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23 Times America Failed Black People in 2014

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border

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I don't consider J.Lo to be white and I never have. Shes a person of color and I've always (and I'm sure most black people) have considered her a part of the community rather than not.

I just meant in general, not you specifically :)

If the article's author is willing to acknowledge J-Lo's ethnicity, then this tirade is over the mere mentioning of Iggy Azalea's name in passing ("As we await the premiere of Jennifer Lopez and Iggy Azalea’s new music video..."). Welcome to the clickbait rage generation machine :\
 

Hylian7

Member
I don't know if this has been mentioned, but shouldn't the Kim Kardashian photo shoot and it's racist origins be on this list?
 
I just meant in general, not you specifically :)

If the article's author is willing to acknowledge J-Lo's ethnicity, then this tirade is over the mere mentioning of Iggy Azalea's name in passing ("As we await the premiere of Jennifer Lopez and Iggy Azalea’s new music video..."). Welcome to the clickbait rage generation machine :\

But that's actually dismissing what's been happening. It's not just the vogue article. It's America at large. Vogue isn't the first to passively dismiss the black community's contribution to culture phenomena. It's not click bait. At this point I'm not sure you even read the article. If we look at the vogue article:

“For years it was exactly the opposite; a large butt was not something one aspired to, rather something one tried to tame in countless exercise classes,” the writer mused. “Even in fashion, that daring creative space where nothing is ever off limits, the booty has traditionally been shunned.”
Well that's not true. A specific and largely known subset of the black community vocally praised butts for decades. (Rap, R&B)

Perhaps we have Jennifer Lopez to thank (or blame?) for sparking the booty movement. When she first arrived on the scene in the late nineties, a lot of the buzz surrounding her focused on the back of her voluptuous body. Her derrière quite literally stood out against the other sex symbols of the moment, signaling a shift away from the waif era of Gwyneth Paltrow and Kate Moss and the outrageously large-breasted Pam Anderson. Lopez’s behind was so unique, and evidently so valuable, there were rumors she had taken out insurance worth millions to protect the asset.
So again. They are crediting J.Lo and not certain subsets of the black community. I can list about 30 or so songs before J.LO ever hit the stage that talked about it. Sir Mix-a-lot's Baby Got Back in particular.

Here's what you say:
All they actually said is a dreadfully non-commital statement: "Perhaps we have Jennifer Lopez to thank (or blame?) for sparking the booty movement," which I don't think is that horribly offensive. I hate that these clickbait articles seem to rely on pretty huge distortions, and rely that people will not bother reading the actual source material.

Here's what they say:
Which brings us full circle to J. Lo—the original trailblazing butt girl—and the imminent video for “Booty,” which she teased last week with the clip below. It features the 45-year-old doused in what looks like Vaseline or honey, prompting listeners to “Throw up your hands if you love a big booty.” It’s safe to say that, this time around, the world is thoroughly ready for the jelly.
"Original trailblazing butt girl". You're being dishonest :/

There are a plethora of booty songs and music videos from R&B artists and rappers in the EARLY 90's. But we have J.Lo to thank (or blame). Uh huh. I don't mind J.Lo being mentioned but she's not where it originated from. They make no bones about attributing this phenomena to the wrong person and completely ignore the (rap, video vixen, R&B) community it originated from.

Their timeline is:

J.LO - originator
Destiny's Child
Kim Kardashian
Jen Shelter
Miley Cyrus
Shakira and Rihanna (Shakira was showing off her butt long before Kim, Jen and Miley)
Beyonce (again)
Niki Minaj (and she's ironically mentioned because of her remix of sir mix-a-lot's baby got back. How blind are these people)
J.LO (Full circle)

I'm not even sure if you read the article at this point.
 

gerg

Member
The fact that the Vogue article uses the phrase "fashion, that daring creative space where nothing is ever off limits" is enough to discredit it in its entirety.
 

border

Member
I'm not even sure if you read the article at this point.

And your claim was that they "credited" Iggy Azalea, so let's maybe take 1 step down off the high horse.

I take their focus on J-Lo is not as originator, but the person that brought this ass-focused ethos into the cultural mainstream. Almost inadvertently so, since she never sang about her ass or did much of anything to explicitly call attention to it. Her butt was the subject of a million and one lame light night talk show jokes, but rarely did she actually discuss it. For whatever reason, she was the spark that started a fire.

Part of this comes down to the ridiculous expectation that a shitty fluff article from a fashion magazine should be some kind nuanced and well-researched chronicle of music and culture history. These stories are meant as a dumb and sappy nostalgia-fueled walk down memory lane full of familiar celebrity names and faces. I'm not sure what's lost by failing to mention a million nameless ass-shaking girls in rap/rock videos. There are tons of songs about really hot juicy asses, but the focus of the article is obviously about female Top 40 artists known for their particular asses - Sir Mix A Lot is not really a pertinent name to bring up.
 
MY roommate has a copy of Thug Kitchen. I asked her about it and tried to get into a discussion about the book origin. She just thought it was a funny joke.
 
I would say we've also failed our president by not giving him and his administration a little goddamn credit for 10 straight months of job growth, an economy that is basically booming, a Dow that has gained more than 10,000 points since he took office, lowest health care costs in decades, uninsured rates falling by 30%, and 'obamacare' not costing nearly as much as everyone thought.

Nope. Can't have that. Get that black guy out of there.
 
And your claim was that they "credited" Iggy Azalea, so let's maybe take 1 step down off the high horse.

I take their focus on J-Lo is not as originator, but the person that brought this ass-focused ethos into the cultural mainstream. Almost inadvertently so, since she never sang about her ass or did much of anything to explicitly call attention to it. Her butt was the subject of a million and one lame light night talk show jokes, but rarely did she actually discuss it. For whatever reason, she was the spark that started a fire.

Part of this comes down to the ridiculous expectation that a shitty fluff article from a fashion magazine should be some kind nuanced and well-researched chronicle of music and culture history. These stories are meant as a dumb and sappy nostalgia-fueled walk down memory lane full of familiar celebrity names and faces. I'm not sure what's lost by failing to mention a million nameless ass-shaking girls in rap/rock videos. There are tons of songs about really hot juicy asses, but the focus of the article is obviously about female Top 40 artists known for their particular asses - Sir Mix A Lot is not really a pertinent name to bring up.

Except when you actually read the article,

You're the one who claimed I didn't read the article. I'm just throwing that claim back at you. My initial post that you responded to had nothing to do with the article per se. Just the general tone that America has.

I'm not at all on any high horse. You're the one who keeps talking about tirade's, click bait articles and dishonest reporting and outrage as if you're some arbiter for calm discussion, truth and rationality.

Welcome to the clickbait rage generation machine :\
There's also the frustrating trend of "When a hispanic person does something I don't like, I'm just going to consider them white so it fits my personal black vs white narrative."

Lastly the annoyance again is not just specifically with this article. Saying oh it's just fluff is fine. The annoyance is this is another example in a long list of problems -- which, shocker, the OP is about. But you seem intent on telling people in this thread that their opinions on how their culture is being appropriated is invalid so I'll step back and let you continue to do that.
 

gerg

Member
Part of this comes down to the ridiculous expectation that a shitty fluff article from a fashion magazine should be some kind nuanced and well-researched chronicle of music and culture history. These stories are meant as a dumb and sappy nostalgia-fueled walk down memory lane full of familiar celebrity names and faces. I'm not sure what's lost by failing to mention a million nameless ass-shaking girls in rap/rock videos. There are tons of songs about really hot juicy asses, but the focus of the article is obviously about female Top 40 artists known for their particular asses - Sir Mix A Lot is not really a pertinent name to bring up.

I think therein lies the problem. Sure, we might always expect Vogue to write "shitty fluff" articles, but why is it that the familiar names and faces they mention are the ones they are, and not those that Foxy Fox 39 alludes to? Ultimately a lot of culture is composed from shitty fluff like Vogue.
 

border

Member
You're the one who claimed I didn't read the article. I'm just throwing that claim back at you.

That was the general "you", not specifcally you. Becomes more clear when reading the sentence in its entirity: "Except when you actually read the article, you see that they also gave credit and mentions to Destiny's Child, Beyonce, etc...."

I think therein lies the problem. Sure, we might always expect Vogue to write "shitty fluff" articles, but why is it that the familiar names and faces they mention are the ones they are, and not those that Foxy Fox 39 alludes to? Ultimately a lot of culture is composed from shitty fluff like Vogue.

What other familiar names and faces should be written about, if you're writing a piece on notable female celebrities who have embraced the fetishization of their own asses?
 

Infinite

Member
I disagree. People can talk and discuss this all they want. It won't change a damn thing. The people you are trying to reach aren't listening. The only way to make them listen is by action. In my daily white life I never see white on black racism. In fact I see more racism towards middle eastern people and Mexicans than blacks. And racism isn't just a white problem. There are some black people out there that straight up hate white people. I've experienced that myself in customer service.

What I'm trying to say is racism is only stamped out by action. Police need an independent regulatory protocol that for example reviews bodycam footage and handles complaints. Get racially insensitive gov representatives out. Vote them out. I just see a lot of talk and most people that talk can't even be bothered to vote. I mean when you take no action how do you ever expect change?

You're all over the place and I don't think you have a good grasp or understanding on these sorts of issues being discussed here. For example, you bring up interpersonal racism that YOU alone experience in your daily, in an attempt to minimize the experiences others which is a pretty shitty thing to do, in a discussion regarding systemic racism to prove it doesn't exist, or something. I don't get why internet discourse is comprised of people who don't really understand what they're talking about but act if though they do anyway.

I'll address the bold point though we will not get to a solution in that manner until the issue is made a hot button political topic that elections are won and lost over. That isn't possible without having a national conversation on the topic. This isn't done without getting the majority of the country, the voters, to realize that these are grave injustices done to their fellow man and empathize with the cause. This isn't going to magically happen if everyone stays silent about it until election day. If the minority are the only ones who cares about issues that effect the minority than voting will get them nowhere. Furthermore you're serving to simply silence people. Why are you telling us to go do something about it and not joining us in doing something about it? That's because talking about these things makes you uncomfortable. Good I say. America ought to be uncomfortable.
 

Malyse

Member
4,5,6,9,10,11,12,14,16,17,18,21. In these you are either reaching for something not really there (like the Ebola thing) or it's some silly pop culture/social media thing. Not saying you can't be upset by the small things but honestly they seem rather trivial and unimportant in the grand scheme of things actually facing black people.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallacy_of_relative_privation

Just because some things are worse doesn't remotely make them okay. And I'll be honest: microaggressive bullshit racism is fucking infuriating mainly because people defend it with some tired ass "well it's not that bad" bullshit. It's like it you lightly poison me and say, well I didn't kill you, I just gave you an upset stomach. How about you not poison me at all?

Now to get into specifics:
4. Black culture and music kept getting appropriated by white artists.

Guess this ride just ain't gonna ever stop. If I traced a drawing you did and made millions off it, would you be pissed? Then you can see why this complaint is valid.

5. No one cared about Ebola until it started affecting white people.

What race were the american workers who got infected?

6. 12 Years a Slave won Best Picture and this is how front pages looked:

What the fuck is wrong with you that would make you think this is okay?

9. Gap thought an "MLK Day Sale" would be cool to launch.

It's disrespectful to the man's legacy to not even hand wave to what the day is about. Martin didn't die for that.

10. People dressed as Ray and Janay Rice for Halloween — in blackface.

What the fuck is wrong with you that would make you think this is okay?

11. A school served stereotypes in a "Black History Month" meal.

What the fuck is wrong with you that would make you think this is okay?

12. Vogue credited JLo and Iggy Azalea for pioneering the "booty trend."

See number 4. People have been shaming the black female body for decades, but now that some non black are doing it, everything is a-okay! Right.

14. Time magazine wrote an entire expose on the word "bae."

Read the linked articles. What Time did (particularly with the third) is v problematic.

16. Nicki Minaj and Rihanna endured racist slut-shaming for baring all.

See 12.

17. Variety credited Elvis Presley for inventing rock 'n' roll.

See 4.

18. Lifetime and VH1 gave white women "sassy, black" life coaches.

See 11. Black people aren't stereotypes.

21. The SketchFactor app helped people avoid black neighborhoods.

What the fuck is wrong with you that would make you think this is okay?
 
im kind of sad to hear that Thug Kitchen got shit on. They make great recipes for a great cause (veganism).

The site isnt popular because its writes its recipes with abrasiveness, but because it has really fucking great simple recipes that taste great.

i dont really have any other problems with the list ( as a white man in my 20s, im just here to listen and read).

i also think straight G strings are kind of on the cusp of acceptable attire, Myle cyrus was also shit all over this year for baring more than people bargained for.
 
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