Punch First, Ask Questions Later

In Monday's class, we began by discussing points from our reflection papers. Many students touched on many different points of their particular interests and challenges such as the "Oppositional Gaze", censorship, and Separating "Real" from Realistic TV. Listening to other students address their points and ideas opened a great dialogue for the class to discuss of race. We watch an episode of a reality show where a black family and a white family switched roles. This switch included both actually changing the color of their skin and shows how they attempt to integrate into the opposing environment. This show did in some particular degree exhibit whites inaccurately. They were casted as being naïve, a tad bit insensitive, pleasantly ignorant, and mildly eccentric. There were two overwhelming dominating points of discussion, those being the perception of the white father in black face and his obliviousness to the things that he says and expects, but more so in the second case where the black boy in white face is confronted with having to hear other white teens around him use the N-word. The class had mixed feelings about how the teenager responded to the situation. This opened up conversation about the use of racial slurs, not only about the N-Bomb, but also the use of other slurs intended for other races. I went on to tell a personal experience from when I was called a racial slur and how I responded to it (which was punching the guy in the face). In a moment of realization, the class came to the idea that there are better ways to confront racism no matter how extreme or minor the case. It should be more about response that reaction and recognizing the difference between blatantly implied racism and blind ignorance.

(Disclaimer: The thoughts AND actions of one class member does not reflect the thoughts, feelings, and views of the entire class. In other words, don't go around punching people unless you getting paid to do it.)

--MerkSum

Black Families: Real TV

While today’s class got a little heated, it still remained interesting. We were all asked to write down what we have learned in the class up to this point. The emphasis placed on hairstyles in the African American community stands out to me as an interesting fact. While I feel that everyone should be able to wear their hair in any personal style they choose, I still find the importance of hair in society to be intriguing. After that we got into another tasty chat about the NFL draft and slavery. I am not even going to comment because it will take up this entire blog.
We then listed character traits of the collective African American family, as well as the traits of individual family members, as portrayed on television. The trait that stands out the most is togetherness. All of the families we’ve viewed so far have been very close-knit, supportive families, with strong parental figures. Traits of the African American male were mixed, including lazy, dependent, sly, smooth, and athletic, while other people found them to be hardworking, independent, strong, vibrant. The African American female is said to be loving, family-oriented, independent, wild, opinionated, savvy, sassy, and hardworking.
Afterwards, we watched three shows: “The Family Crew,” “Deion and Pilar: Primetime Love,” and Coolio’s show. The first two shows depicted a very close-knit family, full of love and support. In “The Family Crew,” the father and the children baked a cake for their sister. In “Deion and Pilar,” Deion encouraged studying over playing, and even helped his son to study. He also helped his children sell cookies for a school benefit. Both also included large families, of seven and five children, respectively. The Coolio show was very different, showing a family without a mother, with the least children (four), and the least functional home life. Coolio even brought a date home! I felt that he was a poor father figure and that his children respected him the least of the fathers we saw today.
As far as stereotypes are concerned, it seems we saw large, supportive families, centered around a father figure, with the exception of Coolio’s family. This makes me wonder which of these families is more typical of the average African American family, and which of these stereotypes would be seen in the real homes of families in the African American community. Peace.

By: Brain Whitlock

Well, today in class we had speaker, Ms. Mia Long, come in and talk to us about African American athletes in reality tv. She first asked us what we thought about when we think of black athletes. There were many ideas that popped up from that question, such as: drugs, cheating, money, fame, drive, to being a “beast” but for Ms. Long her main two topics were television and slavery. She said television because the black main is usually the one presented on the screen for doing an outstanding play but then she switched it up when she said slavery. She used the NFL 2010 Draft for her example to show how slavery was even present there. Ms. Long told us of a couple of quotes that were recorded about the experience at the draft. One was from Travis Stevens, a running back that was drafted, that said it was weird, almost like a meat market. And then you had Mel Kiper Jr., a renowned football analyst, saying that the football players were being “rock hard” and that was a resemblance back to when slaves were being presented during the auction block and how owners would talk up the hopeful buyers. Ms. Long even used the stage the draft picks would stand upon to her defense, saying it was basically a modern day auction block. The draft is there to buy, sell and trade players in the benefit of the owners who make way more than the players who are actually playing the game. Murk and Christian said to Ms. Long that it wasn’t that deep. Stating that times have changed and there isn’t anyone actually looking at it that way, which is obviously false by Dr. Jones having that as her main point. Joe made the point that if this was slavery, then the players wouldn’t want to be there. To me this is true because if the ones being drafted were slaves then I would think with all the abilities they have it wouldn’t be a problem for them to hit a 40 yard dash outta there :). Joe added they go and stay because of the money. Ms. Long was making a statement about how there are only blacks being drafted, which may have come off differently then what she would have liked. Because Brain replied, “Well, blacks are better athletes than whites”, which is true in most cases. I would have made the point that blacks are bigger because we were bread to be that way. During the slave era, all of the tasks that blacks were made to do were heavy labor jobs, so that could be one of the reasons why blacks are fasted and generally bigger, in my opinion that is.
After that small simmer of discussion Ms. Long asked why do we even watch black reality. She told us of her 6 reasons on why we watch. 1) We watch to feel closer. 2) Parasocial interaction, which is the acting in which we know the person personally, ex. “Don’t take about T.O. like that.” 3) Enjoy seeing the worst in people. 4) Feels like we’re better than they. 5) Make heroes and antagonists out of the person. 6) Romance and love triangles. I would agree that all of her examples would be close to the reasons I would watch but after that there wasn’t too much talk on that matter. We then looked at the “T.O. Show” and for me that wasn’t reality. His show was too slow and just not that appealing to me. Maybe if there was a camera crew to follow him all day, after football games and all that jazz then maybe it might stand a chance. It was only until the show about Michael Vick was brought up did the simmering start to flow outside the pot. Vick had a show about his life after the dog fighting conviction and jail time. I take fault at starting the argument by saying that Vick shouldn’t have gotten the time he did for dog fighting. I can’t remember who said something after me but someone said he should have gotten more time for that crime he committed. Michael Vick wasn’t solely charged with his dogs fighting, was my point, because if that was the case my neighbor should be thrown in jail by the way his dogs fight each other all the time. But the fact Vick was paid so much, is a black athlete and made a business/money out of the situation is the reason he was put out to the world like that. So I’m fine with the time he did, because dog fighting is wrong, but I just don’t understand how that could be worse than taking the life of a human and not having to serve any jail time, i.e. Donte Stallworth. I mean I haven’t seen PETA since that happen so I wonder if Donte would have hit that man with his car while he was walking his dog would they have shown up??? So after that well rounded discussion we moved on to another show about a football player traveling around the world talking about a country’s culture and their favorite sport. This show didn’t go over too well with the class by some saying it was just too boring and putting the blame on the host not being lively enough. So Dr. Jones asked what would make a good reality show dealing with sports. Murk said the show needs to just have a host that’s more appealing to start with and Brain added that the show should follow the set-up like the “Hardknock” series that’s on HBO to be a success. I would say that there are too many shows being created that start off focused on the stereotypes of black athletes. Its only until some creative mind comes and wants to break the mold that there will be a successful long running show out there.


By; George Miller
"no dogs were hurt during the making of this post"

Black Men: Fatherhood and Masculinity

Today in class, we discussed black men in reality television. The shows that were discussed were, "The Cosby Show", "Snoop Dogg's Fatherhood", and "Run's House". All of these shows display the father figure, actively involved within the household, but are these shows as geniune as they seem? The class discussed how the Huxtables, from the "Cosby Show", displayed black pride, which at the time of the show, was much needed. It was said that the show trancended racial boundaries, meaning that the Cosby's made it "safe" to be a African American. The cast of the show was voided of all stereotypes that face the African American community, as well as, showing stability, heritage, and education among the family. However, many classmates believed that the show did not keep it "real". These students say that it is not believeable for a black family to always be in the house at all times, as well as, both of the parents being both a doctor and a lawyer. These classmates also believe that it is not likely that the kids in the family, which there are many of them, not to ever get in trouble themselves. The stereotypes of the African American family was not displayed within the show, making the show hard to believe for many, and not likely. With stereotypes being mentioned, "Snoop Dogg's Fatherhood" is a show that displays many of the stereotypes that the black community faces in day to day life. The whole class agreed that the show seemed like it was staged, not exactly real life. One classmate mentioned that the show was keeping it "real", showing how many black families act and react to situations. These stereotypes that were discussed, such as black people with fried chicken, and watermelon, brought a debate among the class. Some believed that this is real, it is more than likely that most African Americans do portray these stereotypes, while others said that the stereotypes are extremely offensive and completely wrong. The class also watched "Run's House", which displayed the man and the wife present within the household, which breaks the myths about the African American Community.The myths are that all these shows deals with racism, economic stress, or other societal barriers. All of the shows that were discussed, some break the molds of what is to be believed of black families, and others show the stereotypes believed within the community. I believe that each of these shows that were discussed were unique in their own way, each show displays that it is possible to have both parents present within a household, and it is possible to make a living and have enough time to spend with the children.

By: Kinzi Deslatte

Responsible Beauty

In today’s class speaker Terra Moody voiced her opinion on how the media’s perception of beauty affects black women in today’s society. The first topic studied was how black models are compared to white models. We looked at two covers of Vogue magazine; one flaunted a picture of Gwyneth Paltrow and the other Beyonce. The controversy is a matter of body types and how they influence the way black women view their bodies. Since female beauty is mostly determined by male preference, the male students in the class voiced their opinions on the matter stating what women in the media they found most attractive. Celebrities like Megan Fox and Erin Andrews were the first to be cast on the ballot for most beautiful. We then viewed a clip from America’s Next Top Model where a “plus sized model” was a contender in the show. While the class mostly agreed that plus size women can also be beautiful, we suddenly turned to a debate on the relation of health to beauty. Some argued that just because a woman is plus size doesn’t mean she isn’t healthy. Others argued that to be healthy you can’t have a large body mass. In my opinion I find health and beauty directly proportional. I believe that if you live a lifestyle of exercise and good nutrition that most likely your body will not give you the option of being “plus sized”. Terra went on to describe how we view our bodies and how many Americans measure the size of their bodies. This is typically done by visually measuring appearance or by using the Body Mass Index to calculate if a person is overweight. Your body mass index is simply a number that is derived from your weight and height. I personally am very familiar with the BMI. As a Marine veteran I was subject to BMI annually to ensure that myself and fellow Marines stayed within military standards for body weight. With this experience I can attest to Terra’s statement that even though BMI does give a standard for most to determine if they are overweight it does not always prove to be accurate. Everyone is different and the BMI does not make adjustments for those who may be “big boned” or have excess muscle. Many athletes are in extremely good condition but fail to be in good standards when it comes to the BMI because they have so much muscle mass that they weigh more than the BMI suggest they should.
There are two types of beauty defined by Terra’s presentation from class. There is the white/mainstream ideal model that is always evolving but typically the models are thinner than their black counterparts. Then there is the anti-white/black ideal model that is accepted to be beautiful no matter what here size although she is preferred with a body that has curves. While everyone is entitled to their own opinion, I personally do not think that models of larger size are a good influence on today’s youth. Yes I think that everyone is beautiful in their own way but models are called models for a reason. They are “model” for others to conform. Whether you think they set a good or bad influence, the fact of the matter is that they will always influence someone in some way. Preventative health is something that has been put on the back burner in America and we are the most overweight country in the world. I do not think that having models of large size influences us in the right way. By having large models we are saying that is ok to be big even though our country’s sedentary habits put so many of us at a high risk for cardiovascular disease. I understand that the African American community may want to separate itself from white idealism and soak in its own culture, but I believe that the plus sized model does more harm than good to our influential youth.
It is no question that today’s youth are influenced by models portrayed in the media, but the real question is, are they setting the right influence for us to follow? For the most part the entire class agreed that white models are typically found to be smaller than an African American model. The question of how the white female affects her black sister is what draws most concern when it comes to determining true beauty and how African American women are portrayed. Terra made us ask ourselves if black women are being influenced by their perception of women in the media. While there is an obvious difference in the size of models between cultures, the biggest influence to be recognized is hair. Being a white male I have obviously never taken the time to think about the differences of women’s hair and how the way black women wear their hair is influenced by white women. However it was interesting to listen to Terra’s idea that black women have been almost manipulated by the media into believing that their hair looks better when it is treated to look like most white women other than sporting the natural hair they were born with. It is crazy when you think about how many black women don’t actually rock the natural look. Society has imposed an idea that black women are portrayed in a masculine since and that wearing their hair in a natural way is improper. I think the idea that the natural look is masculine is ridiculous. If the African American society wants to separate its idea of beauty from the idealistic white model, then this is where they should start. Your hairstyle does not affect your health but being overweight does. It would be nice to see black models going with the natural look, proud of who they are and what God gave them. Models are a physical influence on almost all of us. If the African American community wants to declare its independence from the ideal white beauty, then do it but don’t give in to the idea that it’s ok to be overweight.
By: Joe Geary

Day 4: The Aftermath of Bamboozled

Today’s class was by far one of the most interesting days in my opinion. The class had a chance to discuss how we felt about the movie Bamboozled, and the responses varied greatly. I personally felt offended by the movie, while also understanding the point trying to be made by director Spike Lee. Spike Lee is known for being an African American director whose films seek to display social injustices while using very “in your face” techniques. One of the students compared his wow factor directing style to Michael Moore, who has directed works such as Sicko and Capitalism: A Love Story. I feel that the goal of Spike Lee in the creation of Bamboozled was to show the extremes of how African Americans have become complacent with playing the “role” in the entertainment business. This role exploits negative stereotypes placed upon African Americans by members of society. Again, I do want to state that I understand the underlying theme and goal of the movie but I did not feel that the content was appropriate. Professor Murray stated that the movie was made to make audience members uncomfortable. A fellow Caucasian student stated that she had not been raised around racism so the movie was hard to appreciate for it’s artistic value due to the shocking content. It was hard to appreciate the artistic goal of the director when the content itself seemed so disturbing. Students went on to discuss that they felt as though the movie should have come with a disclaimer or a warning label to ensure that audience members understood the message of the movie. I do feel as though this would be helpful because the plot of the movie is so far fetched that it is hard to place one’s mind around the idea of a movie of this caliber. Many of the African American students felt as though the movie was effective and one student even voiced that she felt as though the Caucasian students could not appreciate the film due to racial differences and the differences in cultural upbringing and experiences. Other Caucasian students spoke out against this and one student even stated that he felt as though the movie made whites look worst than the blacks because it seemed as though this “role” was being forced upon the blacks by the whites. There stood the common question, why was this movie made? I found myself asking this question over and over and I feel as though the contrasting experiences and opinions answer this question. Although the content was shocking enough to affect the class member’s comfort level, the end result was that each student was indeed affected. Whether the movie angered audience members or shamed them, each student took home a different message. Although I did not agree with the content of the movie I do feel as though it was effective because audience members were forced to understand their place within this society. In relation to this class, this movie offered the class a chance to see how big of an impact we have as audience members have on the need for individuals to act out negative stereotypes for our own personal enjoyment. Today I personally confronted what it meant to be bamboozled. I defined bamboozled as being tricked into behaving a certain way for the enjoyment of others; in the case of African American reality television this would be perpetuating negative stereotypes.
Next, we began talking about the negative stereotypes of African American women portrayed in reality television. We learned that there were eight different stereotypes commonly displayed by African American women on today’s reality shows. The class began to watch the show Candy Girls which follows four women working in the video and modeling business. This show was a perfect example because each woman including the boss subscribed to some form of the listed stereotypes. We as a class found that the show offered stereotypes such as: the gold digger, the attention whore, the power hungry bitch, the ugly duckling, and the angry black woman. I feel that the power hungry bitch and the angry black woman are the two stereotypes commonly found in today’s television shows. There lies the assumption that whenever a woman is strictly about business that she is a hard bitch. Danielle, the boss, was very professional and in her efforts to maintain a successful business comes off to her models as her being a power hungry bitch. It seems as though a black woman with power and authority is automatically viewed in a negative light. I feel that these two stereotypes are only in place because the image of a strong black woman who has a knack for business intimidates individuals. We then went on to discuss the way that African American women compete with other black women. This was very evident during the show, whether it was verbal or subconsciously. The models competed for jobs and attention, and one model even stated that she was way better and would definitely book more jobs. The class went on to discuss the reason for this competiveness and the black female classmates agreed that black women were extremely competitive with each other. There seems to be the common belief that if another black female finds another female that offers competition that more than likely the black female will downplay or “hate” on the other female in order to boost their own self esteem. This became evident when Terricka criticized Olivia for her “white” side, only because Terricka felt threatened by Olivia’s beauty and there is even a chance that Terricka could be jealous of Olivia’s racial background. Within the black female community one has been known to aspire to have long beautiful hair and lighter skin, so Terricka was trying to hide her jealousy by making Olivia realize her differences. I found these characteristics to be very true not only within the black female community but females in general. I just feel as though black women are more verbal and confrontational where as a Caucasian female might “hate” in a slyer manner.

By: D. Michelle Curry

I’m Just Keeping It Real

“Slavery has been over since 400 years ago”
-Peerless “Pierre Delacroix” Dothan

Today’s class session was more lax than any other that we have had so far but that does not mean that it was any less intense. We viewed Spike Lee’s controversial film Bamboozled in its entirety, after which, there were many blank stares and bewildered faces around the classroom. The film, a shocking satire on the current relationship between American and Hollywood as they pertain to Black imagery, had obviously left a “sour” taste on the respective palettes of several people in the room; no doubt, the film accomplished what it set out to, which in a nutshell, was to shed light on the present state of Black media in this nation by comparing and contrasting it to content created during our nation’s dark past. Having viewed the film several times previously, nothing featured within it bothered me personally; notwithstanding, I did find the parallels between what we know as modern reality television and the type of antics and chicanery that took place in Bamboozled to be alarming. As noted during the culmination of today’s learning session, there is hardly any difference between how Flavor Flav conducted himself in front of millions of people worldwide and how black-faced actors were often forced to perform because of the pervasive climate of intolerance that existed during their heyday. Whether in the 19th, 20th, or 21st century, the denigration that unfolds within America’s entertainment avenues is renders the same effects as they have done traditionally, that is to say, they actively encourage a group of people to be belittled to the point where they become nothing more than substandard mockeries of themselves; they become caricatures, sub-human.

By: Jordan Alston