Our Giants are Falling...

Wow...

Benjamin Hooks...

Dorothy Height...

And now, Lena Horne...

Wow...

And, IT'S ONLY MAY!!!

What's goin' on???

Our Giants are falling.

And I, myself, am not real sure that there are plenty more where they came from...

Not at all sure....

Halle Berry

It appears that Halle Berry (43) and her very white beau (34) have gone their separate ways.

All together now...:  awwwwwwww...  :-(

I'm really hurt about that...

Anyway... it will be interesting to see on which side of the racial divide Halle lands next.

She crossed over--professionally (The Rich Man's Wife; The Wedding; Bulworth; Introducing Dorothy Dandridge; Swordfish; Die Another Day; Perfect Stranger and---most infamously--Monster's Ball; she's giving J-Lo a run for her money as White-Male-Fantasy-Woman-of-the-Decade) and personally.

Can she cross back over?  Does she want to?

You know that old saying:  Once you go white...

Bulletin: Obama Says He's Black!

We've been told that Barack Obama is the nation's first black President.
He certainly looks black to me... kinda...

Well, apparently he IS black!

The New York Times reports that President Obama, on his census form, checked “Black, African Am., or Negro.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/03/us/politics/03census.html


Apparently he could have checked both the "black" and the "white" boxes (that's permitted now), or myriad other combinations of boxes, but he did not.

He just picked plain ol' black...

How nice...

Can you imagine the uproar--at least in the Black Community--if President Obama had NOT checked the "Black" box on the census?

Can't you imagine the headlines???:

America's First Black President Denies That He's Black!

Wow!

Wouldn't THAT have been special???

I'm glad that our first black President has, in fact, acknowledged and declared that he's black.

We can all sleep easy!

If ONLY we could get him to do something for the Black Community....!!!

Now, THAT would be SPECIAL!!!

Gee, I sure hope he's not NEGRO...!

"The Back-up Plan": Can J-Lo Back-up to a Leading Man of Color??? PLEASE!!!

So, Jennifer Lopez is starring in a new movie with Alex O'Loughlin (who???), called "The Back-up Plan."

According to the Internet Movie Database, "The Back-up Plan" is "[a] romantic comedy centered on a woman who conceives twins through artificial insemination, only to meet the man of her dreams on the very same day."

So... Ms. Lopez is a mixed-race Hispanic and, in "The Back-up Plan,"  the "man of her dreams" is a white man...

I see...

Seems like I've seen this before... from Ms. Lopez!

In 1998, there was "Out of Sight," with George Clooney:

In 2001, there was "The Wedding Planner," with Matthew McConaughey:

In 2002, there was "Maid in Manhattan," with Ralph Fiennes:

In 2003, there was the infamous "Gigli," with Ben Affleck:

In 2004, there was "Shall We Dance," with Richard Gere:

In 2005, there was "Monster in Law," with Michael Vartan (who???):

This year (2010), she appeared in a guest spot on the tv sitcom, "How I Met Your Mother," as Barney's (Neil Patrick Harris) love-interest-of-the-moment:

Sooooo...

Do you... ummmmm... see a pattern here???

J-Lo is making a CAREER of playing the sexy, shapely brown-skinned woman who finds her ideal (white) man...

She's the Hispanic Thandie Newton!

I wonder what Hispanics think of their most prominent movie star playing these parts with these storylines.

I also wonder if J-Lo ever thinks about the message that her "Your Ideal Man is a White Man" movies send?

I doubt that she does.

Probably just cashes that check!

Cha-CHING!!!

If she ever does think about it, maybe she'd make a few movies with a leading man of color.

It would be a nice change of pace!

By the way...

I know it was a long time ago... but...

Does anybody remember when Jennifer Lopez was really Hispanic, and LOOKED LIKE IT???

For those who've forgotten, here's a reminder:

Hey...

Who's THAT girl???

Here We Go Again: Regina King on Southland

OK, so tonight I'm sitting here watching the end of the season finale on "Southland," the TNT drama (that NBC should have kept).

Now, Regina King is a sexy black woman.

Her character on "Southland" (Detective Lydia Adams) is currently unattached (she was dating a black man, but--shall we say--complications arose!).

She works with a sometimes-attached/sometimes-not-attached white guy (Detective Russell Clarke, played by Tom Everett Clarke).

Now, you KNOW what's coming next, right?

Black woman/White man.

It's that way on damn near EVERY drama on television!

Why???

OK, so Detective Clarke just told Regina King's character "You know I love you...".

He didn't say it like "I love you as a friend."

Here we go...

[There's also a Hispanic male detective character--I don't remember his name--who was flirting with Regina's character, but it didn't seem like she was goin' for it, and his character isn't very prominent.  Hell, I'd prefer the Hispanic to the white boy, since it seems that those are my only choices here...]

I'm watching... and waiting.

As soon as Southland goes there, and hooks Regina's character up with this white character, I'm going to seriously (very seriously) consider not watching.

I'm sooooo tired of this bullshit!

It's like the media is promoting (not reflecting, actively promoting) black female/white male relationships.

That's what white men need--more women to choose from, right???

Well, the show is over, and Regina King's character is still unattached--for now...

Stay tuned...!

What's a Persian???

A friend of mine moved to California a few years ago (she's back on the Right Coast now), and we were talking about what her then-teenage daughter was experiencing in the California public schools.

She was talking about the various cliques in the schools, and she said something about the "Persian" students.

I was like, Persians???

What's a Persian???

Now, I'm not totally ignorant.

I  know there was a Persia.

I also know that Persia no longer exists!


In fact, when I go to Wikipedia and search for "Persia," it redirects me to IRAN!

Now, I'm pretty liberal, and I'm ordinarily the first to recognize the right of people to be called what they want to be called (as when we Negroes became "black" and "African-American", and all the steps in between).

But...

How can one be a "  Persian"  if there is no Persia?

Once a country officially ceases to exist, how can a non-existent country be the grounding for one's identity?

I mean, for all I know, my ancestors came from ancient Mali.

Am I a a Malian (or whatever an occupant of Mali was called)?

There was a Mesopotamia and a Babylon.

Have you run into any Mesopotamians or Babylonians lately?

I wouldn't think so.

Persia, as a country, is gone. 

Iran exists.  Iraq exists. 

Persia does not exist.

If there's no Persia, there really can't be any Persians--logically speaking--can there???

There are Persian rugs. 

There's a Persian language.

There may be a Persian culture.

But, there aren't any Persians.

Not anymore.

Sorry...

No Persia, no Persians.

I'm just sayin'...!

Asian Newscasters: Where are the Men?

Connie Chung--former co-anchor of the CBS Evening News:

Ann Curry--NBC's Today Show:

Alina Cho--CNN:

Melissa Lee--CNBC:

All attractive, Asian-American women.  All excellent, professional network newscasters.

Is it a coincidence, that attractive, Asian-American women are doing so well as network newscasters?

Is the fact (and I call it a fact) that white men are so enamored of Asian women a factor in their success?

To put it another way:  Where are the Asian male network newscasters???


Why aren't the Asian men doing as well in network news as Asian women are?

Can you name any Asian male network broadcasters???

I can't think of one ....

I can't help but wonder whether the white male's fetish with the Asian female has something to do with the success of the Asian woman in these positions.

Now, I'm not taking anything away from the professionalism, intelligence, and skill of these women.

But, there are plenty of professional, intelligent, skilled women out there, and I presume that there are plenty of professional, intelligent, skilled Asian men out there, too.

Why don't the professional, intelligent and skilled Asian men get any of those network newscaster jobs?

In a 1994 article, Darrell Y. Hamamoto, spoke of a "Connie Chung Syndrome" that works for Asian females and against Asian males when it comes to getting network newscaster positions. 

Mr. Hamamoto wrote:

The overrepresentation of female Asian American anchorpersons and the near-total absence of their male counterparts  -- the Connie Chung syndrome -- is the material outcome of a complementary system of racism and sexism.  But in journalistic accounts of the syndrome, the roles that racism and sexism play in the casting of TV news anchors is rarely alluded to.  A December 1991 Los Angeles Times article, for example, tiptoed around the twin taboos by reporting the "difficult to prove" accusations made by "minorities in the field" that the "white, male hiring Establishment feels more comfortable seeing a white male sitting next to a minority female at the anchor desk than the reverse."  One of only a handful of male Asian Americans currently working as television news anchors in the entire country, Stephen Tschida of WDBJ-TV (Roanoke, Virginia) [now with Washington, DC's Newschannel 8 cable network] was informed early in his career that he should concentrate on reporting because he did not have the proper "look" to qualify for the top job.  In the meantime, such broadcast news veterans as Ken Kashiwahara, Mario Machado, and Sam Chu Linn, who began their careers in the early 1970s, have been passed over for younger, more beauteous, female Asian American objects of desire.  For, although those in TV news management would never admit to it, there is a belief that "Asian women are exotic looking and thus more appealing to white audiences, while Asian men are not."

In short, Asian women are doing so well in television news because they are attractive to and favored by white men. 


Asian men aren't, because they aren't.



It's my theory that, in matters racial and--especially--matters interracial, the "progress" that is made is typically the progress that white males favor, not that which they disfavor.


Therefore, to me, that very "progress" tends to reinforce the white-male-on-top American social hierarchy, not undermine it.


I think that the "Connie Chung Syndrome," where Asian women fare well in, and Asian men are virtually absent from, network television news, fits very neatly within that paradigm.


Very neatly, indeed.

Can't Black People Get the Joke, Too???: "The Family Guy" vs. "The Cleveland Show"

Here's some dialogue I heard Sunday on "The Family Guy":

"This is easier than an American finding his brother in China."


And this:

(From Peter to his employer, who had just attempted suicide):

"You have a lot to live for. Someday, a white man will be elected President again!"


The Family Guy is hysterical!


Here's some dialogue from "The Cleveland Show":

[Cleveland looks in his bathroom mirror in the morning, and he is shocked to see that his mustache is missing.]

Wife:  "What happened to your mustache?"

Cleveland (shouting):  "I don't know; it's gone, it's gone...!"

Wife (shouting):  "And what's wrong with your voice?"

Cleveland (shouting):  "My mustache must have provided a natural filter!"

Wife:  "You've got too much face without your mustache!"

Cleveland:  "I know!  That's why I wear it!"

Wife:  "You sound and look like a man I don't want to be with."

Cleveland:  "Awww... Rats!"


Another excerpt from "The Cleveland Show":

[Spoken at a bar]

Cleveland (slapping Cleveland, Jr. on the back...):  "Let's go home"

Gus, the Bartender:  "Your son's a smart little fella, Cleveland."

Cleveland (to himself):  "Hmmmm.  Gus thinks he's smart.  But, is Gus smart???"

Gus:  "He just saved me a lot of money.  Junior, how would you like to come work for me here at 'The Stool'?

Cleveland (to Cleveland, Jr., rubbing his head):  "Well, alright!  Look at you!  A working man, thanks to me!

Cleveland (to Jr.):  Now, Junior, if you take this job, you might see your father do some strange things. 

Like swear a lot, or vomit on stuff. 

Or dance with some ladies who aren't your step mom--and maybe aren't even ladies.

Might dress up like a lady himself to win the confidence of an out-of-town businessman--and then swindle him out of his inheritance.

All of this needs to stay a secret...

Is that something you can handle...?

Cleveland, Jr.  :  "I suppose so."

Bartender:  "Great, he can start tomorrow!"

A white male patron enters the bar and says:  "Drinks are on the house, everyone!  I've just inherited a large sum of money."

Cleveland (donning a wig, putting on lipstick and walking, ladylike, towards the patron) to Jr.: 
"Go wait in the car, Junior."


The Cleveland Show is... what the hell??? 

It ain't even funny!

Now...

Can anybody tell me, given that The Family Guy and The Cleveland Show have the same creators (and maybe even the same writers), why The Family Guy is so irreverent and witty, while The Cleveland Show is so... well... STUPID!

Do the creators of The Family Guy feel that they have to dumb-down their witty comedy for a black audience?  (I presume that The Cleveland Show has a very significant--if not predominantly black--audience.)


Can't black people get the joke, too?


My wife loves "Frazier" (I try not to hold it against her!).

She thinks that the writing is so sophisticated and urbane (she left out "gay"!), and it is.

There are sophisticated literary and artistic references, and double entendre...


Why can't black comedy like that?


Why does virtually every black comedy have to feature the coarsest, most unsophisticated, put-down baffoonery (Tyler Perry, do you hear me???)?

"The Cosby Show" is about the only exception to that rule that comes to mind...

Please comedy writers--plenty of us have gone to and graduated from college and even professional school!

Hey, yeah!  There ARE black doctors, lawyers, accountants, and other professionals out there...


Imagine THAT! 


And... we like humor beyond smart-ass black kids (even when it's done well--we miss you Bernie Mac!)

We like humor beyond put-downs.

You don't need to stuff a fat ass into a pair of ridiculous, plaid pants to make us laugh (Tyler Perry, are you out there???)...


Give us a chance...

Believe it or not, black people CAN get the joke, too!

Mercy, it's "Mercy"

OK, I caught a little bit of NBC's drama "Mercy" tonight, which is about all I can take.

So, in tonight's episode, the very pretty black female character, Sonia Jiminez, took her traveling groveling act, to get her ex-boyfriend back, to a whole new--and lower--level.

She showed up at his apartment door with two penguin dolls, and told him that she wished they were penguins, because penguins mate for life.

It was kinda cute...

Kinda sad...

Kinda CORNY...!

I mean, "I wish we were penguins, because penguins mate for life"???

Really???

Anyway, the groveling continues...

Stay tuned (if you're interested)... and I'm not sure I am.

Paige Miles Voted Off of American Idol: I'm Free!

The last of the black women contestants on American Idol, Paige Miles, was voted off today (she was almost voted off last week, but she survived).

I feel badly for Paige.

I think she has one of the best singing voices out of this whole crop of contestants, but she's consistently gotten less votes than some of the other women who can't sing nearly as well--in my humble opinion.

Not sure what that's about!

Well, anyway, this means that, at insofar as American Idol is concerned, I'M FREE!!!

I don't need to watch anymore.

There is a brotha' (maybe two???) still on AI, I think.  But I haven't been feeling the brothas' this year (which isn't that unusual, come to think of it).

I watch AI for two reasons, basically:  to watch the first auditions (they're HILARIOUS!) and to root for the black contestants.

So... no black contestants (that I'm rooting for), no need to watch.

I'm free!!!!  Hallelujah!!!

I think there's a lot of racial voting on AI, so I don't feel badly in the least about specifically rooting and voting for the black contestants.

Not one bit.

Just in case you were wondering...

Asian women and White men: Colorblind?

I remember when Euna Lee and Laura Ling, the two Asian-American journalists, were released from North Korea (after Bill Clinton went to North Korea to get them--must be nice, right?).

It was an emotional homecoming, which we all witnessed in the media (well, all of us that cared to witness it, witnessed it).  One couldn't help but be moved by the raw emotion of the moment.



But, did you notice that both Ms. Lee and Ms. Ling came home to white husbands?

Other than the actual events that were occuring, I was totally struck by the fact that both of these Asian-American women had white husbands!

Not that it's all that shocking...

The proportion of Asian women who choose to date and/or marry white men (and who therefore don't choose to date and/or marry Asian men) truly amazes me!

If black women dated and/or married white (or Asian or Hispanic, or whatever) men in the numbers and proportion that Asian women date and marry white men, black men would just lose it!

I do not know how Asian men deal with that!  I really don't.

But, the Asian woman/white man phenomenon illustrates my "issue"--if you want to call it that--with so-called colorblind, interracial dating.

It's interracial, but it's not really colorblind.



In the United States, interracial dating and interracial marriage in the United States primarily translate into white men dating and marrying black, Asian and Hispanic women.

They sure don't mean primarily translate into black, Asian or Hispanic men dating and marrying white women!

Oh, no!  Not by a long shot!

Last year, I was on the campus of Carnegie-Mellon University, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with my wife for her class reunion.

Carnegie-Mellon is one of America's premier engineering/computer science/technical universities, and (as there tends to be at such universities--a stereotype, yes, but true) there were plenty of Asian students on campus.

As we walked the campus, I couldn't help but notice (yeah, I  was looking..., so what???) that the number of white male/Asian female couples that we saw just absolutely dwarfed the number of Asian male/white female couples.

In fact, out of the several hours we spent on the Carnegie-Mellon campus, I only remember seeing one Asian male/white female couple!

I must have seen 10-20 white male/Asian female couples during that same period on that same campus.

In fact, until I lived in New York City for a few years, I didn't know that Asian women dated Asian men in any significant numbers, I so rarely saw an Asian man/Asian woman couple!  (Not that there weren't tons of Asian woman/white male couples in New York City--there were just more Asian/Asian couples there than I had seen elsewhere.)

So, when I hear white men advocate color-blind romance (you know:  "I think everybody should date who they want to date and marry who they want to marry..."), what I hear is:

"I think that I, as a white man, black women, Hispanic women, Asian women... whatever--should all be available to me." 

But, the corrollary to that is:

"That doesn't mean that white women should be available to Asian, black or Hispanic men!"

Sound fair to you???

Sound progressive to you???

It doesn't to me.

To me, that is almost precisely parallel to the interracial adoption situation.

When white people advocate for interracial, color-blind adoption, they are advocating for their freedom to adopt your non-white children--not for your freedom to adopt their white children. 

How many black/Asian/Hispanic people do you know that have adopted a white child?

Exactly NONE!

At least, I don't know of any.

So, to me, the incidence of interracial dating and marriage, like the incidence of interracial adoption, is more often a symptom of inequality, than it is evidence of equality.

And, therein lies my "issue" with interracial dating and interracial marriage.

I don't think that people of different races or ethnicities shouldn't date and marry each other.  To each his or her own!

I just don't think that the dating and marriage arenas should be additional arenas where the white male's social and economic privileges and advantages play themselves out.

If those two Asian female reporters had been black women, and they rushed out of  the airplane into the waiting arms of their respective white husbands, I would have been totally shocked--and totally dismayed.

And, tell the truth:  Can you even imagine two white female reporters running to the arms of their respective Asian, Hispanic or African-American husbands???

Not!!!

But two Asian female reporters running to their respective white husbands was entirely unremarkable.

What does that tell you, about how "colorblind" interracial dating is???

UGLY BETTY: MORE WHITE MALE FANTASY

I used to like "Ugly Betty."

It had a cute premise--an un-stylish (not really ugly) but promising Hispanic woman comes to work at a ultra-hip (and ultra-white) fashion magazine, which only serves to highlight how awful her style really is! 

But, as time goes by, the ugly duckling evolves into an attractive, if not beautiful, swan.

What's not to like...?

Well, since you asked...

I don't watch "Ugly Betty" anymore.

Couldn't take it...

Why???

Every man Betty gets involved with is white.

I mean every, as in EVERY!

But wait, there's more!

The second most significant character on "Betty" is Wilhemina, played by the lovely Vanessa Williams...

Now, Wilhemina has had several romantic involvements, and every one (at least until now) has been with a white man.

I mean, every one...

Like, ALL OF THEM!

She's even had a baby to one of them...

What the hell IS this???

This season, they have hooked Wilhemina up with a black male character, Don (played by Brian Stokes Mitchell).

TOO LATE!!!

Until Don came into the picture--in Betty's final season--there has not been one male character of color of any significance--even though the main character is Hispanic and the second most visible character, Wilhemina, is black.

Even Betty's sexy sister, Hilda...

is now engaged to an Italian (or at least, that's what he's supposed to be)...

And her father, Ignacio, recently got with a Jewish woman...

This is assimilation on steroids!

Is this real???

Is this what Hispanic life in America looks like?

A succession of romantic relationships with white people?

I'm doubting that...

If you're a black man, or other man of color, you're invisible on Ugly Betty.  Nowhere to be seen!

And you're not missed, because the white men have all of the women covered!

But, if you're a white man--well, every woman on Ugly Betty is (or has been) in a relationship with a white man! 

See!

Every woman--white, black, Hispanic or "other"--can be yours.

You're on your very own Fantasy Island!

How could it get any better than that???

On TV, For Every Black Woman, There's a White (or Maybe Even an Asian) Man!

Wednesday, I turned (in passing) to NBC's new drama, "Mercy." I've watched a few minutes here and there, but that's about it. You'll see why.

Anyway, after a few minutes, here she comes:

Sonia Jiminez, the very pretty black female character, played by Jaime Lee Kirchner (Kirchner???).

Well, it appears that Sonia split with her white male (cop?) boyfriend while I was away (all together now: Awwwwwwwwwww...).

So, in this episode, she tells him how much she loves him, how much she misses him, how she wants them to get back together--the whole nine.

She practically begs him to take her back.

And, he says NO (and walks out with a pretty white woman)!

The nerve of these white boys!

Well..., needless to say, Sonia is stunned and heartbroken.

Of course she is! She's lost her white boy... WHAT TO DO, WHAT TO DO???

Hmmmm... Well, OK...

NEXT!

So, Thursday, I turn to ABC's new drama, "Flash Forward."

Now, I've actually watched a WHOLE EPISODE of this show before. It's pretty interesting. Fascinating premise. But, I digress...

So, what's happening here???

Well, there's a very pretty black female character, Zoey (played, in a recurring role, by the mighty-fine Gabrielle Union!)... and her ASIAN FIANCE, Demetri.

Demetri--for an Asian man??? (Hey, I know that when I hear the name "Dmetri," I think Asian--don't you???).

Well, OK... some ASIAN guy lovin' up on Gabrielle Union...

I'm really not feelin' that... So...

NEXT!

[Note:  The "Angry Asian Guy" has noted this pairing--which he says "was apparently deliberate" (as though any pairing of characters on a television drama might be somehow accidental)--with seeming approval.

http://www.angryasianman.com/2009/08/gabrielle-union-stars-as-john-chos.html

I suppose that if I were in his shoes, given the absolute dearth of heterosexual male Asian characters on television, I'd approve, too.  As an African-American male, however, given the paucity of Brothas' in relationships with Sistas' on television these days, I must say that I'd have been much happier if the creators of "Flash Forward" had introduced an Asian (or even a white) female character to pair with this Asian male character, and paired Gabrielle Union's character with a black male.  I mean, the percentage of black women in relationships with Asian males borders on the microscopic.  I'm just sayin'...]

OK... then last night I turned to FX and watched a new (well, new to me...) adult cartoon--no, not THAT kind of adult cartoon--Archer.

[Remember now, this is a cartoon...]

So... what do I see...???

A very pretty black female cartoon character, Lana (apparently voiced by, if not actually modeled on, Aisha Tyler.

This very pretty black female cartoon character is the former girlfriend/lover of the very, very white cartoon character, Archer.

And, to top it all off, she's the current girlfriend of the even whiter (if that's possible!) cartoon character, Cyril.

Not to mention that every other cartoon white man in this show (and there are LOTS of them!) is trying to get with her...

Sooooooooo... pardon me while I SCREAM...!!!

WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE???

Who do I have to kill to see a Sista' with a Brotha' on this damned television???

Was a law passed forbidding that kinda' thing, when I wasn't lookin'...???

ANYWAY...

It appears that television is now, with respect to white men gettin' with Sistas... some kinda White Man's Fantasy Island!

Whenever I see an attractive black female character (even in cartoons!), if I don't see a black male character, I just assume, sometime, somehow, that character is going to be hooked up with some white male character (or, as in the case of Flash Forward, some other non-black male character).

Soooo... what message is being sent here???

White men, you can have a Black woman.

Black women want white men!  They need white men!  They love white men!

Even a square-ass, whiter-than-whitebread white man like Cyril can get with a fine black woman like Lana.

OK.  I get it...


NEXT!


Everywhere I look, there's some white man kissing on, laying with, sexin' up, flirting with--some Sista...

What's up with that???

OK, so now, I'm getting ready to go to bed last night, checkin' out a little TV. 

Cut to commercial, and ... what do I see?

A commercial for Philadelphia Cream Cheese... with some white man kissing on his black woman!!!

Y'all didn't HEAR me!

I said, a white man kissing his black woman IN A COMMERCIAL FOR PHILADELPHIA CREAM CHEESE!!!

[sigh...]

Et tu, Brute???

Is there NO ESCAPE???  NOWHERE???

I mean, REALLY???

I can't take any more. I'm going to go watch some March Madness.

I trust there won't be any white men layin' up on any Sistas' on the basketball court...