"In the midst of our heated dialogue about decency, CBS's Grammy broadcast is providing us a lesson in what constitutes offensiveness. Problem is, American viewers are barely noticing.

After Jack Black dramatically announced, "the natives were getting restless!" over a Native American chant, the lights went up, showing a smoking tepee from which Dre emerged dressed in green buckskin and feathers to perform "Hey Ya!" Dancers wearing fringed skirts, bare-midriff tops and single-feathered headbands, high stepping and pumping their fists in the air, joined him. Soon after the USC Trojan Marching Band paraded forth wearing war paint.

For all of CBS's assurances about a five-minute delay, this was one wardrobe malfunction that slid right through. All of us were monitoring the falling boulder situation so closely that the avalanche of racial insensitivity didn't even make us blink. Stank you smelly much, indeed."

Get the Story:
Melanie McFarland: Indians decry Grammy act as racist (The Seattle Post-Intelligencer 2/12)

Relevant Links:
Native American Cultural Center - http://www.nativecc.com
GRAMMYs - http://www.grammy.com

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