Friday, October 22, 2010

Some Black People Are Not Ready to Have Nice Things: Introducing Baracka Flacka Flames--Head of State



I am stupified. Double facepalmed. Struck dumb.

As the old saying goes, you can't polish a turd. Stated differently, satire is perhaps the hardest of genres with which to work. The shear amateurishness of the Baracka Flacka Flames "Head of State" video is revealed by the fact that the basis of the "joke," the neo-minstrel crooning of Southern race minstrel Waka Flocka Flame (and others of his ilk), is itself already a parody of what hip hop could and ought to be. Thus, the potential for creative genius is already compromised from the onset, as how does one satirize what is already satire (be it intentional or otherwise) poorly done?

As a child I recall watching television with my mother. That day a public service announcement implored viewers to adopt a foster child. In said appeal, one of the children proudly announced that if he had a family and his own room that he would draw rainbows all over the walls. I said to my mom, "wow, that is so touching." Mom looked at me and said, "No, it is sad. That child has never had anything nice in his life and the first thing he wants to do when he finally gets a room is to ruin it. Sometimes you can't give people nice things who aren't ready for them."

Years later I would see the wisdom of my mother's words in the once nice neighborhoods ruined by Section 8, suburbanized public housing, and absentee landlords. The weight of her words is also made clear when the first signs of scattered site housing and a "neighborhood in transition" inevitably appear--the litter on the ground, people sitting five deep on porches when a perfectly nice backyard is available, overflowing, naked garbage cans left curbside, corner boys, gang tags, and broken cars in various states of disrepair now parked on residential lawns.

While sociologists and others talk about social capital, social disorganization, and the merits of value neutral approaches to the different "cultural norms" that govern the use of public space, I simply fall back on my mother's wisdom: Sometimes folks just aren't ready to have nice things. And ultimately it is a crime to give them nice things before they are ready.

The Baracka Flacka Flames video is simply more proof of that self-evident truth. The Baracka Flacka Flames video is also proof of an instinct I have long held dear and (usually) kept private to myself: white supremacy is the greatest invention of all time, not because of its durability per se, but rather because of how the subject internalizes it, reproducing the conditions of their own self-hatred and subordination.

I am unafraid to speak to the obligations of black respectability. Sadly, while some of us are ready for the responsibility of having our first Black President, others have clearly demonstrated that they are not. How pitiable and tragic that some confuse a poverty of material circumstances with a poverty of self-respect and black pride.

37 comments:

RiPPa said...

Eh... the Democrats need all the votes they can get. Just look at this as a ghetto youth outreach program. Back in the day Conservatives had Rapping Duke, we need Baracka Flacka Flame, no?

OK, don't answer that.

CareyCarey said...

Yeah, nice things.

Now, I understand freedom of speech and self expression, but...

I also understand artistic expression, and how enterpretation play into that mix, but...

I'm now wondering what the flame throwers were trying to say? I mean, since it wasn't funny, I am wondering what form of satire would this "joke" find a resting place?

I am confused. What were they trying to say? The following is the message I received. I heard... It's cool to be a dope smoking nigga (yes, I said nigga) that aimlessly walks around in packs, with packs of pitt bulls and permiscuous women, looking for the next front yard party. Yep, taint funny, but that's reaaal cool.

Don't need no ticket, just get on the fool-ass, hood-rat, ghetto train.

They say one man's garbage is another man's treasure, but apparently, these boys flipped the script.

CareyCarey said...

Who are these guys? How did you find this video?

I saw this posted @ RiPPa's blog.

chaunceydevega said...

I saw this at Oh Hell Nawl.

As for their intent, I don't know. I do believe that some black folks are profoundly damaged, and their way to make Obama "authentic," i.e. like them is to drag him through the muck of their own underclass culture, a "culture" which they sadly equate with being "authentically" black.

Anonymous said...

I dont find the video amusing because I'm unfamiliar with the orginal artist, so if it is a parody I am missing the context to appreciate it.

But as far as your moms and rainbow boy,forgive me for contradicting momz,but "ruin" is subjective. Who is to say that painting a rainbow on the wall is "ruining" it? A person's urge to beautify his surroundings because he is so pleased with them and proud of them is not "ruining", that is subjective.
People get tattoos,put diamonds in their teeth, dye their hair,gild lilies etc. because they feel that these things are an improvement and adding something to the original item.That you me or cousin Pete doesn't think so doesn't mean they are "ruining" it,just that we have different tastes.What is ruining to you is improvement to them.


So maybe to me(definitely to me)and you Barack as a homie is dragging him down, but is it that much different from Pimp Jesus and Negro Santa? You know, Jesus art with Jesus brown with a conk? OR St Nicholas all negroid despite no historical reason to believe he was anything but Greek?

Ruining it or appreciating it and attempting to identify with it on their own level?

The end result may be that they have "ruined it" but that doesnt mean that was their intention.

CareyCarey said...

Mister Anonymous, if you did not hide behind "anon" I would take the time to address your Santa clause, conked hair, and Pimped Jesus. But it's obvious to me that you could be an undercover... (paper thin) racist.

Or, you were joking, right?

Anonymous said...

Being familiar with Wakka Flocka Flame, I caught where the parody was going, and I enjoyed it. Anyone who's seen the fella rap knows just how ridiculous and nonsensical he is. Stuff like this has been going on in SNL skits for gawd knows how long, so I can't see why we're treating this parody any differently.

I think one thing people keep forgetting about our culture is that signifying has played an integral role, and has always been the most common means of expressing complex ideas in an indirect manner. It also establishes a dialogue within the community that strengthened the resolve of those being signified.

I can understand that some are offended by this video for understandable reasons, but I feel that it shows when others call it "ghetto trash" and "setting us back" how class-bias and this same supremacism has detached us from one of our most powerful artforms.

In short: we made and continue to make fun of each other and ourselves because we KNOW that we're stronger than these stereotypes the world has tossed our way. Or do we wear Dunbar's Mask in vain?

chaunceydevega said...

Anon:

I understand the subjective lens here. I always try to be real and tell my stories, especially as they resonate in my humble opinion with the world at large. So feel free to agree or disagree. If my kids went and drew all over the walls I would warm up their behinds. But that is me.

Why is all manner of coonery intellectualized as "signifying?" That word is so overused and taken out of Gates' use of the term, and even other foundational texts in black literature and folklore stories.

This video is abject foolishness. That doesn't mean the foolishness cannot be marked as signifying, but not all foolishness is signifying. Get the distinction?

Anonymous said...

I would disagree with the idea that "coonery" is intellectualized as "signifying". I don't consider the crap that Tyler Perry does by playing old matriarchs signifying.

You're perfectly free to perceive it as foolishness, but from my interpretation of what's being done I can't see it as so. First off, Obama is a relatively calm and unthreatening black male that is the antithesis of the typical caricature envisioned by the larger public. His own ability to relate to urban black males was even repeatedly put into question.

Comedians from the "Rock" to - get this! - Robin Williams have capitalized on this fact, either portraying Obama as an hyperviolent black Hulk to a slang spewing, crotch-grasping thug (this role was played by Williams, in front of a sea of rich elderly Caucasians). Yet, no outcry?

To call this "foolishness" when it's obviously mocking a popular style and trope of (c)rap and clearly a parody of black males is ridiculous. We're already in on the joke: Obama will never be seen on the streets smoking weed and yelling "nigga" a thousand times. Aint nothing gangsta about Hawaii. But instead of relishing that fact, we want to assume that this somehow conveys some hidden "truth" when it's far to the contrary.

In the end, it's all about personal taste. If you like it, you do; if not, then you don't.

chaunceydevega said...

Good conversation.

Do you think "they" get "it"?

The they being the white gaze, and also some of the lumpenblack underclass who don't see Obama as authentic?

More generally, and my point, why do we have to lampoon ourselves? Especially our first black president?

Thus my point on not having nice things. We are one of the few racial groups that consistently demean ourselves and don't impose high standards upon our own artists for the burden or representation.

Don't get me wrong. I love some ignorant but "smart" and/or ironic humor and popular culture. If you read some of this blogs earliest posts that was a point of no small amount of contention.

But, this video is an epic fail. It is obvious, none too smart, and built upon a pile of stinking, steaming, crap, i.e. the coontastic southern race minstrelsy that passes as "hip hop" at present.

L said...

Also,

I'm not the same anonymous poster as the one who CareyCarey responded to.

Just call me L.

L said...

That depends. There are plenty of white folks - mostly college - who get what's going on, as you noted: the subtext is practically screaming from beyond the music. But I could care less. The ones who don't think he's "authentic" are stuck in tawdry arguments and henceforth, unfortunately buying into false notions of Blackness if not masculinity.

As for the lampooning, some see it as self-hate, and in some ways it could be. But it's also built into every human. Some have argued that this method is just a conscious way of "building" character as a result of oppression. Those who can "take the heat" become competitive and successful, while those who can't assume remedial roles.

I think this stems from our past as a community that often looked to figures that did not fit the overall schema - survivors and those who became self-made entrepreneurs, like Booker T. Washington - because we, like the trickster figures bombarded by predators in folklore, were in a world in which the conventional means to success and survival were not offered. We needed role models who were not simply virtuous so much as resourceful.

Of course, this worked, it seemed, until the consequences of Blaxploitation and these destructive lifestyles finally kicked in, and now we have the issues at hand. Most of us are used to seeing a figure we can identify with at least ideologically, one who embodies the essence of what we feel is the Black experience. I think it all ties back around, as this tradition of lampooning reminds us of where we came from so we don't get too excited over progress that we ignore what's important.

chaunceydevega said...

Nice to hear from you L:

You wrote: "this tradition of lampooning reminds us of where we came from so we don't get too excited over progress that we ignore what's important."

1. What of agency on the part of the creators of this video? Are they this high minded? I am all for populist frameworks and audience centered approaches to understanding how popular culture is received. But, and maybe I am jaded now, I don't want to elevate all "art" and I dare not call this hot mess art, to the level of "political" resistance.

There just doesn't seem to be anything contemplative to this video. Or smart. Or ironic. Or witty.

I don't think that the audience for this video get the stakes of representation, and on a certain level want to claim Obama as "theirs." So Obama belongs to the ghetto underclass as stereotyped in this video? Frightening. Truly so.

Finally, you suggested that: There are plenty of white folks - mostly college - who get what's going on

Wow. do they?

L said...

1. I just think the guys wanted to get a good laugh in, to be honest. As I mentioned previously, typecasting Obama as some kind of thug in parodies is very popular, and given his level of charisma I find the message to be more ironic than idyllic, especially if we take the account of his upbringing into consideration. I happen to be a fan of absurdist work, and this treatment seems to fall mildly in line.

2. Well, they voted for him. Can't Obama be their every-man? He's the Andy Warhol of Black politics. I'd think that lower-class youth claiming him would inspire them to aim further than nickel and dimeing on the corner till midnight.

3. You'd be surprised indeed. I was. I have Caucasian friends who've deconstructed Dave Chappelle and Richard Pryor.

tenacitus said...

When I saw the first 30 seconds of the video I laughed and was thinking wtf is this crazy ish.

I think its true that Mr. Flacka Lacka Flame can only really relate to weed, lowriders and the ghetto lifestyle so probably to him Obama is cool if he can be "hard" in that way. However I have seen parodies of presidents as OGs before (the Geto Boys did one of Bush Sr. in "Its Good To Be a Gangster"

As to white folks seeing this as not real I completely disagree. I think many of them will use this to minimize Obama's ability and try and turn him into a joke. However those haters will not succeed since Obama is too smart for them. If this only went out to black people it would be a different thing.

Oh Crap said...

As to white folks seeing this as not real I completely disagree. I think many of them will use this to minimize Obama's ability and try and turn him into a joke.

I found it hard to be offended by the video for similar reasons, though it's because I think most see Obama and Michelle that way, anyway. They see Condi, Colin, Anita Hill, Oprah, Bill Cosby, Chauncey, me, every Black person that way. We all look alike, to them.

Thus, I could really give a kiddie what the average white bigots think about the video.

CareyCarey said...

"Thus, I could really give a kiddie what the average white bigots think about the video"

Exactly! I never understood those that were preoccupied with what they "THOUGHT" a white person was thinking or saying about black people.

MY concerns has always been focused on the messages a video like this, sends to our own people.

Videos such as this, validates ignorance and a lifestyle that no princibled person would want their child to emulate.

Really, who cares what the white man is thinking? I don't know, and I don't care. I mean, I lived long enough under his rule, that I have a pretty good idea of what's at the core of his agenda.

chaunceydevega said...

@oh Crap--I thought we were exceptional? Did you lose your pass, just like Clinton lost the codes to the nuclear football?

@Carey--That is my worry. I don't care so much about the white gaze, as I do that so many black folks think that the nonsense in this video is "blackness." Damn the politics of authenticity, but I know black when I see it, and that coonage is not blackness personified.

Knitting Clio said...

I grew up across the street from a Section 8 development in Vermont during the 1970s and 1980s. At that time, it was poorly maintained, i.e. far from nice. So it was no surprise that the residents treated the place like crap when it was obvious the property managers didn't give a crap about them.

Recently the entire division has been renovated, including adding handicapped accessible units (some of the residents are elderly and/or disabled living on fixed incomes). Consequently, the residents treat the place with respect because they are respected.

CareyCarey said...

Good point Knitting. I didn't quite agree with Chauncey's take on Section 8. Maybe it was in his wording... "Section 8 developement". All section 8 recipients are not in "developments". Additionally, all "developments" are not sprawling compounds of degradation.

Oh Crap said...

@Chauncey "@Carey--That is my worry. I don't care so much about the white gaze, as I do that so many black folks think that the nonsense in this video is "blackness.""

See, I'm not seeing that, inauthentic negro may I be. I see it the way a lot of metalheads understood a lot of those ridiculous hair bands in the 80s...it's easier to see now than then, perhaps. Many kids then took all that devil satan heavy metal stuff as parody. Being outrageous and making polite society cringe is the point. Signifying, for white children, I suppose.

But then, people in Italy hate Jersey Shore, so...

Give it 20 years and we'll be laughing at Baracka Flacka Flame. Heck, in another 5, all those people on Headbanger's Ball will be Muzak for elevators.

CareyCarey said...

"inauthentic negro may I be"

Well, I'll let that rest. :-)

But I am totally missing your point. The premise of your argument is woefully faulty.

"I see it the way a lot of metalheads understood a lot of those ridiculous hair bands in the 80s..."

See, that statement has no comparison to the outrageous behavior in Flacka's video. But if it did, your point has eluded me. What did the metalheads understand about the hair bands? Each of them simply played different forms of music. How are you using this examplle as an analogy to this discussion?

"Many kids then took all that devil satan heavy metal stuff as parody. Being outrageous and making polite society cringe is the point. Signifying, for white children, I suppose"

No, that's not the point. You can not or should not marginalize the ill affects of videos such as Wanger Danker's to suggest it's main focus is to make polite society cringe. Excuse me, but that's hogwash. Besides, your children (and polite society) may have IQ's above 140, but I seriously doubt, that many youth (and adults) that watch this video, even knows the definition of parody.

And, who watches Jersey Shore?

Anonymous said...

As to the description of Section 8, it's spot-on from my experience. I live in a racially mixed neighborhood of professors, doctors, lawyers, etc. One of the houses on the street was offered up for Section 8 housing. All of the things described happened. The woman who qualified for the Section 8 moved out after the first drug bust, leaving it in the hands of her adult sons. It turned into a gang safehouse with numerous busts, weekly fights on the front lawn, etc. Luckily for the rest of us, the owner defaulted on the mortgage and the gang was evicted.

CareyCarey said...

Please, give me a break Mr New Anon.

I don't know what "spot on" you're referring to, but, I doubt if you know very much about section 8. A section 8 house is only available upon the owner's request to list that home as section 8. And, I am not talking about in the paper.

Anyway, those available houses can be in any neighborhood, and the rents can fluxuate as high as $1500.00.(or more in some cases)

You wouldn't know a house is being rented under section 8, unless someone told you. There is no "standard" section 8 home. It does not exist.

So, although you seemed to be implying that only gang members and individuals with low morals use section 8, you should get it right.

Besides, under a tenant/landlord agreement, the landlord can monitor what goes on in his property. Now, of course, if a landlord is a slum lord, who's only concern is money, then we have a different problem.

So again, what " spot on" are you talking about?

Oh Crap said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Oh Crap said...

@Carey Carey No, that's not the point. You can not or should not marginalize the ill affects of videos such as Wanger Danker's to suggest it's main focus is to make polite society cringe.

Well who knows what the main focus, or even purpose of the video is? Mine is just one of many perspectives on it; one need not agree with it.

Perhaps a better example would be the long history of handwringing about representation dating back to, say, jazz, circa 1903 or so, through rhythm and blues, through disco, Prince, rap and other Black artforms that have made plenty people of all stripes cringe.

Remember the end of Ethnic Notions, where the camera pans over supposed examples of then-contemporary "minstrelsy", including Grace Jones and some of the people above? Did you agree with that conclusion? I found it to be a stretch.

Same old arguments, same old issues. The same old predictable bigots using jazz, or effed up Hollywood stereotypes, or BFF videos to reinforce and justify their intractable there-goes-the-neighborhood bigotry; respectables hoping no one anywhere takes jazz/H-wood stereotypes/BFF videos for a slice of Black authenticity, etc.

One difference now is, in our post-Cosby/What's Happening world, there is somewhat more of a range of representation.

I doubt any consensus will be reached about the effects of this kind of representation any time soon.

CareyCarey said...

"Same old arguments, same old issues"

O.Crap, no it's not.

As long as you continually frame your argument in the examples you listed, you are missing the point.

"The same old predictable bigots using jazz, or effed up Hollywood stereotypes, or BFF videos to reinforce and justify their intractable there-goes-the-neighborhood bigotry;"

Who is talking about the same old predictable bigots? Focus on the producers of this video, and the ill affects it has on our people.

"Well who knows what the main focus, or even purpose of the video is"

Again, this is not about a purpose? A purpose or intent, is far removed from the end results.
And, this is not about rather or not we reach a consensus.

Facts do not lie, nor are they an "opinion".

Oh Crap said...

@Carey Carey, it's one video, not the end of the Black world as we know it. I'll keep bringing up similar examples from history because your argument is nothing new.

You sound like the church people scandalized because Mahalia Jackson was going around singing that debauchery/chitlin switch music, with *GASP* Ma Rainey's piano player!

Obviously, there are any number of legit critiques of the video. I'm not saying yours isn't one, I'm only asking, where these generations-old, rehashed morality- (and also class-based, the two are inseparable) judgments about representation ever land us?

I think you're ascribing way too much power to one video, which will be forgotten soon, anyway.

CareyCarey said...

"I think you're ascribing way too much power to one video, which will be forgotten soon, anyway"

O Crap, if it was only that simple. But what about the interim between then and now???!

Your whole argument seems to suggest there's no lasting affects from video such as this. Which you and I know is not true.

"I'm only asking, where these generations-old, rehashed morality- (and also class-based, the two are inseparable) judgments about representation ever land us?"

Well, if we use your porous opinions and misleading examples, it would be easy to say... no where. Yet, truth be told, you've done nothing but rationalize poor behavior.

And, if you truly believe there is nothing learned from discourse, that identifies behavioral patterns, of which you defined as morality issues, then it's my belief that you're not looking in the right place, or you're running from the truth, in a failed effort to win a small "arguing point".

If you wish to hang your hat on "so what" and "Yeah but" go at it. It's yo thang, do what you want to do, I can't tell you, what to introduce yo kids to. I mean, it will all be over in the morning, right?

Keep on rationalizing poor choices. I mean, if others are doing it, that makes it right... right?

Oh Crap said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Oh Crap said...

@Carey If you wish to hang your hat on "so what" and "Yeah but" go at it. It's yo thang, do what you want to do, I can't tell you, what to introduce yo kids to. I mean, it will all be over in the morning, right?


Well no, I just give us a lot more credit than believing one dumb video with a bunch of ignorant stereotypes is going to hold us back.

The same things were said re negative stereotypes perpetuated by jazz (pick ANY of the genres, the same things were said), rhythm and blues, early rock and roll, disco, soul, Cab Calloway, James Brown, Flip Wilson as Geraldine, Isaac Hayes, Labelle, Michael Jackson, Shane Dawson as Shanaynay, and of course all 20+ years of anything labeled gangsta rap. I don't think it's true; sue me.

Baracka Flocka Flames is no James Brown, not even in the same galaxy. So I do think our musical and pop culture heritage can weather this little tempest about the video.

BTW, you didn't answer, but do you agree with the end of Ethnic Notions, an otherwise fantastic docu that suggests Grace Jones and Prince are extensions of negro minstrelsy?

Dunno, maybe you didn't see the movie, but if not you should, since you're advancing the same idea. I trust the average respectable negro on the street is able to sit down with their kids and say ok this is what's f'ed up about this video; don't laud or emulate those things, and be done with it. Don't you?

CareyCarey said...

"So I do think our musical and pop culture heritage can weather this little tempest about the video"

O-Crap, excuse me? Look, pretend like you're Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. Now, click your hills and come back home.

So now you've reduced this argument to the evolution and/or culture of African American music?

And since fools go where wise men tread not, and I am not The Tin Man, I am not following you down that yellow brick road.

Consequently, pay attention to the following, and maybe you'll get a better understanding (view) of what I am trying to say.

Oh yeah, we will survive, however, if I break it all the way down, and thus consider The Good vs The Evil of the Flocka Fools video, check this out...

My father has gone home. I miss him, but I remember his words of wisdom.

He was my little league coach and I was a pitcher. One day, a player on my team dropped a fly ball which caused me to lose my cool. As he scrambled to retrieve the ball, another player stumbled over him. The opposing team laughed and ridiculed the players to a point they both started crying. I didn't make things any better with my mean look and foolish antics on the mound. Consumed by my emotions, I threw my next pitch with the fury of a Tasmanian Devil. I hit the batter square upside his head. My father called time out and approached the mound. His following words I will never forget... "look boy, don't ever play another man's game and don't be nobodies fool. Their job is to get you mad at your players and have you act a damn fool. Don't let them see you get rattled. Go out and tell Tommy it's alright and we are going to win this game. We don't need enemies on our own team"

President Obama has a huge task in front of him. He's standing on the mound and the ball is in his hand. We don't need enemies on our own team. If someone tries to engage you in negative criticism about President Obama, stop, look and listen, and then ask them where they are going? Don't play another man's game and don't be nobodies fool.

Oh Crap said...

@Carey, ok well, since you keep skipping over the comments on Ethnic Notions, I'll take your non-answer as a no, you haven't seen it. You really should. I'm curious if you agree with the conclusion that people like Grace Jones and Prince go in the "minstrelsy" category.

I keep asking along these lines because you are advancing the same argument about this video, that it somehow damages us, culturally, and now the suggestion is that it damages Obama personally. Yours is an old old old line of argument dating back several generations, and you could be right about it. I just happen to disagree and so won't be getting bent out of shape about BFF, based on what I know.

Like I said a couple days ago, mine is one person's opinion. It's fine if you don't agree with it.

Illmath said...

Contemporary Plantation Negros (Im not saying Respectable Negros) will find themselves bothered by this video largely because they harbor a deep seeded impulse to impress white people.

Decades of "Black History Month" ingrained within them notions of Negro success characterized by the celebration of black precedent: "The first black college graduate". "The first black baseball player". "The first black mayor". "The first black patent holder". "The first black person to publish a book". "The first black millionaire." "The first black Miss America". "The first black scientist". "The first black person employed by IBM." "The first black movie director". "The first black person to make use of the peanut".

Though shrouded by the Plantation in the accoutrements of prestige and accomplishment these ... memes ... proved to be a double edged sword. On the surface they celebrated black achievement. Beneath the surface they chiseled in stone the suggestion that Black people never did shit before this "first".

The first black "medical doctor" was NOT James McCune Smith, in 1837. Brother Smith was beaten to that distinction by a brother who existed at least 6 or 7,000 years prior. But that's another story. Buying into this particular chain of memes serves to book-end and frame the Negro worldview and self-perception.

Today's Plantation Negro is anesthetized by the warm fuzzy of having "The First Black President" in the White House. They perceive value in things that are ultimately valueless. "The First Black President" is capitalizing on Plantation Negro solidarity while providing a diversion for those less invested in America to rob this nation blind, entangle us in unwinnable wars and to make Americans slaves to a creeping Technocratic bureaucracy and totalitarian police state.

The choreographed irreverence of this particular video is memetic genius. Just because the President is black does not make the Presidency nor the Plantation sacrosanct.

Director Martin Usher and comedian James Davis have not produced coonery but probably the most important black commentary about the Presidency since Frederick Douglas waxed poetic about Abraham Lincoln."
DV

Illmath said...

For the record I dig you all..I know you're all busy with new posts but no one wants to debate the point that was made? Have I made you all think?

CareyCarey said...

Well Illmath, there's not much to debate, I actually agree with much of what you've said. I don't necessarily agree with your opening, but I agree with the body of your comment.

"Contemporary Plantation Negros (Im not saying Respectable Negros"?

Anyway, my style of moving a messages is somewhat different than the average blogger. Not that it's better, but different. So to that point (and I said I agreed), check out this post. We are addressing similar issues. In particular, "the first negro & black history month"

HERE: http://careycarey-carrymehome.blogspot.com/2010/09/jewish-community-wikk-never-allows.html

chaunceydevega said...

@Illmath. Sorry for the absence. I was letting you all fight this one out. I absolutely don't believe in bounding ourselves by the white gaze. But I do think we need to impress ourselves. Moreover, we need to expand our boundaries of what blackness is. Sadly, many of us, black folks in particular have internalized the worst sense of what it means to be "ghetto" as authentic blackness. Sad but true.

All in all. This satire is not genius. Far from it. Wocka flocka barack minstrel coonage is just that. Nothing more.