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Title: Black men hope Obama presidency shatters racial stereotypes
Source:
Mercury News - San Jose
URL Source: http://www.mercurynews.com/valley/ci_10928955?
Published: Nov 10, 2008
Author: Dana Hull
Post Date: 2008-11-10 08:39:22 by Jhoffa_
Keywords: None
Views: 369
Comments: 28
Black men hope Obama presidency shatters racial stereotypes Bryan Ford sees a lot of himself in Barack Obama. Like the president-elect, the San Jose State sophomore was raised by a single mother. And, like Obama's long fight to the White House, Ford says being a young black man in America has often meant defying others' low expectations. "I've been searched by the cops just for being black, for standing on the street with my friends," said the 19-year-old student, who also recalls being tailed by security guards in shopping malls. "It happened all the time." Black men endure painful stereotypes in American popular culture, which often depicts them "singing, rapping, scoring a touchdown, dunking a basketball, hitting a home run or committing a crime," according to the group YAAMS, Young African Americans Against Media Stereotypes. But now, and for at least the next four years, the most quoted, photographed and broadcast face and voice will be that of a Harvard University-educated black man. It is the face Americans will turn to during national crises for information and reassurance. At the annual State of the Union address, it is a black man who will outline the goals and successes of the most powerful country on earth. The historic significance of America electing its first black president is profound. But beyond the poignant symbolism, many African-Americans hope Obama's election may begin to shatter deeply entrenched stereotypes. "The most famous black man in America isn't dribbling a ball or clutching a microphone," writer Ta-Nehisi Coates noted in a recent essay for Time magazine. "He has no prison record. He has not built a career on four-letter words." The significance isn't lost on 14-year-old Jordan Brown, who attends Santa Clara's Wilcox High School. "Obama being elected shows that black people can be smart and have some class," Jordan said. "People expect black people to be athletes. Like we can run fast and play basketball, but we're not smart. Now they see that black people can be smart, and people voted for Obama because he is smart." Many scholars note that the Obama family — his wife Michelle and daughters Malia and Sasha — is even more powerful than the image of Obama alone. 'Whole package' "With Obama we get the whole package. He is a dedicated husband and father, and his love for Michelle and their children is front and center," said Patricia Turner, a vice provost and professor of African-American studies at the University of California-Davis who wrote "Ceramic Uncles and Celluloid Mammies: Black Images and Their Influences on Culture." "Nuclear black families are almost never depicted in popular culture. I hope that now, because of the Obamas, we'll begin to see more black couples and families depicted in film and television," she said. Turner notes that racial stereotypes Œ79;often persist for generations, and take years of active advocacy work to overcome. "Stereotypes are extraordinarily tenacious,'' she said. "Once they are out there, it's a virus that lingers." Some stereotypes are reinforced by real-life challenges. In California, nearly 42 percent of black students drop out of high school. A 2008 study by the Pew Center for the States also found that one in nine black men between the ages of 20 and 34 is behind bars. Matthew Morgan, a senior at San Jose State University, said Obama's victory gives him a new sense of personal responsibility. 'No more excuses' "For perceptions of black men to change, it's going to depend on how we carry ourselves,'' he said after an African-American history course this week. "I'm proud to say that I feel like I have a lot of responsibility on me, on us as a people. Obama needs support, and we all have to step up to the plate and get involved in our communities. There are no more excuses.'' Frank Gilliam, dean of the University of California-Los Angeles School of Public Affairs and a leading scholar of racial politics and mass media, said the idea of a "sea change in race relations is probably naive.'' But the fact that a black man is now the boss — of the United States — will have a huge impact on not just African-Americans but whites and other ethnic groups as well. An entire generation will come of age with a black man in charge. "It's not going to be any easier for me to get a cab in Manhattan," Gilliam said. "But we're all going to experience a black man in the ultimate authority position, and a black family is on the way to the White House. Racial stereotypes will stay with us, but we're chipping away at it."
Poster Comment: BWAHAHAHAH!!
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#1. To: Jhoffa_ (#0)
The only way for black man to end the stereotyping is for the majority of them to stop behaving exactly as they are stereotyped.
I shall not vote for evil, lesser or otherwise. Who are the "others" this kid speaks of? Do "others" hide his books, unplug his clock, force him to wear pants that allow the public a peek at his ass? I think young Mr. Ford should take personal responsibility seriously, identify these "others" so we know who they are, and lose the paranoia.
He "has no prison record" because he got away with some things that would have gotten him one (such as his admitted use of hard drugs--even a couple of joints of marijuana in some states will get you a prison term, let alone snorting coke). Just as recently as this election with his phony, dummied up birth certificate. If there is not something he needed to hide he should have produced the vault certificate and could have easily done that. His refusal to do it indicates that he is hiding something and it is highly likely that he is an illegal alien who isn't even eligible to be the President.
Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is itself the highest political end. The person who wrote that is not all that bright. No so-called "public servant" is the "boss of the United States." That's ignorant.
Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is itself the highest political end. I totally agree with you. My friend said I should give Obama a chance. I said I don't have to give him anything, it's up to him to prove himself.. He is supposed to be my servent..
Madam...someone will be around to discuss this misguided belief.
No kidding.. The whole thing is a mishmash of stupidity.. The whine about negative stereotypes like hitting a home run? Who HASN'T been hassled by a cop for doing nothing in particular? Nuclear black families are almost never portrayed in popular culture? That will come as a shock to anyone who has ever rented a movie or watched television. Won't the Jefferson's & Bill Cosby be surprised? Are they saying all that's needed is better marketing? Like Critter points out, they earned this stereotype by being the minority who commits a disproportionate amount of crime. They need a black role model as "boss" of the US before they can perform? Jethro wants to know who's been keeping them down and unplugging their alarm clocks all this time.. I do too. And btw, WHICH STEREOTYPES are we wanting to get rid of? Reckon they're talking about blacks as affirmative action candidates? I somehow doubt that's the one they had in mind. It's just a joke.. Every whiny, cringing, pathetic line of it all the way through. The most hysterical part is someone actually published it as a serious piece!
~ Your failure to be informed, does not make me a wacko.
Bump.
"A leader, for a change." - Jimmy Carter, 1976 campaign slogan. Sound familiar? Here it comes again!
My friend said I should give Obama a chance. I said I don't have to give him anything, it's up to him to prove himself.. He is supposed to be my servent.. Thank you. A word, actually two words of advice you should give your friend--seek help. I don't have to give him anything either and don't plan to.
Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is itself the highest political end. Excellent post. You hit the nail on the head with all of that.
Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is itself the highest political end. anyone been paying attention to tv commercials lately? there's an agenda to portray white men as goofy dolts and black men as suave intellectuals. the stereotyping is being reversed.
Even my 74 year old mother noticed that.
I shall not vote for evil, lesser or otherwise. so what? after 35 years of eating kfc, procesed foods and anything slow enought to catch and beat with a stick, heart disease and stroke will take care of that problem
if a people will not prosecute officials who subvert and violate the constitution, then the constitution has no authority over officials. Gengis Gandhi, Troubled Genius
I just had a similar conversation with one of my brothers (general paraphrasing): Well, you need to give Obama a chance. Nope. Ain't doing it. Obama is a traitor and an idiot. I'm an optimist--you're such a pissy pessimist--what's wrong with you. Here, Joe Biden, Rahm Emanuel, Bush I, Clinton, Bush II --this guy is just the next asswipe lackey. BS. And where do you get off calling Obama a traitor and an idiot??!! He is a traitor and an idiot and I can prove it. HOW? He was elected President. You're stupid. As Sarah Palin would say -- Back at cha You have to give Obama a chance. No I don't and I'm not. How can you be such a pessimist? How can you just dance to the grave? At least I'm not a miserable pessimist. Well, I'll tell you what -- let's just wait and see what happens in the next year or two. We'll be even more bankrupt and in more middle east wars. Nope, Obama will change all that. Whatever. Time shall tell.
AIPAC/PNAC/ADL/NAACP/FEDERAL RESERVE/SPLC/JINSA/ACLU/CHRISTIAN ZIONISTS/AEI/FEDERAL MEDIA & HOLLYWOOD: Oh, those Islamofascists.
Enough, already, of this delusional pap.
Not just commercials. Television is full of either incompetent or selfish immoral white guys ala Homer Simpson. The only guys on television who aren't complete screwups, are ones who answer to the government.
Time will prove you correct bales, but don't look for the uninformed to catch a clue. Some people are time sponges and need to be walked on by.
The TV is an agenda -- it has been the main propaganda machine for the last 50 years. Including the newly noticed portrayal of white men as dolts, the agenda includes the "browning" of America, the "dumbing down" of America, glorification of promiscuity and violence, the discrediting and mocking of Christianity, race-mixing (and, in particular, black male/white female), a pro- homosexual position, a society wide distraction with sports and meaningless game shows, discrediting and mocking the basic and traditional family unit, a pro-big government/government dependent class message, class warfare, fear mongering, and a pro-Israel message. It is overt. It is blatant. The primary mission/goal of this agenda is to multiculture/diversify American society into a populace unable to form a cohesive political ideology/movement which could be or mount a threat to Zionist/Big Business elite control of the United States--fractionate the people. It is working well.
AIPAC/PNAC/ADL/NAACP/FEDERAL RESERVE/SPLC/JINSA/ACLU/CHRISTIAN ZIONISTS/AEI/FEDERAL MEDIA & HOLLYWOOD: Oh, those Islamofascists.
Yes. IT is time that the good, decent black folk stand up en masse and say that the day of this hangin out on the hood corners, pimping, and doping, and other crimes, and rappin, are done. Over with. Period. We ain't gonna have it. You're gonna keep your penis in your pants and the girls are gonna keep theirs pulled up, and you're gonna buckle down in school--cause thats your job til you're 18. Until the black community stands up with one voice on this, nothing will change. Oh, the big O may put the word out for legislation making cops criminals for stopping blacks, but everyone is smart enough to know (except perhaps political hacks) that if 80% of crime (for instance) is done by blacks, why would you put out an apb for a chinaman, or a white, or a paki? You don't go looking for OJ in the dumpster alongside the homeless vet! Its just nuts. Ditto for latinos.
So, too, is ignorance displayed when he says an entire generation will come of age--not in 4 years, or even 8 years is this gonna happen!
I'm white and the same thing happened to me(edit - but I wasn't standing on the street, just walking along side it.) Guess what, I knew it had nothing to do with race because the officers were white too. It might of had something to do with being young, but nothing to do with being white.
God is always good!
Wait a minute here. The dude was standing ON THE STREET? What the heck? No wonder the officer got pissed. Streets aren't for standing around on.
God is always good!
Obamalamadingdong = 50% 'caucasion' + 43.75% 'arabic' + 6.25% 'african negro' The messiah Black Panther Marxist Illegal Alien kosher Globalist doesn't even qualify as 'african american' in AmeriKa !!
"If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your counsel nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains rest lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.”—Samuel Adams
The last 'hood' I lived in didn't have a crack cocaine issue (outwardly) until some IDIOT decided to move and rent his house out through Sect. 8 / Feds. Shortly thereafter it went to hell. I'm just sayin'...
"If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your counsel nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains rest lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.”—Samuel Adams
Exactly. I don't know how anyone comes of age in 8 years. Not even 16.
Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is itself the highest political end. I regret to tell you but that is not a "stereotype". A "stereotype" is something which is an untrue attribution to a group or culture where the behavior of a few is attributed to the whole. When that behavior is a majority it ceases being a stereotype. Yes, there are very many decent, intelligent, and hard working black men, but unfortunately a poisonous counter productive "Pop" culture of "gangstaism" and "sports" has been used as a PsyOp to geld black america and make it dysfunctional. This was begun as far back as when Margaret Sanger was writing that the Black Population were trash and needed to be eliminated - and that "Judas Goat" Blacks needed to be recruited to be front men. Later during Martin Luther King's time the NWO/Bankster establishment, which believes genetics determines all, that eugenics is valid, and that blacks are an inferior species, got worried that blacks were becoming active and educated. Thus King was whacked and programs were run to fractionate and distance Black Americans from entering the mainstream of American Culture and Society. Thus from the programs were created the drug culture, "return to Africa" memes, and now the "Gangsta Culture" (with the drugs being shipped in by the CIA) they were then planted in Black America upon fertile ground of just resentment for the treatment blacks historically had received, and thus the rightful claim for equality within the society was turned against them and they were locked into a degraded and downward meme of hate and resentment. Putting a Black looking puppet in the White House will change nothing and will very possibly harm Black America more than it helps - by presenting a false image of success and acceptance, with the dawning realization coming that he was a Trojan Horse and a criminal.
"The difference between an honorable man and a moral man is that an honorable man regrets a discreditable act even when it has worked and he is in no danger of being caught." ~ H. L. Mencken
HOW? He was elected President. Got that right. If he weren't a traitor the establishment wouldn't have picked him for the left wing of the evil bird of prey. Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is itself the highest political end. AIPAC/PNAC/ADL/NAACP/FEDERAL RESERVE/SPLC/JINSA/ACLU/CHRISTIAN ZIONISTS/AEI/FEDERAL MEDIA & HOLLYWOOD: Oh, those Islamofascists.
Body Art Cobleskill, NY
#2. To: Jhoffa_ (#0)
Ford says being a young black man in America has often meant defying others' low expectations.
#3. To: Jhoffa_ (#0)
"The most famous black man in America isn't dribbling a ball or clutching a microphone," writer Ta-Nehisi Coates noted in a recent essay for Time magazine. "He has no prison record. He has not built a career on four-letter words."
Lord Acton
#4. To: Jhoffa_ (#0)
But the fact that a black man is now the boss — of the United States — will have a huge impact on not just African-Americans but whites and other ethnic groups as well. An entire generation will come of age with a black man in charge.
Lord Acton
#5. To: James Deffenbach (#4)
#6. To: Lady X (#5)
He is supposed to be my servent..
#7. To: James Deffenbach (#4)
The person who wrote that is not all that bright.
#8. To: Critter (#1)
The only way for black man to end the stereotyping is for the majority of them to stop behaving exactly as they are stereotyped.
#9. To: Lady X (#5)
I totally agree with you.
Lord Acton
#10. To: Jhoffa_ (#7)
Lord Acton
#11. To: Jhoffa_ (#0)
#12. To: christine (#11)
there's an agenda to portray white men as goofy dolts
Body Art Cobleskill, NY
#13. To: christine (#11)
#14. To: Lady X, James Deffenbach, lodwick, christine, Esso, Jethro Tull (#5)
I said I don't have to give him anything
#15. To: Jhoffa_, the thread, realists here (#0)
It is the face Americans will turn to during national crises for information and reassurance.
#16. To: christine (#11)
#17. To: wbales (#14)
Whatever. Time shall tell.
#18. To: christine (#11)
anyone been paying attention to tv commercials lately? there's an agenda
#19. To: Critter (#1)
#20. To: James Deffenbach (#4)
The person who wrote that is not all that bright. No so-called "public servant" is the "boss of the United States." That's ignorant.
#21. To: Jhoffa_ (#0)
(Edited)
"I've been searched by the cops just for being black, for standing on the street with my friends,"
#22. To: All (#21)
"I've been searched by the cops just for being black, for standing on the street with my friends,"
#23. To: Jhoffa_ (#0)
what a sham
#24. To: RickyJ (#21)
I'm white and the same thing happened to me. Guess what, I knew it had nothing to do with race because the officers were white too. It might of had something to do with being young, but nothing to do with being white.
#25. To: rowdee (#20)
So, too, is ignorance displayed when he says an entire generation will come of age--not in 4 years, or even 8 years is this gonna happen!
Lord Acton
#26. To: Jhoffa_, all (#0)
Black men endure painful stereotypes in American popular culture, which often depicts them "singing, rapping, scoring a touchdown, dunking a basketball, hitting a home run or committing a crime," according to the group YAAMS, Young African Americans Against Media Stereotypes.
#27. To: wbales (#14)
(Edited)
He is a traitor and an idiot and I can prove it.
Lord Acton
#28. To: Original_Intent (#18)
see #18
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