Right you box of cunts. Because none of you have had the decency to go out and start maiming each other in entertaining ways for the last couple of days, you've given me absolutely nothing to report on and take the piss out of, and, this being the early hours of Saturday morning and I'm still without a blog post, it's starting to aggravate me. So you're going to get an essay. That's right, an essay. A proper, well-thought-out (well, sort of) political comment with little to no swearing at all. Probably. My topic, ladies and gentlemen? Racism. Not the bloke-shouting-in-the-street garden variety England-shirted bigoted racism, but the more subtle variety that seems to permeate the British media like some sort of infection and always seems to rear it's head at the most cringe-inducing times, like that unfortunate uncle everyone meets at weddings that, in the middle of the speeches, always knocks the punch bowl over with his arse.
Readers, I give you the phenomenon of the First Black X.
Why do we have to constantly act like the black community is playing catch-up? Why does the media rouse up such hype over the first black man to do this, the first black woman to do that - the first black X, the first black Y? No other race receives this condescending treatment from the mass media. If one did, support groups would be up in arms.
Let me take your minds back to around this time last year, round about the time when the furore around Lewis Hamilton was really starting to take off. Do you remember the BBC constantly plugging the story about Hamilton being the first black Formula 1 driver, despite Hamilton himself really seeming generally unconcerned by the whole thing? That illustrates my point with the media completely. What was it about him being a black man racing in Formula 1 that was so shocking? Is there really, in this day and age, something so sensational about the idea of a black man driving a car that it warranted that much exposure? I'd never heard the point made before about a lack of black drivers in Formula 1, then suddenly one comes along and we're all swept away in the tide of media hype over Lewis Hamilton, the First Black X.
The phenomenon is not just limited to sport, but ranges out to almost every field of human achievement. Anywhere you look, you'll start to find heaps of praise lavished by doubtless well-meaning white folks on black people who achieve something that someone else who isn't black has already achieved; now I'm sure this isn't their intention and they mean only to draw praise to these people for being the first black Formula 1 driver, the first serious black candidate for a major US political party, etc. but what it does is it invokes a far more insidious form of ingrained racism than average bigot shouting his mouth off with his friends. It makes out, however unintentionally, that black people are slower than the rest of us and deserve special praise for their achievements much like overprotective parents congratulating a slightly slow child for tying their own shoelaces. It's "yeah, we know X number of guys did this before you, but hey, you're the first BLACK guy!" like their skin colour is a handicap to their abilities. It's rediculous.
I know the people that do it are probably the most left-wing people on the planet and probably swing far more towards the political left than me. I'm sure they would be horrified to have any accusations of racism levelled at them. I'm sure that their actions are, in their minds, designed to stop racism and challenge bigots' assertions that other races are slow, behind or backward, but they are subtlely reinforcing them. It is not special when a black man goes into competing in a sport, and it shouldn't be special in the 21st Century when a black man runs for President of the United States. If you truly believe that all peoples are equal, then why is it special that a black man can do these things? Where was the fanfare for John Kerry as "first man over 6' 3" to be nominated by a major political party?"
(I don't know if he was, I haven't checked my facts).
The people who go out of their way to point these things out make being black out to be a disability more than any ignorant racist shouting his mouth off, because people know to ignore obvious stupidity when they hear it. What they don't know how to filter out is the subtle implication that the black community needs to be patted on the head and told they're doin' great every time a black man or a black woman achieves something. It's unneccessary and insulting.
And that's your essay. Hopefully someone will get stabbed tomorrow and the usual routine will be restored.
Goodnight.
Readers, I give you the phenomenon of the First Black X.
Why do we have to constantly act like the black community is playing catch-up? Why does the media rouse up such hype over the first black man to do this, the first black woman to do that - the first black X, the first black Y? No other race receives this condescending treatment from the mass media. If one did, support groups would be up in arms.
Let me take your minds back to around this time last year, round about the time when the furore around Lewis Hamilton was really starting to take off. Do you remember the BBC constantly plugging the story about Hamilton being the first black Formula 1 driver, despite Hamilton himself really seeming generally unconcerned by the whole thing? That illustrates my point with the media completely. What was it about him being a black man racing in Formula 1 that was so shocking? Is there really, in this day and age, something so sensational about the idea of a black man driving a car that it warranted that much exposure? I'd never heard the point made before about a lack of black drivers in Formula 1, then suddenly one comes along and we're all swept away in the tide of media hype over Lewis Hamilton, the First Black X.
The phenomenon is not just limited to sport, but ranges out to almost every field of human achievement. Anywhere you look, you'll start to find heaps of praise lavished by doubtless well-meaning white folks on black people who achieve something that someone else who isn't black has already achieved; now I'm sure this isn't their intention and they mean only to draw praise to these people for being the first black Formula 1 driver, the first serious black candidate for a major US political party, etc. but what it does is it invokes a far more insidious form of ingrained racism than average bigot shouting his mouth off with his friends. It makes out, however unintentionally, that black people are slower than the rest of us and deserve special praise for their achievements much like overprotective parents congratulating a slightly slow child for tying their own shoelaces. It's "yeah, we know X number of guys did this before you, but hey, you're the first BLACK guy!" like their skin colour is a handicap to their abilities. It's rediculous.
I know the people that do it are probably the most left-wing people on the planet and probably swing far more towards the political left than me. I'm sure they would be horrified to have any accusations of racism levelled at them. I'm sure that their actions are, in their minds, designed to stop racism and challenge bigots' assertions that other races are slow, behind or backward, but they are subtlely reinforcing them. It is not special when a black man goes into competing in a sport, and it shouldn't be special in the 21st Century when a black man runs for President of the United States. If you truly believe that all peoples are equal, then why is it special that a black man can do these things? Where was the fanfare for John Kerry as "first man over 6' 3" to be nominated by a major political party?"
(I don't know if he was, I haven't checked my facts).
The people who go out of their way to point these things out make being black out to be a disability more than any ignorant racist shouting his mouth off, because people know to ignore obvious stupidity when they hear it. What they don't know how to filter out is the subtle implication that the black community needs to be patted on the head and told they're doin' great every time a black man or a black woman achieves something. It's unneccessary and insulting.
And that's your essay. Hopefully someone will get stabbed tomorrow and the usual routine will be restored.
Goodnight.
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