Discriminating MEDIA

I like white people. Don't get me wrong, and don't think I'm racist...because I'm not. I'm engaged to a white woman. I have 99% white friends. But, sometimes, usually for research reasons...I need to find something with a black\mixed person or child in it and it's SO hard to find. All these advertisements and my favorite gossip magazines only portray white people 99%. Sure, there's the odd picture of Halle Berry or something, but that doesn't cut it. And it's even more shocking that black celebrities are found in magazines like "Juicy" while white celebrities are found in 10 other ones like In Style, Star!, In Touch, etc. Why are magazines so segregrated? And why, every time I Google: adorable black babies....I only get pictures of WHITE babies with black hair??!!?!?!
Is there an explanation for this? I am definitely going to explore this further. But for the record I do have to puncture more black, successful photography and news into my blog since it is so obviously lacking in the media. Shame on you, media moguls!

1. Black people drive cars. Yes, it's true. Following Hispanics, African Americans are the second-largest minority market in the US. Researchers estimate they will spend $860 billion in 2007, rising to $1.1 trillion by 2012. Source: emarketer.com
With this kind of moolah to be made, don't you think you should try to entice us\them with including them in advertisements for vehicles?? And not just Cadillac Escalades and Hummers either!




2. Black people own homes.
Nationally, 73 percent of whites own their homes compared with 47 percent of blacks in America. Still, that is nearly half of all black people in the USA who own homes. It shouldn't surprise anybody to see that they have a black family in their suburban neighbourhood. This isn't 1880, folks.

I think people assume black people don't live in nice neighbourhoods, but the truth of it is, a lot of people regardless of colour like to live in nice neighbourhoods. And they make NICE neighbours. Why don't you talk to your neighbour instead of prejudging them by their colour? Maybe you two ended up going to the same university or something!


3. Black people like instruments and rock music.
When I was growing up, I was exposed to a lot of techno, house and rock music thanks to my older sister, and then, moving to a rural town where urban music couldn't be played on the radio. I went back to the city and found a lot of black people in Toronto really love rock music, love to play instruments (guitar, violin, sax) and love techno, house, indie, etc. Other races ASSUME all black people love rap music, r&b, reggae or soca. This is a falsity. Sure, if you see a black person hanging out with a lot of white suburbanites, odds are they will be listening to the same punk rock kind of music. But music is available to everybody, and some music grows on people. Not to mention, there are black rock artists such as Lenny Kravitz and Jimi Hendrix. Furthermore, a lot of black people still love the performing arts including jazz and opera. Canadian greats include: Measha Brueggergosman, (opera singer); FeFe Dobson, Murray Lightburn from the Dears, and Mojah the guitarist from Big Sugar. These are just a few from a list of 30 or so Canadian musicians who do not "do" rap, hip-hop, reggae, soca or R&B. Just to let you know.

4. Black people travel on vacations, too!
It is nice to see photographs of Rihanna and Beyonce travelling the world from Croatia to Los Cabos to the South of France. I love travelling and who doesn't? A lot of black people go on vacations, go on luxury cruises and travel. It cost a lot of $$$ to go but smart people, regardless of race, know when\where to travel to get good rates, where to stay, how to backpack and how to be open - minded. Everybody knows it's hundreds of dollars cheaper to fly in the off season and 3rd class and 4th class hotels are nearly the same thing! Coming from tropical, hot places--who would appreciate a beach and sun more than black people?

Although personally, I was the only black person on my flight to Cuba. I think black people should save that $800 and see the world. It's a beautiful experience!


5. Black people wear sunscreen and sun hats!

It is a HUGE misconception that black people don't need any protection from the sun due to their darker pigment, and that they won't get skin cancer. Black people DO get skin cancer, and I know many that cover from the sun and protect their skin. I have bottles of sunscreen lined up on my dresser because I never go outside without sunblock and it's spf 45 or higher. I've worn sunscreen every summer since I was 16. I also wear ridiculous wide sun hats and I'm not the only person. White people like to keep their skin fair and try to stay out of the sun because it ages you, well shit, who wants to be aged? I don't! So I protect my skin. Besides, sunscreen is so cheap anybody can afford it. I think whenever someone sees a black person in a sunhat it shouldn't be a paradox. The sun can be extremely harmful, and I'm not sure why sunscreen companies NEVER depict a black person---we need SPF protection too!

6. Black people date outside their own race.
Interracial dating is very widely accepted here in Canada, especially Toronto. I regularly see Black and white couples, white and Oriental couples, Oriental and black couples, etc etc. There are beautiful biracial children from these couples and I approve of interracial dating, but on TV and in the media, they always have to depict the "happy black family" and the "happy white family". Why can't they every have a white man and a black woman with beautiful biracial children in front of the BBQ? It has to be "Date your own race" and that's the message the media is sending. It's very backwards and very wrong. Watch TV and look at the commercials. Do you see many (if any?) interracial couples\families?

7. All black people are NOT on welfare.
Do you know the AMOUNT of black police officers I see? And guess what? Surprise! There's black pilots, fire fighters (I personally know one in Florida, where my uncle lives), black judges (there's a black judge in Newmarket, Ontario), black lawyers, black businessmen, black engineers (quite a FEW), black athletes (and I mean hockey and baseball, not just basketball), black accountants, etc. I actually like seeing black teenagers working in the mall. I love the diversity. I love seeing them working next to white people and Orientals and South Asians. I love it because it's visibility, and the more other people see black people in the workforce the more they realize we're not any more lazier than any other race!

8. Black people attend colleges and universities.
I was shocked by the amount of black people at my fiancee's college when I first met her 3 years ago. I was still a high school senior and hadn't been exposed to college life yet. I thought (thanks to the media) all black people struggled, couldn't get out of the "ghetto" and spent their adolescents and young adulthood in jails, gangs and selling drugs. The "struggle" to get out of the hood and into college was the stories you heard in the newspaper. But no, that's not true nor real life. I know one woman who's an author and has gone to Dartmouth and Harvard; my cousin is also an author and went to the same college as me, my grandfather is an accomplished author and went to university, and tons of black authors are university graduates, but they also go to law school, medical school, Ivy League schools, they get business degrees and English degrees, and they go to teacher's college too. There are many intelligent, educated black people. Black people love and crave knowledge. This comes as a shock for many people, as it did to me 3 years ago thanks to the media. I had the wrong idea.

9. Black people shop at expensive stores.
Saks Fifth Avenue, Barneys New York and Holt Renfrew would like you to believe their clientele are uber-rich Caucasians. That isn't wholly true. Yes, there are tons of rich white people who shop there, but there's tons of wealthy Asians, blacks and other minorities who can afford and appreciate quality material goods from watches, clothes, shoes and accessories. I, myself, do not care about the price tag of an item I want (usually camera-related), and I love a few select name brands like Ron Herman's Free City line, Burberry and Ralph Lauren. I think black people have the ability to dress well and may initially feel embarassed or singled out in wealthy stores (which I'm routinely ignored or under-appreciated, but I ignore that...because VISIBILITY is important, once again) but as they shop there more often, feel more comfortable and not as if it they don't "fit in".

10. Black people speak other languages.
Do you think it's just ambitious white people who set forth learning new languages? Nope. I, myself, taught myself German and can pick up a bit of Albanian (thanks to my partner) but in my life I have met a Zimbabwe woman who can speak Swedish, and blacks who can speak Italian and French fluently out of SHEER desire. Do not assume they all speak "slang".