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Where are all the black people?

[Warning: I’m in day three of a migraine, and this post wanders a bit. I think I got my point across, but not as cleanly as I would have liked. Sorry. Hopefully the pain will subside and my shoddy vascular system will get back in line and stop clouding my thoughts. Migraines suck.]

I think I’m sick again. I don’t know why this always happens to me. I get the feeling that, had I been born a hundred years ago, I wouldn’t have lived to twenty. Actually, I probably would have been stillborn. My body just wasn’t configured for this planet. It all goes back to my theory that I’m actually an alien-human hybrid and that my immune system was engineered for survival on one of the many asteroids in the reptoid colonies of Zeta Reticuli, but that’s another post for another time.

The one nice thing about being a man with such a pansy-ass immune system is that it gives me a lot of time to indulge in things that my workaholic brain would not otherwise allow me to do.

One of those things, as you’ve probably figured out from reading my stupid web site, is developing a Battlestar Galactica addiction in spite of the potential for it to lower the likelihood that I will ever reproduce or have a normal relationship with a woman. That’s OK. You gotta prioritize on something.

In my last post about Battlestar Galactica, there was some discussion in the comments about how all the black people from the original series have been replaced with white people, Korean people, and other people of various and assorted melanin configurations (comments here and here).

However, I’m not quite sure what all the fuss is about. Since I’ve been watching, I’ve seen tons of black people.

There’s that one girl who works on the bridge of the Galactica.

Then, if you’ve seen episode three, there are black people everywhere.

To be more specific, there are assloads of black people on the prison ship.

HELLO-O-O-O-O-O…!

I’m not PC (that’s “politically correct” – not “personal computer”). I grew up with a bunch of non-white people. We were all friends, and it was all natural, so I don’t feel the need to compensate for some weird latent racism about which I’m in denial by taking part in the PC witch-hunt that’s been going on for a while now. One of the best role models I’ve ever had was this black boyfriend my mother had when I was growing up. She later traded him in for some guy from Africa, and then some guy from Iran, and then another guy from Africa. I’ve lived with my share of non-crackers. My current girlfriend is half Japanese, one quarter Jew, and one quarter honky. In short, I’m not someone who gets really up in arms about racial issues. I grew up in diverse environments, and it all comes naturally to the Rodawgg. I understand very well that people of every shape and color have the potential to be great people, and that they all have the potential to be awful people.

- BUT -

There are limits to my non-PC mindset.

I don’t like all the contrived ads we see nowadays (one white guy, one Chinese guy, and one black lesbian, all looking over some documents in an office environment). They just seem so bloody silly. I like that so many people are being represented in these ads, but c’mon! We tiptoe so much nowadays – we’re so afraid of offending people.

I also don’t like racial quotas. Whether in the workplace or academia, I think of these quotas as targeting the symptoms of a problem rather than the problems themselves. Raise black kids in wealthy neighborhoods, and you get black lawyers. Raise white kids in poor neighborhoods, and you get white criminals. Using quotas to boost minority enrollment in college, although helpful for people who have had a hard time based on things like economic hardship and crappy schools, doesn’t do a damn thing to help prepare these same people from day one to succeed in life. A few “lucky” individuals make it into the system in spite of their childhood environments, but their friends are still stuck in the fringes where nobody cares about them. That’s, like, bad. So, I think quotas are dumb.

- AND STILL -

Something makes me think that the casting department for Battlestar Galactica ought to be flogged. Out of the first few episodes, including the mini-series, all we see is one black girl in a subordinate position. And then what? A prison ship where every other person is black.

Dumb.

Dumb, dumb, dumb. Totally freaking dumb.

D - U - M - B.

Dumb.

I’m not saying that I think “they” (it’s always “they” who do everything isn’t it?) did this intentionally, but that in itself is kind of freaky. I’ve been reading the BSG blog, and it sounds like everybody involved in the production has a full plate. So, when it came time to do the prison shots, I can’t help but wonder if the selection of black males was subconscious. That is, it felt “natural” to show black guys in jail, and nobody thought to question this since they were all already so busy with other things.

That’s almost more frightening to me than blatant racism. At least with blatant racism, you know that there’s a problem, and you know who’s doing it. When it happens without even realizing it, it’s harder to root out the problem.

It reminds me of a place I contracted quite a bit. Great people, but there was something weird going on. Most of the managers were women, and I got the feeling that there was a strong effort to push this “the genders are equal” idea. But, when getting on the elevators, the men still waited for all the women to get on board, and then they got on themselves. This chivalrous behavior seemed out of place after seeing women put into positions of authority, and it left me with the impression that there was still a “good old boys” club at the top which set the tone for company culture all the way down, and the elevator message was “we’re still living in the 50s.”

Blah. What a god damned mess :)

People are so weird.

I’ll shut up now. My head is thumping.

Published Sunday, February 27, 2005 10:50 PM by Rory

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Comments

 

Anonymous said:

Imitrex, man. It sure helped me.

And stay away from alchohol. A migrane and a hangover is a recipe for do it yourself brain surgery with a cordless drill.
February 27, 2005 11:59 PM
 

Craig said:

Speaking of subconscious racism, you might find Project Implicit interesting.

[1] https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/
February 28, 2005 12:04 AM
 

Kevin Daly said:

There's another piece of inherent dumbnessitudity in the Galactica situation: the setting is a human culture far removed from our current historical and geopgraphical context (which is why the ties, the presidency with an obvious US model and the familiar names are all troubling) - so it follows that only by pure chance would black people predominate in the same area of the social heap that they do in the early 21st century USA, since that's a transient artifact of recent history.
There must be a non-longwinder way for me to have said that, but what the hell.

Point number two: re. the Old Boys' Club thing, I actually take issue with that (it might be true, but not necessarily). While certain people like to get outraged at so-called chivalrous behaviour and act as if it's evil and condescending and so on and so forth ad nauseam, the truth is that it's one way that human cultures evolved to even the playing field between men and women: whether anyone likes it or not, the truth is that men are on average physically larger and stronger than women, and they could make use of that advantage to push past women, shoulder them aside and so on. Chivalrous customs simply compensate for an unfair physical advantage by conditioning men not to make use of it.
I personally think that's a good thing.
(Now queue outrage about which I do not give a Sweet Fanny Adams).
February 28, 2005 12:13 AM
 

TristanK said:

Hey Rory, could I ask a favour?

Could you categorize all your "sick" posts into one easily subscribable feed?

While you're always entertaining, the combination of Rory and medication is a complete winner, and I don't want to miss a single wacky instalment.

Hugs,
Tristan
February 28, 2005 12:34 AM
 

. said:

While its been a while since i saw the episode you refer to (BSG has already finished in UK), i wonder if as i think Kevin points the underlying idea in BSG is that this remote race of humanoids had developed in the same way as on Earth, so they were just showing what is in fact a true comparison of present day USA. I don't think anyone can be accused of racism for that, could you not also critisize just as much if the opposite were true, if there had been few black people in the prison, one could say for example "that while there are parallels with the US everywhere else, they had clearly hidden the truth about US prisons by ownly having a few black men on the prison ship"

found this quote on the web not sure of it accuracy or if things have changed in last 6 years
"In 1999, though Blacks were only 13 percent of the U.S. population, they were half of all prison inmates."

BSG does rock though, personally i love the fact that they have thrown out the Sci-Fi rule book, you know the one that says "space ships fly like planes" and "lasers make a sound"

i'm impressed with the realism every time i see a ship have to turn around to slow down or a change to external camera is accompanied by the silence of space, great stuff, can't wait for Season 2



February 28, 2005 12:58 AM
 

Davo said:

I was raised to be a gentleman: ladies always through doors etc. first. In my youth I thought this was done out of respect for "the weaker sex" but today I realise that it's the easiest way to clock a chick's ass.

Funny how perspective changes.
February 28, 2005 1:32 AM
 

Rick said:

If you just think of everyone as "just people", then you will see that we are all represented equally....

February 28, 2005 2:35 AM
 

Doug said:

Compare and contrast Galactica to Startgate: Atlantis. On Galactica everyone seems so American, even though they may look different. Atlantis has some Canadians and Russians in the mix as well some black people in leading roles.

It would be great if an actor could be cast based on acting ability without the need for the script to feature the ethnic background of the character as a plot point.

But, what about the bigger agenda of Galactia. The Cylons are like the ultimate evolution of Clippy. They made the machines to be helpful, but the machines turned on them. Is the lesson that we should take from Galactica one of "Turn off all your computers and machines and return to subsitance farming and hunting?" Are we to abandon the promise of tech?
February 28, 2005 3:07 AM
 

Mutt Girlfriend said:

To clarify, I am half-Japanese, a quarter *Romanian,* and one quarter honkey. While Rory is fond of the notion that I am "part Jewish," I uphold my argument that religion doesn't transfer genetically. It would be like saying I am "part golfer." Which I am also not.
February 28, 2005 5:39 AM
 

Rory said:

"Imitrex, man. It sure helped me."

Yeah - I've got some, but I'm afraid to use it. I don't know if you've ever read the sheet that comes with the drug, but it has the potential to do all sorts of nasty things.

I'll give a try sometime, but probably only when I'm within shouting distance of a hospital.

"And stay away from alchohol."

I learned that after a lot of "experimentation."

About fifteen minutes after drinking, my sinuses start to run, my eyes begin to water, and my right temple starts going thump-thump-thump-thump-thump... It's awful.

And it's too bad - I love drinking, but it isn't worth the discomfort.
February 28, 2005 6:35 AM
 

Rory said:

Craig -

"you might find Project Implicit interesting"

We did stuff like this in college, and I always found it suspect.

Interesting, yes - does it prove anything? Hmmm...
February 28, 2005 6:44 AM
 

Rory said:

Kevin -

"the Old Boys' Club thing, I actually take issue with that...While certain people like to get outraged at so-called chivalrous behaviour and act as if it's evil and condescending and so on and so forth ad nauseam, the truth is that it's one way that human cultures evolved to even the playing field between men and women...whether anyone likes it or not, the truth is that men are on average physically larger and stronger than women..."

The problem is that chivalrous behavior is totally incongruous with this whole equality of the sexes thing - if it's *convenient* to let a woman get on the elevator before me (perhaps she was standing closer to the elevator), then that makes sense. But, if your company is working toward this sense of gender parity, then it probably ought to go all the way and not foster this atmosphere of strange and arcane gender-based courtesy.

I actually find this behavior very confusing. I come from a generation that doesn't do things in any particular order - I hold doors for women, and they hold doors for me. We do it to be considerate - the motivation isn't demonstrating anything about the power of one gender over another. Just being polite, which *I* think is a good thing.

"(Now queue outrage about which I do not give a Sweet Fanny Adams)."

I hate to break it to you, but you weren't particularly controversial in your comment :) You made sense without offending - I just don't happen to agree...
February 28, 2005 6:51 AM
 

Rory said:

TristanK -

"While you're always entertaining, the combination of Rory and medication is a complete winner, and I don't want to miss a single wacky instalment."

Thanks :)

I like writing while I'm sick, but not so much with a migraine. Today's post was an exception because the migraine's been sticking around a lot longer than I expected it to, and I wanted to write.
February 28, 2005 6:52 AM
 

Rory said:

"found this quote on the web not sure of it accuracy or if things have changed in last 6 years: 'In 1999, though Blacks were only 13 percent of the U.S. population, they were half of all prison inmates.'"

This is what I was talking about when I was talking smack about quotas - quotas aren't going to do anything to fix the real problem, except make us *feel* that things are changing.

"BSG does rock though, personally i love the fact that they have thrown out the Sci-Fi rule book, you know the one that says 'space ships fly like planes' and 'lasers make a sound'"

Agreed - the silence during some of the dogfighting scenes is great, as are other details...
February 28, 2005 6:55 AM
 

Rory said:

Mutt Girlfriend -

"To clarify, I am half-Japanese, a quarter *Romanian,* and one quarter honkey. While Rory is fond of the notion that I am 'part Jewish,' I uphold my argument that religion doesn't transfer genetically. It would be like saying I am 'part golfer.' Which I am also not."

My dear woman, I just pulled this definition of "Jewish" from my dictionary:

1. of Judaism: relating to or practicing Judaism
2. of Jews: belonging or relating to a people descended from the ancient Hebrews

While number one doesn't apply to you, number two certainly does.
February 28, 2005 7:01 AM
 

PilotBob said:

Rory,

You are probably sick all the time, because of your diet. Check out www.drfurman.com for a diet that will give you optimal health. I have been following it since last June and haven't been sick since.
February 28, 2005 3:53 PM
 

T-Bone said:

Number one: Rory, I feel your pain. If I go more than one day without caffine, the old migrain kicks in. (I can quit at any time. But why??)

Number 2: Bummer you have to choose not to drink. I think that "I" would personally enjoy a nice, drunken Rory rant..

Number 3: I would have to agree that when you are allowing someone to pass though a door first out of consideration, this is a good thing. But it has to go both ways. (not that you have to go both ways, unless you want to double your chaces for a date) But if someone holds a door for you, say "thank you" and accept the gesture. No matter what the gender of the person holding the door..

February 28, 2005 4:15 PM
 

cubiclegrrl said:

I suspect that quotas weren't solely for the benefit of the underpriviledged demographic slices. Part of the idea may have been getting upscale cracker types used to the idea of having a woman and/or non-white in their office who's not there to clean it. ;-)

But I totally second the idea of whoever gets to the door first holds it open for the rest of the party. I guess that I don't even think about this anymore.

Hope you feel better soon, Rory.
February 28, 2005 4:37 PM
 

fuckwad said:

Hey bud, hope you start to feel better sooner rather than later.

Then you can have a word with that company that keeps pushing those adverts with 'one of everyone' in the shot. You know, that company you work for ;-)

To follow up on my last comment about BSG: I do actually Tivo it, and haven't missed an episode. I just don't think it rocks as much as it could have done. There was less baltizar in the last episode, which was a good thing..

Oh - a lot of people call me half-arsed. I don't walk funny so are they a racist or just incredibly observant? Please advise?
February 28, 2005 6:10 PM
 

Mutt Girlfriend said:

My dear fabulous Rory:

Re: Definition, Jewish = of Jews: belonging or relating to a people descended from the ancient Hebrews

Okay Airshake, let’s break this statement down into the sum of its three parts:

“My current girlfriend is half Japanese, one quarter Jew, and one quarter honky.”

The first part of the statement, “My current girlfriend is half Japanese,” establishes the facts that:

a) We are discussing ethnicity, and
b) We are doing so in terms of genetic make-up, and whatever “half” that is to follow will be consistent with these terms.

The last part of the statement, “…and one quarter honky,” *is* consistent with both a and b, and further reinforces them. (To be specific, I am an eighth British and an eighth Dutch, but honky is just fine.) While you have confirmed that I am indeed Jewish by descent, we are talking about genetics here. Tossing in the Jewish bit is like describing your father as half French, a quarter blacksmith, and a quarter Swiss; you are switching back and forth between terms, and it doesn’t really make sense.

The Jewish description also leaves an information gap:

Japanese = from Japan
Honky = from ‘Merica (Euro-mutt)
Jewish = from…um…well, pretty much anywhere, these days

Stating that I am a quarter Romanian would be more desriptive and consistent with the rest of the statement.

To summarize, my correction to your statement is more accurate. Even if it wasn’t, I’d still be right.

I absolutely adore you in any case, and remember: you adore me too. Say it. You adore me.





February 28, 2005 6:14 PM
 

Jerome Shall Inherit the Earth said:

Has anyone taken into account that according to the mythology of BSG that Earth is actually the lost thirteenth colony of Caprica? To me that seems to justify the way the titles of president and the sucession schema that was implemented in the first episdode dovetails with the U.S. Schema.
February 28, 2005 8:02 PM
 

Rory said:

Ian -

"To follow up on my last comment about BSG: I do actually Tivo it, and haven't missed an episode. I just don't think it rocks as much as it could have done. There was less baltizar in the last episode, which was a good thing.."

Don't worry. You're not on trial for your lack of taste.

Lucky for you.

"Oh - a lot of people call me half-arsed. I don't walk funny so are they a racist or just incredibly observant? Please advise?"

Don't worry about it - they're probably just limeyphobic. Keep eating your marmite and then speaking to them in close quarters while exhaling your yeast-laden breath in their direction. You have every right to express your cultural individualalitynessissity.

Also, they got it wrong - you're not "half-arsed" - you're a fuckwad :)
February 28, 2005 9:24 PM
 

Rory said:

Mutt Girlfriend -

[long, embarrassing, meandering, and pointless argument snipped]

You're wrong, and if my chicken pot pie isn't ready at 5:00, I'm going to kick your ass.

Love,

- Airshake
February 28, 2005 9:26 PM
 

shawn said:

Long time reader, first time writer. Just wanted to say that I too feel your pain when it comes to the migraines. I used to get them every month, and still get them every two months or so. My advice...(disclaimer: the following may sound like a bunch of warm-fuzzy hippy stuff)
if you dont want to get a migraine, take time every few days to de-stress. Don't eat too much chocolate, caffeine or artificial sweeteners, don't watch TV with the lights off (that one gets me every time), don't fall asleep with music or a TV on.
if you want to recover quickly from a migraine, use meditation. For me, if I get a migraine I can't stop my mind from racing and thinking about things I have to do or how pissed I am that I have a migraine and how much it is going to set me back. Just try saying one (hippyness coming up) relaxing and mellow word over and over until all those things get out of your head. It is the only thing that works for me...no pills did the trick.
ok, gonna stop now.
February 28, 2005 10:25 PM
 

Anonymous said:

February 28, 2005 10:44 PM
 

Craig said:

Yeah, I carefully didn't say, "Revelatory". :)

In fact, after taking the test myself (I hadn't), I'm led to wonder whether the fact that I picked black faces slower than white faces when near "good" words has more to do with me being a racist bastard (kidding) or with the fact that the first part of the test trained my fingers that way. But perhaps they take that into account somehow.

As I said, "Interesting".
February 28, 2005 10:56 PM
 

Winning Mutt Girlfriend said:

"You're wrong..."

That's all you got? I say a speechless Rory is confirmation of girlfriend correctness. Ha ha.

Chicken pot pie at 5:15 tonight, and that's just how it's going to be. Eat some Cool Ranch Doritos if you get hungry. Go ahead and kick my ass too; you barely left any bruises last night.

Pussy.


February 28, 2005 11:18 PM
 

George said:


"Go ahead and kick my ass too; you barely left any bruises last night"

moblog picture?
March 1, 2005 6:20 AM
 

Steve Majewski said:

i ran into a similar issue. i was retrieving images for my company's website, and went with ones that best fit the color scheme (for the page not the people). it came back that i did not have enough diversity in my images and i had to go get new pictures. i found it rather ironic, since the company does have quite a few women but virtually no minorities. who was complaining???

in the end, we just need to separate the geeks from the users. geeks shall rule the earth, and users shall bow down, kiss our feet, and worship us. is that too much to ask???
March 2, 2005 3:57 AM
 

Raif Harik said:

Hi, I don't know who you are and I don't really care one rats ass about BSG ( battlestare whatever ) But I like you. I like your view on race relations and gender relations. There are differences between races and genders. Embrase them for what they are and never forget that anyone can be an asshole. Especially me. And lastly on this issue, I absolutly agree with you that a blatant racist is more settleing than a PC raceist. At least with the former you know where you stand. I think I heard a sample of a Malcom X speach addressing this very issue on some gangsta rap album I was listing to with all my white friends.
I also don't know where you are. But I know that you are not in Boston. Because if you were they would have ridden you out of town on a rail or burned you at the stake or one of the many other things they have tried to do to me.
Who are you and why am I in Boston?
March 5, 2005 5:00 AM
 

Anonymous said:

Rory, you want to get better? Read the
info on this site and read the book called
"God's Way To Ultimate Health" available at this site. God has created that complex body of yours which needs proper fuel.

http://www.hacres.com

Try it if you are tired of being sick all the time.
March 9, 2005 3:14 AM
 

Mark Miller said:

Since you cited me, I figured I'd drop you a quick note on this. Funny what we notice and don't notice. You noticed that most of the prisoners in episode 3 were black. It didn't even cross my mind. Guess it didn't look unusual. Uh-oh...

I mean, hey, the topic was "paving over your childhood". When I look back on my post, I think I was reacting to the fact that they "paved over my childhood" a little too much. I was feeling like (towards the casting directors and writers) "Come on! Leave a little bit!"
March 13, 2005 1:12 AM
 

TrackBack said:

Continued Commentary on Blogging and 'Journalism'
March 13, 2005 4:52 PM
 

TrackBack said:

Patterns of oppression? I think not...
March 13, 2005 9:43 PM
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