Do ya'll think Prince is becoming mo' aware of his Black side?
I mean, what's up w/ Black Sweat & all?

Also, in TRChildren, he mentions the awareness of 'minorities' realising that they r actually the majority, possibly = TRChildren. (?!)

SST > poorest of our nations sons.

Such sentiments or comments make me wonder; what about u?

Its easy: when i start a thread about white consciousness in here, people will probably label me a racist....



Think about that

Don't believe everything you have read about Prince. This is a business-- a business of selling-- especially a new artist.
Press people know it the best, and its what i went to school for
Prince is 100% black.

Face it.
Many black people in the US are of mixed descent (including myself-- my mother wasn't even born in this country). This is a fact as well.


It doesn't make any one them any less black.

I was curious on this one. Why is when someone of mixed descent has some black in them, they are considered 100% black? According to some people anyway.

Thinking it right, doing it wrong. It was easier from an arm chair...

wonders if black americans feel proud when they see all those so-called gangsta rappers in musicvideo's, showing their bling bling, their female side-kicks with inflated breasts, the jacuzzi, the champagne....come on, how much more you can fool yourselve????

I'm sorry but I have to add one more thing.

This may sound bad but I just don't know how else to put it. I think Prince also realized that black people have a special love for him. We were with him from the very very beginning. And even during the height of his carrer, when there seemed to be so few black women in his camp, the total left field direction his music went to, black people, particularly black women continued to be his back bone and continued to respect and love Prince like never before.

None of this is to say that other communities do not adore Prince, it's just with black people I feel it is a little different.

IMO, black people have a special type of love relationship with certain people. Black folk love Denzel, Halle, Luther Vandross, Frankie Beverly and Maze, Bill Clinton, and Prince. I can't quite explain the type of love it is, but it's a love and respect that seems like only black folk understand, and I think Prince realized that. I mean of course his consciousness of blackness could be because of a million other things but I think what I stated above is also one of them.

I am sure i will get comments on this, and i said it before, Prince isnt (solely) black.

His mother was halve italian, halve black.
His father was halve phillipan, halve black.

Just check out the more reliable biographies about Prince. I mean, i have to believe something, and they all state this.

To me Prince seemed always a bit uncomfy with the 'black consciousness' thing. At some moments he did put the emphasize on ethnic diversity (dirty mind, controversy), at others he seemed to put the emphathis more on his 'blackness' (the rainbow children, exodus).

To me this latter examples always did sound forced, and somehow stupid, i mean, at first, Prince isnt black, but just a mixture of races, and second, it didnt sound sincere to me, but very forced, a pose.

To be clear, i loved the Prince who was saying / preaching there are no boundaries when it comes to ethnicity, the mixture of musicstyles, the fact that we are all human, because that connects with how i think about people. I dont like people putting emphasis on how 'black' or 'white' they are, because its a 'powertool' not a sign of integrity and knowing what life is about.

Riverpoet31 said:

I think that many black people try to be optimistic and somewhat idealistic with regard to racism when we are younger. However, as we get older and REALLY experience life, we realize that nothing has really changed. Whether covert or overt, racism is racism.

I am a 30-year-old black woman and I have definitely experienced some racist things throughout my life - several this year alone - that have shown me that racism will always exist. As people of color we need to know our history and embrace ourselves, because we live in a world where we are taught that we are inferior. I think Prince has just become wiser as he has aged. Experience is a teacher. What is life if not a journey to self discovery. As Prince reaches half a century on this earth, he has disovered himself - like most of us whop are willing to undertake the task.

I guess because white people are considered to be the majority in this country, and that white people have been guilty of mistreating others in the past...

Trust me, if all the "European Americans" demand that there be a "White History Month", there will be an outcry. When the "League of United White American Citizens" is formed, there will be an outcry. When an organization called "National Association for the Advancement of White People" is formed, there will be an outcry.

Do white people experience rasicm as well, or are they immune to it? Is it socially acceptable to be racist towards white people? It doesn't seem to bother some of the most popular black comedians to make fun of white people (you know, the ol' nasal voice that is commonly used by the likes of Chris Rock, Eddie Murphy, and Dave Chappelle, portraying the white person stereotype). It seems to me some of you think that white people are the only people in this world that are capable of racism.

Romera said:

Trust me, if all the "European Americans" demand that there be a "White History Month", there will be an outcry. When the "League of United White American Citizens" is formed, there will be an outcry. When an organization called "National Association for the Advancement of White People" is formed, there will be an outcry. It just seems to me that there is a double standard. I guess because white people are considered to be the majority in this country, and that white people have been guilty of mistreating others in the past, that they are not allowed to have these types of organizations without public outcry and disgust. Trust me, I wouldn't belong to any of these organizations if they existed. The point I'm trying to make is it seems to me that every race is going to have some racists in it. Don't try to pin the entire world's racism problem on the white man. I've experienced plenty of racism, I can feel it right now. That being said, I wish and pray to God that someday this world will be free of racism and we can all love one another. Peace.

wonders if black americans feel proud when they see all those so-called gangsta rappers in musicvideo's, showing their bling bling, their female side-kicks with inflated breasts, the jacuzzi, the champagne....come on, how much more you can fool yourselve????

I hate the term african-american. I am not African-American, I'm West Indian, but because I have a dark skin tone people want to put labels on me. I hate the term african-american because it makes no sense, it is a stupid term, I do not see people going around calling people from Caucasian ancestry European-Americans. And if you are going by ancestry, then tecnically everyone is african-something because based on scientific and anthropological evidence people originated from Africa, for those of you who may not be too bright, that means no matter how fair (or "white") your skin is you have a dark skin toned person in your family tree somewhere. As far as I know I have african, french and hispanic background, does that make me an african-European-South American. Another thing I hate is that just because you have a certain skin tone people are expecting you to fit into a stereotypical pattern, and I'm like MF please I was not even born in this country and I refuse to let people from this country put me in a stereotypical box, I like Hockey and my sister loves skiing, but oh I'm not supposed to like hockey and my sister is not supposed to like skiing, right? All people with such narrow minds need to go read the anal stimulation link to figure out what they need to do next. I wish everyone would start having mixed babies, maybe then we'll be done with this race bs.

StoneCrib said:

Shit, what about Cinco de Mayo?

Pretty much everyone here is from somewhere else but we get the most shit for celebrating that.

Romera said:

Yep, we celebrate St Patrick's day, Columbus day, Hispanic heritage month, Chinese new year, etc. and it's all good, but somehow, Black history month is another story? Interesting.

Do white people experience rasicm as well, or are they immune to it? Is it socially acceptable to be racist towards white people? It doesn't seem to bother some of the most popular black comedians to make fun of white people (you know, the ol' nasal voice that is commonly used by the likes of Chris Rock, Eddie Murphy, and Dave Chappelle, portraying the white person stereotype). It seems to me some of you think that white people are the only people in this world that are capable of racism.

Romera said:

Trust me, if all the "European Americans" demand that there be a "White History Month", there will be an outcry. When the "League of United White American Citizens" is formed, there will be an outcry. When an organization called "National Association for the Advancement of White People" is formed, there will be an outcry. It just seems to me that there is a double standard. I guess because white people are considered to be the majority in this country, and that white people have been guilty of mistreating others in the past, that they are not allowed to have these types of organizations without public outcry and disgust. Trust me, I wouldn't belong to any of these organizations if they existed. The point I'm trying to make is it seems to me that every race is going to have some racists in it. Don't try to pin the entire world's racism problem on the white man. I've experienced plenty of racism, I can feel it right now. That being said, I wish and pray to God that someday this world will be free of racism and we can all love one another. Peace.

Daddy said:

Where is all the outcry from people when people of Irish descent, German descent, Japanese descent celebrate their history?



Do white people experience racism? I would say that white people experience prejudice and discrimination certainly, and it's just as wrong as any other form of prejudice whether it's based on race, age, gender, religion, etc. Most people experience some form of prejudice at some point in their lives. The term "Racism" is somewhat different. Although it is based upon prejudice, the "ism" implies an institutionalized practice of discrimination that is systemic in nature and not widely experienced by the dominant culture. The terms racism, prejudice and discrimination are not interchangeable.

As someone stated above, European culture is already THE dominant culture, so there would be no need for any special designations. The economic sytem, the arts, education,and form of government that we live under are all based upon the Euro-centric worldview of history, culture and philosophy so I'm not seeing your point.

Babynoz,
if black people from this country want to call themselves Tree of Africa, that would be fine with me, as long as people don't start identifying me as that. The term African-American bothers me because I hate the term, yet people are labeling me an african-american just because of my skin color. It just makes no sense to go define African - something by ancestry because everybodies ancestors are from Africa. And just because a person still reflects their african ancestry in their skin color, it does not make him/her any more or less from Africa then a White person.
Take this example as an illustration, My cousin who has very dark skin had two kids with a White man, yet both kids came out with absolutely no sign of their african ancestry. One of them has red hair like Julianne Moore with brown eyes and the other one has light brown hair with green eyes. If those kids marry white folks, 2 generations later the greatgrand kids won't know they had a black greatgrandmother unless somebody tell them; people can't tell now that these kids have a black mother, it's sad because when she's out with them, they think that she is their nanny. My point is that since the darkest black person and the fairest white person might be able to trace their african ancestry two generations back, it makes no sense to reseve the term african-American for black people here who can't trace their african ancestry. if black people here are African-American, then what do you call a person who lives here and is actually from an African country.
Yes, there are people who call themselves German or Irish or Asian American, but these people can actually trace their ties to that specific country or continent.
As for American Bashing, I am not doing that at all, I am simply stating facts. I have family in many different countries and I am only making that statement because of what I know of their experiences. No body looks at my sister funny when she goes skiing in Europe. All you need to do is cross the border and you'll notice the difference. I went on a date with a white guy in the states, and everybody was looking at us like we were aliens or something; I went to toronto and one thing I noticed was that when mixed couples walk by in toronto, nobody looks at them funny. I saw a black girl with an asian guy, nobody gave a damm, then I saw some white/black pairs and again nobody gave a damm. Yes, other places have their own problems,but from my own experiences and what I've been told by family members in other countries, in a lot of other countries people are not expecting you to talk a certain way or not do certain things because of your skin color.
[Edited 4/22/06 14:43pm]
[Edited 4/22/06 14:47pm]

Babynoz,
I think that you are misunderstanding my point of view. I do have respect for black Americans, I have respect for different cultures in general. And I don't think it is a hateful thing to be identified as African-American, I just don't like the term for the reasons that I stated in my other posts. and since I don't like the term, I don't like when people call me African-American. But I have respect for Black Americans, matter of fact, one of the people that I admire the most is a black american, and my ex-boyfriend was also a Black American. So just because I don't like the term does not mean that I have a problem with the people.
I do really love Toronto, but that's because it's such a diverse city and given that I like learning about different cultures,it makes sense that I love Toronto. But I do know that the indigenous people there have faced a lot of problems; I took a canadian criminal law class and we discussed how unfair the criminal justice system there is to indigenous people. Yes, everywhere have its own problems, I was just pointing out that in a lot of other places people don't expect you to act a certain way because of your skin color. But by saying that I'm not saying that other places don't have race problems. perhaps the reason why I brought that up again is because today I went in a Sam Goody music store and when I went to check out my items, the guy looked at one of my CDs and said "well you sure you want to buy this, you know this is rock"? I said yeah I know it's rock, Why? he didn't really answer. I guess I don't look like somebody you'd expect to buy a rock album. I guess my natural hair say no rock albums allowed. He didn't question the dance cd I picked out, he only questioned the rock album, and I'm faced with that kind of attitude all the time. I am a person who likes to do all kinds of stuff, when I'm buying an R&B album no one questions me? when I'm watching basketball, no one questions me, but the second they see me watching hockey or buying a rock album, they have something to say? and I'm just tired of it.
[Edited 4/22/06 17:06pm]
[Edited 4/22/06 17:10pm]

Yeah, trust me I know the look. Doesn't it bother you? I guess black people are not supposed to listen to Mozart and Tchaikovsky. People can be so narrowminded.