Jason Whitlock, a sports writer for Fox Sports starts his article off by saying: "Would someone please write a handbook? "What Will and Won't Piss Black Folk Smooth the **** Off" would be an international bestseller. I'm black, and I'm pissed off most of the time, but I wouldn't leave home without the handbook. Not in these racist-ly confusing times. I can barely keep up with when I'm supposed to be disappointed as opposed to offended as opposed to being pissed smooth the **** off."
This is in reference to the LeBron James/Giselle Vogue cover controversy. He doesn't understand the controversy and wonders why a man playing basketball running down the court holding a model is such a big deal. Why does a man in his element conjure up images of King Kong? He goes on to say...
"Would we be having this discussion if LeBron struck the same pose on the cover of Ebony while holding Selita Ebanks? Think about it. And if we wouldn't be having the discussion, what does that say about us? Are we only bothered by negative images of black men when the primary/sole consumer of the image is white people?
Vogue ain't for us. Tyler Perry's new movie, Meet the Browns, was produced with us in mind. It had a great box-office debut, coming in at No. 2 with a take of more than $20 million. It also broke records for negative black stereotypes and simple-mindedness."
I have to say this article has made me think about the cover from a very different perspective. While I do believe that the cover just in general is fugly as all hell, I do have to wonder would I have been so upset by the cover if the model was black. And yes, many of Tyler Perry movies and plays provide us and white people with every stereotype there is about black people with a happy ending. I don't watch his show on TBS for just that reason.
This is something I think black people will continue to deal with. There is no handbook and that is the problem. If such an image sparks hurt and anger then clearly there is a deep seeded reason for that and we all know where that stems from. But then why is OK to watch the coonin portrayed by Flavor Flav and those women and Tyler Perry characters when it is our own people who provide such 'entertainment'? Black people are clearly experiencing different reactions to images and portrayals, by us or by them, in the media and there may never be a time when these questions, issues and concerns just don't come up.
Read the article: Do Black People Need a Handbook? What do you think?
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4 comments:
I agree about the cover, it's ugly as hell. But I wasn't offended by it. Sure it probably has to do with me not being black, but I am a minority so I usually can see where someone would get offended. I honestly felt like it was stretching it a bit in comparing the cover and LeBron to King Kong.
Well no I don't think the cover would have been as offensive if he had posed with Selita Banks. But that's the point. I mean how long have black men in this country had the mandingo, animalistic, lusting after white women stereotype on them. And black athletes? While I was not offended by the cover--I didn't care for it because it was the same old same old to me.
TravelDiva you are so right that the point is that the model is white BUT I think it is really more about how black men are portrayed and I'm not sure that having LeBron looking like an animal that can bounce a ball with a black model would make it any better nor should it be less offensive. But we accept things when they are for us by us.
And yes, you are right....what else is new? Same old, same old indeed. And that is what is unfortunate.
Da hell? Um, this is King Kong 2008.
Sad.
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