Friday, January 23, 2009

MISGUIDED NEGROES IN THE MEDIA

Wassup people? Real quick. I know you guys have read about the backlash surrounding Aaron McGruder the producer of the show "The Boondocks" and his remarks about Obama not being Black because he doesn't share the legacy of slavery with African-Americans. Ok, well this post is not about him or what he said; I've discussed this in a previous post so no need to revisit this.

Since that press release, he has come out and cleared up what was said. To sum it up, it would appear that the media took a quote and ran with it. I could be wrong, but that's what I think for now at least. The media is brutal, and in an attempt to run a story, they will sell the masses on what they deem to be profitable. In other words, they don't give a shit what we the common man thinks. Instead, they'll stick a mic in the face of a famous person. Conveniently, they've sought input from celebrity Black people this week concerning the significance of Obama's presidency.

Here's another brother that had a mic in his face that helps to shape the perceptions of the White majority....

"For me, it was something that I've always believed. I've read the Declaration of Independence. I've read the Constitution. I have the preamble memorized. It's something I've always believed in, and when Barack Obama won, it validated a piece of me that I wasn't allowed to say out loud - that America is not a racist nation.

I love that all of our excuses have been removed. African-American excuses have been removed. There's no white man trying to keep you down, because if he were really trying to keep you down, he would have done everything he could to keep Obama down. Yes, there are racist people who live here, absolutely. But they're not the majority anymore.

I'm an African American, and I was able to climb to a certain point in Hollywood. On that journey, I realized people weren't trying to stop me. Most people were trying to help me. Before Obama won the presidency, it was like, I'm the exception. Tiger is the exception. Michael Jordan is the exception. Bill Cosby is the exception. But there's something about being the leader of the free world, with every other position on earth below that. You can't argue with that. If Barack Obama can win the presidency of the United States, you can absolutely be the manager at Saks.

Come on. It was such a fantastic experience for me to be able to say out loud that I love America and not be called an Uncle Tom. That I can stand out, and I can say out loud that I love this country and not get funny looks.

I don't think we are African Americans, Irish Americans or Japanese Americans anymore. I think Americans are a new race of people. We are Americans of African descent. We are Americans of Irish descent.

It's a whole new world."

http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/personal-reflections.htm

Ok, so if you clicked the link provided, you would know that the quote above came from Will Smith. Yup, Will Smith, you know, the first Black superhero who happened to be dysfunctional? Yeah, that Will Smith. Now I like Will Smith as an actor especially since his roots were in hip hop. Me being a hip hop fan, I love the fact that he came up from an art form which has been the source of blame for all our social ills within the Black community. He went from that, to being a man who is now a major Hollywood blockbuster guy. But does that make him an authority on "Blackness"? But because he is who he is, what he said is and has been looked at as the truth by many of our non-Black brothers and sisters here in America you can expect it to be accepted as truth. I mean, it's Will Smith and not that bastard Al "Ambulance Chaser" Sharpton, right?

I wrote this in an attempt to show just how the media has a big influence in shaping our lives. I mean, if Will Smith said it, then it must be true. After all, he's a Black guy, right? And just the fact that he's wealthy probably means that if he can do it so can everybody who happens to be a minority. No excuses, remember? I don't know about you, but I'm Black and I'm a parent, and this is not what I will teach my daughters. At this point in my life, I seriously doubt whether I'll tell my kids, that from this day forth, they no longer have to work maybe twice as hard because of their minority status. But then again, Will said that parents just don't understand, so maybe I'm wrong.

RECOMMENDED READING: YOU'RE SPECIAL SO JUST DEAL WITH IT By Brotherpeacemaker

7 comments:

cinque said...

Saying "that America is not a racist nation." And "I love that all of our excuses have been removed. African-American excuses have been removed. There's no white man trying to keep you down" is simply ridicules. Will Smith is an idiot if he actually thinks this. I guess getting your next movie green lighted is more important than the truth. Forget cocaine......White folks approval is a helleva drug!!!!

Me said...

I agree with you on so many levels regarding this post.

America is not a racist nation. The people in it are.

The man ain't trying to hold us down. A few rich and wanna be rich jealous motherfvckers are.

But I do disagree with the statement that we are all simply Americas. My Caucasian cousins have convinced a world population that Black is not right. Caucasians are king and other races have their place. It will take more than electing a person of color to the presidency to change that. That reality of Americans just being Americans and not African Americans, Japanese American, Asian American, etc is several generations away.

Untouched Jewel said...

I guess Will Smith must not be living on the same planet as most of the American population. I think he needs to watch a Tim Wise video or two, because obviously Will Smith lives in a damn bubble saying some dumb shit like that.

achoiceofweapons said...

Huh? WTF! Will! WTH?
Nuff Said!
Jaycee

RiPPa said...

@CINQUE: Thats just it my friend: he forgets that he works in an industry that hasn't been kind to people of color. An industry that still supports the display of negative images and stereotypes of people of color.

@FOLK: You damn straight its gonna take more than a Black face in the White House. Its a system, and not really about the individuals. Its funny how when speaking to some of our cousins they relate racism to "them" not being racist and they don't see color. They always say they wished people wouldn't be like that. But what they fail to realize that its a system thats bigger than the racist asshole who wears over-alls and a John Deer hat.

@JJBROCK: I know right? I wanna say that maybe he was caught up in the moment emotionally and didn't think before he spoke. I wanna give him that much. I mean I hope thats what it was.

@MISTER JAYCEE: Can you please go get your cousin?

ShesTooMuch4Em said...

I think if that's how he views things, then that's beautiful! I think excuses should have been removed a long time ago. Too many of "us" rely on them and use them as a handicap to know try. It's a big bag of bullshit to me really. I think that if we tried to be success as hard as we blame others for our lack of success then I think we'd be much further ahead by now.

So yea, keep working twice as hard and keep believing that you can achieve any gone and that the dreams that seem farfetched are attainable, but stop with the fucking excuses!

ShesTooMuch4Em said...

oh, and well said Folk!

Apture

wibiya widget

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails