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Mar. 29th, 2002 03:03 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
johnpalmerBefore the academy awards, there was talk about there being a large number of nominees who were black (or "African American", which I don't dislike as a term, but find awkward. Plus, it leads to problems. What if one was a black Canadian? Sure, Canadians are "Americans", but then, so are Peruvians. And then, during some sporting event, one of my loves pointed out the announcer referring to the "African American from (European country)").
Anyway... there was the expected comment about "waiting for the day when it's not a big deal that there are that many blacks among the nominees."
And I was thinking about that.
Hopefully, you know what that means. It means that, if a black child and a white child both want to grow up to be actors (or directors, or screenwriters, etc.), until you factor in something else (where they live, how wealthy their families are, etc.), the odds that either will be a successful actor are the same. There will not be external barriers imposed. The black child (nor the white child, for that matter) will not be more likely to be in lower quality schools, and the child's parents have good chances for continued employment and advancement, etc.
And one thing that might (or might not) be crucial... that society is such that there aren't too many expectations about what a black person looks like, or does.
Because one of the things that holds back black actors is undoubtedly good casting folks who realize that, for some reason, that black actor doesn't quite have the right feel, and casts a white person instead.
Now, that bit about "the right feel"... that's crucial to understanding my point.
If you picture a member of "the board of directors of General Motors" (or some other large, wealthy corporation), and you picture a middle aged white man, and a young black man tries out for that role, well, it's not that you are thinking "I don't want a black person". But someone who does good "middle aged, wealthy white man" might well seem more 'right' to you in the role.
I imagine that this is one of the smaller factors... but the fact that a black person might not seem 'right' comes from the fact that blacks *ARE* under-represented in a lot of jobs, which is one of the reasons that getting to the point that one can try out for the role of "member of the board of directors" is influenced by race. (Proportionately fewer blacks in higher paying jobs means proportionately fewer blacks looking for 'starry eyed' type jobs, like acting in movies. It takes some amount of wealth to be able to formulate a serious dream of that type.)
Anyway... the point of this is, I realized that this is, really *HUGE*. If someone was ordered to "make it so that it's not surprising tht a lot of blacks got nominations for the academy awards", it would require reshaping a lot of society as we know it, and it would probably take at least two to three generations for it to be completed.
And I have a sad suspicion that a lot of folks think "make it so it's not surprising" means "get minorities to stop complaining, so no one notices how many (or how few) opportunities there are for them."
Anyway... there was the expected comment about "waiting for the day when it's not a big deal that there are that many blacks among the nominees."
And I was thinking about that.
Hopefully, you know what that means. It means that, if a black child and a white child both want to grow up to be actors (or directors, or screenwriters, etc.), until you factor in something else (where they live, how wealthy their families are, etc.), the odds that either will be a successful actor are the same. There will not be external barriers imposed. The black child (nor the white child, for that matter) will not be more likely to be in lower quality schools, and the child's parents have good chances for continued employment and advancement, etc.
And one thing that might (or might not) be crucial... that society is such that there aren't too many expectations about what a black person looks like, or does.
Because one of the things that holds back black actors is undoubtedly good casting folks who realize that, for some reason, that black actor doesn't quite have the right feel, and casts a white person instead.
Now, that bit about "the right feel"... that's crucial to understanding my point.
If you picture a member of "the board of directors of General Motors" (or some other large, wealthy corporation), and you picture a middle aged white man, and a young black man tries out for that role, well, it's not that you are thinking "I don't want a black person". But someone who does good "middle aged, wealthy white man" might well seem more 'right' to you in the role.
I imagine that this is one of the smaller factors... but the fact that a black person might not seem 'right' comes from the fact that blacks *ARE* under-represented in a lot of jobs, which is one of the reasons that getting to the point that one can try out for the role of "member of the board of directors" is influenced by race. (Proportionately fewer blacks in higher paying jobs means proportionately fewer blacks looking for 'starry eyed' type jobs, like acting in movies. It takes some amount of wealth to be able to formulate a serious dream of that type.)
Anyway... the point of this is, I realized that this is, really *HUGE*. If someone was ordered to "make it so that it's not surprising tht a lot of blacks got nominations for the academy awards", it would require reshaping a lot of society as we know it, and it would probably take at least two to three generations for it to be completed.
And I have a sad suspicion that a lot of folks think "make it so it's not surprising" means "get minorities to stop complaining, so no one notices how many (or how few) opportunities there are for them."
