'Survivor: Island of the Idols' Season 39: Jamal faces flak from fans who claim a durag is not a black thing but a hair thing
'Survivor: Island of the Idols' season 39 returned on Wednesday night, and it was a nailbiting episode compared to the previous weeks with the Vokai tribe 2.0 being four Vokai tribe members and four former Lairo tribe members.
Last week we saw Karishma open up about her traditions and the struggle one might face while being in an arranged marriage. This is not something we get to see on a regular basis when it comes to reality TV shows. This week as the series returned we witnessed something along the same lines, but not entirely the same situation.
Things began to go out of hand when Jamal started showing his African drumming skills and was teaching Kellee to dance. While everything looks like rainbows and sunshine for the Vokai tribe at that point of time, matters suddenly went out of hand. Jack asked Jamal to take the pot out of the fire and instead of telling him to take it out using his "buff" he said the word "durag". Jamal got offended by the choice of Jack's words, and said this word has been used by white people to stereotype black men as thugs, murderers, and dead- beat dads. Jamal went on to add that this also leads to them visualizing black men with ample tattoos, wife beaters, and durags.
Jamal doesn't get all hyped up, and even though he is clearly hurt by the word, he calmly not only explains his issue with the word to Jack but also to the audience back home. While one would have assumed that with his explanation fans and viewers back home would have understood his stance about it, but it's sad to see that no one did.
Taking to social media post the episode, fans shared their views stating they don't see why Jamal got offended by that. Some stated that they heard about the word from their black friends, and never knew it was a racist term.
"When did a do rag become a "durag" and then become racist? WTF #Survivor," wrote a fan on Twitter. Adding to that another said, "Honestly, I was surprised as well, but then I just thought, maybe there's a gender difference here. #Durag isn't really a term that's used in reference to us. Maybe black men should weigh in (the few who watch this show? LOL!) #survivor."
"Yes! Durags are very common in Nascar for under helmets and bikers wear them, same reason, and Hulk Hogan called his head-wrap a durag all through the 80s! I have a big surprise for you... white and black folks share some cultural stuff because we are all Americans! #survivor," wrote a fan.
While another shared, "#Survivor jamal I guess you have no clue a durag has been used by hairdressers for decades to protect the hair during chemical process, and after the hair was set to protect the hairdo! A fing scarf is also a durag. It is NOT A BLACK thing, it is a hair thing!"
"That durag conversation was so staged. Durag are worn by all races. Tired of people looking for something to pick about. #Survivor," shared a fan. Adding to that another said, "Really #survivor? Really Jamal? You lower yourselves to turn a statement about a #durag into a micro aggression and lesson in #WhitePrivilege. You should both be ashamed. What lunacy."
'Survivor: Island of the Idols' airs every Wednesday only on CBS. Check your local listings for more information.