Friday, July 25, 2008

CNN Black in America: My Notes on Tonight’s Show Part 2


Oh no!!! Take that doo rag off your head. I see that you wear suits to interviews (Good) but don’t you know perception is reality (when it comes to how the world views you). You are being interviewed on national television man!!!! Again take that doo rag off your head!!!! I’m glad you got the job though dude!!! Note: when white folks say they see strange people lurking around the neighborhood that is a code for “too many black people”. I can see the new debate on the blogs: What is the deal when you have two sons that date/marry white woman? And is it possible to raise children too white?



Black men!! Young black men!! Black boys!!! Please don’t fight the police, because it’s just not worth it. It’s guaranteed jail time. I’m glad that they have Joseph C. Phillips, for the counterpoint, but some folks are going to cut him a new one on the blogs tomorrow. Citizen Wifey agrees with Ellis Close that boys believe the negative stereotypes about themselves and then buy into them. Maybe now I can get her to stop watching BET!!!
A man showed up late for his daughters first birthday…. Damn!! His excuse was that he didn’t know what time it was……… Damn!!! How does he not know the time when he has Bluetooth and a cell phone? At that point I wouldn’t have been surprised if Soledad had of said “N…. please.” The kicker is his mother’s father had 10 kids and didn’t raise any of them……Double Damn! Talk about a vicious cycle. Another woman pregnant and not married, where does Soledad find these women? Her first child’s father doesn’t come around (his daughter cries when he picks her up) so why would she go through this again, with another deadbeat? Citizen Wifey is pissed at this point. She says when a man says “I’m gonna take care of my children” it means that it won’t get done. Can we really blame slavery for men not taking care of their children? Does slavery cause all of this?



The segment with the black male professional marketing executive was very thorough. I felt that it covered all the bases and I was very please. I would love for them to find a guy that grew up with all black folks, went to college with all black folks and is now working in an all white environment. All the black folks they are showing have been brought up in mixed environments. Let’s mix it up a bit (no pun intended). Buffoonery and Coonary! Spike Lee you should get a copy-write on that. Let’s see how many black people come out to view Spike’s new film. The Great Debaters was an excellent film but…… well you know the rest.
Oh Uh! America’s Favorite Scapegoat: Rap Music. Don’t get me wrong, some of the rap out here is pure crap. Certain rappers degrade women, glorify violence and they do not have any creativity in their works. But, there are some rappers that do not participate in that. Rap is part of the after school educational curriculum now? Where was all this when I was in school? I tore up my father’s record player trying to scratch records. I didn’t know I needed special equipment… but I digress. I do agree with Dr. Dyson that Corporations are partly guilty in this process. Russell Simmons, there you go again defending rappers that degrade women. I expect that from a man whose ex-wife poses half naked in magazine ads. Lupe Fiasco you are right about one thing – Debatury sells.



Dr. Dyson’s brother caused all his problems on himself and I’m glad he realizes that. I can respect a man that admits to his mistakes. The problem I have is the dark skin and light skin comments. My dad is dark skinned and he is very successful, and I am dark skinned and moderately successful. I grew up during the time when being light skinned was popular. It was hard for me at times but I never felt I needed to resort to crime.



Overall I didn’t learn anything new from this series. I personally would have preferred if they gave more background on what caused the negative situations in the black folk’s lives. They tried to do it with the crack cocaine epidemic, but they need to tell us how the drugs got here. Black folks in the hood don’t own boats and planes. I would hate for white folks to watch this and think that we grow crops, harvest crops, produce drugs from the crops and sell them. When was the last time you saw coca plants in the hood? On the flip side: We know that white folks brought the drugs here but they didn’t make us sell them. They also need to explain why people can’t get fresh vegetables from their grocery stores in the hood. Where were the black men that can’t find good women? I hear them complain all the time in person. It is a problem that is more prevalent with women but men struggle with dating too. There was a lot that was left off the table. Maybe there is not enough time in four hours to tell our story. Or maybe we need to tell our own story?



After watching it all, I can say that I feel really bad for black women. They got a raw deal from this whole investigative series. They came off looking like Ho’s, Hoochies, Hood rats, High Class Divas and overall sad confused girls that never grew up. Sure they showed fathers that weren’t around but the mothers of their children…. As Florida Evans use to say: Damn! Damn! Damn! Well ladies maybe next time.


Not having a father in the home = possibility of young boys doing poorly in life (That is old news)



Blacks being harassed by the cops (Real old news)



Blacks discouraging other blacks from doing well in school (Lived it, old news)



The mainstream media portrays blacks in a negative light (I see that every day, really old news)

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I applaud the effort. However, it seems like CNN took the worse case, a woman who has problems beacuse of her mistake having children and not married nor having support etc.) rather than show black women who are trying, doing their best and having a hard time because of circumstances such as the father left them or he died. I appears to me that we have a lot people with mental problems -not coping. This information didn't show the system beating us down. These situations can also apply to SOME poor White Americans.

Also, I believe the Mentality of slavery is one of the reasons we have absent fathers. Another reason, we forgot the God who set us free.