NBC News To Black Women: It Sucks To Be You
by guest contributor AverageBro, originally published at AverageBro.com
Well, here we go again. Every 3-4 months, the mainstream media tries to focus on a topic of interest to black people, and as opposed to objective coverage, they resort to flipping to page 94 in The Book of Manufactured Controversy.
This phenomenon is something I’ve blogged about in the past, especially such “issues” as black women dating outside their races, and the disparity between news coverage of missing black women and whites. BTW, how ironic is it that after shaking down and illegally arresting all those Arubans, the very cats we knew had abducted Natalee Holloway all along turned out to be responsible? Maybe ironic isn’t the right word.
Anyways, NBC News With Brian Williams (how clever is that title?) is running a five part series this week called African-American Women: Where They Stand, and after watching the first night, I can already tell you it’s the piece of oversensationalized crap you’d expect it to be.
Here’s a blurb from NBC News about the series:
Throughout the week of November 26, “NBC News With Brian Williams” will take a look at the issues facing African-American women across our nation in a new series “African-American Women: Where They Stand.” The series will cover a wide-range of issues from their role in the ‘08 Presidential race, to the increased health-risks that they need to be concerned about.
Monday’s installment will discuss African-American women’s progress in the education field. Nearly two-thirds of African-American undergraduates are women. At black colleges, the ratio of women to men is 7 to 1. And that is leading to a disparity in the number of African-American women who go on to own their own businesses. Rehema Ellis will talk to educators, students and businesswomen about why this disparity exists.
The problem with such coverage is the medium itself. Trying to objectively present the dynamics of such a topic in 3-4 minute vignettes is a surefire recipe for failure. If NBC was so concerned about “the state of black women”, maybe they’d dedicate a few episodes of Dateline. Instead, these short segments, cleverly dropped at the end of each show (to make you watch the whole episode of course) go headfirst into misleading statistics that serve no real purpose other than further discrediting black men and magnifying a rift between genders that exists in every race.
Case in point, last night’s segment lead off by showing a black single mom who owns her own PR firm. No problem here, entrepreneurship is positive stuff. But then the show starts throwing up a series of stats, namely the 7-1 ratio of black women to men at HBCU’s and that black women account for 63% of all black college students. Never mind the fact that the academic gender gap is hardly unique to blacks, it’s a universal problem that is just now emerging as one of the biggest epidemics in public education. And of course, the series reaches deep into The Book of Negro Excuses, and blames hip hop for the high dropout rates of black males. Typical. They droned on with more and more stats about how black women control a majority of the $850B of annual spending power in the black community, and how the rate of business ownership among black women is growing at a higher rate than that of black men.
If the purpose of the series is to focus on black women, why even bother mentioning how well they are performing relative to black men? Hell, why even bother mentioning black men at all?
What’s really the point?
Don’t misunderstand me, I’m obviously not downing black women here, but I think when you can only highlight their successes by contrasting them with the relative failures of black men, there’s obviously an ulterior motive at work.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: relationships are hard. Period. But by continually bombaring ourselves with stories like this, the manufactured DL brother phenomenon, or Love Lust and Lies style destructive chatter, we’re only making the issue worse. Black people operate in generalizations just as much (more?) as any other race, yet I can’t say I see this level of devisive rhetoric directed towards anyone else.
It’s like The Willie Lynch Letter personified. Never mind the fact that The Willie Lynch Letter is nothing more than an internet hoax, it’s still pretty appalling.
Note to Black America: learn, trust, and love each other. Turn this crap off, because NBC News clearly cares about keeping us apart more than they do about where Black Women Stand.
The ladies at WAOD are ripping this series a new one, but if you’re watching this series and have a different take, you know where to voice your two cents.
African-American Women: Where They Stand Series on NBC [with video]
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of 
Wendi Muse wrote:
i agree with a lot of what you say here regarding the nbc special. i think that the mainstream media tends to oversimplify issues to have an easier piece to market. they need newsbites. quick clips. bottom of the screen ticker tape. they don’t want real analysis because they know americans won’t take the time to pay attention or care. even when the general public saw that there would be a special on black women, they probably tuned out and treated the segments like a commercial break. but maybe i am too cynical.
what i see happening is the creation of the black woman (and as i noted in my first piece at the coup magazine, black immigrants as well) as a type of model minority, which is highly problematic due to its divisive results. if we are all of a sudden too awesome, too powerful, too intelligent, and exponentially more so than our male counterparts, what does that mean when we have moments of weakness, need support, require a smaller work load or need a break? whether we are relegated to the bottom or forced to be on top, the positioning nevertheless renders us untouchable. you don’t want to touch us or you simply can’t.
i also am annoyed with how polar the segments have been. everything is black & white. it’s an issue that author sam cacas and i were discussing on my personal blog. the interracial dating segments seemed to focus solely on IRs between black women and white men, and in a romanticized way at that, as if white men are perfect-the cure-all for all of our relationship problems. it ignores the fact that black women date people besides blacks and whites, and not all of us see white men as the knights the news segments seems to paint them as. they, like us, are individuals and shouldn’t be considered one identical infallable unit.
overall, i was really disappointed and would rather they have passed on the special than done it all if they were going to present in such a manner.
Posted 28 Nov 2007 at 12:42 pm ¶
Carmen Van Kerckhove wrote:
I’m also struck by the name of the series: “African-American Women: Where THEY Stand” (emphasis mine). It very clearly puts black women in the position of “the other.” Makes me wonder how black women who work for NBC News feel about it.
Posted 28 Nov 2007 at 12:56 pm ¶
Vgirl wrote:
I think what strikes me most is the way in which this series of reports sets “black women” up (or the image being constructed of us) as traitors to our race. The report presents black women as succeeding in the professional world and showing up more frequently in college classrooms. Both developments are linked to dating white men, a practice often fraught with numerous historical implications. The fear of interracial relationships, at least as far as many women of color have been concerned historically, stems from a history of sexual abuse perpetrated by white men against women of color and not from fear of being labeled a “race traitor”. From the other side of the color line, the historical fear of race-mixing held by many whites in America’s past (and at times in her present) is older than the nation itself and finds roots at contact in colonial times. However, instead of acknowledging any of these contexts, the video on black women dating white men presents black women as rejecting black men in favor of white men once they achive economic success. This line of reasoning quite eerily smacks of mid 20th century segregationalist rhetoric that treats economic justice and educational opportunity as synonyms with interracial sex.
In the end, many of the developments reported on are credited to individual choice. While one factor in the recent successes of black women is personal drive, what role does institutional racism have in creating an environment where black men can’t achieve economic success at a comparable rate? Should we be shocked at the reality of interracial relationships or more upset that the women interviewed continually reiterate that black men lack the access to capital and economic success that some black women achieved?
But, perhaps AvarageBro is right to ask why black men are included in the report at all. However, even if we focus on the way black women are portrayed we see the same faulty dismissal of how racism influences expereinces. One might think that those interviewed achieved their success without any significant barriers. But, if we’re going to be honest, how is that even remotely possible? While I agree with Wendi Muse that these videos are meant to conform to a certain format prevalent in news stories, is it really that hard to point to the various forms of racism that have shaped the experience of African Americans, and other peoples of color, when looking at “where they stand”? Is it really that mentally taxing to realize that we all stand on the shoulders of an incredibly racist past that shaped the racist institutions we must all live with and under today?
Posted 28 Nov 2007 at 2:01 pm ¶
hadji wrote:
it’s pretty sad, yet typical of mainstream cultural arrogance. With NBC, as with most if not all networks, you have 95% of their programming dedicated to entertaining and informing whites and non-black mainstream american aesthetics, perspectives and interests. Just look at the shows, how they’re cast, the storylines, what constitutes “news”, etc. Besides Oprah, Tyra, Shonda Rhimes’ Grey’s Anatomy (aka Beige Anatomy) Black women are virtually non-existent.
Now NBC in its infinite wisdom decides to cover Black Women? Like they were so interest in “them” before.
And where are all the so-called feminists complaining about this ridiculousness? Bet if this had been a show about “Women” (i.e. White women”) there’s no doubt in my mind that Camille Paglia, reps from Ms. Magazine, Naomi Wolf and all the rest would’ve been out in force today.
But it’s just black women, so “whatever”.
Posted 28 Nov 2007 at 4:34 pm ¶
Gregory A. Butler wrote:
Whenever the “higher education gap” between men and women is mentioned (either among Blacks or among the US population as a whole), one important fact is left out.
The reality that men make more money than women, thanks to sex discrimination.
And once you bring race into the mix, the pay gap gets even deeper.
To give an extreme example, on average, a White male high school dropout makes more than a Black woman with a BA.
So, this means that women have to go to college to make the same income a man who didn’t go to college earns.
In other words, women go to college because they HAVE to to even up their income with men.
There still are a lot of predominantly male jobs that do not require higher education that pay a hell of a lot of money.
Like my job - I’m a union carpenter, and, even though I only work part time, I make about $ 40,000 in a typical year.
How many predominantly female jobs that only require a high school diploma and a brief trade school education pay anywhere near that?
Posted 28 Nov 2007 at 5:34 pm ¶
merq wrote:
Carmen,
I’m glad I wasn’t the only one who felt a little odd at the use of the pronoun “they.”
Posted 28 Nov 2007 at 7:02 pm ¶
Girlfriends wrote:
Sigh. I got the usual go-rounds of emails from various friends about this upcoming, hard-hitting “report.” I didn’t even bother. Television news is an oxymoron. I say this as a former journalist. (Not that print is that much better. Recall the overblown “Race In America: series by the vaunted New York Times.
The only surprise would have been if they’d done a decent job.
Posted 28 Nov 2007 at 7:52 pm ¶
LM wrote:
“Television news is an oxymoron. I say this as a former journalist.”
Ditto that, Girlfriends.
Posted 28 Nov 2007 at 9:28 pm ¶
Ain't Got No Handle wrote:
I have mixed feelings about what is shown on NBC Nightly News, but realize that it is also a huge opportunity and starting point.
I listened in the context of Farai Chideya’s NPR interview with the reporters at the beginning of the week and will wait until Friday before passing judgement:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16622399
I consider what the two reporters have done– no were allowed to do– a “teaser” for the content on MSNBC and the website discussion. This could be a platform for bigger things if folks find a way to move and use the discussion forward within communities (forget the naysayers).
All this should be considered in a more whole “new media” context to elevate “black women issues” undertaken by two black women journalists on a major “MSM” network (#2 I think?). That’s more than I’ve seen from the others or cable.
Rehema Ellis and Mara Schiavocampo (the journalists) never claimed to tell the “whole story” or that they would get it right. They started from “their stories” and moved outwards. So while I wanted more about nontraditional families, less about black women relative to black men and white women, etc. I at least got a huge multimedia forum that could really go somewhere with constructive engaged informed criticism and participation. Who knows, NBC might do more followup and help improve “the narrative”?
I’ll read AverageBro’s comments, but I like the women who wrote con and pro for the program in that context:
http://dailynightly.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/11/20/476352.aspx
So no, we don’t we need another of “our own platforms”– who would listen and what would be the point? We need the rest of society and the world to hear us, not just say/hear only the things with which we agree? Otherwise not enough people would watch and we’d need episodes of “227″ to fill up the airtime!
Brian Williams digs black people, Katrina, etc. more than I can say for creepy Katie or uptight Mr. Charlie…
Posted 28 Nov 2007 at 9:39 pm ¶
Ain't Got No Handle wrote:
Waiting to see the whole series in context before passing judgement, but damned! I’m stumped: If you’re criticized for ignoring an issue, then suspected for covering it, how do you rate at all?
Worth noting: the NPR interview with the two black female journalists responsible for the project at the beginning of the week
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16622399
Also the NBC blog devoted to the series:
http://dailynightly.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/11/20/476352.aspx
I do not think the black women responsible ever claimed to represent all black women, but invested their personal perspective outwards. I haven’t heard from Katie, Charlie, or the folks at Fox in a while. And Oprah, former journalist that she is, gets away with this every day. And I won’t start with The View. So what’s left?
I’m sick of everytime this “MSM” stuff- folks want MSM exposure, else who else is going to hear you, geez? Better the public gets the right version of more stories! They ain’t gonna listen to them little conspiracy bitchin stations all the time! But they won’t do that if folks say “I don’t want to play here cause you don’t do this and that…”. So waht? Get it right then and them how!
There’s a lot I didn’t see so far and perspectives I’ve found wanting and irritating. But I also recognize the women they had to draw upon stories to make the topic relevant for people and Whites and all that either wouldn’t get the importance or wouldn’t watch it otherwise. Now everyone might talk more than before (annoying Blacks more too!) but didn’t people say they wanted more awareness and understanding?!?
I also consider this part of a “new media” project– the NBC pieces get the MSNBC and online content more viewers while folks talk more. If the constructive informed criticism turns into participation they might do it in other areas and change the narrative about people of color in general in the process.
BTW: To the naysayers and MSM cranks- what was Peter Jennings’ final project before he died and why?
Posted 28 Nov 2007 at 10:10 pm ¶
Orville wrote:
I really believe the mainstream media has an intense hatred for black men. Young black men are presented as failures that cannot or not graduate university or college. And that black women have no choice but have to date white men at “their level”. So once again black men are framed as losers and white men are framed as the white male saviors. NBC is just trying to present through this series the classic racist stereotype that for black women to have better lives they should date and marry white men instead of black men. There are black men graduating university and college and trying to achieve. The NBC story doesn’t give the full picture but it does present the story in the lens NBC wants: and that’s to stereotype blacks.
Posted 28 Nov 2007 at 10:53 pm ¶
donna darko wrote:
This series sounds like a nightmare of manufactured controversies. Job and education disparities between men and women of color are meaningless distractions. The only comparisons should be disparities between men of color and white men and women of color and white women.
Posted 29 Nov 2007 at 4:51 am ¶
Aaminah wrote:
My opinion: The title of the show says it all. “Where They Stand”. They would have done better to let the African American women speak for themselves and title it “Where We Stand”. But instead it is all about the non African Americans perceptions and media control.
Posted 29 Nov 2007 at 10:14 am ¶
Aaminah wrote:
Sorry, I hadn’t read the comments first. Carmen already said what I said.
Posted 29 Nov 2007 at 10:27 am ¶
eric daniels wrote:
You black or mixed women should be happy, you are the new “model minority” desired, accepted and wanted by mainstream society. and Orville, brotha as much as I agree with you that this society hates black men, I say too many brothas are deluded to think we are going to get any respect from…
Black Women
White Women
White Men
American Society
Maybe it’s time for some tough love to Black Boys and higher expectations in this society. We are always going to have to work 5 times harder as any other citizen to be considered competent and that’s the reality of our situation in 2007 in this or any other Western Country. I do understand the rage of many brothas and society’s hypocritcal attitude but it would behoove us a black men to be st8 up with black men and boys.
This country does not like you at all but you don’t succub to it’s hatred or vices and instead of ending the ism’s just live by Jesus/Buddha/Allah’s command ‘do unto others as they do unto you. I think NBC’s shows just have just focused on Black Amrican Female Achievement and not the continual gender wars . It’s time African- American Men let go of America and Black Women and solve our own problems.
Posted 29 Nov 2007 at 10:36 am ¶
AverageBro wrote:
I wanted to stay away from this train wreck, but I couldn’t, so I ended up watching again last night (segment #3), and I wrote a post about it, like it read it, here it go:
NBC News To Black Women: “You’ll Die A Lonely, Childless, Cat Lady.”
http://www.averagebro.com/2007/11/nbc-news-to-black-women-youll-be-lonely.html
Interesting comments here. Thanks for weighing in.
Posted 29 Nov 2007 at 11:19 am ¶
eric daniels wrote:
Average Bro, I love dogs and never married, degreed and would love my mom’s dog sweetpea. I don’t thinking getting married or spreading my seed is the “cat’s meow”. Like Whitney said in “Waiting to Inhale” to her mother ‘I am single a good person and want to be loved, but if I end up single and with a pet (my words) I will be happy and love myself and have friends and a job I love and if that’s all my life will end up being then that’s life.
I am tired of the MSWM telling black women that they need a man (white, black or whatever) or Black Men are somehow unworthy of love because they don’t have an advanced degree. Brothas and Sistas of all colors on this site I have a question for you all how many Americans of all races have advanced degrees? (A.S. A.A. B.A etc)
30 Freaking percent sorry folks the media is lying to you for profit.
Posted 29 Nov 2007 at 11:40 am ¶
Fiqah wrote:
“You black or mixed women should be happy, you are the new “model minority” desired, accepted and wanted by mainstream society.”
eric daniels: Whoa, nelly. Um…not to invalidate your arguments regarding Black male oppression and its accompanying (justified) rage, but based on this post and some of your earlier comments, I’m starting to think that you might be harboring some very serious resentment towards Black women. Is it possible that this resentment is skewing your perception? Just putting it out there…
Posted 29 Nov 2007 at 5:53 pm ¶
Miss B wrote:
Eric,
More than a few Black boys need more love (tough, sweet, whatever, as long as it’s real). There are lots of Black men that do lead by example, but there could be more. I agree with you on all that.
But telling Black women that we should be happy we’re being portrayed as a model minority is not progressive. It’s abusive. Since when is that an achievement? To me, it’s just another set of stereotypes imposed upon us. It continues to broaden the gap, as does sending the message to other Black men that they are “deluded” to think they will ever get any respect from Black women (women who are their own mothers, sisters, aunts, friends, lovers, children, etc.) is really damaging and untrue.
I am so tired of us pointing fingers at each other.
Posted 29 Nov 2007 at 7:07 pm ¶
mr guy wrote:
I’m just glad black women are getting focused on for a change.
Posted 29 Nov 2007 at 8:09 pm ¶
Gregory A. Butler wrote:
Eric,
When you say:
“We are always going to have to work 5 times harder as any other citizen to be considered competent and that’s the reality of our situation in 2007 in this or any other Western Country.”
aren’t you adopting a defeatist attitude?
Yes, it is true that Black people have to work 5 times harder than non Black Americans to be considered competent.
But, is that an unchangable reality, that we have to passively accept for all time?
Or is that a PROBLEM that we can STRUGGLE AGAINST and eliminate?
Shouldn’t our goal to have ONE standard for ALL people, and to do whatever we have to do to achieve that?
Posted 29 Nov 2007 at 11:29 pm ¶
mr guy wrote:
Also i think nbc is in a no win situation.If they focus mostly on the positive, people will complain about the lack of time discussing serious issues going on with black women.If they focus mostly on the serious issues(and it seems that really is the focus) then people will say they’re putting too much emphasis on the negative.It’s a tough one.
Posted 29 Nov 2007 at 11:55 pm ¶
Brakeline wrote:
Holding the criticisms and the slingshots on pronouns in check for a sec : had anyone actually ever thought to contact the correspondents directly and ask to engage/invite them in a dialogue here or elsewhere on another blog to get input or gain insights rather than snipe about the MSM. Seems like an opportunity is slipping by to talk about some good stuff and the US gets to see an irate community of uppity displeased irritable folks more concerned with grammar and stats than big picture issues– however they come out. Sorry, just going from the comments y’all. Betcha they’d show…
Posted 30 Nov 2007 at 12:08 am ¶
eric daniels wrote:
(Gregory)When you say:
“We are always going to have to work 5 times harder as any other citizen to be considered competent and that’s the reality of our situation in 2007 in this or any other Western Country.”
aren’t you adopting a defeatist attitude? (end)
Greg, I acknowledge the reality in America in 2007 that telling young black men the truth that they have to own themselves because they will never, ever get any respect from this country except as mules for entertainment and the majority’s pathologically racist attitudes about African- American Men. And to lie to them is a diservice to humanity.
(Fiqah) you might be harboring some very serious resentment towards Black women. Is it possible that this resentment is skewing your perception? Just putting it out there… (end)
Fiqah, I am say stating the reality of the situation and seen the obvious that America has made a desicion and that is to leave the Black Male in this country to his fate and embrace the African- American Woman as new “Model Minority” and all it’s privledges thereof.. I have seen myself and read in between the lines of elementary, middle, high school, and college and workforce that if given the choice between a black male and a black woman they will choose …
A carribean (male or female)
mixed (male or female)
African (male or female)
Foriegn (male or female)
African- American Woman
After 41 years on this earth Fiqah and Gregory, I see the truth and it’s unfortunate that you want to beat your head up against the wall trying to change the majority’s attitude about black american men. In the 80’s they made a decison after seeing the progress (which I support) of African- American Women that they will just leave black men to their fate. I have seen every grassroots black organizations and a few major ones try to tackle these issues and came to this conclusion on what they are really saying that in esscence….
Black American Men pose the greatest threat in the minds of most AMERICANS to the future stablity of the United States and instead of saving them they will punish them unless they show signs of assimilationalist traits that can be useful. I think the American People should just admit that they think very lowly of black american men, it beats the merry lie that’s being sold.
African- American Women are new the model minority and NBC’s report is just a comfrimation of fact that they are encourging black women to marry in their class and men of different races because they have acheived so much in the last 30- 40 years instead of hanging on to racial loyalty, Maybe Black Women creating future Alica Keys. Lenny Kravitzs, Mya Rudolphs,Kimora Simmons and Boris Kojoes with their white or other spouses and being an “American” instead of an A.A. will end racial conflict in this country.
Or maybe Black American Men will join Al- Gadea you never know, but at least we are ‘kicked to the curve’ Gregory and Fiqah and that’s my osbervation.
Posted 30 Nov 2007 at 10:05 am ¶
Gregory A. Butler wrote:
Eric,
A couple of observations.
First of all, speaking as one of those “lenny kravitz/alicia keys” Black people (that is, a lightskinned Black person with a White parent - my dad, in my case), I have to tell you, things aren’t so wonderful for us either.
Many White Americans really don’t see us as that much different from other Blacks. Some White folks literally don’t even notice the skin pigmentation difference!
To a lot of them, we all look alike, because most of us have black hair, brown eyes and dark skin. Many of them literally don’t notice the - to us - glaring difference between high yellow and very dark brown.
And even for the ones that do, they tend to think we look like Latinos - another ethnic group that most White folks look down upon!
Of course, they look down on Latinos in a different way - Latino men are seen by many Whites as hard working, hard drinking, not very bright, oversexed cheap labor and Latina women are seen as sensual sexpots available to fulfil White men’s perverted fantasies, while Black men are seen as dangerous violent criminal rapists and Black women are seen as either angry nonsexual mammies or oversexed babymakers on welfare.
But, both of those stereotypes are filled with contempt for people of color.
Being mistaken for Dominican doesn’t make my status any higher in this country.
And being mistaken for Arab (another common reaction that many lightskinned Blacks get) can be downright dangerous in an airport or a high security federal building!
EVERY person of color in this country has a cross to bear.
So, if lots of middle class Black women have kids with White men, all that will mean is another generation of lightskinned Black kids who will face essentially the same racism that their darkskinned peers get.
Worse yet, I see you really don’t have a solution for the problems of our race - other than so called “tough love” for young Black men.
Frankly, our boys have had quite enough “toughness”!!!
Maybe if we showed more tenderness, affection and understanding for our young men (and less lectures about baggy pants and rap music) the young brothas would feel a little less pain.
Those 10,000 young brothas (and young sistas) who marched on Jena, Louisiana on September 20th are showing us the way - we need to fight back against American racism, rather than just throw up our hands and resign ourself to a White supremacist eternity.
Posted 30 Nov 2007 at 10:42 am ¶
Julia wrote:
#13—Ditto Aaminah!
Where “they” stand? Like were freaking caricatures or something
Posted 30 Nov 2007 at 10:45 am ¶
Brakeline wrote:
Gregory (at 25): Perhaps you (and others) missed one kernel of the solution irony/reality/pragmatism in your own remarks.
Folks would do well to remember there’s at least two things happening: (1) no “white” majority will exist soon by sheer volume in the US and it’s relevance and standing doesn’t have to remain dominant; and (2) more mixed identities and fluid affinities among a younger, larger and already more influential generation which doesn’t identify primarily along racial lines.
The above discussion becomes less relevant, the less relevant it is to maintain “the black identity” as monolithic versus “black awareness” in each generation, no?
Posted 30 Nov 2007 at 11:23 am ¶
Wendi Muse wrote:
i agree with gregory. as a person often mistaken as latina and/or racially ambiguous (depending on the neighborhood i am in, what i am wearing, how long my hair is at the time, the race of my friends, etc), i don’t think it gives me an advantage. if anything, it means people are more likely to say dumbass things like, “wow, but you’re so pretty. i thought you were dominican or something, shorty.” um wtf?!?!?!?
as far as the workforce is concerned, they see my resume before they see me, and from my resume, my race is completely absent. there would be no way of knowing my race at all. all the employers know is that i am a woman and that i might identify as queer (b/c of my work history).
i agree with the model minority bit, but again, that’s a title that is not always welcome, nor is it functional in a positive sense. if one chooses to take that and run with it, so be it, but it doesn’t mean that everyone accepts that term and thinks of themselves as “better” because they are painted in such a light.
Posted 30 Nov 2007 at 11:31 am ¶
bdsista wrote:
What’s even worse about all of this is there are college educated men out there who are not intterracially dating and who are looking for Black women. Recently divorced I have spent a lot of time on dating sites and there is no shortage on sites like Black People Meet and even the Yahoo personals. (although I get contacted by more white men on yahoo). Black Planet is now revamping to be more like a Black MySpace which is an improvement, but there are brothas on Date a Millionaire, and other sites. As an attorney, I don’t buy the “only men on your level are white” BS, because I have not had many of my colleagues knocking at my door and there are no shortage of lawyers in the DC metro area. The real deal is there are “good Black men” out there to be found and who can find you, so Sistah’s don’t give up!
Posted 30 Nov 2007 at 1:39 pm ¶
eric daniels wrote:
I have come to believe to 2 things Gregory,
1. That this society has made it’s mind up on whom they deal with since the 1980’s. African American Women blacks from the Carribean and African Immirgrants who are educated and Biracial people.
2. That the crack epidemic in the inner cities along with fatherless families and modern techology has made Black American Men obsolete in an ever changing social and culrural demographic .
I know because by the time I left High School unlike Clarence Thomas’s Yale Degree which eventually paid off, my diploma was worth 2 cents . I was reading on a 8th grade level and doing math on a 3rd grade level , like many African- Americans in the first wave of “Intergration” who grew up poor many of my friends who couldn’t play sports used either the Army or community college before realizing that diploma (which sits in my mom’s house) was worthless as toilet paper but at least we had good morals because of those men and women who were lucid enough to keep us clean.
Crack Cocaine destroyed whatever male/female role models and morality that were left in my neighborhood and many others like Crystal Meth is doing to poor whites in the last 10 years has created what I term as ‘ post ghetto culture’ in our music, book fare because young boys/girls have embraced a survival of the fittest in many inner cities that embraced the worst values of popular Culture (watch MTV cribs and catch the Scarface, Goodfellas and Sopranos posters) along with that culture of movie violence that a continuation of the paternalistic attitudes that Black Males have for women but has gotten twisted into everything negative into a postive.
I have always encourged my Goddaughters and any Black Female that asked if you want to succeed in this society whites and others will help you get what you can if you got the drive, desire and will to get it.And it has come true African- American can make it and are the model minority and Latino Women from the Carribean will soon join them that’s the reality. I am proud of my sister, aunts, and mother who made it to retirement.
But Poor African- American males who in the mid 80’s in many inner cities as young children and teenagers embraced the ethos of the mob movies, pimp culture and self-inetrest in lieu of an education that did’nt pay off are many of the people filling the jails, streets and cemetries nationwide in a violence that is like Columbia in the drug sections of Medillin in the 1980’s.
Gregory, I do have solutions but they aren’t like Cosby’s call outs speeches or any other intellectual B.S. that’s come out in book form every 3 months or so. Black men must reject the white male paternal paradigm and it’s value system of greed, self- interest and media culture because it serves us no benefits either social or moral. That in it’s self has corrupted us more in the past 25 years because it feeds off all our social and mental probems within the larger black community.
CAHNGE THE CULTURE AND YOU CAN SAVE ‘EM
Posted 30 Nov 2007 at 3:03 pm ¶