Engage with news and opinions from around the web about under-reported stories from undercovered communities.
Can racist comments ever be 'ironic?' - The Atlantic Wire
Alabama to watch closely as Supreme Court debates Arizona immigration law - The Birmingham News
Opinion: Obama, Romney 'hispandering,' not understanding - San Antonio Express-News
As Harlem's demographics shift, black leaders fear political, symbolic losses - The New York Times
Survey: Two-thirds of kids with autism targeted by bullies - NPR
Trayvon Martin case revitalizes black media - Poynter.org
One of the side-effects to racism is the innocent victims on both sides. Of course the oppressed bear the brunt, but look at what has happens to the whites that are accused of racism, when they may not be. I pity white people for the eggshells they have to constantly walk on in public forums. But in the same breath, we all understand why the eggshells are there. The eggshells come from the history blacks have had in America. A touchy area no one can argue. Black people don't walk on eggshells when it comes to topics rooted in race. If they were white, they would be accused of being racist for some of the things they say. I believe the real key to wiping away racism is empathy. Both sides need to be empathetic towards one another. Whites have to imagine what it's probably like to be black in America. Blacks have to be empathetic towards the minds of the youth, both black & white. Since racism has given blacks the rawest deal between the two, they're investment in abolishing racism should be expressed creating true equality. Not one where one side can say whatever about the other and not vice-versa. Please do not confuse my comment with any 'pro-white' agenda. I am soo far from that. This is about trying to finally come to some sort of understanding, and get our true feelings on the table.
I have another one for you. I see lack of diversity in NBA.
Yes I'm sure that really bothers you.
Just like I see a LACK of diversity in the onwers,refrees, and media but I guess that's ok huh?!
Don't care what other folks watch on Fox, CMT or BET as long as they don't come gunning for my Spanish TV channels, if they do, it's on.
Blacks are around 12% of the population, but if you watch TV you'd think they were closer to 50%. They are OVER-represented in the media. Reduce their media representation to around 12% and they'll REALLY howl with selfish indignation. Freakin' drama queens.
FYI, networks like BET, TV1 and Centric exist for the very same reason Univision and the host of Latino stations exist. The actors/actresses are consistently subjected to the interpretations of white writers. Case in point. The show Good Times with JJ and Florida was written by all white writers which subjugated all African Americans to poverty and mediocrity. Regular networks rarely feature a black, Asian or Latina in a lead role, the same old lame excuse being that minorities don't appeal to the audiences. Minorities are fed up with acquiescing to racist in hollywood playing minor and backup roles.
African Americans like Caucasians must put out their own products partial to their image and culture for enlightenment and education of others and more importantly self.
how about we start with you giving all of your possesions to the nearest indian established community. Once you do that gimme a call and i'll follow suit. I guess the whites will just have to feel guilty and live in shame for eternity even if they had no part in what happened long ago.
Did James Byrd happen a long time ago stupid?!
I'm so f'ing tired of the word "diversity." Quit telling everyone how they should run their businesses, create their art, and live their lives. No one is obligated to meet some arbitrary b.s. color code. But, I suppose this wouldn't be CNN without browbeating people with cries of "RACISM!!!!"
Yeah and I'm so tired all white blank canvases, I would much rather a beautiful tapestry full of vibrant colors. Kinda like the real world...
Diversity is a natural aspect of life. The ebb and flow of tides, and currents, the warmth of the sun during the day, the glow of the moon at night, trees, bushes and grass, mountains, valley's and plains, continents, peninsulas coves and islands, Africans, Asians, Irish, Italian, Spaniards, Indians. It's all part of this "DIVERSE" world. Be glad you can see it and bask in it's beauty!
What is this, Monty Python, "Help! I'm being oppressed!" You diversity backlash people act like you're in federal prison because someone asked, not demanded, that you show black people on television as something other than thugs and pimps.
I wonder if Single Black Female would be called out for its lack of diversity. Everybody has a right to pride except white people. Gotta love it.
that's because you all ought to be ashamed of yourselves
Look in a mirror if you can stand it, and see the true face of someone who should be ashamed.
Equal rights means equal rights. It doesn't give blacks the right to bag on whites for simply being white or for whites owning slaves 200 yrs ago. I am not racist and I just wish there could be more civility on all sides. We are all americans and that is what is most important.
i love when a white person defends something that is being labled racist "that clearly isn't" and blacks reply on how racist we all are. why are not all BET shows held to such scrutiny? my god this is absolutly insane. I'll be the first to admit that slavery was a horrible thing. lets face it many civlizations have commited atrocites similar to whites with slavery. all of europe had slaves including portugal, spain, dutch because they were the richest nations at the time. we have come a long way but yes there is still racism. I don't think holding a grudge against all white ppl solves the problem. aside from backwoods down south hillbilly towns, racism isn't as much an issue. judging by many comments i see through out these cnn blogs blacks are equally racist as some whites. I wouldnt even consider this piece of garbage story a real news worthy story. CNN only reports wrong doings of whites on blacks and make you dig for the black on white crime. There are plenty of those to choose from...
Becaue white people have been waaay to prideful,arrogant and feel soo superior to any other race fool!!!! Thats why everytime you all open you mouth to whine about what white people cant say or do think about our countries history and why white people are viewed the way the are. Just shut up and listen, even if you dont like it accept like we have for soo many years!!!!
If I were a writer, writing a show about my perception of bleeding edge modern urbanites and as a white person, do you really think I could write about a black person's experience in the same enviroment with even the slightest shred of integrity? Of course not, I have no idea what its like to be black in a major urban city (as I have been told by a black friend repeatedly in almost those exact words).
Now if I have a team of professional writers from varied backgrounds, I could probably cook something decent up. But if I'm the single striving artist trying to produce something that I feel upholds my artistic integrity.... I feel its ludicrous to believe that I understand or have any right to paint another culture in that sort of a fashion, let alone should I be required to....
WoW really? I see enough pride and arrogance coming out of black athletes, entertainers, and the like for every man woman and child on the face of the earth. talk about calling the kettle black lol.
The idea that white people are denied self pride is complete BS! Everyone should be proud of who they are. Who are these "critics" slamming this new show? If I were a powerful center of influence, who could sway the opinons of millions, I'd use the race card every time to divivde and conquer the many fools in this country. This is perfect for drawing attention away from issues that truly matter. You people(white, black, etc) eat it up every single time!s A true puppet master pulls ALL strings, and yours are being pulled. Wake up!
Hey when someone makes punching bags in the shape of Caycee Anthony you can talk about how racism hurts white people.
Haha I really don't find this article to be news but I do think the casting agents and writers are idiots to be in NY and have no diversity is pretty dumb but I have seen this before in pleanty of shows. The writer is an idiot as well saying that there were no representation of her in Precious actually there was a scene when Precious discussed wanting to be a white girl because she thought her life would be better and there was a white girl in the reflection in the mirror showing what Precious wanted to be. So there actually was some representation maybe not a huge one but there was some. Racism isn't helping anyone it only seperates us as a people , I wish we could move forward but people live in fear of things they don't understand...sigh
lets call white people what they really are: 'Pink people".
Just watch Tosh.0 on Comedy Central. He's completely racist, but hey, he also hates Sarah Palin, so it's cool, man.
And the evil little opportunistic wedge-driver was still there. Yeah. I know. Happened to me, too. I couldn't get back to sleep, either.
Racism is the original sin of the United States of America. Racism is hate. Racism is never "hip."
The show is called single white female people! Let the show portray whomever it wants. White or Black. I can't stand it when the media points out that there aren't enough blacks on this show or that show, as if just sticking one in will solve all of life's problems. There are plenty of shows with 1 or 2 black characters who do nothing, because they're just tokens. Look at The Walking Dead. The black guys doesn't do anything, doesn't have a back story, doesn't contribute. He isn't written well at all. I told my wife that they should just kill him off. I'm all for blacks making their own shows.
This is from a black man
The Walking Dead is based on a comic book so they tried to keep the characters the same as close a possible.
OH my sure you watch next season because one of the main characters will be a black woman that has figured out how to really survive and thrive in the new world.
The absolute toughest, smartest, most beloved character is black in The Walking Dead. T dog isn't in the books. But that does not mean Kirkman or the show is racist. They are not. Just wait a few more episodes and that much will be very clear.
What happened to Tyreese, Julie, Chris or even Morgan for that fact. Tyreese was a strong character in the book. They didn't even bother bringing him to the tv show, yet, they replace him with a weak, underwritten black man who they even mention as clumsy. Seems to me that the show is taking great pains to omit the comics black characters, especially the strong black men.
Everyone hates it when whites start complaining about racism, but better get used to it, because it's going to be happening more. There is absolutely no excuse for a white person to not be able to complain the same as a black person if they are seeing the same sorts of problems. I know that black people complain about shows that don't have black main characters. Why couldn't a white person? Oh, because it's just not done... isn't that itself kind of racist? If they can have a BET channel, we should be able to have a WET channel (... heh), but we would never be able to because that would be racist. We could have a NAAWP, but that would also be racist. But it's alright for black people to do it, and then for those black people to complain about racism, but no one else.
'Equality'... riiiight. If you want equality, you need to be prepared to see all things from all sides. Until then, we'll always be segregated.
We would not have to have Black organizations and programming if you white people were not racist to begin with. Not including Blacks in shows and commercials shows that you hateful people still see us as below you. But baby it's a new day Read history Oh I forgot you can't because white people have left out many important facts
First ask yourself why is that so, and/or why it became to be.
The act of discussing race or mentioning race is not racism. Not sure why tea party crypto-fascist zombies believe this. Racism is hatred and violence (social, physical, economic) against another person because of their race. Your misdirection and specious arguments do not lend any credence to the argument that racism against blacks does not exist. Blacks are still systematically excluded from mainstream but they are making progress. Until they are represented in the mainstream in the same numbers and percentages they exist in society they will have to create their own platforms. Don't be scared. Black are not trying to take over they're just asking for equal representation.
"The act of discussing race or mentioning race is not racism."
I agree with you on this RB, however discussing race with a black person, at least in my experience, is usless because as soon as I disagree with a specific point of view I'll be called a "racist". Happened too many times just a fact of life so why would I or any "white" person want to discuss race?
'crypto-fascist zombies'....wow....tell us how you really feel. Hate is hate, no matter what wrapper you package it in...
Read your American history and the story of the interaction between the races here and perhaps you will change your opinion about the need for the NAACP or a BET.
The only time whites should be allowed to bch and whine about racism is in a parallel universe where they had slavery against whites. Otherwise, you need to learn to STFU.
Tell us. Exactly what was it like for you when you were a slave???
You have no more of an idea what is what like being a slave than I do of being a slave owner. And my point in saying that is that the generation who lived through those times are almost all gone. Most people alive today never experienced slavery from either side. So stop using that as an excuse for the issues of today.
You are FULL OF IT AND THEN SOME WET PLEASE!! Why because it's just soooooooo rare to see a white person on tv huh stupid?!! yeah it must just SUCK to be white and watch tv because you hardly ever see white people on tv let's start a protest for poor white people who are NEVER on tv[rolls eyes!]
America. Built by the white man, for the white man, because we wanted something better for ourselves. Now everyone wants to take it away from us piece by piece. It's not like we're trying to be racist. We are just calmly living our lives piecefully and quietly, minding our own business. The minorities just use race as an excuse EVERY DAMN TIME! ! ! "Ohhhh. The white people are putting a new show on TV and there are no Blacks. They're racist." Ya, like we just sit around all day long and say, "Hmmm, how can we be more racist today?" Shut Up with this race crap.
Built by the white man after taking it away from the red man. Every people has their day when they just aren't on top any more. Happened to them, will happen to us. That's how history gets made.
13 Assassins at KAC? Too good to be true. They've tormented me too many times with Magnolia no-shows to count on anhntiyg, especially one that looks to be way out of their comfort zone. I'll ask about it every time I go to KAC in the next couple of months, of course, and hope everyone else will also lobby for it. I feel fatalistic about it, though. Even if they show it -which I won't believe until the credits roll it will probably be delayed until I'm away on a summer trip. I hope your optimism and patience are rewarded.
peacefully*
"Built by the white man?!" Seriously!? The American economy was built on the backs of black slave labor. Without the slaves there would have been no "cotton as king." No rice, sugar, indigo plantations that fueled the building of this country. On the west, without the Chinese laborers, there would have been no railroads. I did not learn this is an ethnic history class, but in a good, old fashioned "the great white man's" history class. "Your" America was stolen from one group of people and built using the labor of other people who were taken from their homelands. You need to go back to school.
Built by the white man??????
Benjamin Banneker sent Thomas Jefferson an ephemerics he compiled in 1792. Maintaining the fields astronomical clock and compiling astronomical and other mathematical data for a team conducting a survey, of what we know today as the Nations Capital, Washington D.C.
You have got to be kidding me...this is news? I am disappointed. This is one writers view on life...let her tell her story the way she want to tell it..if you don't like it...don't watch it!
"More Asian-American men getting the GIRLS and living happily ever after."
That would be portraying unrealistic racial stereotypes.
White-Washing = Racism
More shows need more diversity with MAIN roles as POC.
For me? More Asian-American men getting the GIRLS and living happily ever after.