Every week Talkin' Videos will provide a reaction to Ice's Cube's "Black. White." reality series where two families swap races to see how the other half lives. Ron Mexico will blog from the Black view, and guest blogger Bear will represent the White side of things. Let us know what you think in the comment section below.
Bear on the White side:
After seeing the third episode of Black.White, I can admit that things have become interesting and this week. I believe Carmen and Bruno truly stood out. Note - while I think Carmen is socially oblivious (not to be confused with close-minded), in this episode that tide has turned and I believe she has really begun to become aware of her surroundings.
I'm gonna focus on the Country Western Bar scene. Now I don't know how to line dance and I've never been to one of them Country Western Bars. There's nothing wrong with them, it's just not my cup of tea. I'm not sure how many people picked up on this, but I noticed the rebel flag hanging on the walls.
As a proud Yankee, I don't dig the "stars and bars." Some people say the flag is racist, some say it's about pride … whatever. Either way, I wasn't surprised when everyone at the bar watched every move Carmen and Bruno made. And I wasn’t shocked when Carmen became emotional, again. I do find it peculiar that while Bruno said he was having a great time and playing pool, the camera really didn't show him playing pool or talking to anyone. It seems like the camera tells a totally different story.
I will give Carmen her props. Though I find her annoying, I'll admit she is taking full advantage of the situation she was placed in. She wasn't really getting much guidance from Renee, so she sought out the help of someone else (was Deenna her name?) and kept putting herself out there. I can't hate on that (and if she didn't do that, this episode would have sucked).
As I finish this entry, here are some last questions I have in my head. Would Carmen sound better if the TV was on mute? Can someone tell me where the hell Nick is working, because that guy seems to be rolling in the dough. Will Bruno use a Mach 3 on his chest - he's got some thick ass chest hair. And Does Michael Stipe play the role of the Photo Professor?
Ron on the Black view:
The funny thing about Nick… Nick suffers from an genocidal epidemic of Small Pox proportions known as ANS. Advanced Nigga Syndrome. We lose more black people to that shit than any socially-marginalized disease, natural disaster, or police department I can think of. I can’t even laugh. I used to be Nick.
I remember when I was 16… well… maybe a little younger than that. More like 14, I guess. I couldn’t wait to cash my damn Summer Youth Employment Program check. Now, at the time minimum wage was $4.25… so I was pulling down like $96 dollars after about 3 weeks of slave labor.
Anyway… what’s the first thing I did after I held that little piece of Jr. Welfare in my young banana peelers? I took my sharecroppin’ ass directly to the check cashing spot. I did not pass “GO.†I did not collect $200. In fact, I dropped like $4 right there, and headed straight to 125th Street. I didn’t get a $150 watch like my man did. I came away with a $20 fake Tag Heuer watch, a $20 Tommy Realnigga polo and a Sony Walkman. While I did kinda understand the value of a dollar, and I did kinda flip that shit quite economically… The point is, I was stuntin’ hard.
Stuntin’ kills. This is a primary factor in the inability of black people to amass wealth. We have a great chip on our shoulder whereas we intrinsically have something to prove. Interestingly enough, we only parade this way in front of other poor ass black people trying to put on their Sunday best as well. I call this phenomenon “Keeping Up With The Jacksons.â€
Funny shit is… The Jackson family’s all fucked up. Check ‘em out someday.
