luv4all, pardon the vitriol sent your way on this thread. So often, your comments -- especially when delivered with sarcasm or, to be fair, glibness -- can smack a bit of the kind of insensitivity that, for many blacks, has been symptomatic of empowered whites' prejudicial, racist and harmful sentiments.

So, pardon us, if we've met your passionate expressions with outrage. Just wanted the context of our reactions -- or, at least, mine -- to be clear. Nothing personal against you.

As always, at the core of this thread's disagreement is historical context. Generally, when blacks have had to protest being excluded from something, it hasn't been something as trivial as a TV special about beautiful luminaries and pioneers. The protests have been against a lack of access to fundamental, basic liberties enjoyed by whites: such as housing, institutions of higher learning, good jobs, etc. And, I won't insult your intelligence by detailing the enslavement that gave way to Jim Crow laws and even later, more covert discrimination.

But these struggles of ours have not occurred within a vacuum. Racism isn't some figment of imagine, isn't some bogey man of black paranoid invention.

White supremacist thought has informed everything from the Trail of Tears and slavery, to Japanese interment camps and the U.S. government-sponsored Tuskegee syphillis experiments and the Ku Klux Klan's terrorism. Again, I say much of the thought driving these phenomena was whites feeling entitled to subject their nonwhite fellow citizens to such atrocities simply because they looked different.

So, when a Jamie Foxx, a Denzel Washington or a Halle Berry wins an Oscar for best actor or actress, understand that it's still a rarity in America. This country still has a long way to go, in terms of honoring the works and achievements of talented nonwhite people as highly as it does whites.

And, it goes back to what traits are valued and which aren't. Consider, if you will, how the phrase "All-American Girl" is still tied to blue-eyed blondes -- as opposed to dark, brown-eyed girls of varying ethnicities.

Progress is being made, without doubt. But, I think real progress will encompass whites not feeling threatened when nonwhites take a well-earned moment to celebrate all that makes us beautiful. You -- and others who share your values or background -- might not feel the same about us.

But, we don't need you to.

And maybe this adolescent-but-rapidly-maturing liberty from white approval -- which, I dare say, was at the core of the Oprah event -- is what offended some white people.

It's something, I say respectfully, our white brothers and sisters had better get used to.

Patti put on some vocals that made my neck shiver with delight...that voice..unbelieveable

luv4all7 said:

They did...for decades and decades..it was called Ms. America Pagent...

but they did...for many many years...it was called The Oscars.

luv4all, pardon the vitriol sent your way on this thread. So often, your comments -- especially when delivered with sarcasm or, to be fair, glibness -- can smack a bit of the kind of insensitivity that, for many blacks, has been symptomatic of empowered whites' prejudicial, racist and harmful sentiments.

So, pardon us, if we've met your passionate expressions with outrage. Just wanted the context of our reactions -- or, at least, mine -- to be clear. Nothing personal against you.

As always, at the core of this thread's disagreement is historical context. Generally, when blacks have had to protest being excluded from something, it hasn't been something as trivial as a TV special about beautiful luminaries and pioneers. The protests have been against a lack of access to fundamental, basic liberties enjoyed by whites: such as housing, institutions of higher learning, good jobs, etc. And, I won't insult your intelligence by detailing the enslavement that gave way to Jim Crow laws and even later, more covert discrimination.

But these struggles of ours have not occurred within a vacuum. Racism isn't some figment of imagine, isn't some bogey man of black paranoid invention.

White supremacist thought has informed everything from the Trail of Tears and slavery, to Japanese interment camps and the U.S. government-sponsored Tuskegee syphillis experiments and the Ku Klux Klan's terrorism. Again, I say much of the thought driving these phenomena was whites feeling entitled to subject their nonwhite fellow citizens to such atrocities simply because they looked different.

So, when a Jamie Foxx, a Denzel Washington or a Halle Berry wins an Oscar for best actor or actress, understand that it's still a rarity in America. This country still has a long way to go, in terms of honoring the works and achievements of talented nonwhite people as highly as it does whites.

And, it goes back to what traits are valued and which aren't. Consider, if you will, how the phrase "All-American Girl" is still tied to blue-eyed blondes -- as opposed to dark, brown-eyed girls of varying ethnicities.

Progress is being made, without doubt. But, I think real progress will encompass whites not feeling threatened when nonwhites take a well-earned moment to celebrate all that makes us beautiful. You -- and others who share your values or background -- might not feel the same about us.

But, we don't need you to.

And maybe this adolescent-but-rapidly-maturing liberty from white approval -- which, I dare say, was at the core of the Oprah event -- is what offended some white people.

It's something, I say respectfully, our white brothers and sisters had better get used to.

Well thank you ThreadBare for explaining it so wonderfully. Maybe I should have thought of the reactions I would recieve b4 I spoke, but in reality I wasn't trying to offend anyone of any race.

But I have, and you so have so kindly pointed out why. Instead of bashing me and calling me racist which I am not. And accusing me of baiting, when I simly posted on 2 threads becuz I was being accused of being part of the KKK on both.

I was also accused of being the "kind of white person who says I'm not racist, I have a black friend". Well actually, I am that kind of person. I don't have many black friends. I guess your gonna put me down cuzza of the black white ratio in a lil' coal minin' town in PA. That's fine. But I did grow up in a foreign country, in an International school, where Americans were the minority, and I loved it and the people, so I am secure enough to know I'm not a racist. So I don't feel the need to grovel to people like who only hear what they want any way.

But I do feel like people like CalhounSq, and Paisly4U and ThreadBare, actually may have been sincere in their replies. So this is 4 them. That is where I'm comin' from, my VERY 1st post, if you read it, was not aimed to hurt. It is how I felt when I noticed there was no other race being honored at the event, so maybe I got a taste of how blacks felt many many times. So now becuz of that maybe I'll be more "aware" in the future. Lesson learned.

Oh, and I will be posting this on both threads. NOT to bait.

How the Hell did she get an invite to Oprah's Legends Ball? Ashanti is a cutie pie, no doubt, but talk about sticking out like a sore thumb. I guess Beyonce was busy, well good for Ashanti.

Whitney Houston and Lena Horne should've been there.


Ashford & Simpson ---I like that couple. Her husband
used to scare me when I was younger.