Black History Thread

[The Redneck]

Well, you know how it is in this country. All you need is one black parent to be considered black in most peoples minds.

Actually, Halle Berry identifies herself as black. Her black father abused and abandoned her mother, while her white mother raised her--but apparently she figures she gets more leverage by calling herself black than by calling herself white or mulatto.

Yeah, darlin', the glass ceiling's been broken... now every woman with slightly cocoa skin, anglicized facial features, and magnificent breasts can be a star--as long as we frequently get a good look at the breasts.

[Shlup]

According to what I've read about her (just for the purpose of these kinds of discussions; not because I actually care to study celebrities), her mother raised her to recognise herself as black. Something about making her look at her self in the mirror and saying she looks black, so people will treat her black, so she should embrace her blackness. Something like that, anyway.

Whatever. Abolishing racism, in all forms, starts with individuals who don't recognise it as important. Or something. I dunno. Screw everyone.

[lordblazer]

Well, you know how it is in this country. All you need is one black parent to be considered black in most peoples minds.

Actually, Halle Berry identifies herself as black. Her black father abused and abandoned her mother, while her white mother raised her--but apparently she figures she gets more leverage by calling herself black than by calling herself white or mulatto.

Yeah, darlin', the glass ceiling's been broken... now every woman with slightly cocoa skin, anglicized facial features, and magnificent breasts can be a star--as long as we frequently get a good look at the breasts.

Or she realised the world views her as black so she might as well consider herself black.Did you ever think of that?

[Itsunari 2000]

The fact that she's the "First Ever Black Woman to win an Oscar "is great -but I can think of a time when Hollywood was exceptionally prejudiced towards black actors/film-makers.

Hence the " Blaxploitation " era.

[The Redneck]

Or she realised the world views her as black so she might as well consider herself black.Did you ever think of that?

Have you taken a good look at Halle Berry? Not just her chest (and don't feel insulted; until I read about her anglicized features and decided to take a look in that direction myself, I too had no idea what her face looked like.), but look at her face--the shape of her nose, her jawline, her chin, her eyes.... she looks a lot more white than black to me.

Denzel Washington, who is also black, recieved an award at the same ceremony (and his wife should have gotten another for not knocking down Julia Roberts--she just wouldn't let go of him. It was like the poor man had somehow grown a huge Julia Roberts-shaped wart...). I thought this was very cool--Denzel Washington deserved an award; not because he's black and it's about time some black folks got the big awards, but because he's a damn good actor. Halle Berry, on the other hand, got hers by playing the race card.

[eestlinc]

I love how someone like Halle Berry who is part balck and part white (not sure the percentages, nor do I care) is automatically considered black, as if one ounce of negro blood contaminates her forever. I know people used to think this way, which is why we have words like quadroon and octoroon (which sounds like a cookie).

[CloudSquallandZidane]

Something a lot of people don't realize is that race is not biological; it's social. Society decides what group of characteristics to classify you under. Are the genes that define your skin color different or more important than the genes that define if you're skin is clear or freckled, or if you're tall or short, or if you're thin or... not-so-thin? I don't think so.

You're 100% right there is NO scientific justification for race , basically its all in our heads... Not that we should deny it, but like i said its all in our heads.

[fire_of_avalon]

I'm going to say something else now, and I can't think of an introduction for it, so you get this. Hurray!

I think it's important to know your history. Where you come from, why your parents think the way they do. Ultimately, however, you have to learn by your own experience. In that sense, it isn't important what you look like, but what you DO. If you base what you do around your appearance, then probably embody a more pure form of racism than anyone ever on the planet. Why base your entire life around the way you look? I'm blue eyed and curly haired with a pretty face, does this mean I should act like a ditz and let people walk all over me? Does this mean I should try to manipulate people because I'm cute?

I just don't see why the sins of the past, that never even touched you, still hurt some people. Yeah, it was a bad time. So was the Holocaust. So was the turn of the century for Irish-American immigrants.

In the end, history is good. Identifying with history is ok, too. Defining yourself by a history you didn't even experience doesn't make any sense.

[The Redneck]

If you base what you do around your appearance, then probably embody a more pure form of racism than anyone ever on the planet.

Very well-put.

One of the things that just drives me nuts is the growing idea in many inner-cities that for a black person to succeed, to study hard, and to work hard, is "acting white". If someone told me, as a white person, that I'm not really white because I don't spend every night drunk, have physical relations with my sister, or join lynch mobs, then while I probably still wouldn't knock that person down I'd certainly have the urge to. So why do people put up with it when self-appointed spokesmen claim that a black person who makes the effort to succeed in life is not truly black--that he or she is an "Uncle Tom/Aunt Jemima", a "sellout", or an "oreo"?

What these people refuse to understand is that when black racists claim that the "ghetto experience"--crime, poverty, illegitimacy, and general Dark Ages-style misery--is the essence of being black and white people will never understand this; their statements dovetail perfectly with those of white racists who say the same thing--that crime, poverty, illegitimacy, and general Dark Ages-style misery is the essence of being black.

There is indeed still racism in America, and there are indeed still racists in America. There are white people who hate black people, and there are black people who hate white people. There are places where a black person just doesn't go to if he wants to come out without being shot or hung, and there are places where a white person just doesn't go if he intends to make it out in one piece. It's sad--in fact, it sucks--but people will be jerks (to put it lightly, but there are, after all, rules against foul language on these forums), and no law will stop people from being jerks.

All the same, race relations have come a long way in America. Black people generally like white people better than they ever have; white people generally like black people better than we ever have, and the two groups are mixing more often in everything from business to sports to entertainment to marriage.

[lordblazer]

The fact that she's the "First Ever Black Woman to win an Oscar "is great -but I can think of a time when Hollywood was exceptionally prejudiced towards black actors/film-makers.

Hence the " Blaxploitation " era.

Hollywood is actually still predjuice against black actors.Its real tough for a black actor to make it.ITs not really Blazexploitation.Thats like me saying the first people to go on the moon then i can call that Astronaunt explotation and make it seem negative. like your doing now.

[AkiraMakie]

Or she realised the world views her as black so she might as well consider herself black.Did you ever think of that?

Have you taken a good look at Halle Berry? Not just her chest (and don't feel insulted; until I read about her anglicized features and decided to take a look in that direction myself, I too had no idea what her face looked like.), but look at her face--the shape of her nose, her jawline, her chin, her eyes.... she looks a lot more white than black to me.

Denzel Washington, who is also black, recieved an award at the same ceremony (and his wife should have gotten another for not knocking down Julia Roberts--she just wouldn't let go of him. It was like the poor man had somehow grown a huge Julia Roberts-shaped wart...). I thought this was very cool--Denzel Washington deserved an award; not because he's black and it's about time some black folks got the big awards, but because he's a damn good actor. Halle Berry, on the other hand, got hers by playing the race card.

Halle Berry got an oscar by being a slut. She didnt have to play the race card. She just slept with everybody til they gave her one for something.

[Resha]

I know that song. It's always very sad, we get it on our history exams as a source. But lynching surely doesn't happen these days, does it?? It would be terrible if it did, but I'd like to see the KKK even THINK about it!!!

And Halle Berry is NOT a slut, no way.

[Chris]

I think it's very important to move on without forgetting the past.
In these days many white folks always says: "Color's got nothing to do with it" but for us it always has something to do with it.

But hell yeah! Saying Halle Berry is a slut is just plain stupid.

[edczxcvbnm]

I think it's very important to move on without forgetting the past.
In these days many white folks always says: "Color's got nothing to do with it" but for us it always has something to do with it.

But hell yeah! Saying Halle Berry is a slut is just plain stupid.

1st of she is a skank XD

Secondly that is pretty racist. Maybe it is that way where you live but around me most people think that way. Maybe it is because I live near Park Forest, IL. To my understanding Park Forest was a community created from the ground up to incorporate all races(and it still does). Kind of like an experiment.

[Chris]

I think it's very important to move on without forgetting the past.
In these days many white folks always says: "Color's got nothing to do with it" but for us it always has something to do with it.

But hell yeah! Saying Halle Berry is a slut is just plain stupid.

1st of she is a skank XD

Secondly that is pretty racist. Maybe it is that way where you live but around me most people think that way. Maybe it is because I live near Park Forest, IL. To my understanding Park Forest was a community created from the ground up to incorporate all races(and it still does). Kind of like an experiment.

I didn't mean to sound racist, not at all.
My dad is white, but what I was trying to say is that "the race issues" are seen so differently by each race.
I'm not a racist by any means, but I also refuse to be naive and think that there isn't a race-thing going on today.