Race

I was listening to a podcast from Real Time With Bill Maher this morning. One of the featured guests was Tavis Smiley who wrote the New York Times best selling book, The Covenant With Black America. They were discussing some statistics showing that six out of ten black men who drop out of high school end up in jail. I don't know what the stats are for any other race, and my point really isn't to discuss this statistic. It's one of many numbers that exemplifies the inequalities in America.

What I do want to discuss is a point that Bill Maher brought up and the reaction to the interview with Smiley. Maher said, in a very similar way that I did in a college term paper, that a reason for alarming statistics like this one is that young black kids are only shown rappers and basketball players as role-models. These professions are made to seem attainable to kids, but we should really be telling them that they won't be NBA stars or a famous rappers. Smiley added that the reason these kids think they can attain these goals is that they don't see any other options in the media. He went on to say, "If we want to lead these kids, we gotta love them. If we want to save them, we gotta serve them." Wise words from a positive leader that is getting little to no major press coverage for his best selling book. Why? Because white America doesn't want to hear about it. As Smiley said, let's tell the American public that people are buying my book everyday and trying to find a plan and solution to make their communities better instead of just talking about the "crisis and pathology of black America."

After the interview with Smiley ended, Jason Alexander--George from Sienfeld--commented that "it's an unfortunate thing that his last name is Smiley. He's just not smiling a lot." This is where I have a problem. Whenever a black man in the media stands up for his beliefs, he is looked at as just another angry black person. I'm not saying that Alexander wanted to intentionally discredit Smiley with his comment. I'm sure he didn't. He was just looking for a cheap laugh at Smiley's expense. By making that joke, though, Alexander really is discrediting Smiley in the eyes of many people because he unintentionally labels him as just another angry black man. He doesn't smile. This illegitamizes (is that a word) Smiley's arguments and perpetuates stereotypes that keep race relations what they are in America, SHIT.

Some may say that it's just a harmless joke that no one will even pay attention, but that couldn't be further from the truth. I'm part of white America, and I've heard comments like this all the time behind closed doors and in public. We are just as quick to label the educated black man standing up for his beliefs as an angry black man as we are to label the athlete with his hat pulled to the side as a thug. Either way, we're discrediting the legitimacy of their message, profession, and struggle. "Pulling the race card" is a popular, negative phrase we use when a black person brings up race and we don't want to hear about it. We don't like to hear the truth and cannot deal with the guilt. Even as hip-hop has taken over suburban America, acting "black" still carries a stigma. Unless a black person acts in a way that we consider "white," they are not as easily, and often not, accepted into white America. We love watching the crazy, negative antics of black men and will saturate our media with those images, but this is similar to a minstrel show; we'll welcome it as entertainment but would never welcome it in our homes and communities.

A man like Smiley cannot get the attention of Oprah, The Today Show, and other major television shows because he is actually challenging the images and ideas that make us so much money in the media. Even when he is given a spot on cable, someone like George Costanza has to discredit his message by labeling him as the angry black man that never smiles. I'm not claiming to know what it's like to be black in America. I don't. But if I was black in America, I don't think I'd be smiling that much either.