Closed captioning for the satire-impaired provided by your Chicagoland Ford Dealers
Seems like many moons and memes ago people were talking about BlackPeopleLoveUs.com:
Chelsea Peretti, 24, a struggling stand-up comedian who is one of the site's creators, said: "It really shocked us how quickly this site took off. We were expecting a huge response, but not this huge."Ms. Peretti, who wrote all of the site's content, and her partner (and brother), Jonah Peretti, 28, who designed the site, describe blackpeopleloveus.com as a form of social activism, a way of examining the infinitely complex subject of race relations.
"Because the site is funny, we knew it would reach people who might not ordinarily think about these issues," said Mr. Peretti, an adjunct professor of digital design at the Parsons School of Design and the director of research and development at Eyebeam, a nonprofit arts organization in New York. "We wanted to promote dialogue, to get people talking about these issues."
So the New York Times article on the site and site creators, Black-White Harmony: Are You Kidding Me?, may not be of interest.
Plus, y'know, humor is idiosyncratic. And some people do get touchy about racial issues. Hard to believe this, coming from me, but it's true. Really.
But many visitors to their site will probably wonder what gives the Perettis the authority to speak on behalf of African-Americans. Not having actually experienced the frustrations they ridicule, are they qualified to spearhead this discussion?Yes, the siblings argue. "There is a mistake that people have made about the division of labor," Mr. Peretti said. "It's like racism is something only people of color can think about. Feminism is something only women can think about. But it's important for white people to get involved in the critique too."
A friend of the Perettis featured on the site, José Germosén, a black Dominican, insists the siblings aren't suffering from a case of white liberal guilt. "I don't think they set out to defend the Negroes; they just had a genuine interest in sparking dialogue," said Mr. Germosén, 26. "A lot of white people of the hip-hop generation are a lot more sophisticated about how this game got started and they're just as interested in freeing up the blockage as we are."
There would be some pseudo-intellectual justification here for me liking this site, but despising that "How BLACK Are You?" quiz, but I really don't see a contradiction. . .
Update: Laura asked about Black Folk linking to the site a while back, and I failed to comment, because I suck.
Giles, who does not suck, did chime in. I'd encourage others to do so, but seeing as I still haven't myself yet, um, I'm thinking about not posting this. . .
Comments
touchy as in, trying to rub your head?
i'm still waiting for martin mull to get his act together and put up a web site. he is a visual artiste, after all. i'm thinking of e-stalking him about it.
oh, and i thought i would share with you something that just fell on my head from outer space like an asteroid while writing an email to dru: the epithet "assnostrils" for people who are annoying you. go ahead, it's freeware.
Posted by: fertile_jim | November 19, 2002 1:11 PM
That Martin Mull book? "The History of White People"? I read it when I was young. Liked it, too. It made me laugh because it was a white person talking about the ways in which white Americans seemed strange to him, and in which American history seemed inconsistent, and grounds for goofing, for humor and thought.
Mull got to define himself, to "version" his history, for the purposes of taking a couple of pratfalls per chapter for readers' amusement and for their edification.
Posted by: George | November 19, 2002 5:51 PM
the site is excellent satire. and i think excellent satire should make its point while making the audience feel a little uncomfortable, confronting the underlying issues. in this case, that worked out quite well.
Posted by: kd | November 19, 2002 10:18 PM
Karynann this is for to let you know a little more about blackawareness. I know this will amuse you also.So keep a open mind people are people white or black. I have came to belive that as much as white belive they have a God given right to hate blackpeople as whole.We also have a human right base on the treatment we as a people have been subjected to in the land of the free.We have had hate work on us in more ways that we can count it has destoryed us in many ways on the inside.Once this was started the affects was easy to be seen in every part of our life as a people.
Posted by: Karynann parker | November 24, 2002 5:36 PM
I'm sure this is a typo but I just really like the word "Destoryed" although I imagine it would be "de-storied" if it was an actual word.
We have, very much, been "de-storied."
Posted by: Jason | November 24, 2002 9:12 PM
This shit be crazy nigga. You got my props and maybe a yacht.
Posted by: nigga poo | December 2, 2003 11:34 AM