Thoughts on "Thoughts"

-On the issue of the black QB's in the championship: I do believe that's a little racist. I also, though, have a pretty literal definition of racism. I think racism is basically any attitude or behavior that espouses the belief that one race is inferior to another. And I think people of all races can be racist...toward other races and toward their own. I think Halle Berry's Oscar acceptance speech was a little racist.

Wow, I just re-read that sentence and some people will likely hate me for saying that. Oh well. I do think it was racist, comitted by a black person against herself. By harping so darn much on how she was the first black woman to win best actress...she only perpetuated the problem. I've long held--and maybe this is a subject for another post--that the black community does as much to further racism as the white community. The Essence awards, Miss Black USA contests, and other such events are as seperatist as they are celebratory.

Essentially their argument sounds like this to me: "White people segregated us, forcing us to use seperate water fountains and bathrooms, and it made us feel inferior. So now to get back at white people, we're going to separate ourselves even more. We'll have a Miss Black Universe pageant and no white chick can enter. We'll start our own music television station. That'll show them. You think you can keep us seperated? We can do it better!"

I mean, doesn't true equality come only when a black actress or a black QB can win something without anyone mentioning they are black? Doesn't talk of their being black in and of itself keep them seperate?

Now I'm not saying Halle Berry hates black people, and only she can tell you whether she does... I would guess she does not. And I think it's more than okay to honor the acheivement when a black person does something important. I can see where her win was very uplifting for black people, and was even a sign for them that they can be equal. But I contend that as long as we keep pointing out their blackness when black people acheive great things...we'll never be free of racism. To remind us of the color of their skin automatically denotes that they are different, and that's the root problem of racism. And to me, it seems like an awful lot of black people (Spike Lee, I'm talking to you here) are the ones pointing out the skin color of great acheivers.
I've experienced a lot of racism, both the kind aimed at black people and the kind aimed at white people. I managed at a movie theater with a high percentage of African-American customers. I heard white managers make cracks about all the "colorful" customers and the kinds of snack foods they preferred. Disgusting. And I had black people spew venemous hatred in my face, claiming I was only throwing them out because they were black.

Once, for a screening of an urban-targeted film, we sold out a show at midnight. And about fifty or so customers came to me saying they couldn't find seats even though they had tickets. So I go inside and see the place is full. I asked everyone to stand and hold out their ticket. I started walking row by row inspecting every ticket. After a couple rows, the fifty or so people who had snuck in to that auditorium without the appropriate ticket started filing out. As they filed out, several among these fifty people--who had been sitting in a show they had no ticket for, taking the seat of a paying customer--told me I was racist...and that I had only done this act because they were black. Some suggested the problem was that we'd put the "black" movie in the smallest auditorium. Again, remember that half these people in there didn't have tickets. We had enough seats for everyone who'd bought a ticket. I heard the F-word, and received multiple threats. Once a week, at least, I was called a racist for simply asking to see a ticket of a black person. Nevermind the countless white punks I threw out and inspected the tickets of. I knew I wasn't being racist, and yet I was called a racist.

There seems to be a common perception amongst a lot of black people that all white people hate them and are trying to keep them down. But yelling about racism when you've been caught fair and square for breaking the rules does nothing to further your cause. In fact, I'd submit that those folks calling me racist were being racist against me. They were judging my motives simply because I was white. Having black people accept that some white people don't hate them is a prerequisite for racism to end. I understand there are some racist white bastards out there, burning crosses and hating minorities. And those people are straight-up evil. But often my white-ness is automatically associated with those racist white bastards before I've even uttered a word.

Look around and tell me how many Miss White Whatever pageants you see. None? How about WMT...White Music Television? No? How about Ivory, a magazine devoted to the sexiness of white folks? No? If anyone tried any of those ideas they'd be labeled racist. So why is it any different to have BET and Vibe?

Wow, that was a bit of a rant. Sorry about that. Hope I didn't stir up a hornets nest.

-Chris Collinsworth pointed out during the broadcast that the winning QB in that game, McNabb, would be the second black QB to make it to the Super Bowl. Really? Does the state of Tennessee have anything to add to that remark? Do we need to remember McNair's trip to the Super Bowl? I mean, the fact that Collinsworth would say such a thing shows how little he really cares about the matter. If he was truly concerned with the acheivements of black QB's, he'd know and remember that McNair was actually there before McNabb. But he doesn't care about that. He just wanted to sound noble and create a "feel-good moment" on the broadcast. He wanted to sound smart and unbiased, and he revealed that he's actually the opposite of both of those things. Offended me on about thirteen different levels.

-Beer commercials are bad. Too bad they often make me laugh. But they might just as well play an episode of the Simpsons for their ads these days. I mean, the guys in these commercials are Homer-like dumb, salivating at a beer or a girl, and acting as neantherthal as possible. It's really sad. Do guys care? Hell no. We just want commercials to be funny, right? I mean, I have had beer. But I don't care that much about it. I'm much more likely to be overprotective of a good donut than I am of a beer. Oh wait...that's Homer-like too, isn't it? Maybe I am as mindless as the beer makers tell me I am.

-I'm much more bothered by the recent trend of beer makers mentioning their competition's name in their commercials. Miller Light runs those commercials on the fake elections with the Mr. Show guy...mentioning Budweiser thinks it's the King of Beers. Then Budweiser runs some commercials with the lizards mentioning Miller's fake election ad...mentioning Miller by name.
The latest example is the refs-stealing-beer ad. First it was clever NFL-riffing to have the refs bring Miller to partiers drinking Budweiser. "Replacing with Miller Light." These ads mention Budwiser by showing the Budweiser beer bottles. Then followed the commercials made by Budweiser where the refs are portrayed as being motivated to switch the beer so they can have all the Budweiser for themselves....and this commercial shows bottles of Miller.

All this leads to is me not really having any brand-identification whatsoever. I can barely tell which ads are which anymore, and just know that it's beer. The more you mention each other in your ads, the less I can tell who you are. It's bad marketing to mention your opponent...but it's also bad because riffing off your opponent's ad just confuses the audience.

And maybe they don't care. Maybe their theory is that "publicity for any beer is good for our beer." And maybe that's why all these beer commercials are running together. I mean, there's a certain style of humor that is unique to beer commercials...you can tell one's on before it's played for very long....and do any of them promote brand loyalty? I don't think so. I think maybe they just want people to be drinkers. They probably figure if you're getting drunk every night...there's a good chance that for at least one night out of seven you're getting drunk on their product. Drunks, after all, are not picky about their beer. After sever or eight beers, most guys will drink anything.

I have theories about alcohol and how bad it is for society, but I'll spare you the details. I do hate drunk drivers though, and that's a majority of drinkers. Did you know that the State Troopers office of Tennessee operates under the assumption that 8 out of 10 drivers on the road after dark on the weekend are under the influence? Told to me by a State Trooper himself. That's a ton of impaired drivers. Too many for me to feel comfortable.

And I digress. Sorry so scattershot. I've cancelled my internet at home, and as a result have to blog totally from work....and that leads me to rush so I don't get caught.