CNN’s Black in America ” Black Women and Families
July 24, 2008CNN aired part 1 of its special series “Black in America.” Let me start with being nice. It is nice of CNN to air a program about African Americans that attemps to portray us in multiple lights. Thanks for doing something That BET won’t even do, the effort is appreciated. Now, on to the critique.
CNN’s “pre show” for Black in America called “Re-claiming the Dream” aired on Saturday and I was not too impressed with it. I almost lost my sanity when Soledad O’Brien (who is for the most part a great journalist) called AIDS a “black woman’s problem.” If black women are getting Aids from straight sex, then that means Black men have Aids too. The major problem in my opinion with trying to label a group “the Aids” group. AIDS is a people problem! If you’re having sex; you need to worry about AIDS! Plain and simple. This is where AIDS prevention messed up in the first place. First it was a Gay man disease, then an inmate problem, then a drug users problem and it’s spreading and spreading and every group is saying “it’s not my problem!” But it is! It’s a human problem, So stop calling it a “black woman’s problem”!
Ok now on to last night’s show. Last night was SUPPOSED to cover Black women and Families. Let’s start with the family topics; I do think that the family reunion and the Rand family was a nice story. Now we’ve all seen black folks with white family members. That’s certainly not new or unusual, but they all seemed like a nice decent NORMAL black family and we haven’t seen too much of that on TV since the Cosby show. The Smith’s were also a lovely family really enjoyed watching them ( and the oldest son was a cutie!)
They also discussed healthcare and pointed out some more stuff that black people already know. That many of us really aren’t getting adequate healthcare insurance, the lack of affordable healthy foods in predominantly black neighborhoods, and that too many of us are scared of the doctors (particularly older Black people) . Now I felt that CNN really should have aired this series for 4 days so that they could devote an entire episode to health. There were so many important healthcare topics that needed to be addressed that this show didn’t even talk about. Topics that haven’t been run into the ground like (drum roll please!) Mental health!! Mental Health in the black community is a seriously ignored issue. The single Mom (we’ll talk about her later) in the piece was practically begging to discuss her depression and they just breezed past it. Big mistake! Also the issue of reproductive health! Too many black babies are being born underweight, pre-mature etc. Research is currently being done bout it. And it’s not just babies of single mothers and moms with healthcare either. CNN missed the boat!
Last night’s series also tackled the controversial “experiment” of paying elementary school children for making good grades. Now I’m about to be really unpopular, but I think this is a good idea. Yeah I said it a good idea!! Why? I know men who grew up in poor families and dropped out of school in order to work, and now as elderly adults they regret that decision. Perhaps if a program like that had been in place these men would has stayed in school and gotten an education. I went to high school with boys who never got the connection between work/money and education. Why? Because they lived in neighborhoods where the only men that had money were the dope boys, who had as much education as they did and the only folks who had degrees were their teachers who we all knew weren’t getting paid what they were worth. So maybe those kids need to see a direct connection between income and education. And yes the “joy” of learning is important, but how many people never got rewarded by their parent for good grades?? That new CD, that hot outfit, or that trip to Disney? It’s all incentives. These Kids have parents that can’t afford to provide them with incentives. Why should they just learn for the joy of learning when we all know that most (middle and upper class) kids get rewarded?? On another note I loved that little boy, Eric Kennedy Jr. He was so wonderful!
On the whole more families were covered than women in this special, but when we were talked about, it really wasn’t from the best perspective. This was my biggest problem! Who in the World can a show that supposed to be about women only devote about 15 minutes to black women’s issues within a 2 hour show??? The whole night made me feel depressed about being a black woman!!! Here’s what I learned about being a black woman from”CNN’s Black in America.”
1. If I don’t get an education or a good job, I will more than likely have about 5 kids and no husband
2. One of those children will go to jail or be shot
3. If I am depressed (severely) it will be ignored and we’ll continue to focus on how horrible it is to be a single mother.
4. Now that I have my education and a good job .I’m more likely to be single but amazingly fabulous. In either situation I’ll end up alone and because I seek an equal partner. Maybe I should lower my standards
5. Unless of course I start dating and marrying outside of my race! If I can manage to withstand the racist and hate filled comments that will come from my new “family” and my new husband’s confusion toward raising black/mixed kids.
6. That is of course unless I get AIDS, which apparently black women are catching like a cold.
And that’s what I learned about being a black woman from CNN’s Black in America! I’m not trying to make light of these serious problems (particularly not AIDS) but really!!? Is this the best we could do on a show that’s supposed to be about the black woman!? We get told that all of our prospects are negative! No other group of women is punished with “aloneness” for their success.
There are virtually no young (18-35) black women featured and then there are hardly any black female leaders even on the show! The president of Bennett College was on but there were so many more women that could have supplemented this program, that is, if this show had really been about black women in the first place. Once again black women have been lumped up with families and kids. Don’t we deserve our own show?? Can the kids and the families have their own show? We have so many more issues that could not be addressed when you pile us up with hypertension and neighborhood shootings! What about black working mom’s, young black female professionals, black sorority members, middle class black women etc? We are so much more than poor single mothers, rich lonely divas and AIDS patients!
Maybe I’ll like tonight’s special on “Black Men in America” better I’ll let you know.
Shannon the Tampa Diva
mrkeyz
It was a good show. I am like you that it would address the mysogist attitude of black men towards black women, the differences between lower and middle class, infertility among blacks, socio-economics of not having our own in our communities. I do feel like you at being depressed at the plight of single black females. I don’t have children,divorce, but I work and support myself without a college degree. Am I not still fabulous. But the competition out here to find a good honest black man is scary. Hell, man sharing with a responsible clean brother is going to be a growing trend. JMHO.
As a Black female in her mid-30s…never married…no children…an educator in the inner-city…with a Master’s degree…I am SINGLE, SINGLE, SINGLE!!!! I am single for the very reasons that were illuminated on CNN’s special report. I didn’t see anything wrong with the report…other than what you said…if could have been longer. AIDS is a Black woman’s disease because that is the population who becomes VICTIMIZED most by it. Black women, Black men, drugs, prison, the “down low” (of which was not mentioned)…are all dangers, and when there’s not that, then I have a man asking me to pay his rent, cell phone bill, put gas in his car, asking to move into my home, see me in addition to 5 trillion other women and/or his wife! I’m tired of dealing with it, but I love Black men.
Obviously, as an educator, the segment that hit home the most was the education segment. I applaud Dr. Fryer for attempting something, but I don’t think it will work as a lasting educational practice. There are so many logistics to factor into that equation…however, in the end, the message…the TOOLS for success, are not provided! The real world does not reward you for doing what you are supposed to do! I do not get rewarded for paying my bills on time, or doing my job correctly…it’s an expectation of life.
Ms. Friendly
http://www.msfriendly.wordpress.com
CNN did this special because Barack Obama is the presidential nominee and white people wanted to have a review of all of the stereotypes that they believe are important to discuss.