Should a black person only buy products created by members of their own race? Fendi, Ralph Lauren and Timberland are not run by blacks, however, their clothing is used as a status symbol in black culture. I bet the majority of BET viewers don't know the companies are owned by whites.Are we playing into the stereotypes by focusing only on black movies that depict blacks in urban ghettos? Why can't we see movies with black presidents? Why don't we go see the movies where black people play positive roles? Movies like "Babs," "Bootie Call" and "Player's Club" make more revenue from blacks than more positive movies. By supporting these movies, we typecast our race in roles that depict black stereotypes.W.E.B. DuBois said it well in The Souls of Black Folk. Du Bois, the first person of African descent to receive a Ph.D. from Harvard, a prominent civil rights leader of his day, spoke of a "duality" with African-Americans consciousness. This duality was a result of being "black" and "American," torn between two entities, one in which you are supposed "to have certain unalienable rights" and the other in which you are "perceived through the veil" as less than. The problem is not just in the language. It goes much deeper. A word without meaning is just that, a word. A meaning without association to something tangible is just a meaning. The issue comes into play when associating the meaning of the word to something tangible, and, most important, associating the meaning to a human being. As the unknown poet said, illustrating how so many others feel: "But in his mind it wasn't lost, the one undeniable fact/That in a land of justice for all, he always would be BLACK."
I agree with the topic. There definitely is a lot of misconception within the Black community. There is misdirection in who we are and what is expected of us. In effect, we turn to movies that relate to what we are used to seeing. Before 2008, Black people did not associate themselves with presidents, but they very often associated with things like drug dealing. The main obstacle is to look past the fact that the people who look like us on the big screen, but play disrespectful roles, do not represent all of us. That is something that needs to be taught to the youth, in order to flush out all of the negativity. Don't get me wrong, Don't Be a Menace is a funny movie! However, I do not relate to all of the bad things, stereotypes, in the film. It's kind of like mind over matter.
ReplyDeleteI would have to disagree with the clothing. I feel that people are not selling out to the black community by supporting only white designers. People are more or so following the trends and what they feel is acceptable to wear. A few years ago black designers were more popular to wear, therefore blacks were supporting urban wear back then just as they are with white designers now.
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