Phil Vischer on Race
You would think that people who claim to have been falsely accused of racism would be careful and precise about leveling accusations of racism against others. It would seem to make sense to me, at least. Not so with the incredibly brave vegetable cartoonist, Phil Vischer.
But let’s back up and look at the “big idea” before we jump into that one. Phil Vischer has had a complicated career path to say the least. You can read a brief summary of his ups and downs with Veggie Tales here.
Ten years into making the beloved children’s vegetable-based cartoon series (consequently just after a lawsuit bankrupted the company for a second time and caused him to be terminated), he came to the realization that he had, in fact, not been teaching Christianity all along, but moralism. Many Christians applauded him, while some others were confused by his definition of moralism. A great article on that can be found here.
Nevertheless, he repented for the sins of the company he was newly no-longer profiting from and turned over a new leaf by creating a new product for eager Christian consumers that fit with his new mission of teaching “real Christianity.” Here is a great article/sales pitch, about his new endeavor.
Of course after this, once he was offered the job of voicing characters in an even less Christian version of Veggie Tales on Netflix, he took the job and seemed to have no problem that it had gone in a more "Ren and Stimpy" direction (his own words from his Podcast).
Unfortunately for Vischer, in 2018 some people started to express concerns that Veggie Tales was racist because minority voices were often used for villains while white voices were used as protagonists. I’ll let you google that one. Pick absolutely any article you want.
If you’ve watched Vischer’s moving video on racism, I’m sure you would expect a heartfelt lament of his own complicity in systemic injustice. But maybe you should listen to his podcast from A YEAR AGO before you make up your mind on that one.
Now, to get back to the main point. A friend asked me a couple days ago if I had seen Phil Vischer’s video. I had not, and I had no idea what it would be about, assuming it was probably cartoon vegetable related. When I saw the title “Race in America” I was certainly intrigued. I was even more intrigued when he jumped right in by posing a question about disparities in wealth between white and black households. This is definitely the kind of video I’m always interested in.
At first I thought that he must have done a great deal of research in this area, but I quickly realized that was not the case. The video, which could have been great had it accurately portrayed the issues to which he spoke, was instead a fast-paced diatribe of half truths and oversimplifications that totally distorted American history and certainly didn't move us any closer to peace and unity. Perhaps Vischer will help us understand these issues further by marketing to us another animated series.
I am not a proponent of white-washing history, but I am also not a proponent of this mess. Over the next few days I plan to break this video down into its component parts and show where Vischer is correct, where he is incorrect, and where he has made assertions without proof. If you are interested in truth, I encourage you to join me and research these topics for yourself as well.
I would also encourage you to listen to the video below, which was made by a black man who has lived through and studied these issues for decades, and who actually knows what he’s talking about.
