Some quick thoughts I had this morning.
I will always remember how at first President Obama almost could not buy a Black vote before the Iowa caucus. Why? Because most Black Americans had already wrote his political obituary believing that he would never win. There was even all the questioning from Black Dems asking if he was Black enough? But when the folks from Iowa proved to the naysayers that the color of Obama’s skin was not a barrier by giving him the majority of the vote, it essentially gave Black voters the green light to support this brutha.
Almost overnight, the candidate who was regularly questioned for not being Black enough became the candidate to support or you were considered either a “racist” or self-hating Black individual. There was no middle ground on the issue. If you were a critic of Obama’s policies, you had better choose your words wisely. Otherwise, you were considered a “hater” and not a lover of Obama and the history he was about to make.
Hater
This is probably one of the most immature labels I have seen tossed around since my elementary school days. Last July, CNN commentator and host of TV One’s Washington Watch called me a “hater” for being critical of the stated purpose behind Washington Watch. Although I always welcome this type of programing to the airways and have done my part using this site to promote such programing for years, I felt that this was nothing more than a social experiment. For years, some have been highly critical of the Sunday morning political talk shows for not having enough diversity (in other words, not enough Black people) and this show was being propped up to essentially compete with those shows. My theory was that based on past similar attempts, this effort would eventually fall flat on its face (“A spokeswoman for the Nielsen Co. told Journal-isms in October that ‘Washington Watch’ was carving a small niche at 11 a.m. but that the 5 p.m. rerun barely registered in its ratings“). Naturally, Martin did not like that. Now mind you, up to that point I had regularly supported and praised Martin publicly for his efforts and accomplishments prior to Washington Watch. But one word of criticism from me and suddenly I became a “hater” to him.
===
When Monique Imes-Jackson (a.k.a. Mo’Nique) became the second Black woman in Oscar history to win an Academy award for best supporting actress, many of us Black folks flooded cyberspace to congratulate her. The look Samuel L. Jackson gave after her speech (start at 2:30) had folks calling him a “hater”.
These extremes can be just mind boggling to me sometimes.
Sphere: Related Content
Quick Random Thoughts On The “Hater” Label
by Duane on March 8th, 2010 at 9:50 amSome quick thoughts I had this morning.
I will always remember how at first President Obama almost could not buy a Black vote before the Iowa caucus. Why? Because most Black Americans had already wrote his political obituary believing that he would never win. There was even all the questioning from Black Dems asking if he was Black enough? But when the folks from Iowa proved to the naysayers that the color of Obama’s skin was not a barrier by giving him the majority of the vote, it essentially gave Black voters the green light to support this brutha.
Almost overnight, the candidate who was regularly questioned for not being Black enough became the candidate to support or you were considered either a “racist” or self-hating Black individual. There was no middle ground on the issue. If you were a critic of Obama’s policies, you had better choose your words wisely. Otherwise, you were considered a “hater” and not a lover of Obama and the history he was about to make.
Hater
This is probably one of the most immature labels I have seen tossed around since my elementary school days. Last July, CNN commentator and host of TV One’s Washington Watch called me a “hater” for being critical of the stated purpose behind Washington Watch. Although I always welcome this type of programing to the airways and have done my part using this site to promote such programing for years, I felt that this was nothing more than a social experiment. For years, some have been highly critical of the Sunday morning political talk shows for not having enough diversity (in other words, not enough Black people) and this show was being propped up to essentially compete with those shows. My theory was that based on past similar attempts, this effort would eventually fall flat on its face (“A spokeswoman for the Nielsen Co. told Journal-isms in October that ‘Washington Watch’ was carving a small niche at 11 a.m. but that the 5 p.m. rerun barely registered in its ratings“). Naturally, Martin did not like that. Now mind you, up to that point I had regularly supported and praised Martin publicly for his efforts and accomplishments prior to Washington Watch. But one word of criticism from me and suddenly I became a “hater” to him.
===
When Monique Imes-Jackson (a.k.a. Mo’Nique) became the second Black woman in Oscar history to win an Academy award for best supporting actress, many of us Black folks flooded cyberspace to congratulate her. The look Samuel L. Jackson gave after her speech (start at 2:30) had folks calling him a “hater”.
These extremes can be just mind boggling to me sometimes.
Sphere: Related Content