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I always see these sad stories on the news. Always having joined a gang, from a "broken home", living in poverty. It really shows black men as VERY naive and can be easily lead down the wrong path. Almost 100% of the time, these young men come from a single family home. I understand being from a single family home but why do young black men from those environments seem to ALWAYS "break bad".
Those stories are pathetic and actually embarrassing. Black men have a permanent reputation as being 2nd class citizens, in my opinion. No I am not talking about all but a lot.
Do you ever hear these sad stories about other races. I don't care what kind of racism blacks have to deal with, a lot of the issues blacks cause themselves. It starts with the so-called parents.
I created this post because I was watching my evening news and I heard, once again one of these stories. Former gang members, now some have turned into "rappers". OF course they still have the same gang persona and look. Listening to these guys talk made my stomach turn. I know I'll get bashed but they really didn't sound to smart.
I get tired of hearing all of these "black struggle" stories.
DISCLAIMER: I am black and Puerto Rican
Last edited by Rocco Barbosa; 09-23-2013 at 09:46 PM..
For example, the media likes to point out Lebrons single mom\improverished upbringing and show how he succeeded.
When it comes to Kobe, they talk about his international upbringing, his multi-lingual talents, high test scores etc. There isn't a tragedy angle to work.
Tim Duncan, they talk about his promise to his dying mom to finish college...again tragedy angle.
(I pick those 3 because I know the NBA well and those are famous guys. They do the same thing with athletes of other races, always working the overcoming adversity\tragedy angle if they can find one. Heck, Woody Harrelson is often referenced with regards to his father who is in prison for murder or whatever.)
I get what you're saying but do other races get as much "air time" as blacks? Woody is only one story. The reason why you can pick that one because they are so far and few, the one's that you hear about are memorable.
Blacks in the media, well this is there story all of the time.............you cannot tell me blacks are the only people that have struggled.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mathguy
^^^^This.
For example, the media likes to point out Lebrons single mom\improverished upbringing and show how he succeeded.
When it comes to Kobe, they talk about his international upbringing, his multi-lingual talents, high test scores etc. There isn't a tragedy angle to work.
Tim Duncan, they talk about his promise to his dying mom to finish college...again tragedy angle.
(I pick those 3 because I know the NBA well and those are famous guys. They do the same thing with athletes of other races, always working the overcoming adversity\tragedy angle if they can find one. Heck, Woody Harrelson is often referenced with regards to his father who is in prison for murder or whatever.)
For example, the media likes to point out Lebrons single mom\improverished upbringing and show how he succeeded.
When it comes to Kobe, they talk about his international upbringing, his multi-lingual talents, high test scores etc. There isn't a tragedy angle to work.
Tim Duncan, they talk about his promise to his dying mom to finish college...again tragedy angle.
(I pick those 3 because I know the NBA well and those are famous guys. They do the same thing with athletes of other races, always working the overcoming adversity\tragedy angle if they can find one. Heck, Woody Harrelson is often referenced with regards to his father who is in prison for murder or whatever.)
Uh, why wouldn't they work that angle? Wouldn't you think that blacks who feel hopeless, are in hopeless situations, etc. would hear the story of the athlete they admire, hear about the adversity they overcame & would strive to do the same? Would that not be a success story? Do you want blacks to just stay down & out?
The correct answer is "they aren't". Now, it may be true that the stories that *you* hear are "always pathetic", but that's just because yo don't get out very often.
I agree with you OP. This is why I feel the media is the primary institution to blame for continued racism in our society.
I remember watching a segment of 60 minutes once and they were speaking to a black woman in NYC who started a choir for youth in Harlem. And even though the segment did mention "the majority of the kids come from two parent, middle income families" they decided to focus practically every interview with the talented kids on the poor ones who had been abandoned by their dads or who were going through difficult lives and circumstances.
This is done constantly when black people are in the media on mainstream channels. It cracked me up when I was listening to Democracy Now (a radio program) and they had Quest Love from the group The Roots (band on Jimmy Fallon's show) on the program and he was speaking of how people ask him about his poor or tough background or how he survived public school in Philadelphia and they are shocked to know he went to private school all the way through 8th grade and his only public school was the highly esteemed Philadelphia School of the Arts for high school. Also that he didn't grow up in "the hood" or "the ghetto" and that he had middle class parents.
These media perceptions keep it in the minds of the populace who either have limited or no contact with black people, that we all have no dad, live in the ghetto, and have horrible lives, when that is far from the truth.
This is one of the reasons why I don't have cable as I don't want my kids picking up the bad influences from these images and even with regular TV I heavily criticize every single TV commercial, in a hilarious way that my son loves, whenever they show all these black people eating McDonalds (yet are skinny and dancing) or buying all these cool cars (I go on and on about how broke they are in real life lol) and how they try to make all black kids sports stars, entertainers, or espouse some sort of "cool" urbanity. And just because I hated it I will mention that Kmart made me never want to shop with them again with those hip hop little kids commercials rapping about materialism when they looked to be, at the most 10 years old, it was ridiculous. Just like all the other images that so many of us see and believe are ridiculous.
Most news programs like to focus on the down and out and a rags to richest sort of tale.
But the few programs I have seen that focus on white people doing poorly don't make it seem like this is something that pertains to white society in general. The programs in particular I remember were on ABC, one was about babies in Maine being born horrible addicted to meth at birth and how they have to be given drugs in order to be weaned from meth and how horrible it is for the babies. The other was about Appalachian Kentuckians a few years ago.
You see way more down and out stuff about black people and most people expect black Americans to have a poor, horrible background moreso than many other ethnicities.
When DL Hugley was on Dancing with the Starts (a show I hate but I love DL so watched due to him because he was cracking me up with his non-dancing self and whining about it on a radio show I listen to) they got all "urban" with him when he was introduced and had him speaking of gang banging in his background and growing up without a dad and experiencing the death of friends due to gun violence and such, yet he is a married family man who has a son with Aspbergers and I felt they could have focused on that for their feel good story instead of gang banging. It would have been more universal IMO since ASD diagnoses are on the rise. His son is an adult and is doing great and that would have just been a better story IMO than gang banging and could have given hope to a wide range of people who have children and families going through similar circumstances.
Kids from stable families don't tug at the heart strings.
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