Dueling Definitions--of Blackness

By Nadra Enzi —— Bio and Archives October 10, 2016

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If one accepts the premise that most mainstream media editors and producers are progressive, it's therefore unsurprising that the image of American Blacks depicted is, to quote Hillary Clinton, "super-predators who must be brought to heel ( like animals ); cop hating rioters (acting animalistically) or political puppets mouthing leftist talking points ( like parrots, an upgrade of the animal theme). Self-governing Black citizens are reduced to cameo roles in their own depiction. Conservative ones, arguably the most self-governed of the self-governing, are type cast as lost dissenters within the current of their own community.

They are killing us softly by controlling how we're depicted

Progressive editors and producers are unwilling to concede the concept of American Blacks not on liberalism's lengthy leash. The irony of 1960s civil rights victories is status quo stereotypes and inequity, then called conservative, was made taboo. Conveniently, the Left refused to purge its own hard-wired bigotry. Fifty years of unreconstructed racism has shaped social programs and policies under the deceptive label of being "democratic" in a republic which is the polar opposite of such designs. Too many depictions of American Blacks as favoring autonomy represented by an Allen West, Sheriff David Clarke or even consciousness advocates opposing dependency upsets a carefully balanced (and bigoted) cultural apple cart. There are dueling depictions of what it is to be an American Black. It's clear removing media's power to define us is in our best interest. They are killing us softly by controlling how we're depicted.