Well yeah. But it’s not *just * about enjoying the brains. It’s about demonstrating that they know which spoon to use.
The “Do black people like <insert whatever>?” trend is annoying, not offensive.
To me, it’s annoying because it reflects a societal attitude that black people are “them” while everyone else is “us”. In isolation these question threads are cute and amusing. But if every other week there seems to be a new variation on the Let’s Discuss How Different Blacks Are From Everyone Else! theme, it’s not so much fun anymore. That’s probably why you don’t see much of my input in them.
In the year 2005, black people are still often viewed as alien and separate from the mainstream. Why is this? Are black people really that hard to figure out? Maybe it’s me being black and all, but I don’t see why blacks are any more enigmatic than Latinos, Asians, and other minority ethnic groups in the US. Yet it seems (and I could be wrong about this) as if blacks are the source of more curiosity.
And pretending to know which $1,000 bottle of virgin’s blood goes best baby brain.
But isn’t it kinda racist to seek out friendships based on race? That’s the conundrum I got myself into a few months ago, when I was reading some about race relations and wishing I had more non-White friends. Thinking about it made my head hurt, so I stopped.
D’oh! It’s probably not going to be until May that my brain finally accepts that it is 2006.
Shrug Personally, I notice the same sorts of questions and generalizations about Mexican and Asian people, perhaps moreso. My impression is that African-American culture is more mainstream than these other cultures, but a) I’m white sand b) I live in a neighborhood that’s transitioned from Polish to Mexican and I hear all sorts of questions about Mexican culture from people who have expatriated from the neighborhood. Some questions and generalizations are mere curiosity, some are ignorant, and some are plain racist.
You are absolutely correct. That’s why I used the term African-American (a cultural one) as opposed to black (a racial or physical appearance one) in my post. I use both the terms “African-American” and “black” in my speech, so it’s not a matter of “political correctness,” but they have distinct meanings for me, and they are the same ones you seem to hold.
I interpreted the question about whether blacks in the South listen to country music as referring to African-American decendants of slaves. The wording may have been imprecise, but I don’t think the OP was interested in the listening habits of Nigerian-Americans or Jamaicans. But that’s how I read it.
Except the OP specifically asked about “black people in the south,” which is as valid a grouping a Polish people.
Heh…on the subject of the term African-American, one of my very good friends is from Liberia (been here oh…I think about 8 years now, and is now a naturalized American citizen) and absolutely loathes the term. Call her African-American and she’s more than liable to respond with “I’m not an African-American. I’m an American and I’m fucking black!” in her beautifully melodic African accent. 
Cerri, white person and frequent listener of the Ngoma African music station on XM Radio…and country music fan! 
Well, my Token Black Friend, John, gets upset when I sit with a notebook and record his strange cultural practices.
Awesome album, but I don’t seem to remember that bit . . .
:: scribbles frantically in his notebook ::
Black people forget what year it is after the New Year, just like white people.
I bought some “clean” chittlin’s at Albertson’s last year, and they were almost clean. The problem with that is they’re 3lb packages at $7.95 a pop. I’d rather buy 40lbs and clean them myself since if I make them everybody and their mommas stop by.
Okay, I can maybe see the squids, the frogs, and the fish. But if you’re going to eat an alligator or a rattlesnake while it’s still alive you’re just asking for trouble.
Dang! And here I was all set to start a GQ thread titled: Do Black People realize it’s 2006 yet?
I asked the black guy at my office–actually he’s the janitor–if he liked fried ice cream, but he just made a Black Power salute and took my wallet.
Nah. Clarinet’s girthier.
Maybe I should start a thread called “White People: Have Yall Learned How to Clap on the 2 and 4 yet?”
http://www.duke.edu/~tmc/motherpage/lyrics_funkadelic/lyr-1nation.html#lyr-s-promental
It’s in there down at the end of the song “Promental…” etc.
Maybe that was (1978) the first time the phrase had ever been uttered… and someone listening to it, not realizing that George Clinton was just kidding? went ahead and invented the FIC recipe for real. Thus the song becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy?
I have, but I’m a drummer, so I can clap on any damn beat or fraction thereof that you want.
It’s possible, with great concentration and determination. But sometimes I get caught up, clap on the one, and do a little spazzy dance while looking around to see if anyone noticed.
Trust me, we notice.