I’d like to alert people to a very cool artistic project, Question Bridge: Black Men. Its purpose is to allow black men of all classes, abilities, sexualities, ages, locations, etc. to talk to each other about issues facing black men: issues of racism, choices, identity, beliefs, values, etc. To quote from the Artist’s Statement:
Empirical data shows Americans, including Black people, still harbor negative associations with Black males that directly impact their ability to function successfully in this country. Of particular concern are statistics which demonstrate that the over-representation of Black males in the penal system and the disciplinary processes in schools does not correlate to their behavior. In reality, Black males are not more violent, more criminal, or more disruptive than their White male peers. The good news is that a meta-analysis of the social science research shows that there are effective means of overcoming our negative bias about Black males. One of which, is being exposed to more complex, multi-faceted, and whole images and narratives of black males. This is what the Question Bridge project hopes to accomplish.
Some of the available video clips are quite entertaining and powerful, and I recommend people check them out. (My favorite is the dude in the trailer who asks “am I the only one who has a problem eating chicken, watermelon, and bananas in front of white people?”) There’s also a curriculum available for educators! So yeah, check it out.
Just to clarify – I had no intention to play the “what’s real” game at all. What i meant is that being conditioned to be self-conscious about certain stereotyped behaviors/clothes/food/speech patterns etc. does not usually have the same direct impact as, for example, not being able to get the same pay for the same job, being penalized more harshly for the same crime or being afraid for your life in certain areas. That being said, it’s still part and parcel of the overall picture, and can easily cross over – as painfully evidenced by the mere existence of the whole… Read more »
Also, is anyone else having trouble getting the videos to play on the site?
“That’s hardly what you think of as a major problem when considering racism, but I’m sure that such little day-to-day issues can become incredibly wearisome in the long run” That little day-to-day stuff is the major issue, because it’s what people have to deal with, well, day to day. I hate the way some people (not accusing you of doing this, just a mini rant) will keep moving the bar for “real” discrimination – if you give a big example, like people being killed or jailed, they point out that those examples don’t happen very often and so aren’t a… Read more »
Here we go….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EK2iPGy1vYs
Starting at about 2:50, but the whole thing is worth watching. That’s hardly what you think of as a major problem when considering racism, but I’m sure that such little day-to-day issues can become incredibly wearisome in the long run.
I think Wanda Sykes had a bit along those lines…. was quite funny. I’ll see if i can find a link.
About not being able to eat stereotyped but tasty food in front of white people: I laughed out loud, and then felt really, really guilty. That must really suck, especially if you like that kind of food.
There’s a lot in this, and it does deal with something which interests me, namely questioning the value and sources of identity when that identity has been corrupted or is imperfect.