More than 2 million people tuned into the CNN’s “Black in America” special on the black woman and the black family on Wednesday night and I’m sure the same number tuned in Thursday to part two of the special featuring CNN’s take on the black man.
Question: Did you see the special? If so, what did you think?
For the most part Part Two was far more appealing to me, due to the fact that it didn’t seem as forced as the premiere episode. I applaud CNN and Soledad O’ Brien for trying to bring light to the plight of the black man and woman, but for some reason it fell a little short. They weren’t really telling me anything I didn’t already know, but I did appreciate the real life stories and their take on the day to day life of everyday men and women.
I came across a good article written by Karen Hunter, in which she expresses her opinion on the very talked about special. Here is a snippet:
“Who is watching “Black in America” on CNN? I ask the question because it was raging inside of me as I listened to pundits and experts, educators and pastors, business professionals and actors—all attempting to make sense and give shape to what it means to be black in America.
I asked the very same question after Tavis Smiley produced the “The Covenant with Black America” a few years ago. That book sold millions of copies, and was the topic of quite a few talk shows.
Is Shaniqua living in a tenement in Brooklyn with five babies by five different “men” watching? Is James, who stands on a corner in Baltimore selling crack cocaine to his community watching? T-Bone, a Blood from South Central and his boys and rival Crips from cross-town, are they watching? Janice, who dropped out of Somerville High School in Massachusetts, will she be tuning in?
I doubt it. And here in lies the problem with shows like “Black in America,” and books like “The Covenant with Black America” they don’t reach the people who need to hear and read it most. The people who need to change, probably won’t be tuning in—which is why years after the Million Man March and years after The Covenant with Black America and years after Black in America, nothing will change. ”
CNN is re-airing the special on Saturday, July 26 at 8 pm EST. But of course both episodes are available online via DIMEWARS.COM.
Im going to watch the second half . I didn’t get to catch it .
All i am saying is that Black In American did not tell me something i already didn’t know. Its like how are you going to tell a blind man that he’s blind, like he already doesn’t know his situation. Maybe this comes as an eye opener to the people who think that everything is everything. This also reinstates that the “white man” is not to blame; but instead we [black people] are the ones to blame for our current situations and lifestyles because we choose to CONTINUE to stay put and not take charge. .
This wasn’t just for Blacks, it was for other people as well…perhaps to enlighten those who have no idea about what it is like to be us…to those who say it didn’t tell them stuff they didn’t already know…um hello? that’s because you’re Black in America, *of course* you already know!
Anyway, I liked it. I think they could have done a hell of a better job for the first segment but the second one was done very nicely. I would have liked Black women to be discussed a whooole lot more! But I appreciate Soledad O’Brien and CNN for even putting this special together – it’s very important for everyone to watch, especially those who are totally ignorant to the struggles of Black people.
It is very hard for black people who can’t afford cable to see a show that detail their situation. Just think, how many black people are struggling get food on the table and struggling to buy gas to get to work can even afford to have cable/satellite television to see CNN?
the second part was far better than the first. i watched it with a white friend wednesday and after digesting it, i thought the next day, “is this what he and others will think it is to be black in america?”.
the next day was something many more people of color could relate to and it showed more than what a lot of people think (negatively) about us as a people.
i dont agree with the snippet in regards to it needing to reach “those people”. they know what it is to be black in america, as do i. so i can understand why it fell short for some people. this is something for non black people (or black people who dont or cant identify with the african american race) to watch and get a glimse of what it feels like to be us.
further more, if we are expecting a show to tell the world all about us, we can hang it up. show and prove what we are about as a race. that will speak louder than any television show.
Hats off the CNN for producing the show. The show was called “Black In America”. I’m almost certain that if you are in fact “black in america” the show didn’t teach you anything new! It simply shed light on the status of our people, which I’m sure some people (white people) were ignorant of! I, not unlike Ms. Karen Hunter, was a little concerned about who was watching the program. The people who really needed to see it the most probably didn’t even know it was on! However, the piece was insightful and interesting and most of all TRUE! I loved it!
It is obvious that this is nothing but a ploy to discredit Barack Obama and his BLACK wife and his BLACK race. What a convenient time for the white media to spew its racist propaganda and numbers, during the heat of election time in which the first BLACK president is slated to take office.
C A S E C L O S E D .
White America was already well aware of the problems that continue to plague the black community. I think it shed a very bright light on issues that we face daily and could’ve been summed up in one two hour show, not a week long series.
I won’t sit around waiting for a CNN special or a black president to change the world. I can only do my part in raising my girls. I put God and education first, and I teach them to respect themselves and others. I just wish we were more unified as a race, that’s a start.
Some of it I could relate to and some of it I was like WTF????
#1. I am Black in America. This documentary attempts to over simplify being Black in America. Black people are not all cut from the same cloth. Regardless of race, every life experience is relative and unique.
#2. I think the timing of this production being aired is way off. For the first time in the history of American politics, the American people have nominated a black man to represent the Democratic Party for the candidacy of the highest office in the land. In the midst of a presidential campaign of historic proportions, White America and the “entire world” are given the opportunity to tune their televisions to CNN and watch Black America discuss the perils of being Black in America.
Another “WTF?”moment for me.
This has to be perceived as a paradox to anyone that is not Black in America.
Quoting my mother after the first hour of Black in America, ” I’m going to sleep, this is just too much black.” The understanding of blacks in america is not about you and I. It is about white people trying to get a understanding of the presidential candidate Barack Obama. Maybe if they understand the general black population they will understand Mr. Obama. The media outlets could careless about the black plight. They want to know how will their world be affected if Barack Obama a black man becomes the next president.
I THINK THIS PROGRAM WAS INTEDED FOR BLACK VIEWERS. SIMPLY BECAUSE WE’VE BEEN HEARING THIS, SEEING DOCUMENTARIES LIKE THIS AND YET WE’VE DONE NOTHING. WE’VE CHANGED NOTHING FOR OUR PEOPLE, FOR OURSELVES. SO YES CNN WAS GIVING IT A SHOT… AGAIN! AND PUTTING THIS SHOW OUT THERE FOR BLACKS 2 WATCH, HOPING THAT WE FINALLY GET THE HINT. YEAH THE TARGET VIEWERS (IGNORANT BLACKS) DIDN’T TUNE IN, BUT FOR THOSE OF US WHO R BETTER EDUCATED, HAVE CAREERS, CAN B POSITIVE ROLE MODELS TO OTHER BLACKS, SHOULD GO OUT THERE AND INFORM OUR PEOPLE. ATTEMPT 2 OPEN THEIR EYES, SO THINGS CAN B BETTER.
I had higher expectations for the content of the special and now after watching it I believe the special was overhyped. Tell me something I don’t know. I also wish they could of diversified our people a little more or provide us with more success stories of black families. I also hated how they pulled out the statistics card, sure it’s the truth but where are the solutions? Also Black Americans aren’t just those who are descendents from slavery. Recent African immigrants are part of Black America too.
Last night’s part that ended with Dyson and his brother’s story was the only thing that genuinely struck me, other than the single father and his 2 kids from the first segment. Dyson brought up an interesting point that I wish couldv’e been investigated a little bit further and that’s the issue with skin tone/racism within the community. Look at the guy who worked in the marketing/music world, or the dad who was part of the little rock 9 with his three grown sons, both are successful but they aren’t entirely “dark” looking either; even the harvard professor was light skinned or the woman who was president of that college and finally Dyson. watching the segment last night gave me a message that there seems to be this correlation that the skin tone of a black individual determines their sucess in the real world (and when I mean real world I’m not saying professional sports, acting, or music), the lighter skin you have the more sucessful you’re gonna be? I wish they had taken it there, (but they probably didn’t even think about it) instead of staying in the safe zone by telling us what we should fear… that Black America is doomed.
I also enjoyed Spike’s segment and I agree that more needs to be done about the education system, because this is America where everyone should be entitled to the best education.
@ #56 I’m cosigning with you! WTF!! Why did anyone who is black in America expect to get some euphoric epifamy epephanamy this program?!
“I don’t feel like I learned anything that I didn’t already know”
Of course you didn’t, because your ARE “Black in America” Geese guys, fall back.
I enjoyed it, and as a journalist, I know what it took to get that series on the air, I applaud CNN for their efforts. I got it!
**epephanamy= “from”
On a whole, Black people are not doing as bad as the media portrays or as many people would like to believe. We have come a very long way. Our history/past is like no other group in this world and PLENTY of us continue to exceed ALL negative expectations. Many poor urban black folk have learned to work the system and are doing just fine. They are doing a whole lot better than them white folk in the south, mid west and the appalachian mountains. If you are poor and white in this country you should be ashamed. People killed and died to make sure you have everything based on your skin color and you still having problems?Now that’s something to be ashamed of. The rich or middle class white folk often portrayed in the media is NOT the norm. But they have everyone fooled.
I don’t believe in the bullsh*t statistics about black people. They are used to remind us that we are “inferior” and to keep other people fearful of us. If you’re black you’re gonna die of HIV/AIDS, go to jail, won’t be able to get a quality education, won’t get married, won’t marry another black person, won’t be a responsible citizen, won’t be a responsible parent, will die of heart disease, Glaucoma, cataract, cancer, diabetes and gun violence. Give me a break!
If you believe this you’re a damn FOOL. Black people are doing just fine under the circumstances.
I thought it does what the media does on a daily basis. It show black pepole in a negative way and reinforced what the media puts out . I don’t care what group of pepole you may belong to every group has the good the bad and the ugly.
Thank you #127…
Judah, where are you?
The educational system is not that bad. MANY Parents just don’t want to take the time to help their children with homework or encourage education as a means to great success. That is NOT the fault of the educational system. Students in this country are getting basic education. No matter where they live! Also, there ARE a lot of community based programs and activities for blacks in the inner city. If you go to the library or ask questions then you will see. But we love to blame the system and the system loves to patronize us – that’s another way to keep us in our place.
I agree with her, although I was wondering how many White people watched it.
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Honestly, I was very disappointed with the special. I thought it was something that we don’t know about and had to watch it. From what they showed on those two nights, we already aware of our background unless some of us black people didn’t pay any attention in school and home. Our family should have showed us and taught us about the history of blacks. I was hoping to see something that would have made me shock about something i didnt know about. I’m aware of this so that special was pointless to me
Okay the reason everything is sooo alarming is because American American’s don’t make up a large portion of the American populations( however there is def. a problem within the african american society). White people do the same things it’s just that it doesn’t seem as bad because they have a bigger population. In addition to the fact the black people are targeted, which the show affirmed. I believed that the show proved all of the stereotypes. They showed the absent father with all the excuses in the world… they showed the stereotypical baby momma who’s on her way to have more kids even though she’s struggling with the one with an absent father…. they showed the brother who went to jail and found God… they showed all the light skinned brothers with good jobs and then reaffirmed it at the end with the two brother whom happened to be light and dark… they showed the individuals who get educated in prison (Most of the education programs get cut), but right after that they reminded us that this guy has basically no chance of getting a job. And that his ass is probably going to be back They showed you the brother who just had to keep it real and go shoot up some drug dealer place when he had it made in the burbs. They showed the “CLASSIC” successful black man whom marries outside his race….. I believe CNN just aired our damn dirty laundry!!!
On the real, i don’t know if this was good or bad though, i mean everything they stated i knew, I think we know our story because we live it. I don’t honestly believe that black people are ignorant of the situations, simply ignorant on how to rectify the wrong . I don’t think there will be change due to the show. I think that when other races watch it, they’ll say well the stereotype is correct most of the time….. Yea there were a couple of success stories…. but most were contradicted with something negative.
Nevertheless, we as black people have to do better now, our business is out, we have to prove them wrong. Lets be better fathers, stop getting locked up, and strung out. Ladies let wait to have the babies. of course the people who need to see these things won’t….. but hey…. it is what it is…. now what we gonna do?
I could be wrong yall, I could have interpreted it the wrong way… but hey prove me wrong… if you watched it…lol
WHERE DO THEY FIND SOME OF THESE PEOPLE TO PUT ON TV? THE GUTTER? I AM A SINGLE MOTHER, YET I HAVE NEVER BEEN ON WELFARE, AND I CAN GET DATES. THEY ACTUALLY TURNED DOWN MY APPLICATION, AND THAT AINT DO NOTHIN BUT MOTIVATE ME TO DO BETTER AND WANT BETTER FOR MYSELF. I HAVE LEARNED ALOT, AND I RATHER STRUGGLE ON MY OWN, THAN WITH HELP. OVERALL, THE PROGRAM LEFT ALOT TO BE DESIRED.
I was about to not come on concreteloop anymore… because I didnt think you were gonna put anything about black in america documentary… but I loved the documentary… they touched on every issue that was every directed or a problem with blacks/african americans
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I watched both episodes and I liked the black woman and families segment, but I think they could have delved a lot deeper into the black psyche. Yeah we all know we suffer harder than it seems all, but what is our real motivation for the things we do? I don’t think it really taught other races anything new about black people.
All hail CNN for an attempt at shedding light on an unfair and seemingly grim situation. Only so much that they can/say/do/show/cover, it got “us” talking, it got “them” talkinh (whoever u want us and them to be) But the key is it is time to end excuses and ignorance for all blacks. We must must inspir each other and nobody’s going to do that for us. CNN simply gave a wider platform for everyone to witness our countries injustices
I watched the special and I didn’t see anything eye opening but my teenaged son got a reality check. If it’s not on BET, You Tube or in a text message, I think our youth are missing out on knowing the struggles of those who came before us. I was fortunate to have a parents who were in the movement in the 60s and saw the racism from the 50s. Since have more means to support my kids they don’t really know hard times like I did so this type of stuff was new him. He started to ask questions of his grandparents to understand more and is “waking up” to understand what being black means.
I think that Soledad made a smart decision to focus on African Americans to show her journalistic efforts as well as shine a light to “other” people. Hopefully, educators will show these programs to all the T-Bones and Shaniquas so they will have more exposure to what the world thinks of us. Maybe I am going too long here but one reason why we don’t change much as a ethnic group is because most are isolated in this great big world. Some don’t go outside their neighborhood or their comfort zone to know what else exists. This is not only true for us but also for many other immigrants (even though we were imports). Ours is just more scattered because of self-hate, misinformation, and negative sterotypes that splinter our bonds as a people.
Basically, it’s a start. Just think of how ROOTS made an impact on consciousness.
it didnt show ME anything new but i really dont think it was designed to education black people. it was designed to others who somehow believe racism and struggle dont exist.
Good programming although it was geared to a white audience or other audiences. True were know how it is to be Black in America. That’s not a program for us. The program for Blacks in America is positive solutions that will uplift us as a people.If Obama is elected a white person told me that there aren’t anymore excuses for Blacks to use as an excuse. He said it will put more responsibility on us to take advantage of the opportunities out there. In other words stop complaining and start producing, studing, parents teach your young children the ABC and numbers etc. Take care of your business and stop chasing some of the sorry brothers. And Young Black brothers get into your books and stay way from gangs etc. You know the difference between right and wrong. You know nothing easy is worth anything but problems. Handle your business early go to school get yourselves prepared for you future. If you families don’t support you in your dreams keep going anyway. God’s got your back.
The problem with the Black in America series is that it left out one fundamental concern I have…The reason why Black America and America is suffering as a whole is cuz we forgot one thing…GOD…When Black folks didn’t have anything..no education, no money, living in 2 by 4′s, not competing with the Jones’s we had only 1 option…GOD ALMIGHTY…nowadays…God is on the backburner…Get it right before its too late…
In general…Every dynasty has an endpoint…Rome overextended itself and crumbled…The British had rebellious colonies…will u be ready before the end of America comes…cause its coming….
THESE PROGRAMS PUT BLACK PEOPLE AT A DISADVANTAGE IN OUR SOCIETY. OTHER GROUPS KNOW ALL OUR BUSINESS, BUT WE KNOW NOTHING ABOUT ASIANS/PUERTO RICANS/WHITES/AFRICANS/CARIBBEANS AND ALL THE OTHER GROUPS TRUE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE WITH THE GOOD AND THE BAD.
ALL OF OUR DIRTY LAUNDRY IS LAID OUT FOR OTHERS TO USE AGAINST US. KNOWING YOUR ENEMY IS AN IMPORTANT TOOL OF SURVIVAL, AND THEY KNOW ALL ABOUT US, BUT WE KNOW NOTHING TO PROTECT OURSELVES.
I enjoyed it. It was informative, and I hope that at least a few white people got a better understanding in the complexity of being Black in America.
I watched the 2-part series and i do think it was a good show, however i dont believe it did much … one i think they basically tackled the stereotypes black ppl face…they just showed america what back people deal with, While it should b no surprise, im sure some people who tuned in that were not black left with a better understanding of what black ppl face on a day to day basis …but as a black person watching the show i just said to my self “ook i already knew that” i didnt gain any new info …maybe a few statistics that i didnt know but hat was about it. I also feel like the show focused more on what negative things go on, rather than the positive…they would show a prison yard full of black men and then back it up with a mouth full of statistics about how our men are behimd bars, how few of them go on to college and so on. then they would show about two or three very successful, intelligent black men and how they are different …. so i think th enetwork could have done a better job at balancing the view of what is is to be black in america with some more positive statistics and showing what we ARE doin rather than what we ARE NOT doing, or how we have progressed as a people …
They always show us poor and struggling… What about the Upper Middle class blacks, the CEO’s the Doctors, the college students at HBCU’s that are making a difference…There was so many things un touched….
Yeah I saw some of the Black Man portion. It was interesting. I might have to get it on DVD.
@ #155 (Gift from a Virgo) – What show did you watch?
You said:
“They always show us poor and struggling… What about the Upper Middle class blacks, the CEO’s the Doctors, the college students at HBCU’s that are making a difference…”
Here’s just a short list of the upper middle class people that were in the show: a District Attorney, music executive, ER surgeon, cardiologist, economist, college professor, college president, screen writer, school superintendent, teacher…
It seems to me that some people only focused on what they perceived to be negative aspects of the show. One thing that I think this program did well was show a variety of people: nuclear families/single parent families; working people/people looking for jobs; high-school drop outs/college students or graduates; inmates/non-incarcerated people; people who choose to date outside their race/people who don’t; single women with no kids/single women with kids… I would go on, but I think I’ve made my point.
I said it once and I’ll say it again, it doesn’t matter what CNN put together, some people only choose to see the negative, never the positive.
One problem I think SOME of us have is acting like the behavior that SOME black folks exhibit is overstated. The reality of it is if you are black you probably have a black friend or relative that: has more than one child from more than one person, is in jail or has been to jail, is living with HIV or AIDS, does not value education, etc. The problem that SOME of us have feel like if somebody talks about it (and God forbid on a major cable news network), then they’re doing something wrong to us instead of being real about some of the problems that are plaguing our community and choosing to do something about it. There are people of every other race that fit into every category that I mentioned above. However, just because we can say “that other race does it too” doesn’t make the stated problems untrue and doesn’t mean that we don’t have some collective and individual changes to make.
Just my opinion…
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