I hate when people do things like this. 'Things like this' means 'make deliberately inflammatory statements that seem to be geared toward a controversial stir, but ultimately make the speaker look stupid.' And of course, since I'm the speaker in this instance, I'm going to defend my actions.
I'll start by saying that I'm not refusing to watch CNN's program in an effort to boycott the station or the concept. I'm just not watching it. If you must know, I'm on the porch listening to Motown's Greatest Hits. However, what I AM refusing is the acceptance of the obligation other black people are trying to put on each other to watch it.
What for?
People watch shows like 'Flip This House' so that they can learn to flip their houses. They watch 'The First 48' to shamelessly follow the exciting events of a murder as it unfolds. They watch 'Real Housewives' to see how a supposedly elite segment of women operate. They watch 'Little People, Big World' to get a glimpse into the lives of people with a particular life challenge.
Being black is none of those things.
The black experience can't be learned as one learns to flip a condo on South Beach. I certainly hope THAT'S not why black people are forcing one another to watch it. It's not a spectacle to be comfortably ogled like a gang shooting on 'First 48'. The appeal of the Real Housewives is that we don't know them, and they'd like to convey a sense of untouchability; black people are not as inaccessible as Bravo's botoxed bunch (though some may think otherwise). So if you aren't black, and want to know about being black, perhaps asking your friendly neighborhood African-American would be a more effective plan of action. And, if you think that being black is just like a physical setback like dwarfism, it's my belief that you have deeper issues than the Cable News Network can address for you.
So, there's that whole thing. Then, there's the following: even if it's the most eye-opening, ground-breaking, thought-provoking series, 'Black in America' is a needle in a haystack. 'Flavor of Love' is the haystack. 'Tiny and Toya' are the haystack. Hell, BET is the haystack. Thugging it and Loving it is the haystack (I'll try to create a subsequent post for that; it needs more than a line). Barbara Norton is the haystack (I'm after her blood, too. Just wait.) There's just so much other 'black' media from which blacks and non-blacks get their entertainment fix. If you ask me, and I know you didn't, the show is an unfortunate futility.
When is 'Black in Italy' coming out? Or 'Black in Brazil'? 'Black in Great Britain'? I guess I shouldn't hold my breath for those, and I guess America should make up its mind. Either there's nothing different about being black (and I'd disagree, but we've been trying to pretend that much is true), or there's something so different about the AMERICAN experience, that being black warrants having its own show.
As I said, I'm not watching because I'm preoccupied; I'm sitting out here listening to Motown's Greatest Hits. However, I'm rocking out to Marvin and little Michael and the Supremes and maybe I am thinking that THIS is black in America...and I'm starting to think that maybe I planned this preoccupation a little more than I'm letting on.
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A Post Script.
During and after the show, I was hovering on my favorite social network, and concluded that black people really were taking their cues on being black from this program.
Sample status updates:
"So-and-so is on the MLT's website" now.
"Man, Steve Perry is soooo right"
"It's so sad what they're saying about the health crisis."
if you were ignorant of those things before...if you were complacent towards these issues prior to this broadcast...then you're just as much a bystander to the black experience as somebody living in Sweden or Kazakhstan. I've said for a LONG time that one of the biggest parts of being black in America is that we're not united in a concrete way outside of slavery and our skin color. The latter isn't even a valid gauge, as we well know. We don't know where we come from, we don't care what anybody before us went through. So, I wish all the people whose status updates are lauding their social consciences for watching BIA2 would just be real with themselves and say, "I'm watching this because I, just like the other 87% of the population, want somebody to tell me what being Black in America means."
And you know, there may not even be anything wrong with that.
*pardon my techincal difficulties...and the incessant need to remove posts after reading them*
i too was not in a rush to watch the documentary. i missed the monday segment because i was booed up with the misses. and the only reason why i watched it on tuesday was because the missus was watching it.
i didnt want to see it because i knew that regardless of how it was presented-- i would be disappointed. the black experience can not be captured in a 3 day documentary, and any valiant attempt at doing so is well...not valiant.
BUT..while i am very aware of the disparities which affect us, i am not as informed of Black people who are working to alleviate these maladies. it seems that everyone at XU wants to be a rich doctor-- not one who wants to give back to his/her people. so i was intrigued at the segments with the Black doctors and educators. its good to know that i am not running this race alone
Hmm. I like your thoughts counsel. Please continue blogging! I need some good reads.
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