6 replies to this topic

[Brafarality]

There are so many Asian apologist and white apologist articles and papers out there, explaining away the accomplishments of a cultural or ethnic group, but no black apologist article. So, here is one. It is a loose parody of an article by Alice Park on Time.com titled “The Tiger Mom Effect is Real, Says Large Study”, but is not intended to be read entirely as humor or satire.

 

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The Black Apologist

Pressure from peer groups is only part of the reason why African Americans excel.

The ominous aspect of stereotypes is that they are usually built on a small grain of truth. Those about African Americans are no different. Recent research attempts to shed some light on African American creative prowess and how it has led the 20th century and caused massive shifts in popular and artistic culture. Is African culture expressing itself in the American idiom to thank? Richer cultural traditions? Or are African people just more creative than other kids?

I have contemplated this for some time. The stereotype of the African American community nurturing vibrant subcultures and giving rise to musical forms that consist of scales and chord progressions unheard of before in history, ushering in entire cultural eras as a result? That is who I am. I picked up a sketchbook at 12, a microphone at 15, and devoured knowledge about the history of my people from the moment I set foot in college. I spent every weekend with my friends, waxing poetic over our dreams and ambitions, our hopes and desires, sparking a new artistic style in the process. My parents assumed that I would maintain in school while I pursued my true dream of being an artist and a musician, which I did.

But, I stay out of the ongoing discussions on the ongoing struggles of the African American underclass. That is because it inevitably leads to a predictable exchange between those who emphasize systemic discrimination and those who emphasize the great accomplishments. I remember having occasional doubts about my own life’s path when I was playing in the park while a small number of students I knew were holed in studying every night and practicing musical instruments in order to follow a set and predictable path toward a certain type of recognition and accomplishment, one in which I was not interested. At least not at the time. Later, I acknowledged some merit in playing cello for the New York Philharmonic, though I never innately respected it as something to strive toward.

My uncertainty was more related to a sense that there was something elitist in the argument that I could enjoy my life while still progressing artistically and academically and still expect to achieve a creative breakthrough in the humanities. Was my culture possessed of some special aptitude to innovate and influence everything from Cubism, Post-Impressionism and contemporary fiction to a seemingly endless procession of novel musical forms such as jazz, blues, rap, rock, and house? I mean, what other culture has caused so many massive creative and cultural shifts in the past 125 years? What other culture has so often rewoven the fabric of Western society? But, there are others who also shaped and are continuing to shape the 20th and 21st centuries. At some point, I was not sure if I bought the idea that African people had a lock on genuine artistic innovation in the modern age.

So, it is always fascinating when cultural anthropologists and sociologists try to explain this phenomenon. It is intriguing when they conclude that, from the vantage of creative and cultural contribution to humanity, African American peoples are probably doing better than all of us. It is only when materialistic aspects are taken into account that differing conclusions emerge. Although the struggles of the African American underclass are unfortunate, they do nothing to change the fact that African peoples excel over every other ethnic group in the past 125 years in terms of cultural contributions. This is important because there is a huge percentage of artists, academics and intellectuals who believe that this is all that ultimately matters. You know, those who won’t take anything less than being the next Matisse. Otherwise, their life is a failure.

When you shake out all the middle class valuations, which the above mentioned type of artist and intellectual inevitably think small-minded and petty, what you have left is the measure of your own life against the great figures of history. You have nothing but the measure of your creative legacy and the creative legacy of your people as measured against the past and other current cultures. From this point of view, it really doesn’t matter if you are homeless or living in a lakeside villa. It really doesn’t matter if you painted for 20 years before turning out a masterpiece or if you did so when you first picked up a paint brush. It does not matter if you are a violent thug, like Carravaggio or Ben Jonson, or if you are a peacenik like Alan Ginsberg and Bob Dylan. All that matters is the end result. And, that is when I sit back and revel in my own accomplishments as well as those of my people.

As I was driving home the other day, I saw a snapshot of the modern teenage demographic in America. The hard working, the idling, the achievers, the slackers, in all their complexity and nuance, sprawled across the walkway and garden abutting a local high school. Not surprisingly, these behaviors were not divided up along ethnic and cultural lines. There was a rich mixture engaged in every category. I knew that those ambling about would not all be failures and those hard at work in the lawn would not be successes, whether measured economically or by societal contribution. It led me to further consider that African culture may be on to something: an appreciation of art forms, combined with a dignified ethnic pride and awareness and activism, along with a healthy dose of academics balanced with recreation, may pay off in the end and in the big picture.

 

It is also found here: http://alwaysmadness...black-apologist

By Paul H. Roe and Ruby P. Girard

Ruby’s beautiful artwork can be found at: ohtheironknee.tumblr.com

[Brafarality]

This is a personal mission, so forgive if I seem headstrong...Im currently trying to make a montage video of white-on-others atrocities to play on a giant screen television in the background every time the discussion of how black people are violent criminals or Muslims are terrorists arises, usually after some robbery, rape, murder, suicide bombing, or other crime committed by a person of color gains notoriety.

 

I have tried it on a micro-scale (a Beta test, I guess it could be called) and it has stopped these types of conversations dead in their tracks. It makes it impossible for them to continue. Usually, the chatter directs to the evils of white people thereafter. Well, at least in the 3 times I sampled this approach.

 

NOTE: There should never be an effort, EVER, to restrict unimpeded speech. It's more like: "By all means, continue talking about how bad black people are. But, I'm just going to play this video on the giant screen TV in the background while we talk. Volume on Mute so it doesn't drown out our voices"

 

It's hard for white people to continue and sustain a discussion about the violence of black people when images of Apartheid, the Holocaust, the Jim Crow era, lynchings, police brutality, the Atlantic Slave Trade, the genocide of Native Americans and Aboriginal Australians, and much much much much more are running by on a nearby screen.

 

However, it is taking me a while to assemble the video clips and still images in a folder so I can put it together on Windows Movie Maker. Should have it done in a week and will spread it all over the place for immediate use.

Edited by Brafarality, 31 May 2014 - 10:22 PM.

[A941]

I dont like the Idea!

Why? because you put "Race" and religion into the same category (also you try to fight racist Idiots with racist Idiot ideas. I dont know if this should work as parody and Mock the racists, if people dont get it they think the approach is racist too...)

 

Race doesnt really exist, if someone says black people tend to be violent then he/she talks about a heterogeneous group of people who only have their skin colour in common, and attributes them with certain traits. But this doesnt work for Ideologies like Religion.

As muslim you may be a white Scotsman, or a black Sudanese and you would still belive in the core values of that abominable collection of Filth, which we call a religion*, and it is absolutly okay to criticise you for your believes especially if those believes have caused more damage than the Inquisition, Stalinism and the Nazis combined.

 

We here in the western World (really often) talk about the horrors of the crusades (like the muslims do) but dont talk about the islamic expansion, which started much earlier, and lasted much longer. We talk about the transatlantic Slavetrade, but no one mentions the arab slavetrade which plundered europ, africa and India, and which had more than twice the number of victims, also it lasted TILL THE FREAKIN 60IES.

That all happens because we are so afraid that those dimmwits will call us racist (which they do no matter what), and because of people confusing racism with legitimate criticism.

 

 

 

*If something is called a religion it is mainly a collection of dangerous Bullshit.

 

[Brafarality]

I dont like the Idea!

Why? because you put "Race" and religion into the same category (also you try to fight racist Idiots with racist Idiot ideas. I dont know if this should work as parody and Mock the racists, if people dont get it they think the approach is racist too...)

 

Race doesnt really exist, if someone says black people tend to be violent then he/she talks about a heterogeneous group of people who only have their skin colour in common, and attributes them with certain traits. But this doesnt work for Ideologies like Religion.

As muslim you may be a white Scotsman, or a black Sudanese and you would still belive in the core values of that abominable collection of Filth, which we call a religion*, and it is absolutly okay to criticise you for your believes especially if those believes have caused more damage than the Inquisition, Stalinism and the Nazis combined.

 

We here in the western World (really often) talk about the horrors of the crusades (like the muslims do) but dont talk about the islamic expansion, which started much earlier, and lasted much longer. We talk about the transatlantic Slavetrade, but no one mentions the arab slavetrade which plundered europ, africa and India, and which had more than twice the number of victims, also it lasted TILL THE FREAKIN 60IES.

That all happens because we are so afraid that those dimmwits will call us racist (which they do no matter what), and because of people confusing racism with legitimate criticism.

 

 

 

*If something is called a religion it is mainly a collection of dangerous Bullshit.

 

 

You are right on all points. It is a blunt, ill-conceived obtuse approach. But, Caucasian males represent the dominant cultural, political and economic force in recent times and so should be more accepting of criticism. Kind of like how a king should have a sense of humor when he is lampooned by his subjects. You gotta be a bit bigger when you are large and in charge. But, you're correct- even though it would just be a montage without words, the implied message is quite obvious - a selection of horrible acts by man against his fellow man, carefully gleaned to depict only those done by white people and insinuate that white people are the only people who commit such atrocities which, of course, is incorrect.
 

But, to add, our exchange is pretty close to what happened in real life when I crudely tried it out. After 5 minutes, the discussion drifted to how non-Caucasians have also committed crimes against humanity. But, notice? No more talk about violence in African American communities. Conversation shifts to how white people aren't the incarnation of all that is evil in the world. White people go from being on the offensive to being on the defensive really fast.

Edited by Brafarality, 01 June 2014 - 03:58 PM.

[A941]

That is not really winning an Argument, it is confusing the Idiots with their own bullshit :-)

[Brafarality]

That is not really winning an Argument, it is confusing the Idiots with their own bullshit :-)

 

True. It's crude, I know.

[niner]

Brafarality, who are you hanging out with that you hear people complaining about Black violence all the time?  I have to say, that's not something I hear very often.  Do you live near a black ghetto?  (That's probably no longer PC.. I suppose I should say "Majority African American Low Income Community", but you get my drift.)  In North Philly, there is a hell of a lot of crime, much of it violent.  The population is mostly Black, and the perpetrators of the crime are mostly Black.  If that's the sort of domain we're talking about, then I could see where people could connect skin color with violence, people being prone to such erroneous conclusions.  (Air conditioners run in the summer.  It's hot in the summer.  Ergo, air conditioners make it hot.)

 

I have a problem with the Caucasian Male violence movie idea.   It's racist.  It makes the same sort of mistake that you're trying to fight.  Wouldn't it be better to separate race from violence, and suggest to people that violence is caused by living in a jobless ghetto where going to prison is taken as a given, kind of like wealthy kids take going to college as a given?  That might be harder to convey, but at least it's true and deals with the real problem.

 

Caucasian males represent the dominant cultural, political and economic force in recent times

 

Hmm.  Political and economic, at least in the West, for the moment.  Cultural?  I'm not so sure.  We're trying to achieve equality of opportunity for all, which is great, but in our zeal to do so, we might be missing what's really happening on the ground.  The recent recession has been called the "man-cession", since it was predominantly males who lost jobs.  Women aren't just on par with men in college, they are racing past them.  Men go to prison, women go to college.  The trajectory here is really ugly, and we ought to be doing something about instead of basing our actions on the way things were in the 1950's.

 

Race doesnt really exist

 

This is just science denialism.  It's kind of like the Left's version of "climate change doesn't really exist".  We all arose in Africa, but then we spread all over the globe and formed isolated populations that were exposed to very different selection pressures.  There are LOTS of genetic differences between these populations, and some of them have important consequences.  Scientists who look at the health consequences of genetic differences are aware of these things, but some of them are afraid to even talk about them in a general public setting because a lot of people really don't want to hear it.   When BiDil was approved as the first "race-based" medicine, because it worked better in Blacks than some other options, the sound of heads exploding was deafening. 

 

It would at least be more defensible to say that race exists, but that it's not really pertinent to the issue at hand.  If the issue is health outcomes, however, that's not really the case.