Wouldn’t you know it, things went so great the first time that CNN’s going to the high ratings well yet again, with the sure to disappoint Black In America 2: Solutions, airing later this month. The mere fact that they are making a part two, and have the nerve to title it “Solutions” tells you what sorta cluster the first edition was. So hackneyed, negative, and extreme in its hamhanded representation of America, BiA was so universally criticized that the it’s hard to see this followup as little more than a mea culpa. Well, either a mea culpa, or a nice way of saying “yeah, we totally f*cked up the first time, but did you see those Nielsen ratings?”
I mean, come on, what sorta responsible journalism is this? Using “Intellectual Masturbator” extraordinaire Michael Eric Dyson’s backstory, CNN posits that Dyson’s brother is incarcerated mostly because he is darkskinned.
Really? Wow. Just. Wow. I suppose the fact that he was convicted for murder is a mere footnote.
“Blame it on the me-me-me-me-me-me-la-nin!”
The obvious problem with the first show was the audience it was trying to speak to. Clearly, BiA wasn’t made for black people, because any Negro worth his Lowry’s already knows 97% of the bullsh*t they covered. Out of wedlock kids. Incarceration. Lightskin/darkskin tension. Hypertension. Divorce. Vocoders. We don’t need a documentary for that, that sh*t is real life, and most of us have already lived some version of some part of it.
[Full Disclosure: I only watched bits and pieces of the first BiA. I did try, but I simply could not take being assaulted with story after the story of stereotypical dysfunction, with very few tangible success stories mixed in. If I wanna see Black Dysfunction, I can just tune in to Judge Joe Brown. No need to blow 4 hours of my life on something I can easily accomplish in 30 minutes.]
The audience CNN was clearly trying to cater to is that of middle America. The timing of the show was dubious, as anyone with half a brain could probably surmise that this was little more than a way to capitalize on the “wow, this black guy could become President, I might need to find out more about ‘the blacks’” sentiment that swept the nation during Obama’s rise to prominence. And if this was catered to middle America, then I wonder exactly what new information they might have gleaned from it that they didn’t already know from watching the 6 o’clock news.
The show was ripped to shreds by nearly every black blogger and reasonable thinking Negro I personally know. I cannot personally say I know one single solitary soul that walked away from it feeling better about the plight of black folks.
So, in the face of this criticism, CNN aims to save face by presenting a sequel full of “solutions” to the “problems” last year’s special harped on. The BIA2 website is woefully short on details about the show, but from what I gathered of one quick promo on the site, it’s fair to say you can expect more of the same ole’ same in the sequel.
Like seemingly every show of this sort, CNN focuses on high profile (read: famous) black folks and the extraordinary efforts they are undertaking to make a difference in their communities. There’s coverage of Malaack Compton-Rock (Chris’s wife), who takes urban children on a trip to Africa. Singer John Legend, “comedian” Steve Harvey, and all-around sheister Tyler Perry drone on and on about their successes and how they inspire others to succeed, not only by osmosis, but also through their own tax-deductible “philanthropic organizations”. But mostly through osmosis.
While these tales are certainly laudable, there’s just a couple of small problems. These stories (by virtue of their celebrity underpinnings) have already been covered many times over, as a quick look at any famous person’s official website would inform you. But perhaps worse, by mostly (albeit not exclusively) highlighting the accomplishments and service of famous folks, you’re giving the impression that the work that everyday people (ie: youth league coaches, bible school teachers, mentors) have long since been doing to solve these problems is somehow less important.
Call me crazy, but I’ve always advocated that if more of us just chipped in and did a little bit (ie: youth league coaches, bible school teachers, mentors) rather than expecting people with a name (or worse, White folks) to do a lot, we’d all be better off. It’s obviously too soon to pass judgement on BiA2, but judging by the promo, this looks like little more than a celebrity circle jerk, and after the 2009 BET Awards, I think we could all do without another of those for awhile.
The bigger problem is the fact that there even needs to be a BiA2, let alone a BiA. As the longest running and arguably least biased of the major cable news stations, CNN has little excuse for not highlighting the everyday “good news” that it’s now trying to cram into 360 minutes of backhanded apologizing. It’s clear that if they cared more about the plight of Blacks, they’d give these issues a more consistent treatment the other 363 days of the year. Sure, there are lots of nice looking black folks on CNN (Suzanne Malveaux, Don Lemon, Fredricka Whitfield) in suits who sound great reading news from a TelePrompter, but what’s so special about that? These folks seldom do any actual reporting of substance. Need I remind anyone of TJ Holmes’ disastrous HBCU tour last year?
This is of course the same CNN that loaded its programming with Black pundits, only to summarily dump each and every one of them the moment Barack Obama edged out Hilary Clinton for the Democratic nomination. And the same CNN that hadn’t given a black man a news and commentary show since Jesse Jackson’s late 90′s 1 hour/week snoozefest. The same CNN that finally did give a black man a show last year, which sounds good until you realize that said black man was DL Hughley. The same CNN that temporarily handed poor Roland Martin a sinking ship called No Bias, No Bull and then blamed him when it sank even deeper than sister station Headline News (motto: “All Missing White Chicks, All The Time!”) in the ratings. The same station with narry a black woman in any on-air position of substance. There’s no black female Rachel Maddow on CNN. There’s no chocolate Campbell Brown. Hell, not even a ghetto Greta Von Facelift. And no, Soledad does not count.
So, for those reasons, it’s really, really, really hard to believe that CNN’s got its heart in the right place this time. Sorry. We don’t believe you.
If you wanna raise your systolic pressha a few more points, tune in July 22nd and 23rd. If you want solutions, stop expecting CNN to do anything right and go sign up to be a tutor.
Question: What did you think of CNN’s original Black In America? Is there anything about the promos you’ve seen for BiA2 that makes you think it will be any less of a disaster?
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{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
Am I the only one who actually liked Black In America?? I thought Soledad did a phenomenal job. Sure it wasn’t perfect, but I appreciated the attempt and I didn’t understand the criticism I heard from other black people. I’m also looking forward to the second one. I also heard CNN is working on a “Hispanic in America” or something too.
What I REALLY want to see is Native American in America. And I want to see if they cover how they are maintaining since they had every thing stolen from them and were killed off.
I stopped reading after “CNN posits that Dyson’s brother is incarcerated mostly because he is darkskinned.
Really? Wow. Just. Wow. “—> the author completely missed the point of that story, which was of completely different paths to extremes of the socioeconomic ladder despits having seemingly the same background. Their respective skin tones was a minor point. From a journalistic standpoint BIA was well done, especially considering what a controversial topic they were covering. Although I thought they talked about Will Smith way too much.
@Yousef, Agreed on all counts, lol.
“This is of course the same CNN that loaded its programming with Black pundits, only to summarily dump each and every one of them the moment Barack Obama edged out Hilary Clinton for the Democratic nomination.” —> What are you talking about? Roland Martin and Donna Brazille were two of a group of about 6 pundits that made up their main politics team, and they didnt go anywhere when Obama won the nomination and continue to contribute to CNN.
I think BIA2 will be much better. I also didn’t think BIA was as much of an epic fail that most people seemed to have thought it was. I just think that it’s hard to condense the Black Experience in America to just two 2 hour shows. I will agree that most of what was covered are issues that we are fully aware of and are working on (or not) so I was a bit confused as to who they were targeting and what their goal was, but it did get our people talking for a while at least.
One of my sorors was working with BIA2 and I think they are covering some broader issues and I hope that at least this time black people across different backgrounds and experiences can learn something new.
@JG*, “I just think that it’s hard to condense the Black Experience in America to just two 2 hour shows.”
Indeed.
@JG*, And if your going to talk about the problems, then lets talk about the root!. I would’ve like BIA much more if they pointed out the reason we have colorism, high incarceration, lack of educaton: SLAVERY!!!! But they can’t really say that without middle America changing the station wondering why we just can’t get over slavery… Maybe Soledads trying to win them over and in BIA 3, hit them with, “Reparations are mandatory for the dimise of a rich black culture,please call you state representative…. and now for Indians in America, part I (they have to title it that way for shock value to ensure Middle America viewership).
Ummm…okay, here’s the problem. The brother (whose I happen to frequent quite a bit; it’s a terrific one, BTW) didn’t watch the entire program. When people openly admit to not taking in an entire piece (ex. BinA, BET Awards, etc, etc), it’s hard for me to truly appreciate their opinion, because they did not take everything in its entirety. Here’s the thing BLACK PEOPLE have to understand. CNN wasn’t going to get it 100% right, but I honestly didn’t feel slighted, disrespected, played for a fool, took, had, insulted, led astray, run amuck, tricked, deceived, or anything like that. I thought the program was solid, and well-intentioned. By no means can it EVER be put in the same sentence, paragraph, or page such as the FOOLERY, that was the BET Awards. It’s cool to critique; everyone has an opinion, and I can dig that. However, there are times when things should truly be done in context; I just happen to believe this is one time where he was way off-base, such as other folks I have had this same conversation with.
@Kenny, I agree. I wasn’t upset with BIA. I actually watched the entire thing. I don’t think they covered everything…but thats impossible. They were just providing a perspective. I also don’t think it was meant for black people anyway…because hell, why do we need a special on what we live everyday?
@Sean Walton, and yea…BIA was definitely more thought and put together than the BET Awards. Not even close. The BET Awards was the Jamie Foxx show…and I only watched it for about 20 minutes.
I’m glad I skipped the first BiA. I don’t need CNN to tell me what I already know and experience day to day.
I do not understand the inclination to apologize for CNN nor the desire to give Black in America an ounce of merit, even with an “it’s alright” summary. I’ve done my homework on CNN for years this author clearly see through the fluff and know the agenda.
If you never seen or witness a media room full of White executives deciding how Black people should be portrayed to millions of viewers with nothing positive to say, I strongly suggest you sit your quick-to-apologize-for-CNN behind down. Because this type of plotting happens everyday in the media room, especially at CNN.
Yousef, reading your points, I wonder if you actually got an intern position at CNN if you think that BIA was “journalism” and Donna Brazille/Roland Martin themselves would think your points are valid counterpoints.
I feel like this Black in America is about ownership of ones destiny. It is not meant to be entertaining, but inspiring. What do we do to make our America better. What can we do to harbor change. If your house is dirty can you get angry at your next door neighbor? Or do you recognize that it is your problem to fix and take ownership? Even if your neighbor dirtied your home, its your house. This is about us fixing those things that effect us. We cannot look outward until we have looked inward, because noone will help us like us. I commend FreshXpress for providing that forum for contiual discussion. The Fresh Forward Project will put things into action. Action is what this has all been about. Mrs. O’brien basically made a visual of “The Covenant with Black America” by Tavis Smiley, with the the 1st BIA, and now the second visual is that of “The Covenant in Action” by Tavis Smiley and Cornell West. We have to change everything that we as blacks in the black community feel is a problem with the black community. There is a message of empowerment in BIA. Take it for what its worth, and make it positive. We have work to do.
” Life’s a journey and I have my passport”