How To Tell Our Story: The Difficulties of African American & Minority Portrayal in Today's Media

HBO has another hit on their hands with the new series Girls. The show centers around four, 20-something year old White women trying to make it in Brooklyn. The show is seen and praised as a younger, not rich but well off version of Sex and the City.  

However, although the show has garnered mostly critical acclaim and solid ratings, there is a growing population frustrated with the direction and depictions of the show.

In the series premiere the main character Hannah makes a reference of being the 'voice of her generation'. The phrase has almost become synonymous with the show. While the writer of the show Lena Dunham meant the line to be humorous and absurd, many feel that the sentiment reflects that we still view the world through the lenses of White people, and that their reality is the norm. Although Census numbers point to growing numbers of minority populations our media is still slow to reflect those shifts. This points to another knock on the show in that not only are there no minority lead or supporting actors on the show, the backdrops often rarely include people of color either, something that should be virtually impossible in a place as diverse as Brooklyn.

Series and sitcoms still seem to revolve around young or middle aged, middle class Caucasians, with the 18-49 White demographic being the only one producers seem concerned to cater to.

So how do we correct the problem? The most popular answer in situations like these seems to be inserting more minorities. Yet before we can ask writers to put us in their stories, we have to ask ourselves how we want our stories to be told. As a people who have often decried the monolithic depictions of are people, we are indeed very hard to please. Are we the hardnosed, street savvy urbanites of Spike Lee film's, or the Southern, God fearing, family first folk of Tyler Perry production? What makes one more authentic then the other? Which one holds more authenticity?

Outside of the film makers, what roles do we want? Understandably, people of color have more to lose when it comes to how we are portrayed because we don't often receive the courtesy of others separating fiction from reality when they form their opinion of us. However, we need to ask ourselves what we want. Have the gangster and hustler roles become too cliché and demeaning? Or is the middle class Huxtable image still too unrealistic and conforming to White, middle class sensibilities? Why do we get upset when we see a Black women scantily clad in a rap video, yet seem to enjoy the poor representation of Black women on shows such as Basketball Wives and Real Housewives of Atlanta? Maybe the biggest question of all is once we get what we want, will we go and support it? If African Americans want to be depicted in positive roles, why do we have to have every black social commentator beg us to go see a positive movie such as Red Tails?

(Editor's Note, Red Tails sucked, I won't give you a dirty look if you skipped it.) 

Although we live now live in a country where virtually every field has now been populated with a person of color at some point that does not mean that we are adequately represented in those respective fields. We also can't expect the small handful of directors and actors who look like us to be able to tell ALL of our stories. Not only does it take faces of color in front of the cameras to break barriers, it also takes faces of color behind the cameras and pens as well. 

The Passion of Russell Westbrook: A Look at the Public Damnation of A NBA Superstar(and How it's Lebron's Fault...Kinda)

First off let me apologize to my Christian friends who may find the title of this post offensive, please don't throw me in the lions den (see scripture! We cool right?) But this issue has been plaguing me like locust in Egypt (see what I did there?) and it needs to be discussed.

Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook is a pure stud. This guy has 'IT'. He has a jumper, good from the perimeter, can shoot the 3, not spectacular, but enough to warrant stretching the defense, which helps create lanes for Kevin Durant, his All-Star teammate. But most importantly, and this cannot be argued, he is the fastest player in the league. There is no one in a 1 on 1 match up that can stay in front of this guy, just ask the Lakers. With such great talent, you'd think there was great acclaim right?

WRONG!

I don't know about you, but I can't turn the tv on without hearing an analyst, most likely Skip Bayless, ripping Westbrook apart. He shoots too much. He's selfish. He wants to be the star. He plays like a shooting guard rather than a point guard. With so much critique and hardly enough praise, the question is, is it warranted, or are there other forces at play?

Lets address the critique. For starters, the shoots too much, selfish and not playing his position can all be rolled into one. He has to play that way. His speed causes him to be the most versatile player on the court. With 24 seconds you have to make decisions. Many would say that decision is to differ to Durant. Yet one of the knocks on Durant is that he cannot create his own shot, and that at his weight, he can not explode to the rim like a LeBron James. Outside of Durant, who is really creating their own shoot? Serge Ibaka? Kendrick Perkins? One of the problems that the Thunder have is that they only really have 3 consistent offensive threats; Westbrook, Durant and James Harden, who comes off the bench. The question becomes, how many options is Westbrook presented with? And let's not act like Kevin Durant isn't getting his, as he's won the scoring title the past 3 years in a row. Westbrook also averaged a respectable 5.5 assist a game in a shortened season, with an impressive 8.3 average in the 2011 season.

So whats the real reason we hate Russell Westbrook? LeBron James and The Decision.
When LeBron left the Cleveland Cavaliers to play for the Miami Heat in 2010 he went from beloved NBA poster boy to instant villain, overnight. Admittedly, I wan't the biggest fan f the move either. But once LeBron was painted as the greedy, selfish villain, the league and America (mainly White) needed a foil to King James to be the face of all that is good.

Enter Kevin Durant. As LeBron moved, Durant signed his rookie contract extension and stayed with the Thunder, effectively making him the poster child for morality and values in sports. The quiet, mild mannered nature of Durant was the perfect counter for the brash cockiness of James. Yet it was not enough to create Durant vs. James, Durant needed another nemesis. This one being his own teammate. It seems like a week can't go by where we don't hear rumors that Westbrook and Durant hate each other, or that Westbrook wants to be the team leader. Even when both try and dispel such rumors, it still manages to be the perceived narrative.

It's a shame that a destined NBA superstar has to put up with so much negativity. Is he perfect? No. Are there some holes in his game? Yes. Remember though, the guy is only 23, with all the potential to be an all-time great. Yet we've turned him into a bad guy. But hey, there are some of us who like to routing for the bad guy.

Why MLK Wouldn't Give You N*$!@'s Money

May 8th marked North Carolina's decision to only recognize marriage between a man and a women. The measure passed easily with 61% of the population in favor of the traditional definition of eternal union. Most conservatives are marking this as a huge victory in their mission to restore America back to wait they believe it has gone astray from. However, there is a large majority of a particular group who seem to be screaming hallelujah when they should probably keep praying.

A large part of the African American community has long been in support of the DOMA ammendments and laws that define marriage solely between a man and a woman. Most of this stems from religous ideology and Sunday morning sermons that have been honored and adhered to from generation to generation. While I do respect peoples right to believe what they believe their doesn't seem to be respect for those of different beliefs.

There is a separation between church and state for a reason. We are supposed to be able to believe what we want and live accordingly, as long as it doesn't hurt our fellow man. What gets lost in these debates is what you deny people when you don't allow them to marry. There are set liberties, benefits, rights and protections that marriage grants couples. Although it is easy to get caught up in the esoteric, symbolic meaning of marriage, we must not forget it is a LEGAL contract, meaning that there are laws behind it. By not voting for another group to enjoy the same rights that you do, you're not merely disagreeing with them, or 'hating the sin, not the sinner', you are denying them their basic rights as citizens. Sound familiar Black people?

African American's should be the last ones willingly jumping on the oppression band wagon. As much as we like to think that racism is over, it is still alive and well. We still make less, get less and die faster than virtually anyone else in this country, and most of that isn't because Black kids sag their pants or listen to rap. It's because their are oppressive factors in place both systemic and institutional. The last thing we should be doing is trying to join in oppressing another group, especially one that includes are cousins, aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, etc. At least our oppression is now mostly covert, but don't think we can't go back to good ol' blatant, in your face racism.

One of the greatest men to realize the need to speak out on the behalf of others was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Towards the twilight if his life King fought for more than just African American rights, yet embraced the totality of the term 'civil rights' and saw the need to support other minorities, particularily Latin Americans and the Vietnamese in his opposition to the Vietnam War. What we often forget is that these stances made King immensely unpopular, mostly with the Black community who thought he was putting their interest on the back burner. King had the sense and compassion to realize that their plight was just as important and dire as our own, instead of buying into the 'pie is only so big' idea that conjures divisive animosity. i'm not telling people to change their beliefs, or to even agree with same sex marriage. But as Paul told the Phillipians, "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." Not someone elses.

Why it's hard for a Black male to eat sushi in a 'Post-Racial' America

With the election of the first Black President, we are now said to be in a post racial environment, an environment where race is no longer a restrictive factor and that the playing field is at last level. Yet with the recent tragedy of Trayvon Martin it still seems like this country still has quite an issue with this silly little thing which is supposedly now non-existant. Race and racism still happen to be a pervasive, yet substantial issues that nag at all of us, even those who choose to ignore it.

Let me tell you a little story about my most recent run in with the 'imaginary' monster...

This weekend I was in DC and went to a sushi bar. Mediocre sushi, below mediocre/slightly horrible service. The check comes and it's time to pay. I look at my bill and access the damage, and notice there's no gratuity added. So I'm trying to figure out how much to tip. On the one had, I know it's etiquette to tip the service and it's rude not to. Plus I had it. On the other hand, should I have to tip bad service? Plus it's not like I'll ever eat here again, I can just pay for my food and bounce. But then I had to remember that most people base their opinion on black people, particularly black men, off of stereotypes and individual dealings. Maybe she was not tipped by previous black customers and now had negative connotations about them. Maybe she gave me bad service on purpose. If I don't tip her will I continue to feed into her twisted perception and continue her cycle of poor service to peopel who look like me? Will other people of color have there dignity and integrity questioned before they even place their order? Or is it even that serious? Isn't it possible I'm just thinking WAY too much about this? Isn't it logical that she is merely having a bad day? Or that she was just a terrible waitress?

The problem is that there's no way to know absolutely for sure.The real problem is that in this country we still can't have honest discussions about race and the effects it has on peoples lives, from the most essential down to the most insignificant. Sadly, most people are not having authentic, balanced interactions with people of color, that's why we rely on stereotypes so much. Maybe it was possible I blew the incident out of proportion. Yet it's not irrational to think that people will base their entire perception of a whole race on their interaction with a single individual. It happens in classrooms everyday when the teacher brings up an issue of race and everyone looks at the black kids for their reaction. And if that's something you care about that can be a very aggravating, exhausting burden to bare, especially for something as trivial as eating out.

Shout out to Barack though. Peace

Joe Paterno and the Meaning of Life

Recently it was reported that former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno was recovering from a treatable form of lung cancer. This is the most recent in a string of health problems for the 85 year old Paterno and caps off arguably the most tumultous year any man can have.

Let me first say this. I love Joe Paterno. I am a huge Joe Paterno fan. Joe Pa. This is no small thing as he coached a team that is in the same conference as my beloved Ohio State Buckeyes. Die-hard sports fan realize the cardinal sin of routing for teams in the same division, yet I could not help being a Joe Paterno fan.

For me, and undoubtedly many, Joe Paterno represented the greatest thing about sports and being a fan; consistency. The man coached for over 46 years, that's twice as long as I've been alive. That's longer than my parents marriage and almost longer than my parent's age. Many athletes and coaches hope to become synonymous with a program, Joe Paterno IS the program. Joe Paterno IS Penn State football, and arguably Penn State. Even people who weren't sports fans new and respected Joe Paterno for what his career represented. In a world where most of us scrap to get by and we live on a whim as to how we tackle the next hurdle that awaits us, it's comforting when you have something consistent in your life. That’s why we seek out things that are stable and secure. We want stable relationships with a partner, stable jobs that lead to life long careers, a faith with strong rooted principles and traditions that be used to guide our lives.

It is hard to find anything more consistent than a sports team. They wear the same uniforms, play in the same location and play a set schedule. There are rules in place to insure that fairness and justice occurs. Clear outcomes are achieved. There is structure, something that many of us desperately seek in our own lives.

It is because of this consistency and structure that has put fans and spectator's in a perplexing conundrum as they are being required to pass judgment on the admired Paterno due to the recent sex scandal that has rocked Penn State for the past 5 months. It is almost unfathomable that a man who represented consistency and regularity for so long would now cause people to have to face hard questions about right and wrong, when for 46 years he seemed to represent everything that was right, which was too much to swallow for many.

So in that context it is understandable to see how people could make excuses for the inexcusable, as ultimately Paterno was complacent as he had knowledge that horrible and tragic things occurred under his watch as Jerry Sandusky raped and abused a countless number of young boys. It is in that context you can understand the deafening boos in the press conference as it was announced that Paterno had been fired, and you can understand the violent riot that students led in Happy Valley. They didn't only lose a coach, they lost one of the most consistent things in their lives, and that cannot be miscounted.

I was sad when I watched Paterno let go. I wanted to see ol' Joe Pa go out on his own terms, which was probably death. I honestly expected to have a wife and kids before Joe Paterno quit coaching, yet the unthinkable happened and the Joe Paterno Era came to a sad close. In a world where politicians can't fulfill promises, job security is as flimsy as paper and religious leaders prey on their congregation, it was nice to have what we thought was a rare beacon of right. Yet all good things must come to an end, it was just unfortunate that this had such a tragic one.

Mike Cronin, Michael Vick and the Police State of Athletics for Black Players

Let me start off by saying that I almost didn't want to type this blog. It's really a labor of love. The reason I say this is because I love sports. Anyone who knows me knows that I am a diehard Green Bay Packers fan who bleeds Grade-A Wisconsin dairy when cut. I am also(to my own detriment) a Cleveland Cavaliers fan (please keep your jokes to a mininum). I love sports and the dynamic matchups they bring and the pure joy that bonding onto a team can bring, a joy that can never be truly diluted by shady boosters or scandalous megastars. I generally cringe with contempt when I hear elitist intellectual snobs mock sports fan for what they feel is irrelevent outside of it's debauchery and corruption. Yes I know books are great, and I'll read one after the 4th quarter, now go sip your $8 organic smoothie while you belittle people and leave me alone.

Of course, these snobby smarty pants have a point, corruption has long plagued our beloved past times, from drug abuse, exhortion, performance enhancers, violence, and most recently and most disturbing, pedophilia. Just as unavoidable as corruption in sports is the pervasiveness of race in every walk of life. Yes, race is still a factor post Obama, especially the treatment of black men and their perception as brute, primal beast whose physical prowess can easily morph from a slam dunk on the court to an attack on society.

Last month the country witnessed the despicable in-game brawl between NCAA Men's Basketball rivals Xavier and Cincinnati. The fight was brutal as 7 players total(3 for Xavier, 4 for Cincy) received suspensions. Making matters worse was senior guard Tu Holloway, who immediately said during the press conference that his team was not soft, and full of gangsters. Of course these comments were idiotic and just plain stupid. However, they were coming from a kid who was no more than 5 minutes removed from a fight with a bitter rival. Think of the dumb things you might say when your adrenaline is pumping after your round of fisticuffs from fighting the kid who kept stealing your lunch money in the 6th grade.

It was at that moment that these young men stopped being students and had transformed into dangerous criminals. Think I'm overexaggerating? The District Attorney was asked to review the case and decide if legal action was necessary. The Freaking DA! I'm sorry, but I think their are more criminals on the mean streets than on the tough hardwood, but that's just me.

Right on cue, Mike Cronin, UC head coach, stepped up and condemned his players in front of the media, and promised alumni that he would be tough on his players, because they were not above the program, and that they had brought shame to the great university that had givfen a degree to the guy who invented Benadryl. Yet anyone who saw the fight saw Mike and his staff watching dumbfounded as the fight broke out(just as much as Xavier's staff was). Really, no responsible adult stepped in, including refs and security, until well into the brawl.

But Cronin did his job. He ensured swift justice against tyrannical injustice. He was tough on wrongdoing, just like most Americans say they are toughon crime. Yet what does that statement mean? Aren't we all tough on crime? IS anyone, outside of Gucci Mane, advocating for us to run around shooting each other?(Sorry, Gucci) What most people subliminally, or maybe not so subliminally mean when they say they are tough on crime, is that they feel black and brown people need to be policed and made examples of if they can't tow the societal line because they have the greatest potential of being a threat to said society, even though staitsitically Black and Brown people have been proven to not commit crime at a higher rate than their White counterparts.

Shifting to professional athletics, since the integration of major league sports the policing of Black men has been evident, from dress codes to deter the NBA's 'ghetto' image, to NFL comissioner Roger Goodell's crack down on players when the media began labeling the NFL a 'league full of thugs' a few years ago. Pro sports have always sought to deal heavy penalties to it's Black atheletes. The most recent and famous incident involved quarterback who was suspended from the league and received 2 years in federal prison for his involvement in an illegal dogfighting ring, a sentence that many found egregious.

To be clear I am not saying that players should not be punished for their conduct. Michael Vick deserved to be convicted, although I don't see the punishment fitting the crime. Those players in that fight deserved to be suspended, and for longer than what they received, but of course because they are starters they were insured to be back once all important inter-league play starts. It seems that even rules will not stop Black players from being valuable commodities. Yet they can be used to make an example of what happens when we stop seeing a young kid who made a mistake and start seeing a black hoodlum ready to prey on surburban families. Black players deserve to be disciplined for misconduct, and don't deserve special treatment, but as fans and observers we must ask ourselves do we have to see players reprimanded or criminals charged.

Let me stop giving ammo to the smoothie drinkers and get back to checking Aaron Rodger's stat sheet.