You might remember that catchy little song from The Lego Movie called “Everything is Awesome!!!” I feel like the New York Times plays their own version in the newsroom and it’s titled, “Everything Is Racist!!!”

Here’s their latest attempt to take the joy out of every single thing they can: 

The Racial Bias Built Into Photography

Sarah Lewis explores the relationship between racism and the camera.

I mean, you almost don’t even need to read it to get the gist; you can tell just by the headline that white folks are going to be accused of doing something nefarious because that’s the narrative outlets like the NYT are constantly pushing these days. But now, according to the them, the simple act of trying to make a nice photo is racist. Sure. 

X/Twitter owner Elon Musk is sick of this stuff: 

The New Woke Times is truly unreadable pic.twitter.com/QlWeZyFijc

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 20, 2024

Not surprisingly, the article is written by a professor from Harvard University, an institution that seems to be hell-bent on destroying their centuries-old reputation lately. Her beef? Sometimes people with darker skin have to be lit differently for photographs or film than their lighter counterparts. She gets deeply triggered because a producer notices her jacket color will make lighting her tricky; perhaps she could get a different one?

How dare they?!

“We have a problem. Your jacket is lighter than your face,” the technician said from the back of the one-thousand-person amphitheater-style auditorium. “That’s going to be a problem for lighting.” She was handling the video recording and lighting for the event.

It was an odd comment that reverberated through the auditorium, a statement of the obvious that sounded like an accusation of wrongdoing. Another technician standing next to me stopped adjusting my microphone and jolted in place. The phrase hung in the air, and I laughed to resolve the tension in the room then offered back just the facts:

“Well, everything is lighter than my face. I’m black.”

She continues on at length, describing why this question was so deeply hurtful. What is so moronic about her tantrum is that everyone who sits for a portrait or stands in front of a movie camera needs to be aware of what they’re wearing and how it looks on film. For instance, wearing a bright white shirt can make it difficult to get the exposure right. If you’re in a video, avoid shirts that have small patterns that will strobe. Newscasters—successful ones anyway—are always aware of what colors look good on them, and some even hire consultants to find out their “color temperature.”

Here’s some headshot advice from "Backstage": 

The color of your outfit is super important when it comes to looking your best in your headshot. A good rule of thumb is to avoid any clothes that wash you out or blend with your skin tone.

• Lighter skin: Avoid white, yellow, light pink, and any pastel or soft colors. 
• Darker skin: Avoid brown, black, or colder blues such as navy.

Is that racist? Or maybe they're just trying to be helpful?

The author then goes into a boring history of film technology and how certain brands of film are better at capturing darker faces. All well and good—but it’s not about racism, it’s about advancement in the science. No photographer is trying to make a person look bad; that would obviously be detrimental to their careers and good ones will go to every length to make sure you look your best.

The Times isn’t the only outlet trying to push division: 

All mainstream media are truly unreadable. pic.twitter.com/0Mdb5TaqyN

— Dr. Simon Goddek (@goddeketal) May 20, 2024

The reality these days is that progressives and academics want to accomplish two things: 1) Make everything about race, and 2) take the joy out of every aspect of life.

Now the whole field of photography is racist. Well done, Times. 

I rag on the New York Times quite a bit, and in fact my first published RedState article banged them for gaslighting us on the rampant crime overtaking our cities. Some will say, who cares about them, they’re a shell of their former selves and we don’t care what they have to say. But the reason I and others criticize the mainstream corporate media is because we need to keep track of what we’re up against. We need to fight it, to belittle it, to expose it. When race-baiting garbage like this is printed in a major newspaper, it’s important to call them out. 

But now I need something to cheer me up: