Friday, June 4, 2010

Barack Obama vs. 50 Cent vs. Bill Maher: Who is the "Real" Black Man?



Here is a Friday quicky for you. I love using this clip in my The Politics of Race and Barack Obama class. I am always surprised by how folks are so utterly uncomfortable talking about if Barack Obama is a Black President or a President who happens to be black.

So who is to blame for the crisis in black masculinity? The mass media that depicts black men as hoodlums--in one form or another? Or the black women and men who reinforce these norms?

Most provocatively. Who is more of a black man? Barack Obama or 50 Cent?



This one is yours.

7 comments:

John Kurman said...

Yeah, some explanations are in order. Are you saying Obama is not as masculine as 50 cent? You got Obama, the most powerful man in the world. 50 cent brags about being a victim of gunplay. Shot nine times by an incompetent buffoon. I mean, I shoot handguns. It takes practice. A lot of practice. If it's me, at that range, 50 cent is dead on the first shot, and unrecognizable by the ninth. Closed casket. So, a guy with the power of Superman, a nuclear arsenal at his fingertips, is not as masculine as a guy with a name that sounds like a Chinese short order cook giving me change. WTF?

John Kurman said...

P.S. Not that I'm saying I'm a hard-ass. 'Cause I'm not. Any idiot can shoot a gun with practice. Just sayin' it's strange that being a victim counts more than being an aggressor. Inconvenient facts being what they are, and images notwithstanding.

Genius slowly going Insane said...

Yes, both 50 cent and President Obama are seein' as powerful black men. A to which one defines what black masculinity should be I believe it to be both. Why? Because, they both at some point in there lives before reaching the place that they now hold. Had to ask themselves questions of who they are and what is there purpose. In other words they had to begin to really know themselves. So in that sense if you truly know your self you can control your small sphere of influence to the point where people will be impressed by your control over self. And there for many will see you as someone to get behind and support. Otherwise, because of your influence if they are in your way you will move them by any means necessary. Know yourself first and then you have the world. For people to take you as one dimensional for what they see is there own foolishness. And they will be judged by it. It's my belief that when it comes to manhood race is an after thought not the thing to be defined first to being a man. 'Cause you are a man first and a race second.

OhCrapIHaveACrushOnSarahPalin said...

It takes a real man to be a skinny, pretty, dorky guy. Doesn't matter, the skinny-pretty-dorkies are seen as thugs and hoodlums, anyway. It doesn't matter how many degrees he has, or from where...might as well have just gotten his GED from Project 21 Voucher Academy, yesterday.

Funny about that Maher clip, I've been saying that all these white people are running around "disappointed in obama" because they thought they were voting for Superfly, and are just now figuring out it was Mr. Tibbs that ran for office and won.

Either way, there's a lot more than one way to be a real man. So I call false dilemma.

Anonymous said...

it depends on which part of town you live in.

Bryan said...

The difference that separates Obama from 50 is that 100 years from now everyone will still know who Barak Obama was.

Legacy. Case closed.

Anonymous said...

Please Shrill Maher is just another liberal 'hipster racist' prick who says stupid crap like this to be 'down'. He and Olbermann/Stewart/BeHAG/etc. are the MOST racist jizzholes on the planet who try to hide it by criticizing the more 'overt' folks. Like thw Hannitys and Limbaughs when clearly they are NO better in fact they are worse because they come like a friend all hugs and kisses but talk trash the minute your back is turned. F**K Maher the phony racist prick!