Giving Scarlet Adams A Safe Space To Apologise For Racism Comes At The Expense Of Blak Queers
The absence of accountability or consequence shows us that we matter less in this space than white queer people do.
“Has anyone ever done anything in drag they regret?” asked Melbourne drag queen Art Simone in the latest episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under.
The answer should be something light-hearted, like how Electra Shock responds with “My first three runways” followed with laughter from herself and the other queens in the room. Unfortunately the answer we get to this question is racism — which shouldn’t be a surprise in Australia.
Perth queen Scarlet Adams answered this question with ‘blackface’.
When the cast for the first season of Drag Race Down Under was announced, it came to light that Scarlet Adams had performed numerous times in blackface and appropriated several cultures in drag. Images circulated with her face painted white as a geisha, dressed in a Native American headdress, in blackface with an afro wig and hoop earrings in two different costumes, and blackface again with an Aboriginal flag T-shirt and blacked out teeth, said to be taken on Invasion Day.
Before we got to this episode, race was already a highly discussed topic in regards to the show. Of the ten-queen cast only two were people of colour. In the very first episode, we farewelled one of them.
The first elimination was Jojo Zaho, a proud Biripi and Worimi queen and the first Aboriginal Australian to ever grace the stage of Drag Race. What made her departure so heartbreaking for fans was that both her runway looks integrated her culture, with her ‘Home’ themed look featuring a skirt that when pulled up read ‘ALWAYS WAS, ALWAYS WILL BE’. When Jojo was disheartened by the judges’ critiques, the only queen comforting her was Coco Jumbo, a Fijian queen, the only other person of colour this season.
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Having queer Blak representation is so important and something so many viewers were excited for, only for that to be stripped in the first hour.
Coco’s run unfortunately didn’t last much longer. Coco was the third queen told to sashay away, a week after she sent Art Simone packing in the lip-sync showdown, while in a look Coco said “screams that I am a proud POC loving myself sick”.
The episode following Coco’s elimination, Art returned to the competition. Usually, returning queens must earn their spot back in the competition by duelling other eliminated queens. But Art was given automatic re-entry, meaning the only two queens that had been eliminated were now queens of colour. Drag Race Down Under became the first show in the franchise to have an all white top 7, and then also became the franchise’s first all white top 8 in the same episode.
While the elimination of the queens of colour could be a mere coincidence to some viewers, it meant that the discussions of blackface and racism were happening amongst a white group, with the voices of those harmed and impacted by racism effectively silenced. A few queens stood up against Scarlett’s excuses for racism, with Etcetera Etcetera stating “I’ve never looked at something like blackface and even thought that could be an honest mistake”, but the conversation was devoid of voices that should have been present.
Instead of Scarlet facing any form of consequence for her actions, she was instead given an “opportunity” from Ru to “address” the situation. Scarlet made an apology, explaining she was young and that she was sorry to Ru and anyone she hurt in her actions. Ru explained there would be no cancellation of Scarlet and that instead it would be “a lesson in humility and accountability” and that Ru prays “All of us can learn and grow from our mistakes”. The last mention of Scarlet in the episode is that she is a “gorgeous kid but, still a lot to learn”.
But what exactly is there to learn? Scarlet’s acts took place between 2012-2018. Blackface and minstrelsy hadn’t been okay for decades by this point. Scarlet blames being a teenager on the reason as to why these incidents occurred and that she was desperate for laughs. BIPOC teenagers and teenagers of all the cultures she insulted know this isn’t OK — wilful ignorance isn’t an excuse. Scarlett knew she would get the reactions she wanted through shock acts like blackface.
Somehow on the global stage of RuPaul’s Drag Race there was no form of accountability. She faced no consequences, her excuses were accepted, and at the end of the day she still gets to compete in a competition so many can only dream of. During the peak of the Black Lives Matter movement last year, the Drag Race Instagram posted that they condemn racism in all forms, would share anti-racist resources, and are taking steps to be anti-racist specifically to Black queens. It’s disappointing to see that just a year later, these words don’t count.
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It’s hard to tell if this is because the mainstream focus on BLM has died out or because racism towards BIPOC queens like Coco and Jojo is accepted over here. Unfortunately, queer spaces are all too often incredibly alienating for Black and Indigenous people of colour. While a lot of Queer culture is owed to black people, racism runs rampant in these spaces.
I only got into Drag Race recently. I was shown it by a Blak queer friend and instantly fell in love with Tayce on Drag Race UK. I thanked this friend for showing me the show and explained that I never really had any hobbies or interests that included my sexuality. Her including me in this space and being about to see Jojo and Coco on my screen made me feel accepted and seen.
The week after we said this, the only eliminated queens were the BIPOC women. Looking back on that conversation now breaks my heart, because this space that we love let us down. The absence of accountability or consequence shows us that we matter less in this space than white queer people do.
In the very first episode of the season Jojo says “I never really had to worry about getting to the fact that I’m gay because the first thing they see was the colour of my skin”. Scarlet’s racism, the lack of accountability, and the excusing of it reinforces this idea that we are Black first, and queer second. That no matter how queer we are, people see race first and that will always separate and distance us from fellow queers in the most harmful and damaging ways.
Sure, Drag Race and RuPaul provided a safe space for Scarlet (and others at home) to learn and grow, but that safe space comes at the detriment to BIPOC queer people. What was a safe space for white queers who are racist and engage in racist acts is a dangerous space for BIPOC to be in while continuously exposed to racism and the harsh stereotypes, thoughts and perceptions that acts like Scarlet’s blackface reinforce.
As Drag Race socials point out — “as representatives of reality TV” they exist in a space that is real. This is the sad reality that BIPOC queer people face around the world and especially in Australia — racism faces little consequence. It’s disappointing that ‘growth’ and ‘accountability’ in this space has to come via the hurt of black queer people.
Despite her own advice, RuPaul fucked it up.
Bizzi Lavelle is a Wakka Wakka woman living on Quandamooka country. She is an educator, performer and writer who specialises in sociology, gender and sexuality and race based works.