if some of you follow me you 'might' remember me talking about a TV Show, I used to watch as a kid, but must not have watched it too faithfully; I forgot all about it, till I saw a clip on YouTube; and a lot of memories came back; The theme song; dude being clumsy, etc -
still I probably never saw entire seasons; most likely I just caught it when it was on; the show was called #TheGreatestamericanHero :: just 'an example' here :: not even sure what's in this episode... but, I bet it was 'diverse' -- I'll explain -
https://t.co/bJDxVirkhm
one of these episodes I saw, featured a black man as one of the 'main friends' of one of the characters; another was In charge of an entire army division; Neither, were shuckin or jivin; playing 'lesser than' roles; and again this is the 80's - who watched Magnum P.I. ?
On #MagnumPI our brother, was also an Equal; One of the baddest cats ON the show in fact; Did it all - highly skilled, but at no points, "Lesser than" anybody. 80's tv was actually presenting a 'narrative' of equality in America; or at least, approaching
https://t.co/w9n0NMKhFk
(Our brother Roger Mosely by the way) :: also in the 80's, was #MiamiVice - Tubbs was nobody's 'second' in charge; He wasn't some yassa no sah character; he was, by all means, an Equal; also a bad ass ... hope you are starting to 'see' where I'm goin -
https://t.co/7xJNzXV6FJ
I'm gonna throw #TheATeam in here; Yes, to a degree Mr. T's character was a bit stereotyped; all the gold chains; the fool talk; BA was purely 'the muscle' and not often portrayed as 'the brains' - but still a very important part of 'the team' -
https://t.co/Z5AngiFSoI
we had #SpencerForHire back in the 80's too tho; a brotha who was not to be played with :: who people of all colors turned to, For help with their problems - again, a 'very' different society was being 'engineered' then -
https://t.co/1f5l6I1TJh
i mean, can you give me a show, today, where a black man is the LEAD of a mostly all white cast? ... I'll wait; Off the top of my head I cannot think of one; but if you can let me know - b/c that's where i'm going with this; a LOT changed around the OJ and Rodney King cases -
believe it or not, in the 80's, our society 'was' on a path towards racial equality; I know that sounds crazy 'now' but I lived through it; I remember how these things changed; I remembered what my parents & grandparents had to say about society THEY grew up in;
those stories were still very fresh; born at the end of the 70's, my childhood was the 80's; it was hopeful; there were signs, that things actually were changing from what my parents and grandparents went through; and then, OJ and Rodney King happens - > and it fell apart -
On one hand, we had evidence of what black people said was happening to us for years; Police brutalizing us for nothing - it was on display for the world to see; and instead of us collectively doing 'right' - OLD Habits emerged; Whites 'took sides' with the White police officers
It was 1991, and I was just starting high school; again, right as things started to 'revert' back to how they used to be. when the verdict came out, and riots happened; many whites were manipulated into taking the positions they always had before; that blacks were just thugs -
there was no honest evaluation of policing of our justice system; NO questioning of how police caught on tape abusing a man could be found Not Guilty; the condemnation was reserved for the black community; how dare they riot; how dare they beat up a random white man in the street
it became a 'black vs white' issue; and then just a few short years later, after the first 'tear' in the shroud came the "trial of the century" - and again, Lines were drawn along racial divisions; Whites felt OJ was guilty; and frankly initially, a lot of blacks did not ->
years later, a lot of work has been done to convince white people that they were right to feel OJ was a killer; much of that work, has brought a lot of black people to that position too; b/c sadly blacks are often Influenced by white narratives as well; sometimes more so -
but that's when things REALLY started to change; TV shows, were no longer 'mixed and diverse' - FRIENDS rose in popularity; (started in 94, right after shows like A Different World and The Cosby Show, ended) -> famously stealing from #LivingSingle - > black shows were scrutinized
Right around this same time period; (early 90's) questions like "Why is there a BET?" and "If white people had a White entertainment Television station that'd be called racist!" - started to pop up in our society; more and more; the complexion of tv shows and films changed too -
because if we 'go back' again to the 80's; where films like #LethalWeapn and #BeverlyHillsCop were being made; films that again show black and white, as partners; friends; equals; by the Mid 90's we don't have many of those 'themes' presented to society anymore; We reverted ...
by the time we get to the 2000's, Jerry Springer is poppin, and 'wild' talkshow radio hosts like Rush Limbaugh, are more and more popular - in fact, check his 'career' he got goin around ... 1988 - please understand where I'm going with all this -
white people lost "their country" in the late 60's; with the civil rights movement, voting rights bill, etc; They spent the 70's licking their wounds, and planning; meanwhile 'efforts' were being made, to change the path we were always on; through the 80's till the mid 90's -
they never liked the idea of black men, black athletes, sleeping with their white women; that disdain goes way back to #JackJohnson :: but again, when Nicole is murdered, the REVERTING came quick; immediately all the negative 'thoughts' they had about blacks Surfaced - around OJ
again taking you back, if you were around; you'll remember how POPULAR OJ Simpson was; they loved him; he was calling games; acting in movies; he was beloved by white America; "then" ... everything changed; He was Suspect #1 - and all other possibilities, ruled out;
years later, those who 'cared' to look, know about the serial killer who claims He did it; others know about the Mezza Luna killings; how several people who worked at the place Ron Goldman worked at were killed; Police never looked into either of these scenarios; b/c .. Racism.
Racism was back; in full swing; and the 'energy' has not dialed back down since; it's just picked up, decade by decade; Yea sure, some interracial relationships still happen, but a lot are 'fetish based' these days; and not 'love based' - even the 'friendships' seem shallow -
this is why that 'thing' happened in June, where white folks suddenly wanted to black out their social media, and declare how they stand in solidarity with us; that they'd stop being silent; before most of them went back to ignoring racism like they had been doing before :) -
we've been 'moved' into this point tho. After Rush, came Bill, Lou, and Sean. A few years later came Tucker. They've been in the ear of white people for the past 30 years now - turning them against blacks more and more by the day; against non-whites - against Diversity/Inclusion
films and Tv went back to casts that were mostly white; (like Judd Apatow films;) - where blacks show up to play token roles; the scared black; the ignorant black; the subservient black; Like Tyrese in Transformer Films; there for silly one liners - scared the WHOLE film;
(which tends to be how they use him in the Fast and Furious films too; He's clearly the dumb one.... smh; and it's the old tropes alive again) -- Then of course, all the slave films; I'm always torn on that one; I feel we need to understand 'but' they push so much b.s. in these -
like the "white savior" trope; had Brad Pitt doin it in 12 years a Slave; along with Cumberbatch as the Good massa; even saw a white savior in the 20 minutes of Harriet that I bothered to watch before cutting that one tf off. Even the 'black films' quality went down -
a real 'effort' went into changing how we see each other -- just like it used to be; in the 20's, 30's, 40's; (the 1920's - 1940's...) ::: away from showing us as equals, as friends; as Similar; and back, to Stereotypes; Jan 6th is why -
that was not a bunch of 'paid' agents; staging a psyop - nope; those are white people who, for the last 30 years, have been Indoctrinated into an OLD ancient belief system - that white is right; white is better; white is on top; white is pure; non-white is dirty;
Ignorance -
Right alongside the deliberate dumbing down of America; they have deliberately brought 'back' Old ideas of white supremacy; and white power; an effort that took them some 'time' ... but is now on path to take us 'backward' to what America used to be; Which means; a fight is comin
it is unavoidable at this point.
