'Precious': Racial Stereotypes & The Petite Bourgeoisie of the Negro Mind

So here I am, somewhere at the intersection of Billie Holiday's "God Bless The Child" and Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come". I'm not confused or lost in applesauce as is the expression, because maybe I'm something like "Black Caesar"  or that old James Brown classic "A Blind Man Can See It". Quite frankly, I'm a bit disappointed, and disturbed by the negative backlash the movie "Precious" is receiving from and within the so-called Black community.

I hate to be cynical about this, but I have to ask: will Black people ever be happy? We have people who are bothered by this movie who see it as just another one in a long line of stereotypically negative images of Black people (or more specifically Black women) in the mainstream. Then there are people like me who totally see this movie for what it is: a necessary film that promotes and draws attention to various pathologies that are often overlooked and rarely discussed within our so-called Black community. Hello, Shaniya Davis anyone?

"Not since The Birth of a Nation has a mainstream movie demeaned the idea of black American life as much as Precious. Full of brazenly racist clichés (Precious steals and eats an entire bucket of fried chicken), it is a sociological horror show." - Armond White (Source: nypress.com)

What gets me, is that people are caught up in the idea that maybe this movie is representative of all people of color in America - a rather foolish line of thinking in my book when you consider that we're not a monolithic people. However, rich or poor, upper or middle class, the central themes of this movie knows no discrimination, and is not exclusive to any family of a certain socio-economic class. Yet and still, some of us are hell bent on promoting the idea that this is all fantasy which has the effect of making us look bad. I'm sorry, but I don't quite get you "image-conscious" individuals, and I'm going to need some help with that.

Yes I know we don't all have the same story, and yes I know there are many different narratives of the Black experience in America. But isn't the "Black experience" and our various stories riddled with conflict and pathologies (some of which we don't even realize) that may be detrimental to our survival? I'm sorry, but when a film is put together and produced by two of the most powerful Black people in the entertainment industry (Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry), it's hard for me to overlook the films message and focus on the "Blaxploitation" meme. Who better is there to bring to life a narrative such as this than a person of color?

"Winfrey, Perry and Daniels make an unholy triumvirate.They come together at some intersection of race exploitation and opportunism. These two media titans—plus one shrewd pathology pimp—use Precious to rework Booker T. Washington’s early 20th-century manifesto Up From Slavery into extreme drama for the new millennium: Up From Incest, Child Abuse,Teenage Pregnancy, Poverty and AIDS. Regardless of its narrative details about class and gender, Precious is an orgy of prurience." - Armond White (Source: nypress.com)

That said, should people of color with power and influence in the industry, ignore any attempts to bring to life subject matter that's considered taboo to the Black petite bourgeoisie, and the Black community at large? Come to think of it, maybe that's why there aren't as many "quality" Black movies of substance being produced, no? Precious is a movie produced by people of color that has already created an Oscar buzz, but yet Negroes are mad because it's not exactly Terms Of Endearment or Guess Who's Coming To Dinner material? Which is funny because when a white person makes a movie like Hotel Rwanda, Black folks never have anything negative to say, or even support it for that matter.

Well RiPPa we need to see more Black movies with more than one narrative! True, we do; but let's not act like they haven't been produced. It's disingenuous to give the impression that everything coming out of Hollywood for and about Black people by Black people are just bastardly negative. But then maybe therein lies the problem - that would be, the thought that each of these movies reflect us and our individual and personal story.

One thing that should not be ignored, is just how hard it is for a person of color to break into the Hollywood movie making industry; an industry dominated by people who pretty much determine American culture. What's funny about that, is while we as Black people remain image conscious, the power elite steals our culture and promotes it.  

Where are the "image conscious" Black folks among us when little white sub-urban kids run around looking and acting as if they too had the privilege of growing up in the ghettos we despise and sweep under the rug?


Listen, "Precious" is no more representative of the Negro collective anymore than "Nino Brown" is - they are both representative of a reality that exists among us, and we should never feel shameful about these movies or these characterizations. Ironically, it is this very shame which may become a major factor in this being Gabourey Sidibe's only leading role in a movie while we bitch about all the light skin people who somehow dominate the media market. So yeah, you guys can continue to beat that tired drum and stay with the whole shooting the messenger, and missing the message thing. You're gonna need it when there are no more Black production companies in Hollywood especially when somebody like Steven Spielberg decides to do Boyz In The Hood II.

Has anyone seen John Singleton lately?

Seewhumsayin?

Oh, so not only is Van Jones a communist, he's a sellout because his wife is white?

Whenever someone white speaks from a position of ignorance on race matters it's to be expected. You know that whole white privilege thing does that; and, it's understandable. But when a person of color, or more specifically, a Black m*thafucka who's supposed to be "conscious" speaks ignorantly on race matters and assumes the stance as if they themselves exude the very inescapable privilege of non-minorities? Yeah, it's a damn shame and it's enough to make a dead slave cry. Actually, it's a form of projecting what's known as internalized oppression/racism. It's the reason we see the Jesse Lee Peterson's of the world. Of course I understand the pathology associated with this mindset. But yet and still, I can't help but to shake my head in disgust at such people.

The last thing I wanted to do today was to even follow up on the latest goings on concerning Van Jones and his resignation as Obama's White House Energy advisor. But there are two misguided Negroes who have forced my hand [you can read them here and here]. Ironically, they're both Black women. One of them is an ultra conservative/republican, and from her, given that fact, I can see her relish in the moment of this being a small victory for the conservative/republican movement. The other, I don't even know what she is - she says she hates socialism which is welfare and Section 8 - but she's supposed to be "conscious" and has all the answers which explains the social ills of Black people. Somehow for the most part, the predication for these problems are not racial ones, but instead the failures of Black men; yeah, there's no correlation between racism and the exclusive "problems" seen in the Black community.

I guess then it's no surprise that she doesn't see the racial component as it relates to highly successful Black people in the political arena [read about Lani Guinier back in trhe 90s]. Nah, it's never about race; not hardly ever in her eyes. Instead, she questions Van Jones' commitment to the Black community and change because he's married to a white woman:

Then there is the little issue of Van Jones' personal life. For those of you who don't know Mr. Jones married a white woman. I don't understand how anyone can be a black nationalist one minute and marry an individual who is white the next. I'm willing to bet anything that Mr. Jones is one of these individuals (like Eldridge Cleaver) who blames the white man for all or most his troubles while desiring to sex white women. His stand against whites is (or was) more than likely one sided. He doesn't see white women as a problem in terms of white supremacy or the oppression of black people. No...he simply views the white man as the only member of white America prompting oppression.

I've said it before and I will say it again...I don't think it's possible for a black person who marries white to totally be down with the cause. There is a conflict of interest there. I don't think someone claiming to have the best interest of black people at heart can rightfully say so while married to someone who is white (in this country). Naturally these individuals are sympathetic to the needs of their spouse and those who look like them. This in my opinion conflicts with their interest of being a black nationalist.

How the hell can you be a black nationalist and not be down for creating more black people??? How the hell can you be a black nationalist and accept a member of the "oppressor's" family into your bed??? It makes no sense to me. If he was so sick of being oppressed and so down for the people he wouldn't lay up with a white woman. Perhaps this is why he moved his attention away from civil rights and on to environmental issues.

Sounds like words from a person who is completely "down" for the cause that is the advancement of the interests of people of color right? You know, those people who claim to be Blacker than thou because, well, their shit is so correct? You know, that whole "throw your Black fist in the air, power to the people" and all that other "I'm so down," bullshit? Yeah, that's the impression you get from this Black woman, right?

What about the "green" jobs Van Jones planned to create in the ghetto? Why in the hell do we as black people look to the national government to help us do what we're suppose to do? What's stopping black folks from creating their own "green" jobs? I will never understand why we can't do for ourselves as a people. You want jobs in the hood get off your ass and create them yourselves. Start a business. Help someone else start a business. Stop looking to others to lead you and start leading yourselves. Don't put your hopes in the hands of others. It only leads to failure.

Understand me when I say this....I'm not going to jump to the defense of someone simply because he or she shares my skin color. If their ideologies conflict with my own then we have a problem. It should NOT be expected of me to jump to the defense of those I don't agree with. There is no way in hell I would agree with Mr. Jones given his shady past. He is far too radical for my taste.

Isn't that the most ignorant thing you've read today? For the life of me I can't understand the idea that Black people automatically defend other Black people because they share the same skin color. To be honest, I never knew there were Black people who took to this practice. But beyond that, in a country where environmental racism intentionally persists, you're expecting Green Jobs to trickle down to urban communities on it's own? Hello, are we forgetting that the national unemployment rate is at a 26yr high? Or maybe in her hubris she doesn't realize that the unemployment rate for Blacks is currently the highest of any ethnic/racial group in this country? Yeah, be that as it may, I guess the idea of creating Green Jobs "in the hood," as the says is sacrosanct. But yet she's so down for "HER" people? Get the fuck outta here. I'm sorry, this isn't "Black Conscious Thought" as is the name of her blog. This is utter foolishness, and dare I say Slave Catcher behavior. It's a good thing there are people in Nashville TN. right up the road from me who are down for their people unlike her. These are people currently working towards making Nashville the Greenest city in the southwest as they create jobs, with the help of the organization Green For All -- an organization started by Van Jones in 2007 [read it here].

Just the idea alone that Jones is a sellout because he's married to a white woman is pathetic me. Yes, lets not look at his body of work which by the way, has a lot to do with disenfranchised, poor people than anything else. Does that make him a "Black Nationalists"? I'm just saying, did Jones ever label himself a "Black Nationalist" or was it Glenn Beck who did as a means of scaring the tin-foil hat wearing following he has? You know all one has to do is appeal to the ignorance of some by contending that a Black man is a supremacist and he wants to take away America from white folks, right? Yeah, Black supremacy bad, white supremacy not so much. Like I said, it's one thing to hear this drivel coming from non-minorities, but when it's coming from fellow people of color it's disheartening.

But I guess there were never white people who were "down for the cause," that is the social and economic advancement of people of color. Yeah, history lied to us when they told us that the first president of the NAACP was a Jew, or that the abolitionist movement was largely comprised of white people. Where would we be as a country if it were not for the non-minorities who were brave enough to step up and do what was right? Yeah, where would we be if those non-minorities who share the same skin color as Van Jones' wife never sold out? It's just as sad that there are Black people here in the year 2009 who are just as blissfully ignorant, and bigoted as the white folks who have bought and sold the idea of white supremacy. But hey, they called Martin Luther King Jr. a communist just like they did Van Jones, and like him he had a dream so go figure. I don't expect the majority of white folks to "get it" like my fellow Tennessee native Tim Wise does in this piece. But it's a damn shame when supposedly "conscious" Black people are now doing the work of the devil.

Just like Michael Jackson I hate being Black; I will now transform and become an Albino. Yeah and I'm gonna inject my lips with Collagen too.

That's right; I'm done with you Black people. No longer will I consider myself a Negro, a Black man, African American or whatever other forms of description which implies my ethnic makeup. Damn right, from here on out I wanna be an Albino. Yup, the death of Michael Jackson was all it took for me to see the light.

I mean obviously I'm not Black enough like the Black people who are quick to say that MJ turned his back on the Black community. Or, he had an identity crisis and wanted to be White. Or, that he wanted to be White so bad that he went as far as to buy the sperm out of a White man's balls and have them planted inside a White woman to produce his offspring like Debbie Roe did.

SIDENOTE: Show me a Black woman who would have been comfortable with the arrangement to carry Mike's kids and take the money in exchange for the potential future custody of said kids.

Yeah, this man has been dead exactly one week and now that the initial shock has worn off you Negroes are coming out of the woodwork with this type of talk. Yeah, Michael Jackson hated himself and he wasn't Black enough for you, right? Silly Negroes, how come you never apply the same logic to White folks when they tan themselves to death?

Lemme guess, Mr. Drummond hated himself as well; enough so to go out and adopt "Willis" & "Arnold" who's last name just so happened to be Jackson as well? The thing is, this game has been run so much on us by non-minorities that they've gotten into our heads like my man Macon D over at Stuff White People Do asserted recently.

Do you hear White folks talking this mess in the wake of MJ's death? No you don't. You never hear it said in the media that Michael Jackson hated his Blackness so he lied about Vitilago and then proceeded to bleach his entire body including his penis. No, you never hear that, but yet you hear it from Negroes all damn day long; Negroes who have become experts of the very hate that the hater made themselves.

The funny thing about all this bullshit talk is that I'm willing to bet that all these "I'm Blacker than midnight" folks, perm their hair, wore a Jheri Curl at one point or still do, wash their hair with Garnier Fructise, buy $6 lattes, ate off food stamps, wear expensive weaves made of Asian hair, or never donate to the United Negro College Fund. That's the funny part about all this in my opinion.

They always question the Blackness of famous people of color and use Blackness as a measure of loyalty. I could understand that to an extent, but when you measure MJ's Blackness or loyalty to the Negro collective based on the metamorphosis of his skin color and not his body of work, I find that disingenuous. Save that type of talk for someone who's on the Supreme Court who if he had it his way he'd remove Affirmative Action, the Voting Rights Act, and bring back slavery.

But hey, what do I know. I probably don't agree with these assertions because I too hate myself. Oh well, I'll just have to run out to the store and pick up some of that industrial strength "Hey I Wanna Be White" skin cream. I'll be sure it has enough Hydroquinone to burn my penis off because I'm obviously not Black enough to understand where some folks are coming from.

Let them tell it, James Brown hated himself for wearing a perm as were all the Negro performers who didn’t wear an Afro and a Dashiki back in the day. Yup, self hate produced "Say it Loud (Black & Proud)" and that's why James went back to the perm instead of sporting the Afro until he died. Was James Brown not Black enough or hated himself and that's why he wore a perm? Is Al Sharpton's perm a symbol of self hate?

Yes, Michael Jackson hated himself just as Cher - who has had maybe 15 million ribs removed - or any other entertainer Black or White who has had plastic surgery or wears padded underwear like Beyonce to fool people into thinking she has a fat ass. Ah yes, that hate thing sure is beautiful isn’t it? Hell I hate being Black so much I might just go shrink my penis.

The messed up part of all of this is that everybody is now an expert clinical psychologist on Negro behavior but yet they can't fix their own pathologies. Life would be great if we were all Albinos I suppose. But then again, they’re subjected to much hate so they too possibly hate themselves as well. Sometimes my own people piss me off not because of the things they say. But because they fail to see their own internalized oppression and how they express it.

There are people on the continent of Africa who bleach their faces...

I wonder if they hate themselves as well?