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.