krisis

Kia ora and welcome to my review and power rankings for the third episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under Season 2 – A Bottomless Brunch.

This is a paired comedy challenge meant to simulate hosting a drag brunch. Clearly it was a case of false advertising, as there was nary a breakfast or lunch in sight, but plenty of bottoms!

In my pre-season ranking, I mentioned that Hanna Conda had perpetuated racist tropes in the past, including some performances appropriating cultures in insensitive ways. That came to light in this episode in a workroom conversation, which confirmed my understanding that Hannah had already begun to take action to grow and make reparations before been cast on the show.

I’ve seen a lot of fans calling Hannah “the racist one” and comparing her to Scarlet Adams from Season 1, and I want to speak to that for a moment.

No one can remove the harm they’ve done through their racist actions, whether they are overt and intentional or passive and the result of unconscious bias. However, they can take action to reduce and remove those behaviors, and they can apply themselves to being educated about other cultures without asking Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) to do all of the emotional labor on their behalf.

I understand that fellow white/Pākehā fans who are strident in their labelling of Hannah as “the racist one” feel they are doing their part to confront bigotry. However, in this instance I think you and I both need to consider stepping back from our label-makers to observe Hannah’s behaviors and to listen to how her community is receiving her (both in general, and in specific when it comes to Kween Kong on this episode).

Even if you have done years of anti-racism work yourself, if you are white/Pākehā it’s not for you to accept or decline Hannah’s apologies or approve or reject her reparative behaviors. And, if you haven’t done any anti-racism work, Hannah’s LinkTree offers several good starting points from an Australian perspective.

Just as I’m telling you not to accept or decline Hannah’s apologies, it’s not down to me to say she has done “enough” on her anti-racist journey to be crowned as a representative of the Drag Race franchise.

I think it’s important that we’re all aware that this is a part of her history. For some BIPOC fans and community members, that history might be too hurtful to allow them to appreciate Hannah’s art. We need to leave space for them to have that feeling and to take cues from it, just as we should make space and take cues from BIPOC folks who are welcoming her anti-racist education.

Kween Kong raises a good point here – that in Samoan, there is no word for “sorry.” True apologies come in the form of actions, not words.

Finally, having now lived in New Zealand for half a decade, I can tell you that racism presents itself differently in Australia and New Zealand than in North America. I have seen overt, vile, casual racism in NZ that I’m familiar with from the states. I’ve also seen insidious, baked-in cultural bias stemming from a much-more-recent history of white colonialism in NZ.

No racism is “better” or “worse” than any other racism, but trying to apply an American understanding of racist actions or reparations to an Australian or Kiwi isn’t always going to be effective. That’s especially true with issues related to Indigenous and Aboriginal peoples. In learning about NZ’s Treaty of Waitangi and the modern Waitangi Tribunal, I realized I had no framework as an American to apply to the issue. I had to listen carefully to expand my own understanding of race and racism.

I think if I can boil all of that down to one statement – both for Hannah and for us as fans – it is “listen and learn.”  We should all be quick to confront bigotry when we spot it and to hold people accountable for it. The process of disassembling that bigotry and changing behaviors and thoughts in the longer term is something much more complex – and much harder to label.

We all need room to be able to grow and improve as kinder, more-accepting human beings, but we can’t make people accept us if they’ve been harmed by our past behavior.

Last week, Hannah Conda sat atop my Episode Two rankings. Has she maintained her top spot despite another week without a win? And, has Kween Kong bounced back in the standings after a strong showing in this episode? Read on to find out – and let me know if you agree (or disagree) in the comments below.

If you want to watch RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under Season 2 outside of Australia, New Zealand, and Canada you can sign up for WowPresentsPlus to watch the many worldwide Drag Race franchises for $4.99 a month or $50 a year. (Note that if you’re in the home country of a franchise you will need to use a VPN to “visit” another country to see that content.)

Readers, start your engines… and may the best Down Under drag queen win!

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