but unfortunately they were just bad racers.  Sorry he is living in his car, but I guess I'm still annoyed with David and Mary, the poor hapless Kentucky coalminer couple that were given two chances and certainly did not deserve to be on an All Star season, and the "we so PAWR" Bopper and Mark, they of "I guess God doesn't want me to win a million dollars".  

Edited October 12, 2015 by blackwing

[Netfoot]

It's like "yes, I can speak Spanish, and therefore you must not deposit sputum into my glass of agua, por favor".  

 

You are a sick puppy!

[Way Wes Jr]

I'm not too torn up about the dancers.  Yes, they seem like nice guys, but unfortunately they were just bad racers.  Sorry he is living in his car, but I guess I'm still annoyed with David and Mary, the poor hapless Kentucky coalminer couple that were given two chances and certainly did not deserve to be on an All Star season, and the "we so PAWR" Bopper and Mark, they of "I guess God doesn't want me to win a million dollars".  

 

I think calling them "bad racers," is going a little overboard.  They did one thing incredibly well - while they were stuck waiting for their turn at the helicopter ride, they took notes, which could have helped for the task, or for things afterwards.  They had horrendous taxi luck, (which, I mentioned in last weeks ep. thread, I would not discount their melanin count having an effect on,) and the one taxi they showed this episode almost looked like it was trying to take off away from them!

 

I don't know Spanish, so I'm not going to try and research the bus schedules, but it seemed to me that there were the two buses that had close departure times, and that the twenty minute delay behind the track stars meant that Ernest and Jin had to wait much longer for the third bus.

[justawatcher]

I agree. It was a delay caused by being people of color from the last leg. they couldn't overcome it. The shows also never showed just how far behind they were.

[RCharter]

Once again, an episode that seemingly focused 33% of the time on Justin.  Justin is incredibly irritating.  I hated the way he would call out "Gauuuuuuchooooo!!!" like he was auditioning in a play or something.  He apparently has some command of Spanish, but one of my pet peeves is when someone addresses a Hispanic-looking stranger as "mi amigo".  They're NOT your "amigo".  You don't even know them.  Calling them your "amigo" isn't going to make the guy help you any faster or better.  I have a friend that does this to every waiter and busboy whenever we go out to eat, and I don't know what it is, but I find it terribly condescending.  It's like "yes, I can speak Spanish, and therefore you must not deposit sputum into my glass of agua, por favor".

 

I thoroughly get the Justin hate, which is why I am so supporting Team Texas.  Justin is annoying to watch for a few minutes on TV.  I can't imagine having to run the entire race with somebody like him.

 

Agree -- I don't even like Texas...but the enemy of my enemy and all that jazz.

 

And I absolutely agree about Justin being condescending.  I appreciate that people learn different languages to compete in the race, but the way he approaches people like they are just going to be bowled over by his "charm" is ridiculous.  I was almost laughing every time he tried to talk to the guy at the meat place like they were friends and the guy was like "nope."

 

And yes about him talking to people like they are his friends.  Its so patronizing it makes me shudder on the inside.  You can be nice and decent to people without having to behave the way he does.

[cooksdelight]

**Posts that were solely about previous seasons have been moved to the thread we have for those discussions, in case you can't find something you posted here.

[Pepper Mostly]

Well, shit.  Looks like this stupid feud between Justin and team Texas is going to go on all season, which is especially annoying because I don't like either of these teams.  Justin needs to cram it with walnuts, and Tanner & Josh confirmed at the Detour what some other posters suspected last week; that they were arrogantly taking it as a given that they'll win the whole thing and that other teams are going to be behind all the time.  Doubly irritating because it's usually true for the alpha male teams.

and they are shocked, SHOCKED, that anyone else has the audacity to try to win. The nerve! Guess God didn't let the rest of the racers in on the plan. Feh.

[Way Wes Jr]

On Ernest and Jin's exit interview with Rob Cesternino over at RHaP, they confirmed that there was a scheduled two hour gap between the second and third buses.  And it was a half an hour late on top of that.  There was no way they were going to make up that deficit.  And, they too believe that skin color had an effect upon their ability to catch taxi's.  (Specifically mentioning cabs that would pass them by, and pick a fare up down the street.)

[RCharter]

On Ernest and Jin's exit interview with Rob Cesternino over at RHaP, they confirmed that there was a scheduled two hour gap between the second and third buses.  And it was a half an hour late on top of that.  There was no way they were going to make up that deficit.  And, they too believe that skin color had an effect upon their ability to catch taxi's.  (Specifically mentioning cabs that would pass them by, and pick a fare up down the street.)

man, that sucks about the cabs and its an unfair disadvantage, but I don't know how TAR could that out.  Maybe contract with a particular cab company that any of their drivers that see a racer must pick them up.  I imagine that there aren't a ton of different big cab companies in those parts of the world.  And the drivers would know that it was an amazing racer because they would have a camera crew with them.

 

However, there was no way they were really going to overcome a 2.5 hour delay.

[Stinamaia]

I will miss them. They gave their best for the cameras, but it seemed genuine and entertained me.

[Camera One]

I wanted to like the Texans but they are fixated on hating Justin and that's so unattractive.  I hate feuds.  Granted, Justin was acting abrasive and should know better if he watched every episode three times.

 

I still like the Cheerleaders though I don't know how long they can last.  

 

I was disappointed the Dancers never caught up.  Were they just behind from last leg?  But the track stars had no problem, and they were at the very back of the pack last week.

 

This week was kind of dull.  The wagon task was way out there, I guess.  Why else would the Doctors have disappeared for so long just going back for the whips?  Unless they got lost again?  

[innocuouspuff]

Google turns up a number of black travelers discussing how constant the anti-black racism they experienced in Argentina was. (As well as discussions of Argentinian 19th century history that includes the word 'genocide'.) At the point where we have not one but two teams getting eliminated on taxi discrimination, I'd be fine with the Race course just staying out of Argentina. I don't see what else they could realistically do about it, and it may be real life but so are lot of things I'd rather not have affect my tv game shows.

Poor Ernest and Jin, they were sweet and I'll miss them.

[RCharter]

Google turns up a number of black travelers discussing how constant the anti-black racism they experienced in Argentina was. (As well as discussions of Argentinian 19th century history that includes the word 'genocide'.) At the point where we have not one but two teams getting eliminated on taxi discrimination, I'd be fine with the Race course just staying out of Argentina. I don't see what else they could realistically do about it, and it may be real life but so are lot of things I'd rather not have affect my tv game shows.

Poor Ernest and Jin, they were sweet and I'll miss them.

Or do that leg of that leg of the race where everything is close enough to walk to.  Or get them alternative means of transportation like a bike or use a sponsors vehicles to drive.  But having them dependent on taxi's in countries where its likely teams will be at a disadvantage solely based on race doesn't seem right at all.

[Netfoot]

I don't for one moment believe that race played a part in anyone's taxi fortune, good or ill.

[green]

Google turns up a number of black travelers discussing how constant the anti-black racism they experienced in Argentina was. (As well as discussions of Argentinian 19th century history that includes the word 'genocide'.) At the point where we have not one but two teams getting eliminated on taxi discrimination, I'd be fine with the Race course just staying out of Argentina. I don't see what else they could realistically do about it, and it may be real life but so are lot of things I'd rather not have affect my tv game shows.

 

 

But the whole point of The Amazing Race is to race around a very real world, warts and all.  Not a high school track all nice and level.  Year after year, season after season many of the female teams have been at various degrees of disadvantage in more traditionally male cultures.  Heck some of them have even been groped and fondled.  You can't race around the world and only go to some idealized Utopian version of it.  It, alas, doesn't exist.  I want to see the whole world as much as realistic security concerns allow and see the bad and the ugly as well as the tourist bureau good.

 

In other words, I don't want an artificially level playing field.  I want real life.  The "real" bit in the word reality.  And hey maybe males and lighter skinned people might actually learn a thing or two about how much harder it is in some places to be darker skinned or female when these very real moments crop up.  It's the everyday things like riding a crowded train or hailing a cab that sometimes resonate and stay with us more over the years than the latest tragic headlines on the news.

 

And conversly we often see the wonderful good in everyday people in these various countries.  You almost have to have some bad to appreciate the good in contrast to it.

Edited October 16, 2015 by green

[innocuouspuff]

In other words, I don't want an artificially level playing field. I want real life. The "real" bit in the word reality. And hey maybe males and lighter skinned people might actually learn a thing or two about how much harder it is in some places to be darker skinned or female when these very real moments crop up.

I don't even necessarily disagree with you - well, except that I don't think the white teams learned anything. Even Rob Cesternino was rushing to shrug and change the sublect in E&J's interview, lol. It's just not fun for me to watch. I think I keep mentioning I'm a relatively new fan, and this is probably a good example of why I didn't get into it originally.

I would say that I think there's a difference between uncomfortable cultural moments, even ones that affect the Race, and two teams having absolutely no shot at not getting eliminated once the leg involved catching cabs in Argentina. That seems equally artificial, to me. Might as well have a task that required lifting things with your penis, or some other non-universal body part.

But in general, my position is that if I want to see people get screwed by systemic racism or ableism, I can just leave the house. It's not news to me, so I don't need to watch it on tv.

[Rinaldo]

I tried to resist, but...

Might as well have a task that required lifting things with your penis

I would watch the hell out of that task.

[RCharter]

I don't for one moment believe that race played a part in anyone's taxi fortune, good or ill.

 

Why wouldn't you believe that?  Do you just generally believe taxi drivers never pass up black people simply because they are black?  Have you been a taxi driver?

 

But the whole point of The Amazing Race is to race around a very real world, warts and all.  Not a high school track all nice and level.  Year after year, season after season many of the female teams have been at various degrees of disadvantage in more traditionally male cultures.  Heck some of them have even been groped and fondled.  You can't race around the world and only go to some idealized Utopian version of it.  It, alas, doesn't exist.  I want to see the whole world as much as realistic security concerns allow and see the bad and the ugly as well as the tourist bureau good.

 

In other words, I don't want an artificially level playing field.  I want real life.  The "real" bit in the word reality.  And hey maybe males and lighter skinned people might actually learn a thing or two about how much harder it is in some places to be darker skinned or female when these very real moments crop up.  It's the everyday things like riding a crowded train or hailing a cab that sometimes resonate and stay with us more over the years than the latest tragic headlines on the news.

 

And conversly we often see the wonderful good in everyday people in these various countries.  You almost have to have some bad to appreciate the good in contrast to it.

Personally, I don't like the idea of watching a game where someone has a disadvantage based on race.  I want to see teams get ahead or fall behind on their own merit, not because taxi drivers prefer to pick up white fares and its a cultural thing that can't be overcome.  Especially when it would be so easy to simply configure a leg and leave the cab drivers out of it.  I mean what if the task involved a club where an AA always had to be at the back of the line?  It would simply be something based on culture and the realities of the world, but I wouldn't enjoy watching that either.  I'm not looking for TAR to teach people that the world can be a mean and judgmental place, I'm looking to watch an enjoyable TV show about people who sink or swim using their own wits.

 

But to have a show where you're automatically going to get an advantage for being white takes some of the fun out of it.

 

 

I would say that I think there's a difference between uncomfortable cultural moments, even ones that affect the Race, and two teams having absolutely no shot at not getting eliminated once the leg involved catching cabs in Argentina. That seems equally artificial, to me. Might as well have a task that required lifting things with your penis, or some other non-universal body part.

But in general, my position is that if I want to see people get screwed by systemic racism or ableism, I can just leave the house. It's not news to me, so I don't need to watch it on tv.

Exactly.

[Delwyn]

I didn't even consider the ethnic issue as a factor and don't care to, because when the Track Ladies were trying to hail a taxi at the end I turned to my mom and said "Maybe cabbies don't want anything to do with them because they are running up and down the street screaming like maniacs and one of them isn't wearing any shoes" and also all three teams kept asking for "cathedrale a pollo" which I think is "cathedral of chicken". I wouldn't take one of those fares if I went to high school with them, never mind the film crew tagging along.

Edited October 17, 2015 by Delwyn

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Re: the limping dog - my friend's dog does that little limp with one of his back legs. The vet said there's nothing wrong with him though. He doesn't do it 24/7 either. Sometimes he does it for only a few steps (it's actually kind of cute when he does it only once or twice because it looks like he just wanted to take a little hop).

 

It drives me crazy when the contestants invoke God (both Team Texas and Denise did it in this episode). I mean, do these people seriously think that God is sitting up there on a cloud watching TAR (as opposed to, say, some more serious events happening in the world) just waiting for one of them to pray to him before he zaps the challenge judge to tell them that they did an adequate job at the task?

[Netfoot]

Do you just generally believe taxi drivers never pass up black people simply because they are black?

 

I believe that if a taxi driver passes up a fare, it may just be for reasons other than the colour of their skin.

 

In any case, I'm done with this topic.  Too much race and not enough raaccceeee!

[etagloh]

If you want to come up with a list of other reasons why black people might have trouble getting cabs, that's your privilege. But there are multiple countries (Japan is another one) where African-American racers have fared less than well on taxi-heavy legs, and the editing has left enough odd gaps to allow us our suspicions about why they lost time. We can say that TAR happens in the real world, not a controlled island environment, but there are plenty of decisions that TPTB can and do make over what's exposed of a country's good or bad sides during a leg. After a big-city leg, this was an 'ethnic folkways and feral dogs' leg.

Anyway, I hate 'dead team walking' legs where you have to go back to the previous leg to work out where the elimination was decided, and this was one of the most blatant, because you knew those long-distance buses had a 2-3 hour stagger. There's still duelling entitlement (superfan / alphamale) at the front of the pack, and messiness further down.

Edited October 19, 2015 by etagloh

[RCharter]

If you want to come up with a list of other reasons why black people might have trouble getting cabs, that's your privilege. But there are multiple countries (Japan is another one) where African-American racers have fared less than well on taxi-heavy legs, and the editing has left enough odd gaps to allow us our suspicions about why they lost time. We can say that TAR happens in the real world, not a controlled island environment, but there are plenty of decisions that TPTB can and do make over what's exposed of a country's good or bad sides during a leg. After a big-city leg, this was an 'ethnic folkways and feral dogs' leg.

Anyway, I hate 'dead team walking' legs where you have to go back to the previous leg to work out where the elimination was decided, and this was one of the most blatant, because you knew those long-distance buses had a 2-3 hour stagger. There's still duelling entitlement (superfan / alphamale) at the front of the pack, and messiness further down.

I just don't understand why, in countries where there may be an issue with AA getting a taxi, why they just don't make the leg more dependent on the racers biking, driving or walking.  Last year the teams biked a relatively long distance somewhere in Europe (Amsterdam?) to get to their location.  The racers also had vehicles in different countries.  I believe Americans can rent cars and drive in Argentina, so it shouldn't have been a problem to get whatever sponsor (Ford?) to get their vehicles out there.  I guess I might understand if you had absolutely no other options or you didn't know, but the producers should know about the realities of different areas of the world and work to provide a playing field where racers are rewarded for their intelligence and effort, not rewarded because they aren't black.

[Special K]

If you want to come up with a list of other reasons why black people might have trouble getting cabs, that's your privilege. But there are multiple countries (Japan is another one) where African-American racers have fared less than well on taxi-heavy legs, and the editing has left enough odd gaps to allow us our suspicions about why they lost time.

 

The difficulty African Americans have hailing cabs is such a big issue in NYC and has been for decades.  So, yeah, it's not just Argentina or Japan. 

[Guest]

I don't think they can even out all the bumps.  They send Chinese-speaking teams to China, women to male-centric middle eastern countries, etc.  It sucks if racism slowed them down but that's the race, too.  A lot of times pretty women get more help.  It's all about using what you have and suffering the breaks when you don't have what a country favors.  I'm sure there are countries like Zambia where being black might've been a plus for them.  

[RCharter]

I don't think they can even out all the bumps.  They send Chinese-speaking teams to China, women to male-centric middle eastern countries, etc.  It sucks if racism slowed them down but that's the race, too.  A lot of times pretty women get more help.  It's all about using what you have and suffering the breaks when you don't have what a country favors.  I'm sure there are countries like Zambia where being black might've been a plus for them.  

I'm not sure why anyone would assume that being black in Zambia would automatically be a plus in getting a cab.  Just because one group of people may be racist doesn't automatically mean everyone is.  Perhaps there are parts of the world where people really don't have a problem with people of a different race.  In fact, if it hadn't been specifically brought up by racers and by other travelers in the region I wouldn't have drawn the conclusion about Argentina.

 

The race can't even out all the bumps, and I don't think anyone is asking them to.  However, where they can the show should work to provide an equal playing field for the contestants.  As much as they can, the show should try to encourage an environment where teams sink or swim based on their own talent, skill and wits.  Getting help because you're pretty is not really the same as being at a marked disadvantage for being black.  

 

The show that I would want to watch would be about teams using their skills, wit and intelligence to succeed in the race.  Not be put at a disadvantage because they came out of the womb the wrong color.  To me, if you're at an advantage for race, that means you haven't particularly used your wit, skill or intelligence to succeed -- you just happened to come out the right color to gain an advantage.  I would even say that flirting is somewhat of a skill more so than just not being black.

 

And it really doesn't make much sense to me when its so easy to even the playing field.  Why not just use bikes, or have the racers drive (both of which require skill), or even have the racers use available public transportation.

[Kromm]

It's a country made of 50% dogs!

Clearly it's a country that has no infrastructure around spaying and neutering.

But we DO actually get to hear the phrase "where my dogs at" by the end... (the answer probably being "everywhere")

[Guest]

I'm not sure why anyone would assume that being black in Zambia would automatically be a plus in getting a cab.  

I didn't assume anything automatically means anything.  I said "might".  It was a hypothetical situation used as an example.  

 

But people tend to favor people who are more like them.  It's human nature and the basis of racism and most other -isms.  Racism in Argentina is due to the small number of blacks. It's probably safe to assume there is less racism against blacks in African countries.  

 

There is racism of some sort in most countries.  How would the race decide which countries can't have cabs in the race or would they have to use no cabs anywhere?  

[RCharter]

I didn't assume anything automatically means anything.  I said "might".  It was a hypothetical situation used as an example.  

 

But people tend to favor people who are more like them.  It's human nature and the basis of racism and most other -isms.  Racism in Argentina is due to the small number of blacks. It's probably safe to assume there is less racism against blacks in African countries.  

 

There is racism of some sort in most countries.  How would the race decide which countries can't have cabs in the race or would they have to use no cabs anywhere?  

You said "I'm sure there are countries like Zambia where being black might've been a plus for them."  To me, this says you're certain that a country like Zambia affords black racers some advantage.  I can't understand this thinking at all.

 

My problem isn't in people preferring someone to another.  My problem is when the racial disfavor results in shunning a racer strictly because of race.  Historically Argentina had a large black population due to the Spanish slave trade.  In fact, today, studies show that at least 10% of the Argentinan population has some African ancestry.  So this idea that the only reason Argentinan people are racist is because there aren't enough blacks doesn't particularly hold water.  Nor do I think its logical to assume that in every country with a heterogeneous population you will find such a preference for people of their own race that other races are shunned.  Scotland's population is less than 1% black, though many AA travelers report not experiencing any racism there.  London's population is 10% black and I haven't heard of one black traveler having an issue with racism there.  So, the idea that a small black population would naturally lead to racism, because the people aren't familiar enough with other races doesn't seem to hold much water.  And it really doesn't hold much water in this day and age of worldwide media and the internet.  In fact there might be a reason for greater institutional racism in African countries given the history of apartheid.

 

 There may simply be less racism amongst blacks in Africa period, because according to your logic we should be hearing stories of white people talking about how tough it is to get a cab in Africa.  And I've never heard that story -- perhaps you have some different data. 

 

All it takes is a little bit of research to determine which areas of the world have such a high level of racism that it would result in a taxi driver shunning a fare from a black person.  Heck, people on this site did basic Google searches and found the information.  That, combined with field observations by racers and producers, should be enough to give them a basic outline.  And if you really want to do a leg of the race in that country use an alternate means of transportation, like bicycles, public transportation or racers driving themselves.  You could even do it where you have a predetermined number of taxi's waiting outside of a designated area that have already been contracted.

Edited October 20, 2015 by RCharter

[Whimsy]

I've deleted some posts.  This is not the place to have a back-and-forth discussion between two people.  Take it to PM if you feel you must, use the "ignore" feature if you don't want to see comments from that person but DO NOT ENGAGE on the threads!

 

Additionally, you guys are talking about racism in different countries, which is pure speculation.  Nothing on the show indicated there was any such thing going on.  STAY ON TOPIC and move on. 

 

As a warning- us TAR mods will be deleting any posts about this topic for the rest of the season UNLESS it is 100% clearly stated in the context of the show (which I know will absolutely not happen).

 

Thanks and happy posting.

[lexington11]

I can't stand mamma.  I feel sorry for her son.  Did she intentionally name him after the man who murdered MLK or is she just that stupid??  Big screw up on the penalty.

 

Either that or she named him after fellow Southerner Jimmy Carter, who is about as smart as she is.

Edited November 11, 2015 by lexington11

[dgpolo]

PaperTree, on 09 Oct 2015 - 9:56 PM, said:

   

I can't stand mamma.  I feel sorry for her son.  Did she intentionally name him after the man who murdered MLK or is she just that stupid??  Big screw up on the penalty.

 

    

Either that or she named him after fellow Southerner Jimmy Carter, who is about as smart as she is.

 

It was already established in one of these threads that James Earl is named for family. No stupidity involved.