I don't have cable nor do I watch television. Instead I live through the screen on which I type. I can faintly hear it whispering "you're one of us, one of us, one of us..." Yeah. Apparently I am. I'm waiting for the Terminator prophecy to come true, and when it does, Skynet will have all of my shit because I do live my life through this.
Back on topic.
Since I don't watch television, I have not seen the "Black in America" series on CNN hosted by Soledad O'Brien. Somebody asked me if I was watching it and I echoed my mother's sentiment -- I'm Black in America everyday, so...
The person who asked me seemed surprised that Soledad O'Brien was Black. I knew she was from her first appearance on television because of her nappy edges. But this person was truly taken aback. "She doesn't look Black," the person said.
I sighed.
Ta-Nehisi Coates, expressed his feeling that any show that attempts to broadly categorize ("The Black Man," "The Black Woman and Family") a whole race is destined to fail. Having also not seen the show, I'm reticent to kick in, but I get the point. I am cocking my head as to why it's not "The Black Man and Family." But again, I haven't seen it.
Racialicious has an excellent post picked up from The Black Snob about Ms. O'Brien. The post references a message board on One Drop Rule (different from One Drop on Too Sense).
Self-identity is a personal thing, but apparently some folks are upset because they see Ms. O'Brien self-identifying in a convenient manner. They feel she claims to be Black when it suits her and Irish when it suits her, Hispanic when it suits her and Multi-ethnic when it suits her.
To which I reply...
Yeah. And?
