intentional?

[Chriswood8]

first off before i ask this question i would like to say that i'm a white male and i have a black girlfriend so you know i'm not racist.

my question is, are black people intentional? why i ask this is because everytime i watch a hiphop music video there is never a white person in it? me and my girlfriend would got to the video shop and she will say to me'' oh i'm just gonna go check out if theres any of my black films' even if the film is crap she will still get it but intentionaly get it beacuse all the actors in it are black, another thing was i was round her house and there was a newspaper on the floor and it said on it' britains top black newspaper' surly if there was a newspaper that said 'britains top white news paper' there would be an uproar and black people would say it was racist?! i know there is still alot of racism in the world but i believe black people are distancing themself from everyone else with the stuff i've mentioned and surly if everyone is going to be equal and everything is going to the the same for everyone of any race surly this has to stop?!?!

anyone??

[Morrisonker]

I've wondered this before, first started thinking about it when I was aware of the Mobo awards (Music of black origin).  I think it's just one of those double standards that keep popping up.  If you're in a minority you're allowed to be proud of your background, but if you're white and especially if you're a white male(no matter where in the world you live), you can never say that your happy to be so, it could be taken as racist.

It's kind of sad that that's the case, but i can't ever see it being different.

[MargeB]

That's a realllly interesting point.
I don't think it's really a double standard. To suggest this would be to assume that racist overtones do not owe something to their historical and cultural context, and in my opinion, they always do. We are not talking about a BLACK and WHITE issue here. We are talking about:
WHITE over BLACK: aggressor, slave-keeper, oppressor, hater, eugenizing ethnic cleanser
BLACK over WHITE: struggle against oppression, promotion of unique identity, cohesion despite oppression, struggle for civil liberties, etc.

This is just the way I see it. When skinheads shout about white power, we think of blind 'pure' racism: they attack you because you are black. When I see a man in a beret shouting 'Black Power', I think of someone unprepared to put up with being stepped on: they attack because they feel someone is trying to oppress them.
Sometimes when I look at black culture in this country, I wish I had been born black! Black people's culture has better music, they can dance, if you're a woman you can get fat and still be sexy, their historical culture is all about exodus from oppression and healthy civil rights.....I went through a bit of a phase of this.
Perhaps ultimately it's due to some undercurrents that aren't immediately obvious: black people would continue promoting events such as MOBO awards etc for so long as they suspected they were not being treated equally in predominantly white circles (which I think, sadly, is the case).

[Weaza_cfc]

It just backlash from being persecuted for so many years. Odd really, after all that campaigning (and rightly so) to be equal and the same and then they go and distance themselves as much as possible. It like the whole theory that a white person cannot be racially abused; err, i think you'll find they can be.

Having said that, it is not them being proud to black that I object to, its the fact that i am not allowed to be proud to be white.

[andy hughes]

We live in a white-based society in this country - the majority of the population are white, that's a simple fact. I see nothing wrong with black people enjoying their own cultural identity, which is obviously far deeper and more subtle than mere skin colour. The problem arises if a black person is hinting, or expressing a view that they are in any way superier, purely because they are black - that is racism.

I would take issue that you state that you are 'no racist' because your girlfriend is black. The main thrust of racism in the country at the moment is against 'asylum seekers', most of whom are east European, and white - so approving one skin colour does not make, or indeed deny, racist attitudes.

Because racial minorities live in any country in the world, there is a degree of comfort in bonding with social and cultural similarities which may not be shared by the host country - that is diversity, and I see no problem with it.

[El D]

It's double standards to me. I love the way before anyone broaches a race issue they have to clarify whether they are racist or not through examples. I think that if anyone is proud of the colour of their skin they are slightly strange. Highlighting the divide even through positive means just prolongs the idea that we are different. I don;t particulary like black culture, I don;t think it does black people any favours at all. MOBO, black newspapers, talking funny - yawn. Ok we get it, you;re black. Yes I have eyes, newsflash, you don;t have to affirm your loyalty to your cultural group through anti-societal acts.

[tartanwiz]

I would prefer it if we all just got along without shouting I'm black or white or whatever and fiercely proud of it. Todays white people are not to blame for history. I say let's all move on.

[advicegirl]

no black people are not international. I know this becasue i'm black. umm.....there are some movies that see racist things in them you some movies with all white people and sometime thoes movies try to act black and they say the wrong things. Black people like to be funny and thats why  now and days there are lots of black people in movies with white people. I don't mean to sound rude or anything.

[MargeB]

EXACTLY. excellent point, advice girl.

[Ouisch]

I don't understand the question..."are Black people intentional?"

Anyway, I live in a suburb of Detroit, and lived within the city itself for many years...I find it interesting that the city is 80 percent African-American (we don't say "black" anymore), but yet they refer to themselves as "minority."  As in "minority-owned business", so they get special consideration from contractors, etc.

[magicdice]

racism: putting the needs or preferences of one race over that of another; discrimination or prejudice based on race

so it's not white-over-black, same as sexism isn't men-over-women.

[MargeB]

I don't understand your point magicdice, please elaborate.
I was talking about the specific facet of race interplay that allowed black people to highlight their separate cultural identity while denying white people this (I'm not saying this is a bad thing to do).

[Gevs1966]

Getting back to the original point of the question. By definition, allowing a music of black origin awards show and not a music of white origin counterpart is actually racist. If any of us were to try to set up such a show we would be stopped and branded a racist, bigot etc etc, I think that is the point Chriswood8 was making.  As for black people being intentional, that is a much more complicated issue. A lot of the black people I know feel like they have to conform to the stereotype with regard to music, clothes, films etc whether they want to or not. However they are also of the belief that this is a stereotype given to them by black people themselves and it is the reactions from other black people and not white people that "force" this stereotype on them.  

[Chriswood8]

wow didn't think i'd get such a big reaction THANKS everyone! but advicegirl you mentioned that there is white people acting black in films? my point is whats acting black?? some great points evryone thanks again

[ursula62]

As far as white people acting "black" in films/tv is concerned, think Peter Sellers in "The Party", or "The Black and White Minstrel Show", or the Two Ronnies in their sketches, or even "It Ain't Half Hot Mum" - the Indians in that were actually white people with stage make up and funny accents.

Why did this happen? Partly because there weren't that may minority actors around in those days, and partly because there was a certain amount of prejudice at that time. 

Nowadays it is less of an issue as far as skin colour is concerned. There are many good actors, newsreaders and tv presenters around from black and asian backgrounds.

But magazines are a different issue. I asked one girl at work why she was reading a "Black" hair magazine. She said because there were no black models in mainstream hair magazines. The next time I was at the hairdressers I looked and she was right!

[kestrel]

I have found this debate very interesting but what a lot of your comments do not recognise is the individuality of each black person. If someone wishes to read a newspaper that reports on news which affect black people and they are making a profit, good luck to them.This does not mean that all black people would read this particular newspaper. There are white people who you meet and they are more black than some black people.Eminem is an example of this statement. In this 21st century people can choose to be who or whatever they want to be. Men in general instinctively like to be associated with groups. Whether it's a football team, religion, pastime, etc. People who think the same way that i do. Therefore it is only natural that some black people will automatically associate themselves with persons who are similar to them. ie other black men/women. What's the problem?. There is something that is in each one of us that feels uncomfortable around people who are different to us. If you happen to be a minority ethnic group, and fall into this category it will bound to afffect how you view the world, good, bad or indifferent. I would like to say that it is wrong to generalise when referring to black people because like white people we are all different.

[Gevs1966]

kestrel, whilst agreeing with a lot of what you say, I feel you have looked over a major point of the original question. There is nobody here saying it is wrong to belong to groups etc but that they should all be treated equally. A "white" newspaper would not be allowed and tolerated in the same way as "black" newspapers and would be deemed as racist. I am not trying to take away someones individuality by pigeon holing them, if they want to read a "black" newspaper then they can but is it right that I can't read a "white" newspaper if I was so inclined?

[Chriswood8]

gevs1966 you are difinatly on my wave lenght your understanding that i'm thinking and being very open minded about my question, i think some people take my question in an offensive way but it's not at all intended. just try to keep open minded about my question people.

[dmsjps]

When I was 7 (about 33 years ago) a black lad came to our school and we became close friends, but when we left school, he stopped hanging around with us white guys/gals and started hanging round with rastas down the bus station.

 

One day I walked past him and his mates on my way to the bus and said hi to him; he completely ignored me. When I saw him where soon after, he apologised for blanking me, but said that if he'd acknowledged me, his mates would have kicked my head in, then done the same to him.

 

I saw him again when we were about 18 and he said he was leaving home to live with his girlfriend, who was pregnant.

 

Not long after that, I went to a festival at the local uni. On the way home, a couple of black girls started singing to me and the guy I was with as we walked past: 'White guy, white girl, where you gonna go tonight, what you gonna do...' I turned round to see if it really was me they were aiming it at - and it was - and they took off down the street after me. The guy I was with - who was just a platonic friend - grabbed me and told me to run, but they caught us up as we headed down a street where other black kids were coming from the opposite way and we were cut off. One of the girls got me and gave me a left hook and I went to give one back (which could have been the death of me, because I'd never had a fight in my life ever up to that point, but I was truly hacked off), but my friend pulled me away and told me to leave it. By that time a big crowd had gathered around us and they were all black. One of them said, 'Don't bother, they're not worth it,' and they all grumbled and started to disappear. I recognised his voice and I knew not to try and say hello to him that time!

But why does it have to be like that?

[Chriswood8]

dmsjps this was obv a racist attack but where do you live? and Quisch you said we don't call 'black' people black anymore and you refer to them as afican americans, so is there somthing you call 'white' people? surly if it's not correct to call a black person a black person then it shouldn't be correct to call a white person a white person so what do you call white people?

[harriet99]

In just the same way that when you go to Spain there are countless bars and restaurants with signs saying "English Owned" or "British Pub", it's just a way of indicating that as a minority you may be looking for certain aspects of your culture that is not addressed in the mainstream. That is probably why in virtually every country on the planet there is a British emigrant - oops! I mean ex-patriate community, where everyone is expected to speak and understand English, serve English beer and offer everything with chips. I'm sure that's not thought of as being racist either, it's just responding to the needs of a particular minority.

Usually, when a newspaper of film or any other form of media identifies itself as specifically for a black audience it is not serving to sterotype,undermine or otherwise oppress any other race or culture which is precisely what racism seeks to do. I don't see how  reading a "black" newspaper or watching a "black" film is distancing anyone from anything. A person can be just as interested in buying Britains "top car magazine" with distancing themselves from people who ride bicycles !