tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10755833.post8602095065088934687..comments2024-01-17T15:05:50.120-06:00Comments on AngryBlackBitch: Acceptably black, my ass...Shark-Fuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03323962708956637012noreply@blogger.comBlogger38125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10755833.post-91953012541263811162008-05-07T22:51:00.000-05:002008-05-07T22:51:00.000-05:00I can't stand this idea of an acceptable mold or s...I can't stand this idea of an acceptable mold or standard of living for Black people or just people of color in general. It's completely degrading and it just pisses me off. Great post and, oh I must say this, fight the power! And I agree with sagacioushillbilly, I learn a lot from what you write.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10755833.post-41432973768601663782008-01-16T09:33:00.000-06:002008-01-16T09:33:00.000-06:00It's a wonderful thing that these things are being...It's a wonderful thing that these things are being discussed in detail out in the open. It's the only way people are going to become educated.SagaciousHillbillyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09511441325695460501noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10755833.post-28495377977175428882008-01-12T15:03:00.000-06:002008-01-12T15:03:00.000-06:00Brillant,witty~ I bow down to a wordsmith and idea...Brillant,witty~ I bow down to a wordsmith and idea maven par excelence.sagefeverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14745373544025840422noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10755833.post-72268130621184672872008-01-12T10:59:00.000-06:002008-01-12T10:59:00.000-06:00G.D. I wouldn't say you are missing something. Ra...G.D. I wouldn't say you are missing something. Rather that you are granting something to Garfield, which is the assumption that he didn't mean to say what he said when he said it. <BR/><BR/>This is not a case of my seeing a sentence you missed.<BR/><BR/>This is a case of my reading the article expecting to see a review of the ad and having worked in the industry for nearly a decade (wince) and being confronted with a non-review of the creative. <BR/><BR/>Instead there was what some may see as a snarky exploration of acceptable blackness but what I see as a devaluation of black achievement on purely linguistic and visual grounds.<BR/><BR/>Perhaps we view this article through very different eyes...but I've read it over and over, even watched the ad and read the article again, and it still offends me on the grounds stated above.<BR/><BR/>Then again, we black people don't all think alike now do we (wink)?Shark-Fuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03323962708956637012noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10755833.post-71634863540637123802008-01-11T18:18:00.000-06:002008-01-11T18:18:00.000-06:00Shark-fu:But where was he reducing Obama's achieve...Shark-fu:<BR/><BR/>But where was he reducing Obama's achievements to him being 'acceptable'?<BR/><BR/>He wasn't defending the 'trancendent power of acceptable blackness', as you say. he was saying that this is how people think, and furthermore, that the problematic idea of 'acceptable blackness' is one perpetuated by ad companies and media representation. Shirley Chisholm could NEVER be a viable presidential candidate, not because she wasn't brilliant or capable, but because she couldn't 'transend race' or wasn't 'postracial' or whatever silly code words people want to use in reference to ethnically ambiguous folks Halle Berry or Barack Obama. <BR/><BR/>i've been passing this article around my little circle of friends: all of us black, literate, critical of privilege, and not exactly prone to giving white people a lot of slack on shit. none of us read this piece the way you did or took offense to it. are we missing something?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10755833.post-91418148945893578602008-01-11T17:11:00.000-06:002008-01-11T17:11:00.000-06:00Anonymous said "Most of them can only deal with bl...Anonymous said "Most of them can only deal with black people if they feel they(whites) are "helping" blacks. They can not deal with blacks as equals."<BR/><BR/>Most cannot truly feel that anyone of color is actually a real person. Equal is a far flung dream...<BR/><BR/>SharkFu - Good discussion going on here.Frogspondhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16923000725803252894noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10755833.post-13214823730330361872008-01-11T15:50:00.001-06:002008-01-11T15:50:00.001-06:00Delux- hot it on the head. As usual, these comment...Delux- hot it on the head. As usual, these comments are about white people and their fears. Media creates these fears. Whites should be trying to figure out this fear and work it out for themselves. The journalist failed in his delivery. It is as if he didn't really know how to talk about the issue but is this any surprise? White people do not know how to talk about these issues that really are a huge problem for them. Most of them can only deal with black people if they feel they(whites) are "helping" blacks. They can not deal with blacks as equals. Problem.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10755833.post-16382043691368873112008-01-11T15:50:00.000-06:002008-01-11T15:50:00.000-06:00AS the Jewish mother of three beautiful BLACK chil...AS the Jewish mother of three beautiful BLACK children I am still trembling with rage at the audacity of this fucking moron. <BR/><BR/>I am totally unable to comment further. ABB... you nailed it girlfriend.AOBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02664333737875522229noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10755833.post-19146916488652459672008-01-11T14:55:00.000-06:002008-01-11T14:55:00.000-06:00Aw, come out and play! We all have an "(x) enough...Aw, come out and play! We all have an "(x) enough" lurking in our minds - black enough, white enough, gay enough, man enough.... speaking as a woman who at any given moment may or may not be girly enough (depends on if I have on an apron or a tool belt, near as I can figure) that's my whole point!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10755833.post-33499998306391903332008-01-11T14:05:00.000-06:002008-01-11T14:05:00.000-06:00I have come to the conclusion that the never endin...I have come to the conclusion that the never ending discussions from white observers about who and what Black people think is "black enough" are much more about what white people think than anything else. <BR/><BR/>So I dont engage in them.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10755833.post-79898328446100585132008-01-11T12:11:00.000-06:002008-01-11T12:11:00.000-06:00Boy 11 days into the new year and already the poli...Boy 11 days into the new year and already the political ugliness has commenced...Sheesh. <BR/><BR/>I don't know who I am voting for at this point, but I know for sure who I <I>won't</I> be voting for. Whatever my decision is come November it won't be because they're "acceptable"...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10755833.post-58530588489918084612008-01-11T11:32:00.000-06:002008-01-11T11:32:00.000-06:00G.D. - The idea is more than stupid...it is destru...G.D. - The idea is more than stupid...it is destructive and degrading. <BR/><BR/>I read Garfield's piece as insulting to Obama because it negates the appeal of his policy through a degrading exploration of why he'll get the racist vote and why Garfield thinks that's a good thing.<BR/><BR/>I read Garfield's piece as a defense of the so-called transcendent power of "acceptable blackness" as if speaking well, being educated, having a kick ass resume and not being too visibly black is empowering.<BR/><BR/>It's not and I resent any praise of the continued marketing of that mythical delusion to the masses.<BR/><BR/>I'm black...I've got an amazing resume...I went to one of the best colleges in the country...I speak rather well (wink)...and my acceptability only goes so far and leaves a sistah feeling like a bloody Bank of America diversity ad at the end of the day.<BR/><BR/>So again, the idea of acceptable blackness is more than just stupid. It is degrading and its use in Garfield's article insults Obama, dismisses his achievements and sums up his success as the by-product of making white people feel comfortable.<BR/><BR/>Now ask youself how should people of color feel about acceptable blackness?<BR/><BR/>How empowering it is to have your achievements summed up as the result of making white people feel comfortable? How uplifting is it to feel that you will go further, make more money, be more employable if "they" dont feel by your blackness?<BR/><BR/>How does it make us feel to have everything we've every wanted and worked for...sacrificed for...come down to whether folks like Garfield think we've passed the Halle Berry test?<BR/><BR/>Degraded?<BR/><BR/>Dismissed?<BR/><BR/>Insulted?<BR/><BR/>Belittled?<BR/><BR/>Humiliated?<BR/><BR/>Garfield's lone achievement was to hit all five of those in one article.<BR/><BR/>And people ask why I'm angry...Shark-Fuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03323962708956637012noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10755833.post-49089699042646146862008-01-11T11:02:00.000-06:002008-01-11T11:02:00.000-06:00But, again: Garfield doesn't seem to be riding for...But, again: Garfield doesn't seem to be riding for the concept of acceptability, only giving voice to the idea that it exists.<BR/><BR/>we all agree it's stupid. but when people said Michael Jordan 'transcended race' at the height of his career, what do you think they were really saying? When white pundits and media outlets and bloggers call Obama 'postracial,' what do you think they're really saying?<BR/><BR/>i've had friends say this about gay people: "he's cool, not like one of those queeny ones who's always throwing his sexuality in your face.'<BR/><BR/>the idea is stupid. that doesn't mean it's not real.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10755833.post-27524114355011051252008-01-11T10:34:00.000-06:002008-01-11T10:34:00.000-06:00Okay, I'm back. I don't wish to be Halle either (...Okay, I'm back. <BR/><BR/>I don't wish to be Halle either (Do her? 'Nother story, but then I am long happily married.. at least until those "Catwoman" movie stills showed up. Mrow! Wait - where was I? Ah, yes. Ahem.) but I see your point about "who is determining what an acceptable (fill in your minority here) is?" <BR/><BR/>Side note - "in the closet" is no longer necessary for one to be acceptably gay.... "celibate" seems to be the sticking point. Every sitcom/popcorn movie/talk show/Reality TV etc. now seems to feature the homo sidekick, who helps the hero/ine find True Love, riches, that damn "Dancing With the Stars" trophy, whatever; but who never finds True Love him/her (but usually him) self. <BR/><BR/>Take the Greek Tragedy that is Brokeback Mountain out of the race, and how many times in modern entertainment has the queer gotten laid before the credits rolled? It's kind of an inverse of the black guy being the first casualty in a horror/slasher/war flick. <BR/><BR/>But I digress yet again (you folks munching popcorn on the sidelines? Blow the whistle next time I do that or we'll be here all day): a connective link in the examples used herein of "acceptable blackness" is that Barack, Halle, and Tiger are multiracial, and hence quite High Yellow... and have danced for years around issues that they are not, in fact, "black enough." <BR/><BR/>So is Barack "acceptably black" to blacks? Is he "black enough"? Among the old guard Civil Rights folks is the issue one of age, skin tone, education? Barack and Halle were both raised by their (white) single mothers; does this present an assumed privilege that they had an "in" into "white" society? <BR/><BR/>(Okay, enough with the quote marks - y'all can assume they exist where they make sense) <BR/><BR/>Did Tiger face backlash as a professional golfer not only from members-only white clubs but also from blacks who wondered what on God's Green Earth he was doing playing a fat old white man's game? (making money.... piles and piles of money.... that's what he was doing) and did anyone (black or white) go up in flames when he married that zipper-meltingly hot Swedish nanny? <BR/><BR/>If Barack had married a white girl, would he be standing on the national stage today?<BR/><BR/>Acceptability based on skin tone starts to break down into racism (or should it be colorism, to encompass multiracial people?) just about immediately on all sides of the fence. Otherwise, why do folks on this discussion feel the need to express their colors? Liberal cred? Street cred? To present an assurance that "I am one of the good ones"? We all fall into the exact same trap.<BR/><BR/>For the record, I am Irish on both sides of my family (and will strenuously avoid borrowing from Bernie Mac's hilarious "Black Irish" routine), female, gay, and my every-spreading ass is some ways past age 35... any questions?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10755833.post-20597288567748212512008-01-11T10:20:00.000-06:002008-01-11T10:20:00.000-06:00How could I keep that pain and trauma all to mysel...How could I keep that pain and trauma all to myself? I mean its like the last 30+ years of women of color schooling mainstream feminists never happened.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10755833.post-60190802491668898582008-01-11T07:44:00.000-06:002008-01-11T07:44:00.000-06:00delux...After this week I may journey to the Land ...delux...<BR/><BR/>After this week I may journey to the Land of Smarties and pick up some of that stuff whilst there.<BR/><BR/>Mercy.<BR/><BR/>And you are wrong for the Huffington link! WRONG! I'm feeling strokish as is.Shark-Fuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03323962708956637012noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10755833.post-42707088842904758532008-01-11T07:40:00.000-06:002008-01-11T07:40:00.000-06:00g.d. - No, the issue is not Garfield's race. I th...g.d. - <BR/><BR/>No, the issue is not Garfield's race. <BR/><BR/>I think the first portion of the post where he fumbles through that picture shit on his way to dropping the N bomb might be a case of white male defiance.<BR/><BR/>But the acceptable blackness myth pisses me off regardless of who is pushing it.<BR/><BR/>The issue is the perpetuation of acceptable blackness within advertising and marketing and how that is not a good thing. Decades ago that definition also included how black the actual color could be. <BR/><BR/>Honestly, I'm not convinced that the Halle Berry test isn't the paper bag test by another name. <BR/><BR/>Blink.<BR/><BR/>We're having a more legitimate discussion here than Garfield indulged in and I still don't see a critical analysis of the ad he was supposed to be reviewing in the journalistic malfunction that ended up being published.Shark-Fuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03323962708956637012noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10755833.post-67962922736437075902008-01-11T06:41:00.000-06:002008-01-11T06:41:00.000-06:00Na, not over. This little froggie fell asleep earl...Na, not over. This little froggie fell asleep early last night so I am making up this morning. <BR/><BR/>In answer to the question of what is acceptably gay that would be "In The Closet". <BR/><BR/>Acceptability usually translates to invisable. You gotta figure that ANYthing/one who does not fit what the power people (behind or in front of the scenes) expect will not be seen, or heard. Look at any "minority" group. (I apologize for the quotes, I don't like that term but I use it when I have to) Other than tokens there is no real representation anywhere. We celebrate when someone is allowed a seat at the table but are they really listened to??<BR/><BR/>I am a woman in the Information Technology (IT) department of my company. I have been in IT for years now. I bet you all could count on no fingers how many women have come by and fixed your computer in the last 5 years. (don't even get me started on women of color!) Contrast that with how many women have helped you at McDonalds or have cleaned your office. <BR/><BR/>Things may have changed for the very few but for all the rest of us, not much has. <BR/><BR/>P.S. The reason I don't like the term "minority" is cause we AREN'T. There are more of us "minorities" then there are of them. How about we put that to good use and don't buy any of their shit. (At least as little as we can to get by) Farmers markets, women, Black, gay, Latina/o, Middle-eastern, owned business' can provide wonderful resources for everyday items. A little research goes a long way. It would surprise you how much you can find. If the Man wants to just pander to himself, then how about only he buy his shit. <BR/><BR/>Ok, perhaps I should have posted this long as thing on my blog... Sorry for takn up so much space. :-)Frogspondhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16923000725803252894noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10755833.post-43281087686796227212008-01-10T23:36:00.000-06:002008-01-10T23:36:00.000-06:00one last thinghttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/erica-...one last thing<BR/><BR/>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/erica-jong/seeing-sexism_b_80916.html<BR/><BR/>did you see this hot mess? erica and gloria clearly have a hive mind for the crazypants.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10755833.post-63675584047620796612008-01-10T23:05:00.000-06:002008-01-10T23:05:00.000-06:00*strikes up vintage pfunk for entertainment value*...*strikes up vintage pfunk for entertainment value*<BR/><BR/>BTW ABB have you had any of your fans in canada send you any of those lovely iced wines or aperitif cider liqueurs?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10755833.post-91955273870226361212008-01-10T22:54:00.000-06:002008-01-10T22:54:00.000-06:00Its also going to be 35 years old in about a month...<I>Its also going to be 35 years old in about a month.</I><BR/><BR/>Break me a give, youngster. I'll be 40 *this* month.bitchphdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15118578280520171800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10755833.post-29198372173350929982008-01-10T22:51:00.000-06:002008-01-10T22:51:00.000-06:00is the issue just that Garfield's white and said u...is the issue just that Garfield's white and said uttered the phrase? <BR/><BR/>i may be missing something, but it really seemed to me like Garfield was *tweaking* the idea of 'acceptable blackness' and people that subscribe to it, not riding for it. <BR/><BR/>he wasn't saying Tupac wasn't 'acceptable' --- he was saying that there are white people who make the distinction. "You're one of the good ones", "she's not like the rest of them." and so on.<BR/><BR/>i was reading an article where a white campaign adviser told a black candidate who spoke about issues important to black voters that when he did so, he made the adviser "feel very white." the idea was that his racial appeals made white voters uncomfortable.<BR/><BR/>Obama, like it or not, is that. he doesn't scare white folks or make them squirm. for any number of reasons ---- his light skin, his placeless accent ---- people can place any kind of racial narrative they want on him. They can vote for him, a black man, without ever feeling threatened by the fact that, well, he's a black man.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10755833.post-75552553790519031472008-01-10T22:13:00.000-06:002008-01-10T22:13:00.000-06:00delux & ladyjax...Y'all make a bitch want to visit...delux & ladyjax...<BR/><BR/>Y'all make a bitch want to visit so I can munch pop corn too!<BR/><BR/>Shit.<BR/><BR/>Instead I've got a vodka cran (wink) and my dawgs for company.<BR/><BR/>Sigh.<BR/><BR/>***sound of crickets***<BR/><BR/>I guess the discussion is over?Shark-Fuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03323962708956637012noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10755833.post-86987932369623760092008-01-10T20:44:00.000-06:002008-01-10T20:44:00.000-06:00catnmus...I'm pretty sure that's him on NPR too. ...catnmus...<BR/><BR/>I'm pretty sure that's him on NPR too. <BR/><BR/>I wish I read it that way, but I don't.<BR/><BR/>And trust me, I've read it several times...<BR/><BR/>I fear that the light was turned on and the author began to chase his own shadow on this topic...Shark-Fuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03323962708956637012noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10755833.post-16428181530118679332008-01-10T20:38:00.000-06:002008-01-10T20:38:00.000-06:00Shark-fu, I'm not sure, but I'm assuming that this...Shark-fu, I'm not sure, but I'm assuming that this is the Bob Garfield that is one of the hosts of On The Media, an NPR program that critiques and exposes all aspects of the media and how it influences - both deliberately and inadvertently - our lives, opinions, etc. I certainly read the article as flipping on a bright light in a dark room, to see what scurries out...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com