By Felicia Pride, TheBackList.netAuthor Kim McLarin recently penned a piece called "Immersion Therapy" for theRoot about trying to only consume media that's, according to her initial guidelines, "black-created, inspired or produced."
She writes:
American culture is black culture, of course. The music, the language, the food, the literature, the very definition of what it means to be American – all of it is shot straight through with us. Try to remove the African presence from the house that is America and the whole thing collapses upon itself. Ask Toni Morrison. And yet those contributions are still too often marginalized or minimized, or gotten just plain wrong, even when told through well-intentioned voices.
It's an interesting experiment if you think about it. But how realistic? McLarin ponders the implications:
February ends and I again lose momentum, this time for good. I have too much reading for the classes I teach, too much white reading because that is what curriculum demands. I contemplate teaching only first novels by black writers in my first novel class – I mean, Invisible Man? The Bluest Eye?Go Tell It On The Mountain? Hello? But I know the students, all white, will balk and I don't have the energy to power through. I can't keep my car radio tuned away from NPR. I miss gritting my teeth at The New York Times.
Which means what? Have I been indoctrinated beyond myself or just expanded? Educated or sold out? Outgrown small and confining definitions of blackness, or assimilated beyond the point of no return? Is resistance futile after all?At the close of her not-so-successful experiment, she concludes:
At the end of my Not-Quite-Quarter Year of Living Blackly, I was no more insane than before, but I was newly possessed. Possessed of an appreciation for how much better things are than when I was a young thing and the mass-media symbols of blackness I most recognized were Jimmy Walker and Huggy Bear. And possessed of an understanding of how critical it remains for us to tell our stories to our children, and to make sure those stories are heard.
Any folks willing to try the blackness-only diet?
Comments: (14)
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By: kiny2001 on 2/16/2008 12:45PM
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By: Mandingo on 2/16/2008 8:26PM
American culture is black culture, of course. The music, the language, the food, the literature, the very definition of what it means to be American ??? all of it is shot straight through with us. Try to remove the African presence from the house that is America and the whole thing collapses upon itself."
How ironic that Ms. McLarin recognizes this and then tries to take the whiteness out of American culture and laments it's 'collaps[ing] upon itself.' Perhaps she should realize that she's more American then black, and embracing that blackness doesn't require and explicit rejection of everything white.
This was a nice idea. But boy hearing the words "white" and "black" is just so soul-deadening. Get off it. Live! And don't tell me you can't.
Also, the idea that American culture IS black culture... That's just untenable. That's like saying American culture is Jewish culture. Or WASP culture. Or a Norman Rockwell painting. Or a Diego Rivera mural.
We are all of us! Let's move on together, shall we?
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By: Jane on 2/16/2008 8:25PM
Why can't people just focus on being people? Why is everything always black and white. Do you know how racist this sounds? If you were to re-write this article and switch the words black for white and vice-versa people would be outraged. Al Sharpton would be beating down your door demanding you be fired from your job. However, since the article is written by a minority it is supposed to be uplifting...give me a break. I appreciate great music, movies, television, and books reguardless of weather they were written by someone Black, White, Hispanic, or Asian. The moment we as a human race all stop focusing on color and accept one another as individuals and accept the fact that we are all one unified people will finally be the moment we reach enlightenment and peace. Focusing on one culture and race and segregating yourself from the rest of society via the media is completely rediculous. I'm tired of being fed the idea that this type of focus on race is positive when anyone can see it is completely counter productive.
Also, the idea that only someone of a certain race is qualified to tell a story is dumb. By those standards, kim would have a problem with Ang Lee making films with white American actors. Or Spike Lee making films about Russian Gansters, etc. What it comes down to is the talent level of the filmmaker.
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By: JJ on 2/16/2008 8:21PM
My biggest complaint after reading this article comes very shortly into it. The author states that to remove African-American influence on American culture is to send it tumbling to the ground, yet does not make mention of the opposite. To take American influence (i.e., "white," according to the author's implications) from Afican-American culture is equally as damaging. What then, is the problem with choosing GOOD authors/poets/musicians/etc...that are red, yellow, black, white, bi-racial, etc...
Society would not accept an article written on "immersion therapy in whiteness" because it would be considered racist, which would be fairly correct. Any attention paid to it by the media would be quickly shunned by the Reverends Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, the NAACP and the ACLU. They would scorn those that brought it to public view, and demand an apology by the author.
To me, this article deserves nothing less. Articles such as this are nothing more than proof that racism is alive and well in America today.
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By: Itsie on 2/16/2008 4:40PM
I have tried it and am sticking to it when it comes to me spending my hard-earned money on entertainment.
I flat out refuse to go see a movie in a theater or rent one that does not have a main character that is Black. I don't purchase any type of music that isn't made by a Black artist and get offended to hear justin timberlake on my radio station! I do have to admit, amy winehouse has now added blue-eyed soul to my vocab. Up until I heard her, I would not give that distinction to any of non-color. For I thought there was no such thing. I still got her music bootleg, won't buy it, tho I will listen.
Keep the Faith! It will come one day!
Peace & Love
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By: Kitty on 2/17/2008 10:52PM
Not talking about issues of race do not make them go away. Inequalities still exist that link poverty to race due to America's long history of racism. It wasn't that long ago that Black people gained the right to eat with everybody else in public and people think things are going to change in a few decades? It took our ancestors more than a few decades so that we can have the freedoms we have today and there is still work to do.
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By: Harold Oglesby on 2/19/2008 10:09AM
mmaaannnnn......dis is sooome stupid shit.........
peace ma nigga................
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By: Charlotte on 2/22/2008 1:58AM
I do not agree that American culture is black culture. You can see not only black, but also white faces at every site. So does ### PozGroup.com ###, which is a community constructed exclusively to help people afflicted with STDs find partners for love and happiness.
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By: dimotas on 2/22/2008 1:05PM
man dat gal done gone kandalulai. she wack. y'all ndjomblaya kasheffa bzati unkuthulu.
az da gret Kandolymbo Mektosutho rite 2 all blakz in whitemanland: kotungomo llanyotusi!
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By: Raina on 2/22/2008 10:38PM
Race will always be an issue. What we need to do is embrace our own, and not make excuses or apologies for being "black." It seems that the moment we feel empowered, there is something that wants to knock us back down.
In reply to one of the comments made. I was supposed to teach some Slave Narratives-no problem, and Huck Finn-BIG PROBLEM! I refuse to teach that book ever. How is that book still in the curriculum. I had my kids go out and buy Kindred by Octavia Butler. This is such a wonderful book, and teaches more than just slavery. It is about identity, survival, and so much more. oh and the "N-word" is mentioned a few times compared to the near 300 in Huck Finn.
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