Rushman

Marketing opportunity for who? There's only been 2 black country singers that I know of...the rest of the black population had taste. Well except those that invented (C)rap.

scrubbedexpat099

Well they could take turns winning it?

Rushman

But no one south of the Mason-Dixon or west of the Rockies would even know.

scrubbedexpat099

Which sort of describes my view on all these racially motivated awards.

Just remembered was there not a guy setiing up a Black Expats group?

neil

It's a culture thing. In the media black people are either the dregs of society or have done well for themselves and are no longer part of that. There is no such thing as a regular black person in the US media, so having awards that celebrate things in black culture is necessary to try to put across some sort of normality - in an ideal world there would be just actors, musicians, etc. but in this country there are actors, musicians, black actors, black musicians, etc. You could argue that some of this is perpetuated by the fact that separate things exist for them but the separation was there before these were in place, but there was no real media recognition for the "black" ones. This country is still very racist (comparatively), so unfortunately things are needed to remind Americans that black people play/have played an important role in the country.

Partystar

I totally agree, very well put.

Ray

But he is OUR freak....

YankeemovingAbroad

Exactly. It surprises me (but it shouldn't ) that there are still people in 2006 "walking upright" on two feet with the ability to think for them self, yet act as if God made some collosal mistake in creating African Americans(Blacks world wide),Latinos and Asians .Again another example that there are many who are morally loss and don't value the true teachings of God.Here is my take on Black History month. It would be nice if there were not a need for positive messages & facts which are taught in "Black History Month" . There to remind and to counter act the constant racist barrage from those who hold a racist agenda. Lovely it would be if there were not a need to remind the massive African American community and the rest of the world, of the achivements and contributions made by a people who were slated for servitude and death by the white majority. When you are trying to treat a very sick patient most doctors would prescribe strong medican to fight the illness. So its curious to me why some think it best to allow ignorant myths to circle and be perceived as fact and do nothing to counter those falsehoods. Thinking that Black History Month creates more problems than it solves is like pretending that racist ideology will go away only if we don't talk about it. Naive if you ask me! Well intentioned it may be but silence has never created discussion and debate. In the real world were humans believe that other humans should not live in a house next door to them, due to a fear that a Latino or Black might marry my white daughter or son,strong measures are needed. If my son or daughter are going to marry a different ethnicity ,it could happen despite the ethnic makeup of my neighborhood. If a house goes up or down in value due to a Latino or Black moving in,imo points to another symptom of racism. In my neighborhood which is a nice one there are whites and blacks that live in harmony. Homes have been sold by blacks and were purchase for a price that demonstrated equal or greater profit to that of every other home seller in the community.This applys to our white neighbors as well. Point is racism is created by fear and ignorance and peoples lack of character. So in a world were people are so lacking in morals, we need more months to promote positive messages that remind us all of the truth, and demonstrate that we have more in common than some might want us to believe.

Celsius

Are you and Rushman related by blood?

anotherlimey

Not blood, but other bodily fluids.... <vomit>

neil

Why, does Ray watch NASCAR too? (I thought everyone who watched NASCAR were blood related).

Celsius

Where's the sickbag?! That is a sickening thought (pardon the pun)...

Ray

Never seen it in my life ... I was a drag racing fan in my younger day..
Now I just race around the lawn on the the tractor mower ..

Ray

A very thoughtful first posting and welcome ....

For your second posting how about introducing yourself
with a short Bio...

scrubbedexpat099

I lost it in the second line.

Paragraphs always help.