Black women are a very diverse group. There aren't many things I would say are absolutes about us. But one thing I know for sure is if the media and Black men started saying that there were no good Black women around we would speak up and loudly.
So I have to wonder why it is that Black men aren't speaking up. The media has been stuck on the lonely Black woman/ no good Black men thing for a very long time now. And I have yet to see an organized response to this from Black men.
Why is that?
I absolutely know that it's a myth that there are no good Black men. I happen to know quite a few good Black men. Smart, educated, healthy, never been arrested, etc. So when for instance ABC's Nightline does a show about the supposed lack of good Black men why was it that 600 Black women showed up but almost no Black men?
If 600 Black men were going to go on TV talking about the lack of good Black women you better believe there would be 600 Black woman there begging to differ.
So please help me here. Why aren't the good Black men out there standing up to these media attacks? What's going on?
10 comments:
The answer is complex Val,being ignorant of who you are comes to mind right away.
Brainwash,self-hating play a role.
Not being taught to respect yourself plays a role.
And alwways being told that you are not important and valued plays a part.
Its always easier to deduce why someone IS doing something rather than trying to figure out why they are NOT doing something.
I could guess at a number of reasons why black men are not speaking up but maybe it would be more productive to look at what they are doing in stead.
It's not just media attacks. Guys like Kanye West, Yung Berg, Slim Thug, Ne-Yo, Steve Harvey, D.L. Hughley, have upped the ante themselves. It's an all around sad situation.
I don't think black people get much tv time, period. On the news, there are three basic doors we're allowed to go through: politics, sports, and celebrity fluff. About once a year, a large publishing house wings some interviews of our personal relationships and cultural concerns on news shows, like Bitch Is The New Black in the past six or so months, and Black In America in 2009.
That leaves shows like the old Oprah show or The View, and another show with that pretty, former black model, or black magazines on relationships which are generally written by and for black women, and lastly bloggers, and again, those posts sounding out the alarm are mostly made my women.
I couldn't view the ABC nightline link b/c now it says page unavailable. I wonder why. Anyway, you said "600 Black women showed up but almost no Black men".
I'll speculate that the answer is simple: it's not their problem.
Cold but true.
Men freely date up and down, in age, education and economics, so the bro in his 30s and 40s has a glut of choices, and better yet, plenty of time to make babies.
@BigMac
I think brainwashing has a lot to do with it. As you say Black men are always being told they're bad.
@brohammas
That might be true but I'm trying to figure out what they're doing. They seem to be invisible on this topic.
@?
I know what those other idiots have said but I missed what Ne-Yo and Kanye said?
But you're right; those guys seem to be joining in. But I wouldn't consider any of them good Black men. Those are they types that professional Black women tend to avoid.
@Kit
First, I found a working link. Sorry about that.
I agree that most media forums on this and Black issues in general are limited. Also the media paints this as a Black women's problem as opposed to a problem in some Black communities.
And I think you may have hit the nail on the head when you say it's not seen by men as their problem. That's unfortunate because they have mothers and sisters and daughters who have to confront this. You'd think that would be enough to get them to pipe up on this.
Kanye stated their would be no video girls without "mutts" i.e. biracial women. Ne-Yo stated "all the prettiest kids is light skinned."
"Men freely date up and down, in age, education and economics, so the bro in his 30s and 40s has a glut of choices, and better yet, plenty of time to make babies."
Bingo! Allot of guys benefit from this-in terms of the dating market- so it's not in their interest (so they think) to do anything about it.
@?
Wow, how'd Kanye and Ne-Yo get away with that without their being a big dust-up?
Anyway, they're both brainwashed. And not too bright. Why risk offending your customers. Especially in Ne-Yo's case since he probably relies more on Black women to buy his music.
Yep, Kit nailed it.
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