HOW TO: Race Bait for Fun and Profit
Jackson West of NewTeeVee has contributed the following to Young Manhattanite. I am happy to publish it since I too considered a follow-up to my initial reaction but then decided my efforts are best spent elsewhere.
Back in May, I wrote a post about the visibility of the African-American community in online video. I concluded that "if you post a clip on your favorite video service asking 'Where Are All the Black People?' I imagine they'll find you." And now I know that it holds true, even -- and perhaps especially -- if your intention is to mock them, thanks to Loren Feldman of 1938 Media.
Before descending into the intricacies of the incident, I'd like to present Gena Haskett's video response to the bullying bogeyman du jour. If earnest sincerity and sober, rational discourse aren't your thing, how about an humorous and edifying fable which I found relevant. Now, on to the ugliness.
Read more...
When I saw Feldman asking Where Are the Black Tech Bloggers?, naturally I was curious. I assumed that he would bring his strident and acerbic style to bear on important issues like the digital divide, the under-representation of minorities in journalism and the interesting ways in which different cultural groups use technology. Instead, I was treated to the spectacle of a man debasing himself in public.
There was Feldman, wallowing in blackface in a desperate cry for attention. Embarrassed for the man, I chose to ignore it while keeping an eye on public reactions, but the few statements of support were often even more shockingly appalling. The shameless orgy of self-justification that followed, however, was remarkable. While I'm still not convinced that I should be giving him any more publicity, I don't feel like letting it lie, either. As freelance editor and MIT alum Bill Cammack pointed out to me in a chat last Friday, the ensuing debate over Feldman's transgression was remarkable not just for who chimed in, but for who remained silent.
The videos he posted in his mini-opus over the next few days show him checking into a substance abuse treatment clinic for "sensitivity training," getting re-educated by being subjected to images of black celebrities, then offering a choked-up apology to black tech bloggers before a lip sync interlude segues into a newly slick and impersonal show. Finally, he explains that it was all a "little experiment" to prove a point about social media.
What that point is he declines to state, though his explanatory rant seems to imply that people are easily goaded into vocal outrage by something patently offensive. But it's hard to parse all the mixed messages -- after patting himself on the back for "getting the conversation going," he proceeded to heap shame on the Yahoo videoblogging group for being "all talk," then extolled the virtues of testicles and those who have them.
When I finally got in touch with Feldman on the phone, he refused to answer any questions or clarify his intent. "I kind of let the work speak for itself," he declared. "No comment."
Certainly, he didn't find much comfort from business and creative associates. Feldman thanked PodTech for "supporting artists' rights." But in an email response to questions, PodTech CEO John Furrier pointed out that Feldman is just one of many vloggers who use the company's tools, and that the company has no editorial involvement in what creators produce. "PodTech's site does not recognize any useful or humorous value in his video on 'Black Tech Bloggers' and we refused to publish his video to our site," Furrier wrote.
How about the "best black tech blogger ever," the friend whom Feldman is comfortable addressing with a racial epithet? That would be Prince Campbell of Chartreuse, who commented on Valleywag that while he does consider himself a friend of Feldman's, "I found the TechNigga videos cringeworthy, desperately unfunny, and having no point." Which echoes what Arianna Huffington, whose Huffington Post also publishes some of Feldman's musings, told Wired's Adario Strange.
I've enjoyed some of Feldman's videos in the past, as has Strange. What I had missed, and what became a focal point for the discussion amongst critics, were his earlier remarks threatening violence on entrepreneur Guy Kawasaki for conjuring Jewish stereotypes and, more revealingly, his casual dismissal of the pervasive institutional racism facing the black community as its own fault. "The problem with the black community is that they're self-hating," he explained to his audience as he absolved all white people of any blame.
Which led Ill Doctrine's Jay Smooth, a fellow PodTech network vlogger, to speculate in a chat that Feldman's choice of the black community was not, as Feldman asserted, random or unintentional. "He specificaly targeted them because of his deep-seated contempt for black culture, and his resentment of 'PC' rules that take away his god-given right to call Black people the N-word," Smooth wrote. Declining to label Feldman a racist, Smooth did call the video racist, and said Feldman himself "is accountable for that."
Lynne D. Johnson, a senior editor at Fast Company, related her disgust over the original minstrel routine on her personal blog. After Feldman completed his "Opera," she wasn't sure what, if any, point was being made, and was frankly apologetic that she'd paid the rant any attention at all. But she also explained in an email why she couldn't let it slide:
For Feldman's part, he's apparently said his piece and moved on, without apology, to tackle other serious issues like the new version of iMovie and the privacy implications of Facebook -- topics for which he can stir up controversy where little or none exists. His work will continue speaking for itself, with and without context, as will the collection of emails, blog posts, comments and videos casting aspersions on his behavior.
Certainly everyone has a lapse or twelve in judgment from time to time -- I certainly have. If there's a moral to this story, it's that you probably shouldn't get stoned and then parrot racial caricatures in a public forum unless you really don't care what kind of attention you get. While that sounds suspiciously like common sense, and has been more thoughtfully explored in the past, to Feldman's credit, he has provided us all with a case study in how to do it in the language and tools of Web 2.0.
Jackson West will be available for smackdowns in and around the Manhattan beginning August 29th.
Back in May, I wrote a post about the visibility of the African-American community in online video. I concluded that "if you post a clip on your favorite video service asking 'Where Are All the Black People?' I imagine they'll find you." And now I know that it holds true, even -- and perhaps especially -- if your intention is to mock them, thanks to Loren Feldman of 1938 Media.
Before descending into the intricacies of the incident, I'd like to present Gena Haskett's video response to the bullying bogeyman du jour. If earnest sincerity and sober, rational discourse aren't your thing, how about an humorous and edifying fable which I found relevant. Now, on to the ugliness.
Read more...
When I saw Feldman asking Where Are the Black Tech Bloggers?, naturally I was curious. I assumed that he would bring his strident and acerbic style to bear on important issues like the digital divide, the under-representation of minorities in journalism and the interesting ways in which different cultural groups use technology. Instead, I was treated to the spectacle of a man debasing himself in public.
There was Feldman, wallowing in blackface in a desperate cry for attention. Embarrassed for the man, I chose to ignore it while keeping an eye on public reactions, but the few statements of support were often even more shockingly appalling. The shameless orgy of self-justification that followed, however, was remarkable. While I'm still not convinced that I should be giving him any more publicity, I don't feel like letting it lie, either. As freelance editor and MIT alum Bill Cammack pointed out to me in a chat last Friday, the ensuing debate over Feldman's transgression was remarkable not just for who chimed in, but for who remained silent.
The videos he posted in his mini-opus over the next few days show him checking into a substance abuse treatment clinic for "sensitivity training," getting re-educated by being subjected to images of black celebrities, then offering a choked-up apology to black tech bloggers before a lip sync interlude segues into a newly slick and impersonal show. Finally, he explains that it was all a "little experiment" to prove a point about social media.
What that point is he declines to state, though his explanatory rant seems to imply that people are easily goaded into vocal outrage by something patently offensive. But it's hard to parse all the mixed messages -- after patting himself on the back for "getting the conversation going," he proceeded to heap shame on the Yahoo videoblogging group for being "all talk," then extolled the virtues of testicles and those who have them.
When I finally got in touch with Feldman on the phone, he refused to answer any questions or clarify his intent. "I kind of let the work speak for itself," he declared. "No comment."
Certainly, he didn't find much comfort from business and creative associates. Feldman thanked PodTech for "supporting artists' rights." But in an email response to questions, PodTech CEO John Furrier pointed out that Feldman is just one of many vloggers who use the company's tools, and that the company has no editorial involvement in what creators produce. "PodTech's site does not recognize any useful or humorous value in his video on 'Black Tech Bloggers' and we refused to publish his video to our site," Furrier wrote.
How about the "best black tech blogger ever," the friend whom Feldman is comfortable addressing with a racial epithet? That would be Prince Campbell of Chartreuse, who commented on Valleywag that while he does consider himself a friend of Feldman's, "I found the TechNigga videos cringeworthy, desperately unfunny, and having no point." Which echoes what Arianna Huffington, whose Huffington Post also publishes some of Feldman's musings, told Wired's Adario Strange.
I've enjoyed some of Feldman's videos in the past, as has Strange. What I had missed, and what became a focal point for the discussion amongst critics, were his earlier remarks threatening violence on entrepreneur Guy Kawasaki for conjuring Jewish stereotypes and, more revealingly, his casual dismissal of the pervasive institutional racism facing the black community as its own fault. "The problem with the black community is that they're self-hating," he explained to his audience as he absolved all white people of any blame.
Which led Ill Doctrine's Jay Smooth, a fellow PodTech network vlogger, to speculate in a chat that Feldman's choice of the black community was not, as Feldman asserted, random or unintentional. "He specificaly targeted them because of his deep-seated contempt for black culture, and his resentment of 'PC' rules that take away his god-given right to call Black people the N-word," Smooth wrote. Declining to label Feldman a racist, Smooth did call the video racist, and said Feldman himself "is accountable for that."
Lynne D. Johnson, a senior editor at Fast Company, related her disgust over the original minstrel routine on her personal blog. After Feldman completed his "Opera," she wasn't sure what, if any, point was being made, and was frankly apologetic that she'd paid the rant any attention at all. But she also explained in an email why she couldn't let it slide:
Fact is, when you're black it's not that easy to do. Because often that wacked-out black-face image -- that stereotyped, over-the-top image -- is the one that's seen as the norm by the mass. And then black folks, like myself, end up feeling the burden of having to educate the masses.Nick Douglas, who was mocked in the series and has been the object of Feldman's scorn in the past (and is no stranger to accusations of having gone to far with mockery himself) wrote to me that as a public person he was fair game, "But to try racial stereotypes, then lead on the community in what apparently turns out to be a joke, is sick." When I asked George Kelly, who frequently addresses issues related to social media and the black community, if there was any value to Feldman's provocation, and if Feldman succeeded in making a valid point, he answered, simply, "No."
For Feldman's part, he's apparently said his piece and moved on, without apology, to tackle other serious issues like the new version of iMovie and the privacy implications of Facebook -- topics for which he can stir up controversy where little or none exists. His work will continue speaking for itself, with and without context, as will the collection of emails, blog posts, comments and videos casting aspersions on his behavior.
Certainly everyone has a lapse or twelve in judgment from time to time -- I certainly have. If there's a moral to this story, it's that you probably shouldn't get stoned and then parrot racial caricatures in a public forum unless you really don't care what kind of attention you get. While that sounds suspiciously like common sense, and has been more thoughtfully explored in the past, to Feldman's credit, he has provided us all with a case study in how to do it in the language and tools of Web 2.0.
Jackson West will be available for smackdowns in and around the Manhattan beginning August 29th.
