Still Drinking Kool-Aid

So I sat down to watch Chocolate News on Comedy Central®, hosted by David Alan Grier, formerly of In Living Color. I also watched D.L. Hughley Breaks the News on CNN® and I hate both of these shows. I know hate is a strong word, but the content of these shows invokes strong emotions within me...seriously!

In this day and age, I think it is sad to see two accomplished African-American males further undermine my people by perpetuating those negative stereotypes we see played out over and over again in the media. I have to wonder why b/c I view both of them as men that should know better. David Alan Grier was educated @ Yale University for crying out loud and he is running around on TV acting like a damn fool. Sketch comedies can be funny w/out making Black people look ignorant and dumb, right? The more I watched his show, the more I respect Dave Chapelle for leaving Comedy Central® when he did. He got it right; he knows some jokes are to remain amongst our people and no amount of money is worth the bad media. Way to take a stance Dave! Others don't understand and laugh AT us, believing what they are viewing depicts how and who we are as a people.

D.L. Hughley has an even larger audience on CNN®, a respected news network where people all over the US tune in on TV and the web for the latest in the news. These people most likely did not watch Comic View or see Kings of Comedy, understanding his background in comedy. So when they see him for the first time on CNN® and he uses a pimp to depict Freddie Mac, it’s all bad! Here’s why: As an avid news watcher, I tune in to all networks to get the varying opinions on today’s issues. I even watch Fox News Channel® b/c we need to be aware of what everyone is saying, everyone! Many discussion forums on Fox News (I’ve seen it w/ my own eyes; heard it w/ my own ears…last week) consist of panel members that blame the housing market crisis on people that “went out and bought houses they could not afford.” Now we know those people were victims of predatory lenders, but it doesn’t matter to them. Many of those people started out w/ affordable mortgages, but when those rates flipped, their payments nearly doubled and THEN they could not afford their homes. It’s very easy for people like Bill O’Reilly or Sean Hannity to say, “I did the right thing. I invested the way we were always told. I built my credit. I didn’t live beyond my means.” Well, my friend’s aunt did the same, but w/out being raised to invest b/c she grew up poor, struggling to finally have a “fair” credit score, and only earning $35k a year, she lost her first home @ 52 years old, after only having it for four years. I wonder if D.L. considers this type of situation and the extreme bias out there when he sits w/ his writing team to come up w/ his skits and jokes.

Why can’t they be like John Stewart or Steven Colbert when reporting the news? Or even Keith Olberman or Rachel Maddow on MSNBC? Not because they are White, but because they don’t consistently make Black people look foolish. Like these hosts, they can put an objective, comedic spin on the news, but keep the ignorant Black stereotypes out of it. A press release by Comedy Central Corporate Communications (2008) posted online @ Yahoo! Finance says Chocolate News “fills TVs Black hole.” FOR WHO??? I am Black and his show only offends me! In an interview w/ the NY Times about his new show on CNN®, D.L. Hughley said, “I barely even know how to read. I’ve got a G.E.D. (Itzkoff, 2008).” Shut up D.L.!!! Someone thought you were intelligent enough to offer you a show on CNN and you minimize your intelligence w/ such ignorant statements…ugh! With an astonishing 50% or greater of black males dropping out of high school before graduating…that’s right, 50% (Umah, McMahon & Furlow, 2008), it would be better for you to let them know they can and should make it in life, not say you can’t read.

Oprah is an awesome show host and she NEVER uses such foolery. Many people respect her, tuning in daily to listen to what she has to say, not just Black people. Why can’t David and D.L. be more like Oprah, just neutral w/ their content, not using ghetto, stereotypical crap for laughs? It’s called “cooning” and they are still getting our men to coon in 2008, oh brother. D.L. showed a clip of a young Sammy Davis, Jr. looking like the little happy, good Negro boy while singing w/ what D.L. said was a pork chop in his hand. D.L., you might as well have a pork chop as well…and some kool-aid…and watermelon…and ribs...and fried chicken. But then we’ll get upset when Republicans create a horribly racist “Obama Buck,” even though we help add to these stereotypes about ourselves. Why would David Alan Grier wear tight, leopard-print draws and dance around on TV looking like he’s just “a-shucking-and-a-jiving?” I can’t call it, but I want both shows off the air, especially when there are still undecided voters out there.

References

Uwah, C., McMahon, H., & Furlow, C. (2008). School belonging, educational aspirations, and academic self-efficacy among African American male high school students: Implications for school counselors. Professional School Counseling, 11(5), 296-305.

COMEDY CENTRAL Corporate Communications. “Filling TV's Black Hole:
David Alan Grier's 'Chocolate News' Premieres on Comedy Central(R) Wednesday, October 15 at 10:30 P.M.” 9/24/08.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/080924/ny34957.html?.v=1

Itzkoff, David. “For Once, CNN Takes News Less Seriously.”
(2008). http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/25/arts/television/25hugh.html
Opinionated

Response to Grimm's "Is Hip-Hop Dead" Blog

I'm glad you noted that we have to teach the kids. Actually, that's where it all stems from. Our kids are out there every single day, struggling with ethnic and sexuality identity issues and it's as if there is no one there to help. They don't know if or where they fit in as Black youth in America. So many of them want to be more than the stats we all hear about, but they really don't believe they can be or know how to be. They're psyche is all fucked up. This lack of faith and self-worth is more damaging and common than people in our community realize. Our kids that are exceling academically and socially are heavily outnumbered by those that are ignorant and lack adequate resources. Our kids are fighting against images that beat them in the head w/ the ideas that they are hoes, thugs, baby mamas and daddies, violent, lazy and hopeless. That's why they all "wanna sell bricks and bang", or do whatever it takes to hang w/ the dude that's "making it rain." They spend more time w/ media images than they do w/ family members, especially parents.In school, they are misunderstood by teachers and administrators who are not properly trained to be multiculturally competent. They treat our kids as if they are those ignorant, lazy hoes and thugs who will never amount to anything and don't deserve a fair chance. The number of Black youth that are in Special Education classes in US public schools disproportionately outweigh the number of white kids classified in Special Ed. This directly correlates to the population of Blacks that significantly outnumber whites in our jail system as kids w/ academic problems usually become adults w/ legal problems. Schools and jails are just two segments of the systemic US that seem to work against Blacks, especially our males. We can not rely on schools or jails to raise or rehabilitate our youth, we must become overly involved in our kids lives ourselves. "Our kids" meaning ALL our youth.

Speaking of knowing your history, they don't know it...at all! They definitely do not learn it in school and there is no one to teach it to them b/c their parents don't. Do you teach yours? In the state of GA, all kids have to pass a series of tests in core subjects (Engligh, Math, Science, Social Studies and Writing) to graduate high school. Even if they complete all courses required to graduate, they will NOT get a diploma until they pass all parts. There are kids that remain in limbo, working at Wendy's, waiting to pass this test b/c although they are "done" w/ high school, they can not move on to college just yet. Guess which kids mostly make up this group??? If you said Black, you got it! Even though they are highly outnumbered by whites in GA schools.Every Black person has a role and hip-hop artists have the role of raising the consciousness of our youth to these issues that impactour community as a whole. Although these artists sit on BET forums and say it's the parent's responsibility, they know parents are working two and three jobs, stressed out, depressed, sick, tired and many drunk, high or incarcerated. According to them, they survived the struggle too, right? But no one wants to be accountable, especially our men. Black men need to step up and be leaders and providers, raising healthy families instead of multiplying broken families. Our "dads" are absent even we need them as the head teacher of the household. We all have the responsibility to teach the kids something. What will you teach and to whom???