What Black Men Think

[Dickieboy]

Ok, so last night after the Super bowl I caught a documentary on ‘The Documentary Channel’ entitled ‘What Black Men think’. It is a 2 hour video and was produced by Janks Morton. The video is comprised of MANY interviews with black men concerning their current ‘plight’, causes and solutions. The interviewee’s ages range from ~17 to ~65 and includes many prominent black men. He also engages many ‘on the street’ interviews with black folks (I didn’t see a non-black person in the whole film) on their opinions to substantiate the stereotype. Here’s a summary from their website:

An In Depth View of How Myths, Stereotypes and Misrepresentations render Black Men Non-Necessities in their Communities and Families… In the most provocative Black film of the year, Janks Morton presents a searing examination of the role that myths, stereotypes and misrepresentations have played in the decimation of modern era black relationships, and how the symbiotic relationship between government, the media and black leadership perpetuates misinformation to further marginalize the role of black men in society. Since the triumphs of the civil rights legislations of the early 1960′s havoc and decimation has been wreaked on the Black family with a specific devastation on the Black man. With negative imagery of the media, the failed policy of the great society and modern era black leadership abandoning tenets that historically held the community together, a new form of mental slavery has perpetuated an undeclared civil war in the Black Community…

WHAT BLACK MEN THINK - What Black Men Think

I found this quite enlightening and thought provoking. While some argument can be had about his stastical correlation/causation extrapolations he does make compelling points. I found their repudiation of the 'ostracization' of Malcolm X along with certain views on MLK quite interesting.

If one gets the chance I highly recommend it.

 

[CriticalThought]

If black men so hate how they are potrayed by the media then why do so many purchase it?

 

[Dickieboy]

If black men so hate how they are potrayed by the media then why do so many purchase it?

That seems to be one of the underlying paradigms of the film.

 

[lizzie]

Ok, so last night after the Super bowl I caught a documentary on ‘The Documentary Channel’ entitled ‘What Black Men think’. It is a 2 hour video and was produced by Janks Morton. The video is comprised of MANY interviews with black men concerning their current ‘plight’, causes and solutions. The interviewee’s ages range from ~17 to ~65 and includes many prominent black men. He also engages many ‘on the street’ interviews with black folks (I didn’t see a non-black person in the whole film) on their opinions to substantiate the stereotype. Here’s a summary from their website:


WHAT BLACK MEN THINK - What Black Men Think

I found this quite enlightening and thought provoking. While some argument can be had about his stastical correlation/causation extrapolations he does make compelling points. I found their repudiation of the 'ostracization' of Malcolm X along with certain views on MLK quite interesting.

If one gets the chance I highly recommend it.

I'll try to catch that- it sounds interesting and thought-provoking. It appears to me that black men have become marginalized by their own community, specifically by their female counterparts, who I sometimes hear voicing disdain toward men in general, and seem to have a high amount of distrust for them. I don't know if that reputation has been earned or not, but to me, it's a very sad statement, and I tend to believe it has not been truly earned by the black male population in general. In the eyes of many women, they seem to have become little more than sperm donors, which I am also seeing at an increasing frequency among the white female population.

 

[Dr. Chuckles]

That seems to be one of the underlying paradigms of the film.

What did it have to say on the issue?

 

[lizzie]

If black men so hate how they are potrayed by the media then why do so many purchase it?

Frankly, they may actually believe it, which is (to me), the saddest statement of all.

 

[Captain America]

...........................

 

[Dickieboy]

I'll try to catch that- it sounds interesting and thought-provoking. It appears to me that black men have become marginalized by their own community, specifically by their female counterparts, who I sometimes hear voicing disdain toward men in general, and seem to have a high amount of distrust for them. I don't know if that reputation has been earned or not, but to me, it's a very sad statement, and I tend to believe it has not been truly earned by the black male population in general. In the eyes of many women, they seem to have become little more than sperm donors, which I am also seeing at an increasing frequency among the white female population.

The film addresses the bolded above specifically on several topics; education, incarceration, child support, DL/aids, etc. And in doing so provides evidence that the stigma is unsubstantiated by statistical evidence (albeit debatable).

ps. it comes on again Friday like 9-11am/2-4pm central...?

 

[Dickieboy]

What did it have to say on the issue?

One of the assertions is that 'hustlers' (NAACP, Jackson, Sharpton, etal) are merely whipping up the blacks for dollars (personal wealth). They make several compelling cases of examples where the black community is concentrated to affect change which ultimately had absolutely no positive effect on the black community but enriched those who led. These ‘types’ were juxtaposed to MLK, Malcolm X and Louis Farrakhan quite interestingly with film clips and quotes. This is merely one of the many themes of the film.

 

[CriticalThought]

That seems to be one of the underlying paradigms of the film.

Working in a prison setting it is odd to see so many black men obsess over the works of rap artists who glorify drug culture, gun violence, crime, and promiscuous sex.

The fact that there is a market to support such artists among the African American community tells me that is how black men like to be represented.

I recognize there is a socioeconomic basis for a lot of it, and that street culture is largely associated with impoverished backgrounds, but this is ridiculous. Black men cannot complain that they are misrepresented by the media when they are the biggest consumers of that depiction. It exists because they support it with their money and their imitation of it.

 

[Dickieboy]

Working in a prison setting it is odd to see so many black men obsess over the works of rap artists who glorify drug culture, gun violence, crime, and promiscuous sex.

The fact that there is a market to support such artists among the African American community tells me that is how black men like to be represented.

I recognize there is a socioeconomic basis for a lot of it, and that street culture is largely associated with impoverished backgrounds, but this is ridiculous. Black men cannot complain that they are misrepresented by the media when they are the biggest consumers of that depiction. It exists because they support it with their money and their imitation of it.

They talked about this some. One even explained how Tupac had stated that he had an ‘epiphany’ once he reached stardom and realized the ‘monster’ he was complicit in creating.

And before I ‘get in over my head’ about this, I have only viewed this once. Considering every minute or two they would make a claim, with compelling evidence, that I had previously not thought about causing my pause for consideration and reflection. MUCH of it I am still digesting and still more I just don’t remember. I will record it this Friday for a more in depth analysis. I merely posted this as some here will find it quite interesting…imho.

 

[Dr. Chuckles]

One of the assertions is that 'hustlers' (NAACP, Jackson, Sharpton, etal) are merely whipping up the blacks for dollars (personal wealth). They make several compelling cases of examples where the black community is concentrated to affect change which ultimately had absolutely no positive effect on the black community but enriched those who led. These ‘types’ were juxtaposed to MLK, Malcolm X and Louis Farrakhan quite interestingly with film clips and quotes. This is merely one of the many themes of the film.

you should check out the boondocks. Deals with many of the same issues, is funny as hell, and is likely one of the most intelligent shows on TV.

 

[Dr. Chuckles]

Working in a prison setting it is odd to see so many black men obsess over the works of rap artists who glorify drug culture, gun violence, crime, and promiscuous sex.

The fact that there is a market to support such artists among the African American community tells me that is how black men like to be represented.

I recognize there is a socioeconomic basis for a lot of it, and that street culture is largely associated with impoverished backgrounds, but this is ridiculous. Black men cannot complain that they are misrepresented by the media when they are the biggest consumers of that depiction. It exists because they support it with their money and their imitation of it.

there are huge issues with this "black identity" being exported overseas


Pambazuka - South Africa

 

[Dickieboy]

you should check out the boondocks. Deals with many of the same issues, is funny as hell, and is likely one of the most intelligent shows on TV.

As we live there it doesn't appear that we can get it...

 

[Northern Light]

The media portrayal of black people is still mostly one sided, and stereotypes like crazy. The last statistic I read about race-based reporting was that crimes by black people are reported in the news something like 200% more often than white crime, even though certain kinds of crime occur at the same rate.

The other problem, one which black communities probably don't want to admit, is that there is an anti-establishment mentality that has been handed down through the generations, to the point where someone who succeeds and does what the "white man" does is being an uncle tom and betraying his people. This kind of mentality is why media garbage like B.E.T is so successful. There is a not so subtle sub-text among black communities that success is not meant for blacks.

The marketing and the commercialism feed into this subtext far too readily in order to make a buck, which I think is totally unethical. If the media changed its portrayal of blacks to put forth an image of success, then maybe that stereotype would catch on. Instead the gangster, womanizing, criminal thug image persists.

The core of it all, on either side, is still racism. In black communities it's internalized racism, and in the mainstream media it's about preserving aristocracy and power. A black person who strives to be a success is going to have to fight both sides which is really unfortunate.

But I'll probably be called a racist for saying these things.

 

[Gipper]

The media portrayal of black people is still mostly one sided, and stereotypes like crazy. The last statistic I read about race-based reporting was that crimes by black people are reported in the news something like 200% more often than white crime, even though certain kinds of crime occur at the same rate.

The other problem, one which black communities probably don't want to admit, is that there is an anti-establishment mentality that has been handed down through the generations, to the point where someone who succeeds and does what the "white man" does is being an uncle tom and betraying his people. This kind of mentality is why media garbage like B.E.T is so successful. There is a not so subtle sub-text among black communities that success is not meant for blacks.

The marketing and the commercialism feed into this subtext far too readily in order to make a buck, which I think is totally unethical. If the media changed its portrayal of blacks to put forth an image of success, then maybe that stereotype would catch on. Instead the gangster, womanizing, criminal thug image persists.

The core of it all, on either side, is still racism. In black communities it's internalized racism, and in the mainstream media it's about preserving aristocracy and power. A black person who strives to be a success is going to have to fight both sides which is really unfortunate.

But I'll probably be called a racist for saying these things.

You're not racist, you're right.

There is definitely a perception amongst blacks in their own community that success from coming up in a way that doesn't involve sports, drugs, or rap is "selling out". If you're speaking eloquently and coherently, you're not speaking proper English - you're "talkin white".

Why do they intentionally lower the bar so much for themselves?

 

[Dr. Chuckles]

As we live there it doesn't appear that we can get it...

Lol

(@@@@@@)

 

[Dickieboy]

The media portrayal of black people is still mostly one sided, and stereotypes like crazy. The last statistic I read about race-based reporting was that crimes by black people are reported in the news something like 200% more often than white crime, even though certain kinds of crime occur at the same rate.

The other problem, one which black communities probably don't want to admit, is that there is an anti-establishment mentality that has been handed down through the generations, to the point where someone who succeeds and does what the "white man" does is being an uncle tom and betraying his people. This kind of mentality is why media garbage like B.E.T is so successful. There is a not so subtle sub-text among black communities that success is not meant for blacks.

The marketing and the commercialism feed into this subtext far too readily in order to make a buck, which I think is totally unethical. If the media changed its portrayal of blacks to put forth an image of success, then maybe that stereotype would catch on. Instead the gangster, womanizing, criminal thug image persists.

The core of it all, on either side, is still racism. In black communities it's internalized racism, and in the mainstream media it's about preserving aristocracy and power. A black person who strives to be a success is going to have to fight both sides which is really unfortunate.

But I'll probably be called a racist for saying these things.

The film touches on the bolded ideas above and explains them in depth with MANY of the interviewee's supporting the thesis.

ps. I saw no racism slant in your post.

 

[Wayno]

56% of the murders in America are committed by maybe 5% of the black male population.......

 

[Baralis]

[Generalization] I believe it is a very complex issue.

I feel that many of the inner issues that affect the black community are largely generational and also self imposed. I believe that many in the black community feel marginalized in our society and are under the impression that they cannot succeed in a largely white empowered country. I believe this has some validity but instead of striving to improve their position and relevance in our society they have instead chose to rebel, if you will, against the expectations of awhite society. It seems that many black youth in particular have chosen a "do whatever I want and can get away with" attitude and I honestly believe that many feel this will net the most benefit for them.

I believe many feel that they should not adhere our societies expectations both morally and lawfully because it is a system not designed to benefit them. As a result they are being portrayed as a culture not worthy of equality by many and therefor are not given the same opportunities in many cases. This makes it even more difficult for those that wish to better their positions and prove that they are of just as much worth to society as the rest of us. They have fallen into a self fulfilling prophecy.

What angers me is many will point fingers at anyone not in the black community and blame them for all the problems that the black community faces. I fully believe that only the black community can fix the problems in the black community. They need to do this by example and also by not being afraid to condone behavior within their own communities instead of trying to pass the buck.

I hope I don't sound like a conspiracy nut when I say, I believe that unless things change and the spread of inner city crime and violence, largely committed by black and minority groups, is addressed that it may cause a real national security risk and endanger the entire country in the time of a crisis.

 

[Wayno]

[Generalization] I believe it is a very complex issue.

I feel that many of the inner issues that affect the black community are largely generational and also self imposed. I believe that many in the black community feel marginalized in our society and are under the impression that they cannot succeed in a largely white empowered country. I believe this has some validity but instead of striving to improve their position and relevance in our society they have instead chose to rebel, if you will, against the expectations of awhite society. It seems that many black youth in particular have chosen a "do whatever I want and can get away with" attitude and I honestly believe that many feel this will net the most benefit for them.

I believe many feel that they should not adhere our societies expectations both morally and lawfully because it is a system not designed to benefit them. As a result they are being portrayed as a culture not worthy of equality by many and therefor are not given the same opportunities in many cases. This makes it even more difficult for those that wish to better their positions and prove that they are of just as much worth to society as the rest of us. They have fallen into a self fulfilling prophecy.

What angers me is many will point fingers at anyone not in the black community and blame them for all the problems that the black community faces. I fully believe that only the black community can fix the problems in the black community. They need to do this by example and also by not being afraid to condone behavior within their own communities instead of trying to pass the buck.

I hope I don't sound like a conspiracy nut when I say, I believe that unless things change and the spread of inner city crime and violence, largely committed by black and minority groups, is addressed that it may cause a real national security risk and endanger the entire country in the time of a crisis.

Sorry, I'm not into making excuses for the way people behave.

If you're going to have homes where the men "stays" here and there, leaving children with no fathers, you really have no one to blame but yourself.

It's not racism that's a threat to black America.

It's homes without fathers.