White Democrats are racist! Their hate has cost Obama at least 6 percent of his votes! He's going to lose! That was the gist of an Associated Press story about a new poll that suggests 1/3 of Democrats don't like blacks too much. The AP's reporter behind the story, Ron Fournier, has, in the past, been accused all over the Internet and on MSNBC of being more or less in the can for John McCain, and the story on this study, which some have described as a racism push poll, has added flames to that fire. Now, surely there are plenty of Democrats who won't vote for Obama because they don't like blacks (or Muslims, even if he's not one) — we've been over this not-very-complicated idea more than once — but with Barack Obama ahead in the polls and the Bradley Effect basically disproven in primaries, it's not so much a lost cause as a major obstacle to overcome. And he's clearly overcoming it, at least for now. As many racists as there are out there, Barack Obama wouldn't have gotten anywhere near where he is without an extremely large number of white people voting for him.
Since our story on Wednesday about General Electric CEO Jeff Imelt's comments at a black business conference, the responses have poured in. We've been on the phone and emailing with GE's communications department (friendly); GE execs (firm); GE shareholders (furious); staffers at NBC Universal, MSNBC, NBC and Access Hollywood (in shock, but not surprise); and others who attended the Black Corporate Directors Conference earlier this month.
And here's the takeaway: A number of people are countering our story, but almost all of them were not at the conference, and they all happen to be GE employees. That, and we've also been told by other attendees that the way we depicted Immelt's comments was, in fact, accurate. So: CONTINUED »
JOSSIP FEATURE — Cosmetics companies gets a lot of shit, and rightly so, for teaching girls and women to hate their bodies by pushing unrealistic beauty ideals: skinny models with perfect skin and eyelashes that you can only obtain with their product. Cosmetics companies also get a lot of shit, also for good reason, by amplifying the image of "white beauty," making black, Hispanic, and Asian women all feel inadequate next to their Caucasian sisters. You only need to look at the latest controversy, just five weeks old, that L'oreal started when they so obviously lightened Beyonce Knowles' skin in a recent ad campaign — and then denied doing so, despite the most clear visual evidence.
But the cosmetics industry, we must admit, does do some good. They give women who might not otherwise have the self-confidence to go on a blind date or sit for a job interview the ability to do so. (Though we'll certainly accept the argument that the makeup counter also drives this lack of self-confidence, reminding women of their problem skin and that beauty mark they hate but can't afford to laser away.) A little eye shadow and some lipstick can make a woman feel beautiful, even when there's no man around she's trying to impress. And making a woman feel good about her femininity is not something we can completely shit on.
And neither, then, is a cosmetics company that takes the commonly accepted scarlet letters of the beauty industry — and doesn't just ignore them, but flaunts them positively.
We're talking about Cover Girl, the enormous division of Procter & Gamble, which doesn't care if its models are black or white, thin or skinny, or gay or straight. And unlike other cosmetic giants, when Cover Girl enlists these women to sell the brand, they're not interested in Photoshopping away their identities. Which leads us to believe: Might Cover Girl be the most progressive cosmetics company around? CONTINUED »
Two former GE execs who attended the Black Corporate Directors Conference — Lloyd Trotter, the ex-CEO of GE Industrial GE vice chairman, and Art Harper, the former CEO of GE Equipment Services — weigh in on our post of Jeff Immelt's remarks about trusting black men and women. (Worth noting: Both Trotter and Harper are black.) Read their comments here.
JOSSIP REPORTS — The future of NBC, and what to do about Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews at MSNBC, may be the least of General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt's problems. Because he just dipped himself into the murky waters of race relations, and he's about to drown.
Two weeks ago at the annual Black Corporate Directors Conference in California, Immelt was one of several high-powered guests (among other corporate execs and political powerhouses) on a panel moderated by CNN anchor Soledad O'Brien (she of the Black in America specials). Official guests and attendees of the three-day conference operate under the assumption that everything is off-the-record; reporters and news crews are barred, and participants aren't supposed to share what's said there.
Except somebody did leak the conversation — and told Jossip about Immelt's thoughts on black men and women. We'll give you a hint: He only trusts them as far as he can throw them. CONTINUED »
In a letter to NBC, the Asian American Journalists Association writes: 'It's difficult to believe in this day and age, and immediately following an Olympics hosted by China, that "Today" host Kathie Lee Gifford chose to relate on national television an "amusing" anecdote about Al Roker sending birthday greetings to her in a mock "Chinese" accent. If that weren't bad enough, Gifford decided to spice up her performance by squinting her eyes into slits. Gifford's performance had all the wit and subtlety of a schoolyard taunt. All that were missing were the buck teeth and Coke-bottle glasses.'
Homosexual magazine Out gets a lot of shit for not putting more gays on the cover. (The latest Neil Patrick Harris cover being an exception.) There is, however, the worthwhile argument that there aren't enough high-profile gays with projects to promote to choose from every month, which means gay-friendly heteros get slapped on the cover instead. (There's also the argument a magazine like Out could raise the standings of under-the-radar gays to create more high-profile homos to feature.)
But a magazine like Vibe doesn't really have that problem. Black celebrities may be ignored by the tabloids, but there are — and this may shock some of you — tons of them. America (that's white America) knows the big ones, like Beyonce and Tyler Perry. Jill Marie Jones? Not so much. But they are the gods and goddesses of black entertainment.
So what happens when a white guy tries to infiltrate the system? Pop star crooner and white person Robin Thicke, who is married to the insatiable black actress Paula Patton, found out: CONTINUED »
PBS: What do you think about the power of the black blogosphere?
Stereohyped's Lauren Williams: It can't be denied! A hallmark moment happened last year with the Jena Six. Before most newspapers even made mention that anything was going on, entire blogs were devoted to this particular cause. The mainstream media would have never taken notice if it weren't for the serious coverage the case was getting on black blogs. The black blogosphere was instrumental in calling attention to the issue and effecting change in the case. [Mediashift]
It's not news that Rush Limbaugh spews crazy vitriol on a daily basis like Linda Blair spewed pea soup. But it is somewhat surprising that his callers love the same movies normal people do. Here's the 'Baugh himself, on his radio show yesterday, talking about liberals "drilling for racism," Caddyshack, and a whole host of other nonsensical stuff:
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The race for the White House this year has been nothing if not a historic moment for gender and race issues, so it's only apropo that the commentators chosen by networks to moderate the debates reflect this change in socio-political discourse. That's why it's so refreshing to hear the Commission on Presidential Debates has chosen three old white guys to man the helm; Tom Brokaw for NBC, CBS's Bob Schieffer, and PBS's Jim Lehrer. Yeah, eff Andrea Mitchell, what with her lady parts and her stupid non-partisan politics. And screw Gwen Ifill, what with her full lips and broad nose. Stay the course, old white guys. Four more years!
Porny clothier American Apparel is now hawking goods printed with an ethnic design the company calls "Afrika." Perhaps unsurprisingly, AA has not used a single black model to help advertise the new print, despite the fact that it's all over their Web site in dresses, leggings, bras and headbands.
When Spain's national basketball team got caught in a photograph pulling its eyes into slants — to mimic Chinese eyes — before the Olympic games, they were immediately lambasted by everyone form the International Olympic Committee to fellow athletes. This is because it's mean to stereotype your fellow brothers in sport and so grossly offend them (despite growing popularity for eyelid surgery). The team tried excusing it, with Jose Manuel Calderon of the Toronto Raptors saying, "We thought it was something appropriate and that it would always be interpreted as somewhat loving. From here I would like to declare that we have a huge respect for the East and their people, some of my best friends in Toronto are from China and one of our Spanish National Team sponsors is the Chinese brand Li Ning. Anyone who would like to interpret this differently is absolutely confused."
Ah yes, the "but I have a Chinese friend" excuse.
No matter. While the Chinese team did lose to Spain on Tuesday, they found that stereotypes work both ways: CONTINUED »
Welp, with Prince of Persia, you’ve done it again, Hollywood! You’ve toyed with history in order to cast a very white person in a heroic role probably more suited for a person of color, just so that other white people will be comfortable spending their money to see it.
Dear L'oreal: We didn't know you marketed a skin whitening cream in the United States. Could you send us a sample? xo (Click for larger image) [SH]
Slate.com, the left-y political and pop culture website that enjoys throwing convention to the wind for the sake of an interesting coverline, in January launched a black-interest website called TheRoot.com. (A personal finance site, The Big Money, is on the way from Slate's Washington Post Co. owners.) We had high expectations for The Root, given the names attached to the thing, like Henry Louis Gates Jr., Lynette Clemetson, and Malcolm Gladwell. But ever so slowly, we've watched the site turn from a sea of well-informed opinion into a cesspool of rhetorical questions that should never be asked. It's sad, too, because we publish the black-interest website Stereohyped, which looked at The Root's arrival not as a competitor, but a welcome addition to a frighteningly small pool of black-oriented web publications.
Today, The Root let Jeff Winbush publish the article "Can Black Journalists Be Trusted to Cover Obama?" We expected this to be a Slate-esque trick: Pose a question that the article will seek to disprove. (On Slate.com right now is the coverline "I'm Stockpiling Cheap Gasoline in My Garage. Am I an Idiot?" The article answers, "No.")
Instead, in trying to argue that the white journalists who are criticizing their black colleagues for not being impartial are fools, Winbush outs himself as a completely biased black journalist. CONTINUED »
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