Entries Tagged 'Race' ↓
July 3rd, 2008 — Gender, Politics, Race
Keeping an eye on the Michelle Obama-haters as they wind up their catapults, slings, and arrows? Michelle Obama Watch collects the links so you don’t have to do so.
For example, did you catch this piece, above, from late last week, depicting the Divine Mrs. O as a cantankerous, neck-wagging waitress? Or, what’s up with this photo of the candidate’s wife, below, showing mad thigh?
Michelle Obama Watch looks for the dolts, critiques them, and keeps track of the naysayers. Should be worth staying tuned.
June 30th, 2008 — Children, Controversy, Race, TV
Most parents, no doubt, were shocked by this outrageous moment on May 20th’s The Dr. Phil Show, above. It takes place at “The Dr. Phil House,” during their “Brat Camp” episode, when an agitated and frustrated 10-year-old, Noah, unexpectedly slaps his mom, Wendy, loudly, across her face.
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June 25th, 2008 — Animation, Books, Children, Controversy, Entertainment, Race
“Heh, heh…keep laffin’, lil’ white chillun…”: Uncle Remus and friends
You probably know that Disney, global makers of fine family entertainment, has a rich history of racist characters in its long legacy of films, TV shows, and other properties. But any list of the company’s nine most offensive creations, like this one from Cracked.com, that merely ranks Song of the South‘s “Uncle Remus,” above, at number 2 has got to be a doozy.
June 23rd, 2008 — Culture, Journalism, Race, TV
I find the exaggerated vocal stylings of news reporters contemptible. Particularly, I dislike the stretchy vowels and odd pitch changes through which African-Americans tend to report TV and radio news. It’s aurally inauthentic, and, I believe, it disarms Black people. It keeps us from utilizing a wide range and sophisticated set of rhythmic and tonal apparatuses by which we comment on information—signify—in real time, as we relate it.
So, it’s fascinating to see, in this clip, how quickly the reporter goes from Standard American Newsman to NSFW Black Vernacular when a chewy, protein-rich insect flies into his mouth.
June 17th, 2008 — Controversy, Gender, Government, Politics, Race
While most mainstream media size up Hillary Clinton’s historic presidential campaign as a boost for feminism, University of Maryland School of Law professor and civil rights attorney Sherrilyn A. Ifill takes an opposing position: That New York State Senator’s rise to power has been, in fact, “very traditional.”
“In some ways,” says Ifill, “Mrs. Clinton, contrary to her public image, is a kind of throwback to the 1950s.”
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June 13th, 2008 — Children, Culture, NONFICTION, Race, Writing
Unusual sighting: Monty (Idris Elba), a mechanic, fathers his brood
It’s a story told so rarely—as it is, for example, in Tyler Perry’s 2007 film, Daddy’s Little Girls, above—that it’s, for the most part, nonexistent: What are the travails, challenges, joys, and rewards of bringing up children, alone, as a Black male?
In his new book, Bedtime Stories: Adventures in the Land of Single Fatherhood, suave literatus Trey Ellis grapples with the transformative experience of raising his daughter, Ava, 10, and son, Chet, 7, as a solo dad.
We’ll talk with him about his book on my WBAI-NY / 99.5 FM radio show, NONFICTION, this afternoon, Friday, June 13, 2 pm ET.
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June 12th, 2008 — Controversy, Politics, Race
In an on-air graphic, above, yesterday, FOX News referred to Barack Obama’s wife, Michelle, as “Obama’s Baby Mama!”
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June 5th, 2008 — Controversy, Culture, Government, Race
“This baby is black. It’s a dark, ugly thing.”
Utah State Senator Chris Buttars was talkng about a pending bill when, in February, he uttered those words on the statehouse floor.
In the uproar that followed, he called the NAACP-led protest against his remarks a “hate lynch mob,” adding “How do I know what words I’m supposed to use in front of those people?”
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June 3rd, 2008 — Controversy, Culture, Journalism, Politics, Race, TV
It takes one to know one: Hillary counts on her peeps
I never get tired of news footage that documents blatant racism. Also, when it’s coming from Al-Jazeera English, you know it’s got to be good. It’s going in some direction that the self-congratulatory, corporate U.S. media, still suckling the dry, cracked teat of American exceptionalism, is completely unwilling to go.
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May 23rd, 2008 — Advertising, Black Music, Entertainment, Film, Pop Culture, Race, TV, Youth
Dem bones, dem bones: Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) and Mutt Williams (Shia LaBeouf) poke around in America’s dark underbelly
In “Keeping Up with the Jones: White Supremacy on BET,” Bro. Tony Muhammad both regards the promotion of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, which opened yesterday, and captures that distinct, tacky awkwardness one feels when white people, especially ones who’ve never been to Harlem, try to act like they’re used to being surrounded by Black people, especially when it’s being done for marketing purposes.
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