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'...!