Unforgivable Blackness…

12:25 pm EST July 22nd, 2009 | News | 13 Comments

The President of the United States is a black man, but some things still need to change

Boris Kodjoe owns a mansion in Atlanta. But when he goes to answer his door, the black actor knows what it’s like to be an outcast.

‘When I’m opening the door of my own house, someone will ask me where the man of the house is, implying that I’m staff,’ said Kodjoe, best known for starring in Showtime’s ‘Soul Food.’

It’s a feeling some African-Americans say is all too common, even to this day in America: No matter your status or prominence in society, you’re still typecast. That’s why the recent arrest of Henry Louis Gates Jr., one of the nation’s most prominent African-American scholars, has stirred outrage and debate.

Jelani Cobb, an author and professor at Spelman College in Atlanta, says it’s troubling on many levels when ‘one of the most recognizable African-Americans in the country can be arrested in his own home and have to justify being in his own home.’

Topic: Race, Racism

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13 Responses to “Unforgivable Blackness…”

OhCrapIHaveACrushOnSarahPalin says:

July 22, 2009 at 1:15 pm

The President of the United States is a black man, but some things still need to change

Nooo but that’s impossible!

Everything DID change on Nov 4, 8:02 Pacific Time daggnabbut! That’s why they also didn’t have a Nazi march in Paris TX yesterday, either. Nope, nothing to see there, it’s all the fault of those Black Radical Extremists like Henry Louis Gates, making elitist Harvard kids think anti-white thoughts!

Those cargo shorts, polo shirts, and dorky penny loafers shall not hide you, Henry X!!
Duros62 says:

July 22, 2009 at 1:22 pm

And ACORN, don’t forget.

And such as.
Frank DiSalle says:

July 22, 2009 at 3:07 pm

All right, all right… Enough already!

It sucks being black. Got it.

It sucks being poor; it sucks being old; it sucks being fat; it sucks having a heavy accent; it sucks looking unattractive; it sucks being handicapped; it sucks being chronically ill; it sucks being mentally ill; it sucks being an ex-convict; it sucks being a combat veteran; it sucks being gay; it sucks being transgendered; it sucks being smart, and not having a diploma.

Now pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and get back on that horse!
Mike says:

July 22, 2009 at 3:28 pm

All right, all right… Enough already!

When you and your fellow Republicans stop aiding and abetting racists, you can say that. Until then, shut up and stop being such a complete scumbag.
Duros62 says:

July 22, 2009 at 3:46 pm

Have you ever read Black Like Me, Frank? Might be worth a re-read.

That goes for a lot of you trolls here, too.
Quaker in a Basement says:

July 22, 2009 at 4:34 pm

‘When I’m opening the door of my own house, someone will ask me where the man of the house is, implying that I’m staff,’

Perfectly rational assumption, right ‘wingers? Everyone knows that black folks all live in the slums.
Randy Brown says:

July 22, 2009 at 6:11 pm

Have you ever read “Black Like Me,” Frank?

Also check out the 1970 role-reversal movie, Watermelon Man, directed by Melvin Van Peebles of “Sweet Sweetback” infamy.
Frank DiSalle says:

July 22, 2009 at 6:36 pm

I saw the movie with James Whitmore, Duros, and Watermelon Man with Godfrey Cambridge.

Here’s a story for you : My ex-wife is Puerto Rican, olive brown skin. My first son was very fair, blonde hair and all. When he was born, my wife was determined to move to a nearby wealthy “bedroom community” called Bronxville. I can’t tell you how many times I came home to find her in tears. Why?
Because she would take our son into town in the stroller, and when the locals would “ooh” and “aah” over him, eventually the conversation would turn to carrying him and delivering him. At that point, they would be astonished : “Ooooh! He’s YOURS?”
They had mistaken her for a nanny. She was mortified. My next son looked like her. Now the tune changed : “Oooooh! They’re BROTHERS?“\

I don’t need no damn books!

If we continue to treat every suffering black person like a poster child for slavery, there will never be racial equality. The only hope under those circumstances is that there will be enough intermarriage for races to be indistinguishable. Do you think young black men will stop committing crimes soon? Do you see young black men stepping up to the responsibilities of fatherhood soon?
There , I said it ! Now call me a racist, because I pointed out that the Emperor has no clothes.
jrfunkenstein says:

July 23, 2009 at 12:01 am

‘Do you think young black men will stop committing crimes soon? Do you see young black men stepping up to the responsibilities of fatherhood soon?’

Dude, I’ve actually heard of young, ignorant White guys fathering kids and bailing on them. One or two has actually committed crimes.

And not just Kevin Federline or Levi Johnston.

Too bad you didn’t learn anything from your own story about your ex; I hope your son did.
Frank DiSalle says:

July 23, 2009 at 1:15 am

J R … There are no stories about white Harvard professors getting locked up for mouthing off to cops.
And it’s not white crime that is hurting the black community, or white teenage girls having illegitimate children that hurts the black community.
Who do you think we’re talking about here?
What’s the title of the thread?

What should I have learned, J R? Tell me. I can’t wait.
Indeed says:

July 23, 2009 at 1:24 am

What should I have learned, J R? Tell me. I can’t wait.

How about to keep your virtual mouth shut. That would be a nice start.

I believe it was Honest Abe who once observed, “It is far better to not make* a blog comment and be thought a racist wingnut douchebag, then to go ahead and post a really stupid and plainly racist comment and totally remove all doubt.”

*Ol’ Abe loved to boldly split them infinitives
wiz says:

July 23, 2009 at 6:20 am

To paraphrase:
‘I was married to a Puerto Rican, ergo, I understand the minority plight and it’s really no big deal, stop squawking and just take it, hell, most of you darkies cause your own problems anyway….don’t call me racist, you know its true..’

Racist? I doubt it; more like ignorantly naive

and for the record, you could fill countless stadiums with the generations of blacks (and other minorities) who have (and still do) continue to get back on that fucking horse every day, despite the prevelance of inequities that still abound or the naysayers like yourself who thinks we doth protest too much…
Frank DiSalle says:

July 23, 2009 at 12:13 pm

Indeed and wiz: I would be most charitable were I to say you misunderstood me.
Neither of you knows what I was talking about, and it is quite possible you don’t know what you’re talking about.
Wiz, there is a time to choose your battles. It is not about who takes guff from the man, who protests too much, and who gets back on the horse. It’s about what’s important, and what isn’t. When detectives come to your house, and say, “Can we look around?”, that’s not the time to indignantly shout, “Not without a warrant, pig!”
Indeed, you’re just a dope. The saying, so apropos of your comment, is often attributed to Woodrow Wilson, but goes back much further [possibly Socrates]: “It is better to keep your mouth closed, and be thought a fool, then to open it, and remove all doubt.”
If it is racist to speak negatively of blacks, why is NOT racist to speak negatively of whites?
My point was not that it is not hard to be black in America, nor was it that it was just as hard to be obese or old or poor. My point was that life is not always hard, relentless and unredeeming.
How many people would love to live in a house paid for by an employer? How many teachers would love to teach at Harvard? How many scholars would love to have their work recognized around the world?
Is the lesson of Professor Gates’ life to be that he spent a few hours in jail?