The Black Informant

This was one of those articles I started to skip, but as I kept reading, it gave me a good laugh with some pause.

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She is a best-selling author known for novels about vampires. He is a minister who says he has seen and talked with angels. Anne Rice and Howard Storm have never met, yet they are working together to promote Storm’s book, My Descent Into Death: A Second Chance at Life (Doubleday, $14.95).

Rice sees nothing strange about their collaboration. “Vampires and angels are very similar,” she says. “My discussion of vampires has always presented them as sort of the elegant inverse of angels.”

Rice says she, like Storm, was a “fashionable atheist” for many years. She re-embraced her Roman Catholic faith …(more)

This is a very common misconception and very self-explanatory. I think that most of us have plenty of stories where someone (maybe even you) was made to feel “less than” because you have never experienced the “hard life” of the inner-city. Inner-city life is seen as a rite-of-passage if you are to be considered to be “black”. Miss this opportunity, and you may as well be wearing your argyle socks and checkered shirts in the tradition with Steve Eurkle to some. Simply put, if you were raised in suburbia, you are soft.

For the many black Americans that buy into this ideology, this is used as a way to eliminate the possibility of parity with other races (i.e. the image of struggle must always synonymous with blackness. Take away struggle we have lost our chance to put “whitey” under our foot. Our very blackness may be at risk as well). When you look at past history in this country, white people have walked on the moon, built great industries, developed ways for us to travel faster from city to city, developed vast communication networks, etc. The one thing that many whites have not been able to accomplish is to survive in the inner-city of today. In fact, they have a name for it, it’s called “white flight”. For people who carry this “rite-of-passage” ideology, surviving inner-city life is the one experience that we can honestly say that we have greater ownership than whites.

In the America of today, there is an increasing amount of black Americans that are born and raised in the suburbs rather than the inner-cities across this nation, however, this rite-of-passage ideology still exist. One place you will see it of course is in much of hip-hop music. Entertainers will boast about their “hard-knock life” in the hood while at the same time spend 12+ songs on their Cd’s trying to convince you that they are still “keepin’ it real” in their million dollar mansions. One of the worst yet amusing examples I have seen this was with my friend’s younger sister. This girl always prided herself on being “down”, however, this one particular day she took it a little to far. One day, all of a sudden this girl from NORTH CAROLINA began to use dialect as though she was from Brooklyn, New York. AND SHE WAS SERIOUS (Yikes)!!! Being from New Jersey myself, I quickly pick up on how she pronounced the word “talk” “Tawk“. Needless to say, I had to tease her about this for days.

Why was this young girl so carelessly willing to trade in her southern dialect for a northern one? Did she feel that she could not be accepted acknowledging her “rural” roots? Now granted, this was a very light incident, however, this is something that is played out in many suburban communities: Kids trying to be “inner-city” on Mockingbird Lane.

There is nothing wrong in acknowledging where you came from and/or being proud of it. Unfortunately, we set up OUR race for further inter-divisions (if that is a word) when we equate “blackness” with a person’s place of origin.

This is a very common misconception and very self-explanatory. I think that most of us have plenty of stories where someone (maybe even you) was made to feel “less than” because you have never experienced the “hard life” of the inner-city. Inner-city life is seen as a rite-of-passage if you are to be considered to be “black”. Miss this opportunity, and you may as well be wearing your argyle socks and checkered shirts in the tradition with Steve Eurkle to some. Simply put, if you were raised in suburbia, you are soft.

For the many black Americans that buy into this ideology, this is used as a way to eliminate the possibility of parity with other races (i.e. the image of struggle must always synonymous with blackness. Take away struggle we have lost our chance to put “whitey” under our foot. Our very blackness may be at risk as well). When you look at past history in this country, white people have walked on the moon, built great industries, developed ways for us to travel faster from city to city, developed vast communication networks, etc. The one thing that many whites have not been able to accomplish is to survive in the inner-city of today. In fact, they have a name for it, it’s called “white flight”. For people who carry this “rite-of-passage” ideology, surviving inner-city life is the one experience that we can honestly say that we have greater ownership than whites.

In the America of today, there is an increasing amount of black Americans that are born and raised in the suburbs rather than the inner-cities across this nation, however, this rite-of-passage ideology still exist. One place you will see it of course is in much of hip-hop music. Entertainers will boast about their “hard-knock life” in the hood while at the same time spend 12+ songs on their Cd’s trying to convince you that they are still “keepin’ it real” in their million dollar mansions. One of the worst yet amusing examples I have seen this was with my friend’s younger sister. This girl always prided herself on being “down”, however, this one particular day she took it a little to far. One day, all of a sudden this girl from NORTH CAROLINA began to use dialect as though she was from Brooklyn, New York. AND SHE WAS SERIOUS (Yikes)!!! Being from New Jersey myself, I quickly pick up on how she pronounced the word “talk” “Tawk“. Needless to say, I had to tease her about this for days.

Why was this young girl so carelessly willing to trade in her southern dialect for a northern one? Did she feel that she could not be accepted acknowledging her “rural” roots? Now granted, this was a very light incident, however, this is something that is played out in many suburban communities: Kids trying to be “inner-city” on Mockingbird Lane.

There is nothing wrong in acknowledging where you came from and/or being proud of it. Unfortunately, we set up OUR race for further inter-divisions (if that is a word) when we equate “blackness” with a person’s place of origin.

The funny thing about my site is that I get very good traffic, but very few comments. Once in a while when I do get a good one, I like sharing it with the rest of my readers. I really enjoy reading the life experiences of others like yourselves. There is so much to learn :)!

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I can relate to this article. I am a “product” of a 40-year multi-racial marriage. My father is African-American and my mother is Japanese. I grew up having to fight other black kids because I was Japanese, Japanese kids because I was black, and white kids, well just because. I was told repeatedly to my face, “Your not black!” and just had to deal with it through adolescence. I tried to date sistas, but I wasn’t “cool enough”. I was a shy, athletic, nerdy type of guy who was into jazz and cruising. Sistas just didn’t want to be with me.

I eventually joined the military and had relationships with African-American women, but they never turned out to be anything serious. We were just too young, had no desire on settling down, and probably just a bit too wild. In fact, I dated any type of woman, it didn’t matter - I just wanted a woman! In my mid-twenties, I started to become tired of the club scene and focused on finding someone my parents would like. Of course, my first choice was a beautiful sista to whom I was greatly interested. My downfall? I wasn’t “hip” enough; further, I wasn’t “black enough”. The cycle began to repeat itself. Unfortunately it did not work and I was kicked to the curb. I tried a few other times focusing on a woman like my sister – strong, smart, level headed, and compassionate. I wasn’t focused too much on wealth or material issues; I just wanted a woman who would help me raise a family together.

Eventually, my scope expanded, my attitude changed, and I began to include women who also resembled my mother. I finally married a Japanese woman, not because whatever stereotypes, but because she reminded me of home, carried all the family qualities I desired, and just hit it off. I am absolutely positive there are plenty of beautiful black women I could have married, but our paths did not cross. I was fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time to meet my wife now. Yes, I do enjoy doing things in with my “mixed kids” not because I feel they are different in any way, it is because I love them. They are my ONLY children and I am their father. There should never be something wrong with that.

I love my father; he is a strong, positive black man who raised me to be just as strong and positive – in which he succeeded; and it is my goal to live my life in honor of my mentor - regardless of my being mixed. At the same time, I am extremely thankful to my mother who taught me her culture, her religion, and how to be a compassionate man. Both parents showed me how to make it work without having to give up too much of your spirit or your soul. They loved each other 40 years ago, and still love each other today. That is my desire, my game plan, and my goal. Love has everything to do with it.

Is it difficult being mixed? Yes, most definitely. Am I happy to be a African American? Of course I do, I would never trade it for the world. Bottom line - I respect and cherish both ethnicities and will be happy regardless of the thoughts of others…and I will teach my three boys the same way.

The funny thing about my site is that I get very good traffic, but very few comments. Once in a while when I do get a good one, I like sharing it with the rest of my readers. I really enjoy reading the life experiences of others like yourselves. There is so much to learn :)!

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I can relate to this article. I am a “product” of a 40-year multi-racial marriage. My father is African-American and my mother is Japanese. I grew up having to fight other black kids because I was Japanese, Japanese kids because I was black, and white kids, well just because. I was told repeatedly to my face, “Your not black!” and just had to deal with it through adolescence. I tried to date sistas, but I wasn’t “cool enough”. I was a shy, athletic, nerdy type of guy who was into jazz and cruising. Sistas just didn’t want to be with me.

I eventually joined the military and had relationships with African-American women, but they never turned out to be anything serious. We were just too young, had no desire on settling down, and probably just a bit too wild. In fact, I dated any type of woman, it didn’t matter - I just wanted a woman! In my mid-twenties, I started to become tired of the club scene and focused on finding someone my parents would like. Of course, my first choice was a beautiful sista to whom I was greatly interested. My downfall? I wasn’t “hip” enough; further, I wasn’t “black enough”. The cycle began to repeat itself. Unfortunately it did not work and I was kicked to the curb. I tried a few other times focusing on a woman like my sister – strong, smart, level headed, and compassionate. I wasn’t focused too much on wealth or material issues; I just wanted a woman who would help me raise a family together.

Eventually, my scope expanded, my attitude changed, and I began to include women who also resembled my mother. I finally married a Japanese woman, not because whatever stereotypes, but because she reminded me of home, carried all the family qualities I desired, and just hit it off. I am absolutely positive there are plenty of beautiful black women I could have married, but our paths did not cross. I was fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time to meet my wife now. Yes, I do enjoy doing things in with my “mixed kids” not because I feel they are different in any way, it is because I love them. They are my ONLY children and I am their father. There should never be something wrong with that.

I love my father; he is a strong, positive black man who raised me to be just as strong and positive – in which he succeeded; and it is my goal to live my life in honor of my mentor - regardless of my being mixed. At the same time, I am extremely thankful to my mother who taught me her culture, her religion, and how to be a compassionate man. Both parents showed me how to make it work without having to give up too much of your spirit or your soul. They loved each other 40 years ago, and still love each other today. That is my desire, my game plan, and my goal. Love has everything to do with it.

Is it difficult being mixed? Yes, most definitely. Am I happy to be a African American? Of course I do, I would never trade it for the world. Bottom line - I respect and cherish both ethnicities and will be happy regardless of the thoughts of others…and I will teach my three boys the same way.

People of multi-ethnic origin in many cases have been faced with just as much racial bigotry as most people with two black parents. This is especially true if their skin tone happens to be of a lighter shade. Listen to many of these multi-ethnic people and they will tell you that at some point in their childhood, they had to make the decision of what race they would embrace as their “true identity”. For the ones that choose to be considered “black” the question then arises weather or not the perceptions of the black community has anything to do with their choice. The same applies if this person chooses to identify themselves as white. Of course, the choice of what ethnicity this person will embrace is virtually eliminated if their skin tone is of a darker shade.

The real hypocrisy behind this perception by many in the black community is that many black Americans are not full-blooded Africans themselves. In fact, one would be very hard-pressed to find one black American that has a consistent 100% African bloodline. History proves the fact that a good percentage of us have either white or Native American blood flowing through our veins. The Native American part I think most of us can deal with, but when you mention “white”, the doubts and regrets begin to surface in our minds. It is true that white slave owners did in fact rape some of their women slaves, but this was not always the case. There are many stories throughout history where these two groups were brought together through love on many occasions (despite the fact society did not accept these types of unions).

Regardless if it was rape or love, we as black Americans are all the end result of multi-ethnic unions. This is why the whole argument that blacks should not marry any other race for preservation sake is ridiculous. Today, we are faced with the choice to either deny our “full” history, or embrace it and learn from it.

As for me personally, I am married to a very beautiful and wonderful black woman with whom I have absolutely no regrets on marrying. In case you are wondering, I do not fantasize on being with any other woman except the one that I am married to. This may seem hard to believe for some, but it is very true.

I have met many brothas who have chosen differently in who they married (not too many cases the other way around, although they do exist) who could tell you story after story of friends and family members who have virtually disowned them because they feel that they for some reason have betrayed the black race.

Patti Hairston, 44, elementary school teacher, gives us an example of this “assumed” self-hate one must have to consider someone of another race:

I see my brothers on a daily basis taking so much pride in spending time with their mixed kids in the mall, in the park or just taking their kids shopping, and I often I wonder if this brother has any black kids who would love that same kind of attention or, better yet, just would love to be able to be in the presence of their daddy. When I see a brother with a nonblack woman he seems to be so proud to have her on his arm; I always pray that he’s with her because he loves her, not because she’s not black. For the black men who date white women exclusively, I realize there is a self-hatred going on. (…more)

(please note: There are many black men that share this same opinion just as Patti. This was just an example I found online)

The worst thing about all of this is that many of the children (to some degree) of these interracial relationships are made to feel “less-than” by both sides of their ethnic make-up.This is why as I mentioned earlier, many of them are forced by society to make the awful choice of what race they will identify with the most.

In the end, it is the responsibility of the parents to instill in their children the value of being made up of different races. Society will always look at the color of the skin, however, we begin to cross the line of destructive silliness when we make these individuals “choose a side.”

People of multi-ethnic origin in many cases have been faced with just as much racial bigotry as most people with two black parents. This is especially true if their skin tone happens to be of a lighter shade. Listen to many of these multi-ethnic people and they will tell you that at some point in their childhood, they had to make the decision of what race they would embrace as their “true identity”. For the ones that choose to be considered “black” the question then arises weather or not the perceptions of the black community has anything to do with their choice. The same applies if this person chooses to identify themselves as white. Of course, the choice of what ethnicity this person will embrace is virtually eliminated if their skin tone is of a darker shade.

The real hypocrisy behind this perception by many in the black community is that many black Americans are not full-blooded Africans themselves. In fact, one would be very hard-pressed to find one black American that has a consistent 100% African bloodline. History proves the fact that a good percentage of us have either white or Native American blood flowing through our veins. The Native American part I think most of us can deal with, but when you mention “white”, the doubts and regrets begin to surface in our minds. It is true that white slave owners did in fact rape some of their women slaves, but this was not always the case. There are many stories throughout history where these two groups were brought together through love on many occasions (despite the fact society did not accept these types of unions).

Regardless if it was rape or love, we as black Americans are all the end result of multi-ethnic unions. This is why the whole argument that blacks should not marry any other race for preservation sake is ridiculous. Today, we are faced with the choice to either deny our “full” history, or embrace it and learn from it.

As for me personally, I am married to a very beautiful and wonderful black woman with whom I have absolutely no regrets on marrying. In case you are wondering, I do not fantasize on being with any other woman except the one that I am married to. This may seem hard to believe for some, but it is very true.

I have met many brothas who have chosen differently in who they married (not too many cases the other way around, although they do exist) who could tell you story after story of friends and family members who have virtually disowned them because they feel that they for some reason have betrayed the black race.

Patti Hairston, 44, elementary school teacher, gives us an example of this “assumed” self-hate one must have to consider someone of another race:

I see my brothers on a daily basis taking so much pride in spending time with their mixed kids in the mall, in the park or just taking their kids shopping, and I often I wonder if this brother has any black kids who would love that same kind of attention or, better yet, just would love to be able to be in the presence of their daddy. When I see a brother with a nonblack woman he seems to be so proud to have her on his arm; I always pray that he’s with her because he loves her, not because she’s not black. For the black men who date white women exclusively, I realize there is a self-hatred going on. (…more)

(please note: There are many black men that share this same opinion just as Patti. This was just an example I found online)

The worst thing about all of this is that many of the children (to some degree) of these interracial relationships are made to feel “less-than” by both sides of their ethnic make-up.This is why as I mentioned earlier, many of them are forced by society to make the awful choice of what race they will identify with the most.

In the end, it is the responsibility of the parents to instill in their children the value of being made up of different races. Society will always look at the color of the skin, however, we begin to cross the line of destructive silliness when we make these individuals “choose a side.”

When Phillip L. Clay, Ph.D., was appointed as the chancellor of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on July 1, 2001, he became the highest-ranking Black official in the Institute’s 136-year history. The position of chancellor is one of the two most senior academic officers at MIT. As chancellor, Clay has oversight responsibility for undergraduate and graduate education, student life and services, research policy, strategic planning, campus development, international initiatives and the management of MIT’s large-scale institutional partnerships.

Click here to continue reading his biography on thehistorymakers.com.

I will be the first to admit to you that I have never read this report. Although this report (originally drafted in 1965 by Daniel Patrick Moynihan on the state of black America in that day) may be a little dated in some of its numbers, I found that after reading some of the excerpts many of these problems still exist in our community.

If you are anything like me, I really dread reading about stuff that is “wrong” with black America. I think by now most of us have all the major statistics memorized.

I guess when I bring up issues like what this report addresses, I do so with a hope that one day some of us would be motivated to do our part to reverse these negative statistics. Thankfully, a growing number of us are doing something about it, however, many more are still needed in this fight for our future generations.

Below is a small excerpt from this report that deals specifically with the black male and the negative cycle many of them find themselves in today. I found it to be pretty interesting as I am sure you will as well. At the end of the excerpt, I will provide you with a link to a commentary that is like an addendum to the excerpt as well as a link to the full report itself.

Margaret Mead has pointed out that while ‘In every known human society, everywhere in the world, the young male learns that when he grows up one of the things which he must do in order to be a full member of society is to provide food for some female and her young.’ This pattern is not immutable, however, it can be broken, even though it has always eventually reasserted itself.

‘Within the family, each new generation of young males learn the appropriate nurturing behavior and superimpose upon their biologically given maleness this learned parental role. When the family breaks down . . . this delicate line of transmission is broken. Men may flounder badly in these periods, during which the primary unit may again become mother and child, the biologically given, and the special conditions under which man has held his social traditions in trust are violated and distorted.’. .

A cycle is at work; too many children too early make it most difficult for the parents to finish school. . . . An Urban League study in New York reported that 44% of girl dropouts left school because of pregnancy. Low education levels in turn produce low income levels, which deprive children of many opportunities, and so the cycle repeats itself. . . .

At this point, the present tangle of pathology is capable of perpetuating itself. . . . The cycle can be broken only if these distortions are set right.

In a word, a national effort towards the problems of Negro Americans must be directed towards the question of family structure. The object should be to strengthen the Negro family so as to enable it to raise and support its members as do other families. After that, how this group of Americans chooses to run its affairs, take advantage of opportunities or fail to do so, is none of the nation’s business.

To read the commentary on this excerpt, click here.

To read the full Moynihan Report, click here.

Black newspapers find that crying racism can be good for business.

BY KEVIN HOFFMAN for clevescene.com

“Black people, wake up!” shouts the ad running in local black newspapers. “Do not spend your money with Kohl’s Department Stores or T-Mobile Wireless . . . Help us prove their racist stereotypes wrong.”

From the hyperbolic tone, you’d think the companies had installed whites-only drinking fountains. But the outrage stems from something a bit more pedestrian. Black newspapers are crying discrimination because the two companies don’t spend enough money with . . . black newspapers.

City News and the Akron Reporter are running the ad as part of a nationwide effort organized by Les Kimber, whose California marketing agency sells advertising for black papers. “Essentially, a group of publishers have decided to use the boycott as a marketing tool in …(more)