Nowadays, racism comes with a wink. It provokes the same kind of uncomfortable laughter as a roomful of pasty graphic designers kicking around the N-word like a hackey sack.

We’ve been seeing the New Cool Racism popping up here and there for about five years now, but 2006 appears to be the year when it got safe enough for corporate money start buying in. We almost wish these guys would have started being racist back when it was actually edgy. Now we’ve got two reasons to hate on them: Not only are they ignorant hypocrites, they’re also late to the party.

Two examples:

1. Adidas’ new Barry McGee shoe, which comes with a bucktoothed Chinese guy stitched on the tongue. (The fact that McGee is half Asian might matter of this were a work of art and not a sneaker design.)

2. Cartoon Network’s new “Minoriteam,” a group of superheroes who use their intensely stereotyped powers to defeat evil. We’ve got the mustachioed and sombreroed “El Jefe,” with his Leafblower 3000, Dr. Wang, the human calculator, etc. etc. etc.

Sure, you can try to pass this off the New Cool Racism a sly commentary on just how far we’ve come. But multibillion dollar corporations need to think twice before jumping on the bandwagon. If you can’t get the racism out of your own boardroom, don’t expect us to laugh when you stick it on your product.

Turner Broadcasting’s “Minoriteam”

http://p093.ezboard.com/fniketalkfrm25.showMessageRange?topicID=933.topic&start=161&stop=180″ rel=”external” title=”Is Ray Fong A Racist Icon? Has Barry McGee Sold Out? Let the Sneaker Geek Messageboard Debate Begin!”>Is Ray Fong A Racist Icon? Has Barry McGee Sold Out? Let the Sneaker Geek Messageboard Debate Begin!