Being a beer lover I was pleased to hear of “The Beer Summit” being the theater where we can sing Kumbaya or not. This divisive topic about the arrest of professor Gates can be a valuable lesson if we grab it. What are the lessons we can learn? This is my list. 1. Racism is still a [...]
Category Archive for 'Race'
Ask a Mexican part I
Posted in Entertainment, Race, Racism on Jul 16th, 2009
Gustavo Arellano is not your typical Mexican on the street. You might not recognize his name or face but you may have read his nationally syndicated column, “Ask a Mexican.” Mr. Arellano is out to educate whites about Hispanics, break the myths and stereotypes associated with Mexican people, and make some bucks doing it. His column [...]
Two-and-half weeks ago, actor Kirstie Alley, famed of ’80s TV sitcom Cheers, Jenny Craig weight loss ads, and sashaying in her hosiery on Oprah, told me, on Twitter, that African-Americans and Italians are “more free and fun and light hearted” than, I guess, people who aren’t African-American or Italian. When she said this, I was [...]
For Rotimi Adebari, It Didn’t Pay to Be “The Man”
Posted in Race on Jun 9th, 2009
You might not know who Rotimi Adebari is. I sure as heck didn’t.
Between June 2007 and 2008, he was the mayor of Portlaoise, Ireland.
Apparently in Ireland, when you’re the mayor, you keep your “day job”. Being the Mayor is not your jay-oh.
The New Blackface of Fashion.
Posted in Advertising, Media, Race on Jun 3rd, 2009
Freelance writer, novelist, and screenwriter Erica Kennedy‘s Facebook group, Feminista’s Advertising Hall of Fame (or Lame?), documents the “best and worst examples of commercial advertising.” In fact, this winner, above, isn’t an ad, as American Apparel rushed to make clear, shortly after the page ran in i-D Magazine back in 2007, but part of that [...]
Differences in the conditions borne by Black and white Americans can be measured by all kinds of metrics—life expectancy, infant mortality, rates of incarceration, and many more. But according to Smart Money magazine, when it comes to quantifying the economic disparities between Black and white Americans, median net worth may be the most trenchant and [...]
There is Always a First Time
Posted in Culture, Economics, Education, Race on May 13th, 2009
This is an exceedingly simple story. Yet from the first time I heard it, I sensed there was something very tender about it. The woman on the left is Tracie. She was my boss for over six years, until I was laid off recently. The man on the right is her co-worker, Mike. The story [...]
Things getting better?
Posted in Race, Uncategorized on May 5th, 2009
A recent NY Times article described interviews with a number of largely male black professionals who said that their relationships with white co-workers had improved since Obama’s election. The subtext of most accounts was white people are being nicer to us(my words). What a concept. So I decided to do a survey. Before you read [...]
…And a Pair of Buck Teeth, Pronto!
Posted in Advertising, Entertainment, Media, Race on Apr 29th, 2009
Thankfully, it appears that the Six Flags chain has retired last year’s version of its current ad campaign, the extensive run of which led me to write the following post on my blog, MEDIA ASSASSIN. —Harry Allen I’m surprised Racialicious hasn’t picked this apart, yet: Six Flags’ “More Flags, More Fun!” campaign, and its English-gargling [...]
Fight the White Rap History Rewrite.
Posted in Entertainment, Hip-Hop, Media, Race on Apr 22nd, 2009
I don’t know how, until this very morning, I missed the April 15 New York Times profile of white rapper Asher Roth by former VIBE music editor Jon Caramanica (“To Be Young, Rapping and White,” it was near sacrilegously titled), but it was certainly worth the wait.