Imperious Entertainment

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written by J Jenkins , October 02, 2007

How interesting for you to mention how Blacks feel they understand the White culture while Whites are monochromatic. This is certainly a topic up for debate. I would say many Blacks have a broad sense of White culture since they are inundated with it via movies and television. The American media-- news, books, etc. -- blast the white perspective in its various forms. Blacks see nearly every aspect of White culture in films and TV and life (i.e., college classroom discussions) so while Blacks don't have a complete understanding of White culture, they certainly know enough. However, I will agree with you on the umbrella principle that inclusion is imperative. Great job

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written by Vivian Gale , October 02, 2007

I just watched this movie called Freedom Land, Sunday evening. This movie touched on this subject or at least made you think of the same question.

In race revolutions if you study history well, you will find people helping people. For instance there were many whites that set blacks free and helped the get free. Look at American's in Iraq today. They are fighting for a cause that is not their own. They are making history. Many Iranians have expressed great thanks for their presence and assistance in bringing them to a new and better time in their lives.

Its scary to peirce through the mass rage and the mass pain of the body of people suffering for fear of getting your head chopped off if your not of their race.

The reality is, the people "rebelling" WANT TO BE HEARD. And want help! When the help comes their not going to say "no" because your not my color, their going to be softened by the offer from one human soul to another. So even when they are angry, you will see them having an open window to their heart when someone is trying to help, no matter the color of their skin.

If the person rebelling is just full of hatred that has gone beyond reason and reach, that person has then become a mad man and is no longer effective for the cause.

I hope and pray that if we ever are faced with such choices personallly, that we will position ourselves on the side of love.

Peace, Vivian Gale

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written by EJM , October 04, 2007

"I stress American culture because I think we are in a great deal of confusion over our role in the creation of American culture. It is so easy to become unconsciously racist by simply stressing one part of our heritage, thus reducing the complexity of our cultural heritage to a genetic reality....Al Murray has said that all blacks are part white, and all whites part black. If we can deal with that dilemma—and it is a dilemma—then we can begin to deal with the problem of defining the American experience as we create it. You cannot have an American experience without having a black experience."
—Ralph Ellison, "Alain Locke" (Dec. 1, 1973)

I pull out this quote from Ellison in response to J Jenkins' comment, because I get uncomfortable when we start talking about cultures that are "pure," whether black or white. On the individual level, of course, the black/white distinction applies: whether I am rich or poor, whether I live in Atlanta or San Francisco, if my skin is black, I'll have a "black experience," and if it's white, I'll have a "white experience," because the way that I look will have an impact on the way that others perceive me and treat me (of course, things get fuzzy if you're biracial, Latino, etc.).

However, what Ellison's getting at, and what I want to insist on, is that when we are looking at things on a *cultural* level, there is much more room for hybridity and admixture. There is no such thing as a "White American culture"—high or low—that has somehow gone untouched by black people. For me, the question isn't whether or not blacks know about white culture, or for that matter if whites know enough about black culture. What we need to learn more about, on both sides, are the ways that black and white culture have always been completely entangled, in collaboration AND in competition (often both at the same time). That's not something easy to admit—it's much easier to retreat into our camps of "authentic" blackness and whiteness—but it's a necessary step. As Baldwin put it in The Fire Next Time:

"We, the black and the white, deeply need each other here if we are really to become a nation—if we are really, that is, to achieve our identity, our maturity, as men and women. To create one nation has proved to be a hideously difficult task; there is certainly no need now to create two, one black and one white."

Finally, there is so much internal diversity (religious, economic, political, geographical, etc) among black Americans that I'm also not comfortable talking in terms of a single "black culture" (monochromatic doesn't equal monolithic). We're past the days when there was a single standard for what it meant to be black (if those days ever existed in the first place). And the same holds true for white Americans. While there are certain experiences (based on racial discrimination) that may be shared by most if not all black people (let's call it a "shared history of oppression"), it's not at all true that all black people share a single culture. We've got to work together in the struggle against prejudice, but if we want to avoid being asked to speak as a "representatives for the race," as Theri' mentioned in her article, we need to start insisting upon the diversity of the black (sub)cultures and the uniqueness of any particular black person's experience.

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written by Kennis The Menace , October 07, 2007

LOL @ whites walking up and apologizing to you for slavery....if only if this were done on the government level and there was a sincere apology.

In terms of understanding cultures (or to build off EJM-- subcultures) of "whiteness" or "blackness" -- there does not seem to be a strong desire for one group to particularly learn about the other, regardless of what complexities might exist during the respective races. Similar to how the white kids/professors of my afro-am history courses retreated to their "whiteness camp" after school, I found myself leaving for a predominantly black circle. The same applies to any setting I have encountered that presents an interracial situation....
But let's not be bogged down by academia! I can't remember the last time I was at a political rally in the black community that preached "we need to start learning more about these white people"! LOL...that would sound ridiculous. Or a barber shop where someone went off about the differences between inner city white youth and white suburban kids.

I'd venture to say that the only way anyone has ever learned about the diversity within another group has been through experiences. If we'd go one step further and think of general "stereotypes" and the people that we have met that have caught us off guard and changed our opinions.

In terms of understanding eachother in general -- what does this look like? Where is the setting that promotes for coalitioning and understanding for COMMON CITIZENS? It seems that unless there is interest by the individual, this learning does not take place. How do those activists reach the apathetic -- both white in black -- in a way that encourages change and progression?