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Fredric is a web developer based in Chicago who hopes to one day start a foundation to support young, Black males in programming and computer science.

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F*ck the ‘Black in America’ Haters

July 25th, 2008 • Related • Filed Under

I decided to try something new and record a video post for our readers. Depending on the response and time I have, this may be something I implement more often.

Updated: Check out Kismet’s take, Soledad, THIS is what I wanted on the whole issue.

Viewing 20 Comments

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    I understand your point about trying to be supportive simply because something like this has never been attempted before however that should still not stop us from looking at the documentary critically. Color solidarity should not give one a free pass to other whole groups of people through invisibility. Where were the disabled people in this special, where were the gays...Who gets to decide what bodies count as black and why? If we are going to talk about an ism we need to do in a interlocking manner so that we do not further marginalize groups that are already considered spoiled identities.
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    Only thing is I can't watch it at work. Maybe post a transcript for those of us that read at the office?
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    I completely agree with Renee. And I think the whole point of the blogosphere is to generate conversation. I don't think that because you don't agree with something, you become a "hater". And I certainly don't think we should f*ck those who don't cosign.

    You're right. I do applaud Soledad for her efforts, but sacrifice from the limelight was a decision she made and it doesn't make her a martyr in my eyes because this story wasn't about me (or people I know). Honestly I think she attempted to swallow an entire elephant instead of eating it one bite at a time.

    I don't care if it was unprecedented, you cannot describe the experience of an entire RACE into a two-night special...especially when there are censors and big advertising bucks behind it. Seriously, several channels had some type of spin off. Anderson Cooper and Showbiz Tonight were talking about what it's like to be Black in America...Really? And I still walked away thinking "Who did this show benefit?"

    IMO, her show did not capture what it was like to be "Black in America". Atleast not for me. It felt cliche, recycled, and not constructive.
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    Thanks for weighing in on it. I think the segment was the best yet: honest, straight forward, and hopeful.
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    I think you missed my fav part when she was interviewing Lupe and they did the lyrics to Dumb it Down together.
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    I'm not a hater for not thinking this was a great documentary. It was a weak, half-assed attempt to define what's wrong with Black people in America. It was not showing a snapshot of our lives. It left out HUGE facets of Black society. It was cliche. I could go on.

    I'm not going to give someone props just for doing something. Do it well and recieve my accolades. Did she really risk her career? Please- race is the hot topic and money ticket right now because of Obama. CNN just wanted to cash in on some Nielsen ratings.

    And as for it being unprecedented and the first of it's kind- not at all. There's been MANY documentaries about Black people, race relations, Black families, etc. Just a few years back PBS aired a multi-part series called African American Lives.
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    I totally agree with what are are saying. And Im happy you said something cause we have to stop pulling on another down. People do have the right to thier own opinions but before you start critizing the documentary take in perspective the amount of time that was given to display an entire race. It may not have covered every aspect I think it was a step toward making people aware of what takes place in African American families. you must open people's eyes inorder to get them to start thinking about black issues first. If Soledad would have placed everything on the table in the documentary we would have still been complaining. I think that it was great and did a good job of portraying blacks from many angles.
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    I don't "fight" racism every minute of my life. I'm not plagued by the dark cloud of bigotry all day, every day. So why does CNN make me feel like I should be?I agree and echo Renee, Kiersten and Rashida's comments. I did not see my black america. I don't know anyone in jail or who sells crack. I'm certainly not sheltered; I just don't have that reality. I know alot of black woman; I'm an AKA, have a large family and went to an HBCU for heaven sake's, but I may sound very naive in saying this, but from what I know (and of course many keep stuff like this may be kept private), I don't know any with HIV (or they don't know or haven't told me). Not to say that this isn't the reality for many black woman (and I will blog about this separate issue soon). I don't know too many people who have not finished high school. My YBP friends and neighbors went to Duke Medical School, Hampton, Stanford, Spelman, Virginia Tech, Kellogg, etc. They are under 40 and are VPs, Physicians, Attorneys,College Professors, Partners, and Directors. One one my friend's husband is a tenured math professor at Duke and has developed the mathmatical equation for bubbles (some crazy smart ish). These are all black americans that I know. Just like the Pres. of Bennett College emphasized, not all black people are poor and uneducated. In fact, many are not. I feel that point was missed by CNN.My husband is a good father, has never been to jail or smoked crack, has served in the military and is a positive role model for young black men. Where was his story?Where were the solutions to the challenges? Where were the stories that have absolutely no negative undertone? I wanted balance. Like Rashida, I won't give props just for attempting to chronicle a race of people. It was watered down, cliche and something that BET has done before (just as poor). HBO and PBS have been documenting our present lives successfully for years. Hell, Roots did a great job of depicting our history in the late '70s. Check them out on Netflix or YouTube. I've seen better "black in america" documentaries by high school students. CNN just got us hyped back in January and we hoped for the best. I give it a C-.
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    well, f*ck me, because i have never had a 'series' upset as many black people i know as this one did. there is nothing wrong with holding up the mirror. YES, there are huge segments of our community that are in dire need of help. Bill Cosby gets in trouble for talking about those problems and 'dirty laundry.' but the difference between Bill and CNN's piece was Bill Cosby offers solutions. Any body can collect some data and rattle off bad news, hype and hysteria.

    I applaud Soledad's and CNN's effort to continue the dialogue. And, I even give them the benefit of the doubt that perhaps the audience for this wasn't us black folk who already know, but perhaps other groups, races and ethnicities who don't know the depths of the problems. putting a human face and story on a matter is a great way to humanize and draw compassion. but, one of the main reasons I think Obama is doing so well, in spite of the fact that I have NO idea what Day One for President Obama will look like and if it will be good, is that he inspires hope and inspiration. "Black in America," from my perspective failed on that account. And it was the worst place to fail.
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    Did anyone get a chance to read Grace Gibson's (Lynn Whitfield's 16 y.o. daughter) response to the segment on bi-racial Americans? If not, check it out at http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2008/07/25/i-am-neit.... Her response is impassioned and eloquent. I really enjoyed reading her thoughts.
    I did not enjoy, however, the segment itself. As a bi-racial/mixed American ( meaning that I am immediately both black and white, although most americans can claim a biracial heritage), I thought one individual in particular whom they choose to interview played right into the tragic mulatto stereotype. Ya'll know who I'm talking about, the man who was the teacher. I cannot tell you how many times I've heard that mixed people have special problems, are confused, have issues when they are grown because it was difficult. Life is difficult! And why did they only interview a set of parents who were arguing, at odds with one another over the identification of their children? While they did highlight successful bi-racial Americans, they did not interview any directly on how their experiences made them the person/people they are. I would have liked to see more positivity.

    Yes, I"ve been called names and gotten stares and been threatened with physical harm because of my background, like many others. Does that mean that I feel rejected by either side of my heritage? No. Does that mean that I think either side has a special hatred or dislike for me? No. I've heard plenty of people, both black and white, talk about how wrong integration was for producing people like me. But one of the things my cousins have taught me (big ups to the fam) is that the minute I walk into a room of any kind of people, black, white, hispanic, whatever, with a chip on MY shoulder because I think they have a chip on THEIR shoulder, communication shuts down.
    Which brings me to my point. I don't think the show communicated as well as it could have in many respects. What it has done (as GIB noted) is contributed to the dialogue, and spurred that dialogue forward.
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    Maybe you weren't watching TV in the 1990s. Following the release of movies like Boys in the Hood, the coverage of the OJ Simpson trial, and all the major networks did "documentaries" on the black experience. This was nothing new.
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    Repost because my computer froze:

    Maybe you weren’t watching TV in the 1990s. Following the release of movies like Boys in the Hood, the coverage of the OJ Simpson trial, and the LA riots all the major networks did “documentaries” on the black experience. This was nothing new. No solutions were offered. If you're in black upper-class you don't exist in this documentary. My point is, I don't reward an attempt that was done poorly. You don't get credit for effort in my class.
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    Why do we need organizations for young black males. My father struggled as a young white male who lived in the project. I think the organizations not by color by for the poor not the national negro fund how about the down and out fund for all intercity kids. I understand this is a little off subject but I had to throw it out there. And dont come at me like I am some white ignorant southern because thats not what I am. Truely I am embrassed by southern pride and the garbage confederate flag. Everyone is a living breathing person and the kids who are born in to families struggling with money i believe do need outside support Black White Asian Latino anyone it time to stop all this seperation
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    In response to Goodguy....the reason that we need organizations for young black males is because there is still institutional racism in America. In fact, the bulk of American institutions retain some level of race-preference in them today. That is not to say that racism and race-preference today are not dramatically different then they were in the past, but they are still present. The recent(post-Clinton welfare reform) trend is to co-mingle race issues with economic issues because a significant portion of those who are economically poor are also racial minorities. However, an economic analysis inadequately addresses our reality. I challenge you to compare the recent news including the disparity on Wall Street and the national government's rush to provide market confidence and stability against the ongoing tragedy of those affected by Hurricane Katrina. That there are some people still living in FEMA trailers without any additional resources and our treasury and congress have now green-lighted the second corporate welfare program in 12 months (the first being Bear Sterns) smells of more than pure economics. Moreover, when compared against prior and post national disasters those hit by Katrina have been the slowest and most inadequately assisted by their government. See national response to Hurricane Hugo and the three white mountain climbers stuck in Yellow Stone National Park. It just dawned on me that there were more rescue fly-over missions conducted for those hikers and Natalie Holloway then there were for the entire city of New Orleans.

    More recent news coverage includes the disparity in interest rates for homeowners based on their race. See this recent law suit and Bloomberg article for more info. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarch...

    This is on top of recent articles showing 'Black' names disadvantage applicants. When the public and private sector are still controlled by the White majority which has historically not cared for Blacks, it then behooves Blacks to care for themselves. This is why we need these organizations, because relying on pure economics to change institutional racism is inadequate.
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    Oh...P.S. for a full report please see the Report to President Clinton on Affirmative Action and in particular Section 4.1 on Evidence of Continuing Discrimination.

    http://clinton2.nara.gov/WH/EOP/OP/html/aa/aa-i...
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    You rock!!! :) I love it that you focused on the positive stuff about the show as well as all of the good stuff Soledad's doing on CNN.

    I'm 100% guilty of falling into the "BUT" trap (e.g. "It was alright, BUT ...." and "I watched it BUT ...). Huge fan of positive energy; thanks for the "reminder" to stay positive!! :)
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    It seems that this entire documentary has had an effect on everyone that had the opportunity to view it, whether positive or negative. I agree, there were parts of the documentary where I felt were cliche but maybe we're all missing the point. Obviously, this documentary has created a lot of dialogue. However, the problem is that it usually stops at dialogue. Why should we look for the solutions to our problems in the documentary? If it was that easy to solve everything that is problematic in our community, it would have been done. Detailing the "black" experience in America is complicated and of course certain aspects of that experience are going to be overlooked or missed. But would our opinions be different if one of own Black film makers missed important parts of the black experience? If you look hard enough for something negative, eventually you'll find it. But instead of us talking until we're blue in the face about what CNN didn't cover, what are we doing to make sure that our true experience is being captured? Take a second and think about it. But remember, everyone's experience is not the same so be ready for healthy helpings of disagreement if you ever decide to express your version of the black experience to someone.
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    Responding...
    Yes, our experience can not be captured a few hours a week on a special produced by mainstream corporate media, during black history month, or segments of reality TV programming. However, ANY attempt to chronicle a race of people will undoubtedly be put under a microscope. I'll speak for many of the critics by saying what we have grown tired of, particularly as YBP, is the stereohyped stereotypes. Black Americans should not be clumped into... "the black woman"...okay this is what you are, uneducated, diseased, promiscuous, unmarried...the "black man"...okay we want to show you as imprisoned, also uneducated, and a clueless baby daddy. Stereohyped stereotypes. A good documentary presents facts objectively, such as the excellent MLK piece. If the purpose was to ignite dialogue, it succeeded. I commend CNN for the website http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2008/black.in.america/ and the 360 blog, but I was disappointed in the 2 night special.
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    THANKS FOR THE SHOUT OUT FRED! :)

    And I agree we all have to stick together to be stronger. Putting negativity out brings negativity back.
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