Tonight is the beginning of a two part CNN documentary, researched and hosted by Soledad O’Brien on being Black in America.
The first part, the Black Woman & Family, airs on July 23rd 2008 at 9 pm EST.
explores the varied experiences of black women and families and investigates the disturbing statistics of single parenthood, racial disparities between students and the devastating toll of HIV/AIDS.
The second part, the Black Man, airs on July 24th 2008 at 9 pm EST.
evaluates the state of black men in America and explores the controversial topics of black men and fatherhood; disparities between blacks and whites in educational, career and financial achievement; and factors leading to the dramatic rates of black male incarceration. The documentary also examines the achievements of black men and the importance of the positive influences of black fathers.
For more information and to watch a trailer, go the CNN special reports page, Black in America
The problem is that black women do not want to submit. American values have corrupted what is normal for them. Jobs are given to them first then they become materialistic. They look down on their own black male children as well as potential mates. The black female mind in the U.S. is sick. They got a funky attitude, no sense of humor, act childish, have very poor judgement in treating black men, they act stupid thinking they’re mature, and they stick their hand out before they put their legs up. This country need a civil war in order to straighten everything out. I myself as a U.S. black male prefer latinas and brasileiras of African descent.
I am so sick of this “Black in America” thing. If I were to do a “White In America” I would be a racist. Mrs. O’Brien said something this morning that I truly found offensive. She said that black parents have to tell their children what to do when they are stopped by the police and that white parents don’t do that. What a load!?!?!?! My parents always explained the proper etiquette when stopped by the police so that we would never further agitate the situation. I have always watched CNN, since the age of about 14. But since this is all they want to report now, I think my time watching has ended. Report things that truly matter. You are extending the race gap by singling out race. I feel sorry for the children of the future. White children are being treated like the spoiled rich children of the nation. It is time for this to stop.
I am a black male who has taken probability and statistics and the first thing they tell us is stats always change after it is totaled out. Why the hell is the stats thrown around on CNN taken as fact? It does not make any sense. First they tell me obesity is killin black people and now HIV and AIDS? Come on pick one. Because both cannot be number one. Tell me this CNN how come you can do a news segment about women read: white women who CHOOSE to stay single to accomplish thier life goals and call it a trend but when a black woman does it its because she cannot find a black man? The numbers you have given are all wrong statistically speaking CNN. I cannot stand the liberal media. All they try to do is keep us seperated and voting democrat…of course that ship has sailed for me because all democrats and liberals do is lie to black people anyway.
Although I appreciate the effort, to the “majority of Black Americans (2/3), this was just another media driven agenda item to remind all of America of how “messed up” Black People are. It was heavily waited on what we are not (our failings), instead of what we are (our successes and potential). You could have talked about how far we have come despite the abject, unaddressed forces against us. Place any race or culture through the oppression we have been through, and let us talk about how they would thrive. In short, CNN created a documentary to remind America that “if you have not been watching the media lately, we still want you to believe that Black people have little hope and self worth” (despite the potential new day of a Black President). Think about the equivalent documentary about poor white Americans and projecting them as if that is the model for future generations of Whites in America. Further, this unbalanced negative, typical media portrayal is old and over worn. Wake up, it is a new day, more and more of us want to see and believe in the best of our potential. Soledad was not the right person for this, her perspective bleeds through, and it does not connect to the reality of even the most enlightened of the Black Americans. Further, you quote Chris Rock as a authority on dating, please. Either the media does not get or are very clever in propagating an agenda…..this provides no new knowledge. It is officially time for us to turn off the TV!! I stopped my son from watching this documentary as I noticed the path it was taking.
oooo girl, looks like the documentary is a can of worms exploding all over the place. I watched it and heard things I’ve heard before from black folks living in the US. I agree with Mark, that maybe its time to focus on empowering issues, without negating or trivializing or digging up what is. The piece made me feel very happy about growing up in Africa. Have you seen it? What did YOu make of it?
@Gal africana - i haven’t seen it yet - don’t have cable:-) but i did go through the clips on cnn.com and thought i definitely want to see it.