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This is the thing. The underclass part of the Black population has their resume, and the non-underclass Blacks have their resume. Why the underclass resume is the one that people rely on far more, that is something that needs to be examined. And when I say underclass, I'm speaking of a specifically non-functional segment of the Black population, the equivalent of the trailer park trash in the White population.
Short answer is......that is what is mostly reported. That is what is seen on television news, shows, movies. That is the conclusion when driving through a black neighborhood and seeing the boastful crowd loitering outside the corner liquor store.
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Here is something else to consider. I've run into Black people who happen to be of the nerdy character. We have the show The Big Bang Theory, but no Black characters. Plenty of Black people who are nerds, but no television shows about Black nerds. Why? Better yet, why does Black men behaving like thugs/hood rats sell?
"Family Matters", a black tv show that ran for nine years had a nerdy black kid as the central character. One reason we don't see similar programs is because the black community doesn't think it represent them in a positive fashion. Take 'Amos and Andy' for example. I loved the show, I loved the characters. Blacks thought in cast them in a bad light, cancelled......no reruns. Then we had the upper class black racist George Jefferson in 'Movin on up', a spin off of the white racist 'Archie'. Blacks have been portrayed in many different roles over the years, but today it seems only the cool 'Black Panther' movie or 'Black Lightning' tv show which portrays the black fantasy role models are acceptable. Of course black thugs are still popular to project and protect the 'bad boy' image. Should it be strange they are viewed any other way? We see a steady diet of this stuff. Want to change the image?....change the projection.
BTW, not all whites who live in trailers parks are 'trash' anymore than all the lower class blacks in Robbins are trash.
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Originally Posted by DRob4JC
We can't control how others view us. We need to understand this. We can control our own behavior. We can control the family structure with which kids are born. I am frustrated at the perception as you are because I experience it all of the time by people who see me and I can see how they react - or they suddenly remember to turn on the car alarm. I can't control the fact that black men commit more crime on a percentage basis. 7300 black on black homicides... you can't just wipe that away as if it doesn't exist. And I am not even including the crimes on white folk. That what they see. They see thug music videos. They see in it the movies. That's what we put out there. We can't force people to like it.
What do you see more? You either see the underclass blacks, or you see the uber-rich blacks on the screen. you don't see the black middle class - but we are here. Not sure if that's by design or not - but that's what sells.
On the screen, we either see underclass hood rats or the uber rich celebrities. The middle class is the largest segment of the Black population. Us educated, middle class Black people are here. One of the reasons that the demise of Bill Cosby really hurt me. For a time he represented the best of us, and then all that crap came out. Watching the Cosby Show represented a Black middle class family, with educated Black people. I could watch that and think "that represents us middle class Black people". Now it's hard to watch it without thinking about Bill Cosby himself, the hypocritical predator. I started thinking "since Bill Cosby screwed up royally, the rest of us middle class Blacks will have to pay for it".
There are plenty of us middle class Blacks. But the thugs and hood rats are what sell. While a Black middle class family sold very well, when you look at MTV, VH1, pop culture in general, it's this stupidity that sells very much. Black males behaving like violent thugs, or at the least pretending to be thugs, that sells alot. Stupid is what sells. And if this is what sells, what does it say about society at large?
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Black nerds won't sell. The public is conditioned to black folk who are hyper animated or athletic or talented.
I will say that the 80s was the time when things were the most integrated between the cultures. The Cosby Show ruled the roost back then. They were a upper, middle class family that dealt with life, which spun off into A Different World when Denise went to college. Black folk where seen as regular folk with friends of all races, and at times they introduced segments of black culture into the mainstream. Very positive...
I don't know to how much of an extent. Just the same, seeing a mostly Black cast on a show with the same premise as the Big Bang Theory, it would be cool to see. I would like to see nerdy, bookish Black people presented alot more, and not made out to be some comic relief.
The Cosby Show and A Different World definitely provided a better image for Black Americans. Sadly, when the evening news is littered with images of the crack epidemic (when these shows were on the air), this really hurt. While those shows were a relief, and definitely made me happy, I really have to think about this. How many people were watching the news during the 1980s? How many people remember the Cosby Show vs the drugs and violence of the 1980s?
I needed to bring this up because you mention that the way we are presented in entertainment isn't helping Black people. I had to bring up that violence sells, stupidity sells. I figure "we need shows that show the nerdy Black kids, the bookish types, the Black versions of characters like Sheldon from the Big Bang Theory". I figured that maybe that could help our image. But then, I consider this question: Will it sell? And if the answer is know, then there isn't much Black Americans can do, outside of make our own television shows.
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We can't control how others view us. We need to understand this. We can control our own behavior. We can control the family structure with which kids are born. I am frustrated at the perception as you are because I experience it all of the time by people who see me and I can see how they react - or they suddenly remember to turn on the car alarm. I can't control the fact that black men commit more crime on a percentage basis. 7300 black on black homicides... you can't just wipe that away as if it doesn't exist. And I am not even including the crimes on white folk. That what they see. They see thug music videos. They see in it the movies. That's what we put out there. We can't force people to like it.
It is true that the only thing I truly have control over is my own behavior. This is what makes me all the more angry. I know that I can control my behavior. I have my act together. For crying out loud, I'm just out there being a normal person. But there are times when I run across threads like this. I see the bigoted coming here, and I feel like I have to fight back, I have something to prove. I shouldn't have to prove anything to anyone. I'm aware of the Black on Black violence. I've had to be aware of it. Neither one of us can stop people from murdering each other. Interesting thing is, I was never raised in the ghetto. I'm the product of a Black middle class family where education is paramount. However, no how much we try to distance ourselves from thuggery, we really can't. We can control our own behavior, but we can't control thugs. All we can do is turn them over to the prison system when we see thugs victimizing people. That is what I did when I became the victim of Black on Black violence (in the suburbs strangely).
I am frustrated by the perception because I have no control over what people think of me as a Black person. And I have no control over the behavior of thugs, who happen to look like me. I've actually thought about leaving the United States of America. Or at the least, some place (in the USA or outside of it) where I don't have to worry much about the perception Black Americans might have.
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Actually - we are progressing - but it's slow. We will never totally be where white folk are. They got a head start. They (in general) didn't chose welfare programs and welfare behaviors from decades ago. WE can't go back and change that.
We have made progress since the 1960s. The educated class has grown, the middle class has grown. The 2010s has seen the fastest growth of Black owned businesses in America. On one hand, things have been improving. On the flip side, the underclass is still the underclass, and insists on behaving like thugs.
This is the way I see things. Black Americans have accomplished IN SPITE OF. Considering that Blacks got here under duress, and solely for the purpose of being slaves, we have accomplished more than many would give Black Americans credit for. I would not say so much that White Americans got a head start. Rather, we as Black people started far behind everyone else. The only people brought here by force, enslaved, not even classified as human beings at one point. It was a fight to be considered human, and then a fight to be treated like American citizens. Black Americans were far behind before welfare ever came.
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I think we need a different measuring stick, because we will never be them. Life ain't fair. I would like to see two things improve that's totally in our control. Reduce single parent families, and reduce black on black crime.
The fact is, we're going to me measured vs the rest of the non-Black population, and especially the White population. That is the measuring stick currently being used, and we have no say in it. That is sadly a fact of life.
How we behave as individuals is totally in our control. However, how someone else behaves, is not. That is also a sad fact of life.
Short answer is......that is what is mostly reported. That is what is seen on television news, shows, movies. That is the conclusion when driving through a black neighborhood and seeing the boastful crowd loitering outside the corner liquor store. "Family Matters", a black tv show that ran for nine years had a nerdy black kid as the central character. One reason we don't see similar programs is because the black community doesn't think it represent them in a positive fashion. Take 'Amos and Andy' for example. I loved the show, I loved the characters. Blacks thought in cast them in a bad light, cancelled......no reruns. Then we had the upper class black racist George Jefferson in 'Movin on up', a spin off of the white racist 'Archie'. Blacks have been portrayed in many different roles over the years, but today it seems only the cool 'Black Panther' movie or 'Black Lightning' tv show which portrays the black fantasy role models are acceptable. Of course black thugs are still popular to project and protect the 'bad boy' image. Should it be strange they are viewed any other way? We see a steady diet of this stuff. Want to change the image?....change the projection.
BTW, not all whites who live in trailers parks are 'trash' anymore than all the lower class blacks in Robbins are trash. ....or to ignore it.
I wonder why The Big Bang Theory never had any primary Black characters.
The fact is, we're going to me measured vs the rest of the non-Black population, and especially the White population. That is the measuring stick currently being used, and we have no say in it. That is sadly a fact of life.
How we behave as individuals is totally in our control. However, how someone else behaves, is not. That is also a sad fact of life.
As a white male I don't think my thoughts are particularly unique. I see the black middle class. I work among you. I live among you. I know you are there and in no small numbers. I have no problem with that. However with the portrayal of blacks being overwhelmingly thuggish in most media, don't feel strange if a woman seems a bit uneasy when you are approaching her on a sidewalk at night. You know who you are, she doesn't. Familiarity plays a large role in how we are viewed. I'm a little leery if I am walking alone and come up on a group of white guys.....unless I know them.
Short answer is......that is what is mostly reported. That is what is seen on television news, shows, movies. That is the conclusion when driving through a black neighborhood and seeing the boastful crowd loitering outside the corner liquor store. "Family Matters", a black tv show that ran for nine years had a nerdy black kid as the central character. One reason we don't see similar programs is because the black community doesn't think it represent them in a positive fashion. Take 'Amos and Andy' for example. I loved the show, I loved the characters. Blacks thought in cast them in a bad light, cancelled......no reruns. Then we had the upper class black racist George Jefferson in 'Movin on up', a spin off of the white racist 'Archie'. Blacks have been portrayed in many different roles over the years, but today it seems only the cool 'Black Panther' movie or 'Black Lightning' tv show which portrays the black fantasy role models are acceptable. Of course black thugs are still popular to project and protect the 'bad boy' image. Should it be strange they are viewed any other way? We see a steady diet of this stuff. Want to change the image?....change the projection.
BTW, not all whites who live in trailers parks are 'trash' anymore than all the lower class blacks in Robbins are trash. ....or to ignore it.
As a Black middle class person, who has nothing to do with such thuggery, I don't exactly like hearing about thugs on the news. It doesn't represent me. But I have to hear about, and furthermore, other people are going to hear about this before seeing me. I can't control thugs and hood rats. I can only control me.
I used to watch Family Matters. I found myself have a strange respect for Steve Urkel. As weird as his character was, it's easier for me to see his archetype put in the media in spades than the bad boy. Why? I grew up being the bookish, nerdy kid (I wasn't nearly as weird as Urkel). Like Urkel, I got bullied alot (in many cases worse than Urkel). I could relate to Urkel. It doesn't represent anything negative to me because I pretty much identify with said character. I'd like to see more Black American male nerds. Imagine how much wonders that could do.
This is a sad fact of life. The only real way to change the image of Black males in the media is through censorship. Anything with the Black thug archetype would need to banned from all movies and television shows. It would not be allowed in the news. Most people aren't going to go for that under grounds of freedom of speech. You say that changing the projection would change the image. The thing is, the only current effective, and quickest way to do this is through censorship. And this is another sad thing fact of life. The projection of thuggery sells. It doesn't just sell in movies. It sells in music. And it isn't just Blacks consuming such entertainment. Alot of Whites and other non-Black groups are consuming such entertainment as well.
And no, not all Whites who live in trailer parks are trailer park trash. I was speaking of a specific subculture, and specific kind of underclass.
I still don't know why. It would have been nice. A doctor, a college professor, etc.
I think there was a Black secretary at the University who Sheldon, being Sheldon, unintentionally offends but that was it. As an Indian, I didn't like the way Raj was portrayed, totally unable to talk to women without being drunk, until the fifth season. I much preferred the first Indian main character on prime time: "Apu" as he was jovial and friendly. What do you think of Neil Degrasse Tyson: he's not a fictional character but a real brilliant astrophysicist who is both "nerdy" and good with people? I can't see anyone disliking him for any reason: can you?
As a white male I don't think my thoughts are particularly unique. I see the black middle class. I work among you. I live among you. I know you are there and in no small numbers. I have no problem with that. However with the portrayal of blacks being overwhelmingly thuggish in most media, don't feel strange if a woman seems a bit uneasy when you are approaching her on a sidewalk at night. You know who you are, she doesn't. Familiarity plays a large role in how we are viewed. I'm a little leery if I am walking alone and come up on a group of white guys.....unless I know them.
Finding Black people who are middle class, it isn't hard, not to me anyway. You work with them, and see them. We both know they are there. The main thing I'm trying to get at is this. The portrayal of the underclass Black thug who revels in being a thug, that is more prominent in pop culture, in rap music, and in the news. The portrayal of Black people as thugs is something you and me cannot control. My thing is this. Thugs get the most attention.
I think about a scene from Different Strokes. It's the bank robbery episode I'm speaking of. Willis and Arnold get trapped in the bank while two thugs, Black and White, rob a bank. Willis tells the Black bank robber "there are alot of good Black people out there, but it's going to be you they remember, and that will make it harder for the rest of us".
As a side note, when I'm out alone, I watch everyone. I don't care what race they are.
I think there was a Black secretary at the University who Sheldon, being Sheldon, unintentionally offends but that was it. As an Indian, I didn't like the way Raj was portrayed, totally unable to talk to women without being drunk, until the fifth season. I much preferred the first Indian main character on prime time: "Apu" as he was jovial and friendly. What do you think of Neil Degrasse Tyson: he's not a fictional character but a real brilliant astrophysicist who is both "nerdy" and good with people? I can't see anyone disliking him for any reason: can you?
I didn't see that many episodes of Big Bang Theory. The fact that Sheldon unintentionally offends the secretary speaks to one thing: Sheldon wasn't around many Black people growing up or in his university, and thus likely has some awkwardness when it comes to being around a Black person. I find it ironic consider Sheldon (and the guy who plays him, Jim Parsons) grew up in Texas, where there are about 2.7 million Blacks. The show takes place in Pasadena, California, which has a sizable Black population, and likely many middle class persons within the population. I would also say it speaks to social ineptitude. The fact that the Black person featured as a secretary tells me something else. It speaks to an idea that there is no place for Blacks in the world of nerds. At least that is my opinion.
I actually like Neil Degrasse Tyson. I could actually relate to him.
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