Posts
5 years ago
Thursday, May 03, 2007
Why do black folks hate each other?
Tonight on Afronerd radio there will be a disscusion on the dislike and distrust between African-Americans vs Continental Africans and black West Indians. If you have the time please check it out(9:00 pm New York time/Eastern) or call in. Afronerd is one of my favorite blogfood blogs so I though I would share. It would be nice to hear the Naija(not bush) point of view on this topic(maybe I will call in).
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
15 comments:
I'm not sure i'll be able to catch the show as i already have plans, but as a black woman born and raised in the UK by Jamaican parents til we moved here, I can say this is a certain level of dislike that exists.
Jamaicans work hard (the majority) for everything they have. They'll sacrifice everything to send their children to school in the UK or US to ensure they have the best of eveything to succeed in life. Contrary to the commercials, Jamaica is rather underpriviledged. When Jamaicans move to the UK or US they will work any and every job (hence the joke about Jamaicans having 3-4 jobs)they can to provide for their families and I think Americans don't like that as they see "foreigners" taking their jobs. The irony is that many Americans wont take the jobs (housekeepers, janitors, home care givers, etc) that the Jamaicans will. Some think it's beneath them and I've personally heard it said. Some Americans have a sense of entitlement, which is boosted by pride whereas Jamaicans see it as a means to take care of theirs.
This is based soley on my opinion and experiences in having lived in both the UK and the US.
Further discussion with me can be had by email BluJewel@comcast.net
and I think Americans don't like that as they see "foreigners" taking their jobs.
@blujewel, I appreciate your perspective on the matter, but I think the problem is a little more complex than simply Black Americans not wanting to take the jobs Jamaican or African immigrants will take. I've had negative experiences with Jamaican women, specifically, for no reason at all. My work ethic is just as good as any other person's regardless of where they've emigrated from, but I've had run-ins with Jamaican women who, immediately, upon first meeting me, will seem confrontational or rude towards me. I've always come away from the experience bemused and at once, pissed. I've also listened to some Jamaican people, explain to me WHY they aren't Black, to which I had to explain to them that while their ethnicity and culture is West Indian, their RACE is, indeed, Black... It's a multilayered issue, that I wish didn't exist.
My best friend Cat and I actually had a long and interesting conversation about this, with a Jamaican man. He seemed flummoxed by the animosity as well, and weighed in, objectively. He basically concluded that his Jamaican "sisters" needed to lay off, and I think Black Americans need to reciprocate that same gesture. It's rather pointless. We span a wide spectrum, we're a diverse race, and there's more than enough room for differences, so we should make more of a concerted effort to respect one another's idiosyncrasies and such.
This debate sounds interesting. I should be home from tae kwon do by then to check it out.
beautyin baltimore..
9pm NY Time is 2am UK time...
unfortunately... no can do.
"Proud to be black so why do we act like we dont love ourselves. Dont look around you busta, check yourself"
i am annoyed by some of the things on the afronerd podcast, they seem to just rant and dowgrade the blk community and offer no real solutions to the problem. it seems like they get an ego stroke from whitey whenever they downgrade their race.
i'll just stick to dr. joy browne podcast lol
@Afro Jamaicano-I don't think the Afronerd bloggers are into putting down black people. What they are trying to do is essentially pick up the ball from Bill Cosby. In other words, talk with black folks about black folks problems. We do have a lot of issues as a people and the only way to deal with them is to start a discourse which will hopefully lead to action.
Please tell me about Dr. Joy Brown
Beauty...thanks again for your support as well as your call...great hearing from you. And in response to afrojamaicano's comment...the purpose of our blog/radio show is to highlight some uncomfortable or "unattractive" truths that people of color may not want to deal with...you call it "putting down" Black folks but we call it constructive criticism. The time for coddling Black folk must cease...the multiple births by multiple fathers, the minstrel music that disrespects women, the abject violence that is destroying our communities (check out Newark and Philly's murder stats) must be talk about....now is not the time to be sensitive..."the block is hot" as they say on the streets and we talk about it....and we do talk about solutions but you have to admit there is a problem first without feeling like someone is "putting you down"....and guess what..our problems have seeped into the public consciousness to such a degree White folk KNOW we have problems....just like they know many of our lot refer to each other as nigger....sorry, there are no more secrets...time to stop bullsh*t!
Just a thought, I think we're more aware of our roots here than you lot in the States cuz here it's simply West Indian VS African, you're either one or the other, even if you're British born, you're aware of which side you originate from. Don't African Americans know that they are one or the other, what I mean is, do they consider themselves more American than anything else and that this is the reason they can't relate to either side - because like I said, they're either one or the other!
Skeeeeeen! (just read a comment by someone else) you're talking immigrants here!
I missed the first 20 minutes (due to me forgetting and dealing with my own issues), but immediately remembered and tuned in. I caught you at the end, BiB. Very intelligent and you made good points!
am late but good topic
at the end of the day all i can say is the issue needs to be brought to the front light
and its a shame for any blacks of
different nations to hate one another
all this hate is based off ignorance and a lacking of sense for your community
look at the difference how people
associate in their home country
there is a sense of community
but not so much in foreign countries like the UK States Canada
@ beautyinbaltimore
it's weird, i don't see any of Dr. bill cosby's comments as negative or degrading to the black community buh i have a beef w/ afronerd anyway lol
Dr. joy browne is a radio psychologist. she takes calls from people everyday on her 3 hr show. she gives commonsense advice and can pretty well determine the truth from any situation.
she has rules like don;t date until one yr after a marriage break-up,don't let ur kids sleep in ur bed,only give advice when it's asked for,etc with the long hrs that i work i find her show very entertaining and interesting
www.drjoy.com
as a future psychologist i've learned more about psych from her radio show than all my psych classes combined
another good podcast (if u like hearing about other people's sexual trists, then u'll like pod-porn podcast) a woman named ms vicki (she's from england) talks about all the guys she's bedded, and gives tip on how to improve ur "head game" and other things, the other person ont hsi podcast is a guy named shakespeare's wolf (i think that's his name) anyway he was a journalist in france and he talks about all the gyals he slept with, while he was there)
www.pod-porn.com (the itunes subscribe button is on the left hand side of the page)
Damn! Can't we all just get along? When I came to the states I stayed in middle Georgia which is mostly rural and much as most of the black folk didn't treat me like the prodigal son; they also weren't very hostile other than one or two ig'nant peeps I ran across.
But my friends who have spent most of their time in the States around ATL have few positive things to say about the black folk they come across. Makes me wonder if the rigors of city life and how people live and compete for jobs has something to do with the hostility between the three groups.
Oh darn...I missed it! :-/
Post a Comment