Black White Season Finale

This show was very interesting and it revealed to me that the discussion of racism and classism is very much needed in the most basic communication because avoiding the issue ain't gettin' it. With the adults it seemed like the white guy was being authentic in explaining "why we do what we do", but the black guy wasn't trying to relate, assuming that all things perceived negatively are intentional, irregardless of the actual rationale behind them.

Rose, the (white) daughter's poetry was true, I thought. To me poetry draws from 2 things; mastery of language (wordplay) and/or the ability capture life experience. Although these are kinda simliar there are distinctions. Rose had neither, but to rank with the other people in the poetry group, they drew from very traumatic life experience. So my theory is this...Rose's family is white middle class, so there typically isn't alot of "drama." No roaches crawling on the bathroom sink, no coat hangers for tv antennas, no beans and bread for dinner, etc. Not stereotyping, but those are common ways of living for poverty stricken folks. And being white, they aren't unecessarily harassed, arrested or called out of their name. All these things albeit potentially negative experiences create character and can bring tears of pain or joy depending on how its told through poetry. Even if you flip it, and Rose's parents were hard-core skinheads, she would have a polarized opnion. So with no "drama" in her life, there is no draw from for Rose. She just hasn't experienced much of anything. In her final piece, it was good, she performed a work about herself and being grounded on who she is and being okay with that. Great self-affirmation, glad you're okay with who you are, but who are you Rose?

Now the son, Nick has experienced alot, and it seems like alot of it was bad. Add to that the non-compassionate attitude of his father. Being a man is more than being tough. That ex-gang member told him the truth about the path he is headed towards...disrespecting authority, not caring about consequences. Someone once said "the most dangerous man in the world is one that has nothing to lose." The visit to the Museum of Tolerance helped him trmendously, but why did it take a tv show for the parents to realize that something like that would help him. Makes me wonder what kind of quality time they spent with him prior to the show.

Carmen (the white mom) seemed to be honest, but she is a classic passive racist (I'm not a racist, I love those colored people) She doesn't think she's racist, but she doesn't understand how her mannerisms and perceptions perpetuate racist attitudes. Sadly, this show didn't do it for her in my opinion. I've never actually met anybody (to my knowledge) that thought about an entire race of people was one collective (in the previous blog I discussed how she kinda lumps everything she's ever heard, read and seen that is black is inherently in every black person).

I think this was a great show to watch and discuss in a high school, college or church forum. Alot of real life scenarios that create oppotunities for discussion and growth between races and within race relations. But the video by Ice Cube, I can do without, sawry G.