Page 1 of 1 pages
70% of African-American children are born out of wedlock! This rate has increased dramatically since the 50’s.
The supposed racial bias of the media or the terrible legacy of slavery is responsible for this?! How could that INCREASE in later years?
Here’s a hint to anybody that doesn’t understand the utterly obvious- babies are difficult to raise (believe me, I know now). Without a father they are unquestionably more likely to engage in criminal behavior.
It’s way beyond time for young African-Americans to wake up and realize that their behavior is self-destructive to our communities. Call me racist, fine, but it’s true and I will pony up and do what is required to help in any way I can.
Posted by Jordan on Oct 18, 2003 at 7:33 AM
Hip hop culture is being defined by white media corporations. They are stereotyping our generation for money.
Rappers need to be free to express themselves unbound by the filter of corporate greed. They are expressing what we feel and experience but then its molded by bias and racism for more money.
Posted by SK on Oct 21, 2003 at 11:18 AM
Why do young African-Americans commit such an outrageously high percentage of robbery, murder, and assault? Why is that racist for the media to report?
Whining about supposed bias in the media does nothing about solving the problems of our inner city youth. Tackling the gang problem would. Getting kids out of the terrible public schools would. Supporting the police, churches, and community groups would.
Those on the right and left whine about bias in the media constantly. What a pathetic waste of time. We should role up our sleeves and try to fix these problems instead.
Posted by Ty on Oct 21, 2003 at 12:03 PM
some forty years after mlk, rosa parks, malcolm x, and millions others who fought for their human rights, “fear of a black planet” still rules white amerika.
people screaming: i wanna pony up, help out, but there’s nothing i can do…
do the right thing: when faced with media intimidation, refuse to succumb to fear. work on your mental self-defensive fitness. the rest will follow
Posted by bojinka on Oct 21, 2003 at 2:03 PM
The comment that ESPN hired Limbaugh, who by no means do I support, to bring in Nascar Dads who are scared of affirmative action, seems to be a completely speculative comment which no evidence is given to support that comment. I am just wondering what the sources for that comment in this article are. I’m not saying I don’t believe it, it is just a comment that needs more justification then just one sentence. Other than that, this is a great article.
Posted by Michael Mantineo on Oct 21, 2003 at 7:50 PM
FEAR OF A BLACK PLANET.
70% of black children are born out of wedlock? 90% of prison inmates are black men. hmmm…. I was born out of wedlock but then again I was born with skin privilege. The police dont come to my ghetto as much as the black ghetto but believe me they should.
“Rappers need to be free to express themselves”...If I believe what a rapper tells me then all black men are drug dealers and all black women a prostitutes. I know these rappers are “just telling it like it is” They’re letting us know about the “reality of the hood”. Meanwhile lots of them were brought up in middle class homes and have never held a gun let alone used one. I’m not sure but I would bet that most record companies that produce these rap albums are probably owned by white people.
When the rappers “telling it like it is” story gets old the attention turns to the record company whose predictable response is the old “giving people what they want” bit. I mean a rap about a black man with a job living in a nice home probably isnt that interesting to the people who buy the most rap albums, white, suburban teens. Even for white teens black equality is scary.
NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, MSNBC, FOX white people. Rupert Murdock, Bill Gates, Ted Turner white people. PBS,NPR white people. I wonder who owns all those newspapers?? White people?
Do black people commit an outrageously high percentage of robbery, murder and assault? I dont know but perhaps they just get caught more. wonder why??? I rob you cause I have no money, I assault you cause you wouldnt give it to me, I murder you cause you tried to fight back, I got caught because the cops are always in my neighborhood and I’m an easy target with no resources (money for lawyers) to defend myself. Why did O.J. Simpson get off? He had money. Did he do it? Probably.
People with money dont rob, murder and assault. (not the old fashioned way)
More of the same blame the victim bullshit. I mean who owns the run down buildings some black people live in or the “public housing” for that matter. ( I guess white people cease to be “public” in terms of housing) Who runs the cities that allow these neighborhoods to decay. Who owns the business’ who dont hire black people, who owns the media? Who owns the banks? WHITE PEOPLE. Hmmm…..
Posted by Shawn P. Murphy on Oct 21, 2003 at 8:41 PM
Furthermore.. (I’m on a roll) Are there no white gangs?? How about wall street or the republican (and democratic for that matter) party or the bush white house ( Rice and Powell have been repeatedly in trouble for not doing what their told) how about the supreme court(Clarence Thoamas give me a break) or how about the NRA, KKK, or the Aryan nation or neo-nazis? How about the religious white er, I mean right? How about the armed services? How many black generals are “fighting” in iraq? On the other end how about greenpeace or peta? I’m sure inner city black youth are concerned with animal rights.
When are white people going to admit that they have all the power?? Isnt it kinda stupid to expect the people with the least amount of power to do the most to change the world? I mean I know its embarrassing to admit that as white people we sit back and watch black people fall further down the spiral and do nothing about it let alone admit that its happening and that maybe we have something to do with it.
Ok one more thing….Rush Limbaugh.
Heres media bias….He ACCIDENTALLY got hooked on drugs. oh poor Rush. Meanwhile the black guy who just stole your car stereo got hooked on crack ON PURPOSE. Isnt living on the street, robbing people to support your drug habit what every young person aspires to?? Black or white? Every news outlet picked up the story that Rush got hooked by mistake and we should feel bad for him. Every outlet, even the ones that hate him. I say fuck him. Now he understands why us Liberals are always shouting about treatment before incarceration. Then again he can AFFORD treatment.
Posted by Shawn P. Murphy on Oct 21, 2003 at 9:05 PM
“Why do young African-Americans commit such an outrageously high percentage of robbery, murder, and assault? Why is that racist for the media to report?”
What about all the suburban white gun nuts? I never see them on the news.
Posted by Zachary Whalen on Oct 24, 2003 at 7:43 AM
You don’t see the suburban white gun nuts on the news b/c they don’t commit nearly the same amount of crime.
A 14 year old girl was just abducted by seven black men and brutally gang raped for 30 hours. This just happened in Chicago. Please look it up.
Did this make the mainstream news? No, b/c they give a pass to African-American criminal behavior. This is a newsworthy, huge story. And it only made one local news outlet.
Posted by Ty on Oct 24, 2003 at 9:51 AM
I should be surprised that these comments appear in this somewhat socialist magazine but considering its history and the history of what some call the “wacky white left”, it just reaffirms some of the reasons why people of color are suspicious of progressive whites and why any type of socialist movement in the USA is damn near impossible.
thanks Shawn for your comments, I feel you.
the rest of you… well…fuck you (especially you Ty, I hope some Puerto Ricans from Humboldt steal your car and then rob your ass so you can then talk shit about us too… beyatchhhhhhhh!!!)
Posted by Saulo Colon on Oct 29, 2003 at 11:52 AM
media racism is just one source of racism in this country. It is easy for white america to dismiss racism as a serious problem in this country. They are not the ones who has to experience it in their everyday life, from the workplace, stores, retaurants,banks, schools and many other institutions in this society. Once you have experienced it, then you will know how to recognize it, then maybe you would not dismiss it so easily.
Posted by mj on Oct 29, 2003 at 1:11 PM
“What about all the suburban white gun nuts? “
Geez then you missed the story about Columbine huh?
Posted by Nus on Oct 30, 2003 at 3:55 PM
“I rob you cause I have no money…
,I got caught because the cops are always in my neighborhood and I’m an easy target with no resources (money for lawyers) to defend myself”
What a BS argument. How about if you hadn’t robbed in the first place?
I have no car, yet I have never stolen one. Is the fact that I am not arrested for car-jacking because the police arn’t in my neighborhood?
Posted by Nus on Oct 30, 2003 at 3:58 PM
“A study of Time and Newsweek stories found that the term “young black males” was synonymous with the word criminal”
You would think something as outrageous as this and they would name the study. They named the other study. But no, just “a study”. Don’t bother checking.
Posted by Nus on Oct 30, 2003 at 3:59 PM
“Who runs the cities that allow these neighborhoods to decay.”
I think you might find that many major American cities including Houston, TX; Philadelphia, PA ;
Dallas, TX ; Detroit, MI; San Francisco, CA ; Cleveland, OH; Memphis, TN; Washington, DC ; New Orleans, LA ; and Denver, CO are run by black mayors and councils. This is only a few. The national congess of black mayors has more than 500 members. Who did you think ran the cities?
Posted by Nus on Oct 30, 2003 at 4:06 PM
Saulo Colon - well reasoned. You agree with somebody - you “feel” them. You disagree with somebody and “Fuck you”. Yeah, let’s all work together on fixing your problems.
Posted by Nus on Oct 30, 2003 at 4:08 PM
Oh poor poor Saulo. You try to make a point and then end up supporting the fact that Puerto Ricans are car thieves.
Come on Saulo, take another crack. This time something intelligent. I feel bad about making fun of idiots. So say something mean and intelligent so I can go off on your mother and not feel guilty.
Wimp.
Posted by Ty on Oct 30, 2003 at 4:57 PM
Dear Mr. Muwakkil,
You did great on Beyond the Beltway this evening ( 11/2/03 ). Really hed your own!
I hope that you receive many other notes recognizing you as one of the most consistent and articulate of progressive, thinking commentators.
We should thank you for your courage in speaking out in various media, in a coherant, intelligent manner.
Tom Shepherd
Posted by Tom Shepherd on Nov 3, 2003 at 7:28 AM
I see as much “positive stereotyping” as I do “negative stereotyping.”
One example, from a Seinfeld re-run I saw recently:
George gets involved in a youth program like Big Brother/Big Sister. The Big Brother was a mature, settled, employed, decent, caring BLACK MALE. The Little Brother was an abondoned, troubled WHITE MALE.
A true reflection of life in America? Or a false stereotype?
I see more black female judges on TV than I do black female domestic workers. In fact, I cannot recall the last time I saw a black maid.
You have seen this judge too. (There is only one; after all, it is a stereotype.) She is 10 times smarter than all the white male lawyers put together. Her favorite line is “NOT IN MY COURTROOM, MISTER!”
The black females incline toward the law. The black males are computer whizzes and businessmen. See Terminator 2 for a good example.
For every black pimp, the media create 10 roles for Morgan Freeman and Denzel Washington, the noblest black males in the media universe.
As an adult white male Christian hetersexual husband and father, I lack positive role models in the media. Everybody on TV who looks like me is a dunderhead.
GH
Posted by GH on Nov 4, 2003 at 6:15 AM
I am in the banking business. I am white and I deal with all shapes and colors of people. Not only do I see more blacks with bad credit but there is a significantly high number of blacks committing crimes. We all experience prjudice in our lives it’s high time to stop the excuses and work on improving ourselves. Shame on anyone that uses their race as an excuse for there failures in life.
Posted by Eyes on the prize on Jan 15, 2004 at 9:28 PM
In this age of ratings and advertising wars, the media does in fact sensationalize everything from the news to the weather. So not only are stories of the upcoming snowstorm of the century (which will actually only end up being two inches ) told as stories of grandieur, but also stories of black men commiting crimes. Yes black men commit crimes, but no there is no significantly higher figure of black men committing crimes. The media works on an agenda of fear and consumption. That being said, there is still no reason to villify black men nor attempt to excuse the actions of a few. Yes there are people to blame: the media, law enforcement, the government, but most importantly, the people commmitting crimes whether they be black or white. Im a black youth and it sickens me that not only am I blamed for crime, but that the public truly believes this to be true. I’m all for accountability for ones own actions. But part of being a community is being accountable for each other. I am my brother’s keeper….what are you?
Posted by Brian P on Mar 22, 2004 at 7:16 PM
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Reader Comments
70% of African-American children are born out of wedlock! This rate has increased dramatically since the 50’s.
The supposed racial bias of the media or the terrible legacy of slavery is responsible for this?! How could that INCREASE in later years?
Here’s a hint to anybody that doesn’t understand the utterly obvious- babies are difficult to raise (believe me, I know now). Without a father they are unquestionably more likely to engage in criminal behavior.
It’s way beyond time for young African-Americans to wake up and realize that their behavior is self-destructive to our communities. Call me racist, fine, but it’s true and I will pony up and do what is required to help in any way I can.
Hip hop culture is being defined by white media corporations. They are stereotyping our generation for money.
Rappers need to be free to express themselves unbound by the filter of corporate greed. They are expressing what we feel and experience but then its molded by bias and racism for more money.
Why do young African-Americans commit such an outrageously high percentage of robbery, murder, and assault? Why is that racist for the media to report?
Whining about supposed bias in the media does nothing about solving the problems of our inner city youth. Tackling the gang problem would. Getting kids out of the terrible public schools would. Supporting the police, churches, and community groups would.
Those on the right and left whine about bias in the media constantly. What a pathetic waste of time. We should role up our sleeves and try to fix these problems instead.
some forty years after mlk, rosa parks, malcolm x, and millions others who fought for their human rights, “fear of a black planet” still rules white amerika.
people screaming: i wanna pony up, help out, but there’s nothing i can do…
do the right thing: when faced with media intimidation, refuse to succumb to fear. work on your mental self-defensive fitness. the rest will follow
The comment that ESPN hired Limbaugh, who by no means do I support, to bring in Nascar Dads who are scared of affirmative action, seems to be a completely speculative comment which no evidence is given to support that comment. I am just wondering what the sources for that comment in this article are. I’m not saying I don’t believe it, it is just a comment that needs more justification then just one sentence. Other than that, this is a great article.
FEAR OF A BLACK PLANET.
70% of black children are born out of wedlock? 90% of prison inmates are black men. hmmm…. I was born out of wedlock but then again I was born with skin privilege. The police dont come to my ghetto as much as the black ghetto but believe me they should.
“Rappers need to be free to express themselves”...If I believe what a rapper tells me then all black men are drug dealers and all black women a prostitutes. I know these rappers are “just telling it like it is” They’re letting us know about the “reality of the hood”. Meanwhile lots of them were brought up in middle class homes and have never held a gun let alone used one. I’m not sure but I would bet that most record companies that produce these rap albums are probably owned by white people.
When the rappers “telling it like it is” story gets old the attention turns to the record company whose predictable response is the old “giving people what they want” bit. I mean a rap about a black man with a job living in a nice home probably isnt that interesting to the people who buy the most rap albums, white, suburban teens. Even for white teens black equality is scary.
NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, MSNBC, FOX white people. Rupert Murdock, Bill Gates, Ted Turner white people. PBS,NPR white people. I wonder who owns all those newspapers?? White people?
Do black people commit an outrageously high percentage of robbery, murder and assault? I dont know but perhaps they just get caught more. wonder why??? I rob you cause I have no money, I assault you cause you wouldnt give it to me, I murder you cause you tried to fight back, I got caught because the cops are always in my neighborhood and I’m an easy target with no resources (money for lawyers) to defend myself. Why did O.J. Simpson get off? He had money. Did he do it? Probably.
People with money dont rob, murder and assault. (not the old fashioned way)
More of the same blame the victim bullshit. I mean who owns the run down buildings some black people live in or the “public housing” for that matter. ( I guess white people cease to be “public” in terms of housing) Who runs the cities that allow these neighborhoods to decay. Who owns the business’ who dont hire black people, who owns the media? Who owns the banks? WHITE PEOPLE. Hmmm…..
Furthermore.. (I’m on a roll) Are there no white gangs?? How about wall street or the republican (and democratic for that matter) party or the bush white house ( Rice and Powell have been repeatedly in trouble for not doing what their told) how about the supreme court(Clarence Thoamas give me a break) or how about the NRA, KKK, or the Aryan nation or neo-nazis? How about the religious white er, I mean right? How about the armed services? How many black generals are “fighting” in iraq? On the other end how about greenpeace or peta? I’m sure inner city black youth are concerned with animal rights.
When are white people going to admit that they have all the power?? Isnt it kinda stupid to expect the people with the least amount of power to do the most to change the world? I mean I know its embarrassing to admit that as white people we sit back and watch black people fall further down the spiral and do nothing about it let alone admit that its happening and that maybe we have something to do with it.
Ok one more thing….Rush Limbaugh.
Heres media bias….He ACCIDENTALLY got hooked on drugs. oh poor Rush. Meanwhile the black guy who just stole your car stereo got hooked on crack ON PURPOSE. Isnt living on the street, robbing people to support your drug habit what every young person aspires to?? Black or white? Every news outlet picked up the story that Rush got hooked by mistake and we should feel bad for him. Every outlet, even the ones that hate him. I say fuck him. Now he understands why us Liberals are always shouting about treatment before incarceration. Then again he can AFFORD treatment.
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/walterwilliams/ww20031022.shtml
Finally- an African American speaks about education.
“Why do young African-Americans commit such an outrageously high percentage of robbery, murder, and assault? Why is that racist for the media to report?”
What about all the suburban white gun nuts? I never see them on the news.
You don’t see the suburban white gun nuts on the news b/c they don’t commit nearly the same amount of crime.
A 14 year old girl was just abducted by seven black men and brutally gang raped for 30 hours. This just happened in Chicago. Please look it up.
Did this make the mainstream news? No, b/c they give a pass to African-American criminal behavior. This is a newsworthy, huge story. And it only made one local news outlet.
I should be surprised that these comments appear in this somewhat socialist magazine but considering its history and the history of what some call the “wacky white left”, it just reaffirms some of the reasons why people of color are suspicious of progressive whites and why any type of socialist movement in the USA is damn near impossible.
thanks Shawn for your comments, I feel you.
the rest of you… well…fuck you (especially you Ty, I hope some Puerto Ricans from Humboldt steal your car and then rob your ass so you can then talk shit about us too… beyatchhhhhhhh!!!)
media racism is just one source of racism in this country. It is easy for white america to dismiss racism as a serious problem in this country. They are not the ones who has to experience it in their everyday life, from the workplace, stores, retaurants,banks, schools and many other institutions in this society. Once you have experienced it, then you will know how to recognize it, then maybe you would not dismiss it so easily.
“What about all the suburban white gun nuts? “
Geez then you missed the story about Columbine huh?
“I rob you cause I have no money…
,I got caught because the cops are always in my neighborhood and I’m an easy target with no resources (money for lawyers) to defend myself”
What a BS argument. How about if you hadn’t robbed in the first place?
I have no car, yet I have never stolen one. Is the fact that I am not arrested for car-jacking because the police arn’t in my neighborhood?
“A study of Time and Newsweek stories found that the term “young black males” was synonymous with the word criminal”
You would think something as outrageous as this and they would name the study. They named the other study. But no, just “a study”. Don’t bother checking.
“Who runs the cities that allow these neighborhoods to decay.”
I think you might find that many major American cities including Houston, TX; Philadelphia, PA ;
Dallas, TX ; Detroit, MI; San Francisco, CA ; Cleveland, OH; Memphis, TN; Washington, DC ; New Orleans, LA ; and Denver, CO are run by black mayors and councils. This is only a few. The national congess of black mayors has more than 500 members. Who did you think ran the cities?
Saulo Colon - well reasoned. You agree with somebody - you “feel” them. You disagree with somebody and “Fuck you”. Yeah, let’s all work together on fixing your problems.
Oh poor poor Saulo. You try to make a point and then end up supporting the fact that Puerto Ricans are car thieves.
Come on Saulo, take another crack. This time something intelligent. I feel bad about making fun of idiots. So say something mean and intelligent so I can go off on your mother and not feel guilty.
Wimp.
Dear Mr. Muwakkil,
You did great on Beyond the Beltway this evening ( 11/2/03 ). Really hed your own!
I hope that you receive many other notes recognizing you as one of the most consistent and articulate of progressive, thinking commentators.
We should thank you for your courage in speaking out in various media, in a coherant, intelligent manner.
Tom Shepherd
I see as much “positive stereotyping” as I do “negative stereotyping.”
One example, from a Seinfeld re-run I saw recently:
George gets involved in a youth program like Big Brother/Big Sister. The Big Brother was a mature, settled, employed, decent, caring BLACK MALE. The Little Brother was an abondoned, troubled WHITE MALE.
A true reflection of life in America? Or a false stereotype?
I see more black female judges on TV than I do black female domestic workers. In fact, I cannot recall the last time I saw a black maid.
You have seen this judge too. (There is only one; after all, it is a stereotype.) She is 10 times smarter than all the white male lawyers put together. Her favorite line is “NOT IN MY COURTROOM, MISTER!”
The black females incline toward the law. The black males are computer whizzes and businessmen. See Terminator 2 for a good example.
For every black pimp, the media create 10 roles for Morgan Freeman and Denzel Washington, the noblest black males in the media universe.
As an adult white male Christian hetersexual husband and father, I lack positive role models in the media. Everybody on TV who looks like me is a dunderhead.
GH
I am in the banking business. I am white and I deal with all shapes and colors of people. Not only do I see more blacks with bad credit but there is a significantly high number of blacks committing crimes. We all experience prjudice in our lives it’s high time to stop the excuses and work on improving ourselves. Shame on anyone that uses their race as an excuse for there failures in life.
In this age of ratings and advertising wars, the media does in fact sensationalize everything from the news to the weather. So not only are stories of the upcoming snowstorm of the century (which will actually only end up being two inches ) told as stories of grandieur, but also stories of black men commiting crimes. Yes black men commit crimes, but no there is no significantly higher figure of black men committing crimes. The media works on an agenda of fear and consumption. That being said, there is still no reason to villify black men nor attempt to excuse the actions of a few. Yes there are people to blame: the media, law enforcement, the government, but most importantly, the people commmitting crimes whether they be black or white. Im a black youth and it sickens me that not only am I blamed for crime, but that the public truly believes this to be true. I’m all for accountability for ones own actions. But part of being a community is being accountable for each other. I am my brother’s keeper….what are you?
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