Damn, I must’ve missed that day
Oct. 10th, 2002 04:35 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hackthis_archiveI don’t put personal things here. I don’t generally get involved with meta discussions either, but you know, every now and then something pops up and I just have to get up and say ‘um, what?’
There appears to be some debate as to the “blackness” of Pete Ross, and for the life of me I don’t know why. Maybe it’s just me, but considering that Pete, by deign of the person who portrays him on television, is black, I find it a bit hard to understand the exact problem.
Now I understand that we haven’t seen Pete’s family yet, so for all we know his dad could be Filipino and his mom Nigerian or Cuban, but I mean come on. So we don’t have definitive proof that he’s black black, but because a) most black people are already mixed up after about four hundred years here and b) his skin has more melanin than say Chloe, we’re just going to go ahead and infer that he’s black – but remember he could be Cuban... or mixed, or who the fuck knows. Hell, maybe he’s got a pod hiding under his bed too! Shit, maybe I’m the only one who missed it and they painted him blue when I wasn’t looking. Hey, it could’ve happened, wouldn’t really surprise me.
Come to think of it, none of this really should, surprise me I mean. Just because we’re in 2002 doesn’t mean the stereotypes have gone away. I mean Chloe’s blonde so really she should be as dumb as dirt, and because Clark is an alien he's really a green little man in an insulation suit, and since he's hick he obviously could never fathom that Lex might be hitting on him, and since Pete is black he should either a) be cutting class to play ball on scruffy-ass courts without nets that are so prevalent or b) spending all his time in the Principal’s Office. Right?
Right?
You know what? I don’t think so. Maybe you do, that’s your prerogative. Doesn’t mean I have to agree, doesn’t mean I have to like it and can’t take offense at your pigheadedness, because you know what? I do. I take offense at stupidity and ignorance and pigeon-holing and the idea that because Pete is black he can only act one way – like the thugged-out, Fubu-wearing, gold tooth sporting, homie out on the corner who smokes his blunts and rolls craps in the alley.
I guess Pete’s got a lot of work to do – you know, to be real, because that’s obviously the real Pete Ross and obviously you (generic) know better than anybody else. I'll be damned but I think the writers on the show must have missed that. Silly them. You know because Pete’s mom really isn’t a judge and his family didn’t really have a creamed corn factory that they OWNED. My bad, I guess they must’ve just run it on layaway. And since that's the reality, versus whatever we've been told, I'm just waiting for the episode where Pete and his dad go bust a cap in Lionel’s ass, cos that’s really how black people deal with their problems. Yeah. Uh huh.
Did I also mention that apparently the only music that Gangsta!Pete will ever listen to is Jay-Z and Scarface and Wu-Tang, because you know the brothers on the corner don’t listen to Remy Zero.
Silly me. How non-black, can one black person be? I guess I must have missed this memo.
It may have escaped some people’s notice, but Pete lives in Kansas, not in the Brooklyn projects, not in North Philly or Long Beach. Now generally, people are first and foremost a product of the environment that they grow up in, so he may be able to buy some gold teeth on line or get some Nas records at the Wiz, but you know, otherwise, I’m not sure how exactly Pete is expected to learn how to ‘be black.’ Maybe we should talk to the Hooked on Phonics people? I mean one person can only watch so much BET between school and bed... and you know since Pete is black and he obviously can’t wear GAP or A&F or what the fuck ever, I’m wondering who’s going to pay for him to take those special trips to the Bronx to pick up his Triple 5 Soul gear so he can really ‘be black.’
I mean isn't that what he needs to really 'be black?' Isn't that what being black is all about? Obviously it has everything to do with what you wear, how you sound, and exclusivly listening to Public Enemy, Mos Def and Louis Farrakahn, reading the Autobiography of Malcom X and Marcus Garvey and keeping like with like. Obviously black people don't listen to country (India.Arie), play rock (Lenny Kravitz), write intelligent books (Zadie Smith, Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison) or know how to play polo (unless it has to do with Ralph Lauren).
My bad... but you know I take offense at the idea that because Pete is black he obvious could never have gone to a boarding school or will never go to an Ivy League on his own merits – you know, since Affirmative Action is over and all that. I take offense to the idea that because Pete has interest in Chloe he’s obviously not being black enough. God, is that what people said about me and my exes as well? Oh, well, fuck them, cos you know if Pete’s not really black, and neither am I and neither are a lot of black people that don’t fit the stereotype then obviously we just don’t exist at all – I mean except as preppy could-be-but-not-quite white people. I can’t wait to tell my parents this.
Silly us.
There appears to be some debate as to the “blackness” of Pete Ross, and for the life of me I don’t know why. Maybe it’s just me, but considering that Pete, by deign of the person who portrays him on television, is black, I find it a bit hard to understand the exact problem.
Now I understand that we haven’t seen Pete’s family yet, so for all we know his dad could be Filipino and his mom Nigerian or Cuban, but I mean come on. So we don’t have definitive proof that he’s black black, but because a) most black people are already mixed up after about four hundred years here and b) his skin has more melanin than say Chloe, we’re just going to go ahead and infer that he’s black – but remember he could be Cuban... or mixed, or who the fuck knows. Hell, maybe he’s got a pod hiding under his bed too! Shit, maybe I’m the only one who missed it and they painted him blue when I wasn’t looking. Hey, it could’ve happened, wouldn’t really surprise me.
Come to think of it, none of this really should, surprise me I mean. Just because we’re in 2002 doesn’t mean the stereotypes have gone away. I mean Chloe’s blonde so really she should be as dumb as dirt, and because Clark is an alien he's really a green little man in an insulation suit, and since he's hick he obviously could never fathom that Lex might be hitting on him, and since Pete is black he should either a) be cutting class to play ball on scruffy-ass courts without nets that are so prevalent or b) spending all his time in the Principal’s Office. Right?
Right?
You know what? I don’t think so. Maybe you do, that’s your prerogative. Doesn’t mean I have to agree, doesn’t mean I have to like it and can’t take offense at your pigheadedness, because you know what? I do. I take offense at stupidity and ignorance and pigeon-holing and the idea that because Pete is black he can only act one way – like the thugged-out, Fubu-wearing, gold tooth sporting, homie out on the corner who smokes his blunts and rolls craps in the alley.
I guess Pete’s got a lot of work to do – you know, to be real, because that’s obviously the real Pete Ross and obviously you (generic) know better than anybody else. I'll be damned but I think the writers on the show must have missed that. Silly them. You know because Pete’s mom really isn’t a judge and his family didn’t really have a creamed corn factory that they OWNED. My bad, I guess they must’ve just run it on layaway. And since that's the reality, versus whatever we've been told, I'm just waiting for the episode where Pete and his dad go bust a cap in Lionel’s ass, cos that’s really how black people deal with their problems. Yeah. Uh huh.
Did I also mention that apparently the only music that Gangsta!Pete will ever listen to is Jay-Z and Scarface and Wu-Tang, because you know the brothers on the corner don’t listen to Remy Zero.
Silly me. How non-black, can one black person be? I guess I must have missed this memo.
It may have escaped some people’s notice, but Pete lives in Kansas, not in the Brooklyn projects, not in North Philly or Long Beach. Now generally, people are first and foremost a product of the environment that they grow up in, so he may be able to buy some gold teeth on line or get some Nas records at the Wiz, but you know, otherwise, I’m not sure how exactly Pete is expected to learn how to ‘be black.’ Maybe we should talk to the Hooked on Phonics people? I mean one person can only watch so much BET between school and bed... and you know since Pete is black and he obviously can’t wear GAP or A&F or what the fuck ever, I’m wondering who’s going to pay for him to take those special trips to the Bronx to pick up his Triple 5 Soul gear so he can really ‘be black.’
I mean isn't that what he needs to really 'be black?' Isn't that what being black is all about? Obviously it has everything to do with what you wear, how you sound, and exclusivly listening to Public Enemy, Mos Def and Louis Farrakahn, reading the Autobiography of Malcom X and Marcus Garvey and keeping like with like. Obviously black people don't listen to country (India.Arie), play rock (Lenny Kravitz), write intelligent books (Zadie Smith, Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison) or know how to play polo (unless it has to do with Ralph Lauren).
My bad... but you know I take offense at the idea that because Pete is black he obvious could never have gone to a boarding school or will never go to an Ivy League on his own merits – you know, since Affirmative Action is over and all that. I take offense to the idea that because Pete has interest in Chloe he’s obviously not being black enough. God, is that what people said about me and my exes as well? Oh, well, fuck them, cos you know if Pete’s not really black, and neither am I and neither are a lot of black people that don’t fit the stereotype then obviously we just don’t exist at all – I mean except as preppy could-be-but-not-quite white people. I can’t wait to tell my parents this.
Silly us.
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no subject
Date: 2002-10-10 11:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-10-10 11:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-10-10 11:44 am (UTC)Some people really need to get their asses into the 21st century. Gods. Stereotypes. *shakes head*
*sighs* And of course, I'm preppy since I'm white. I have a temper since I'm a redhead. I'm a total flake since I'm a pagan. I'm butch and masculine because I'm a lesbian. Uh-huh. Right. *whacks the heads of all the idiots in the world*
no subject
Date: 2002-10-10 01:41 pm (UTC)my sentiment exactly.
no subject
Date: 2002-10-10 11:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-10-10 12:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-10-10 12:25 pm (UTC)But I see what this is about. Right.
no subject
Date: 2002-10-10 12:30 pm (UTC)http://www.smallvillefanfic.com/archive/3/thedragon.html
no subject
Date: 2002-10-10 12:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-10-10 12:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-10-10 12:42 pm (UTC)boy, u know it's tru. ooh, oo, u- hayluvff whew-
:smirk:
A Romulan, and His Pet Vulcan.
**;;;^0.0^;;;** ** *
Re: boy, u know it's tru. ooh, oo, u- hayluvff whew-
Date: 2002-10-10 03:26 pm (UTC)Re: boy, u know it's tru. ooh, oo, u- hayluvff whew-->WANNA-CHUmmE?
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Re: boy, u know it's tru. ooh, oo, u- hayluvff whew-->WANNA-CHUmmE?
Date: 2002-10-10 04:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-10-10 12:13 pm (UTC)Sometimes I wonder if people are also playing up to a stereotype of what they think small town life is like. That it can't be inter-racial or of many religions. That we're hicks. But then I'm jsut getting upset over a whole new can of worms.
no subject
Date: 2002-10-10 04:36 pm (UTC)I don't think *I* am either, so decide if my judgement is worthwhile.
no subject
Date: 2002-10-10 12:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-10-10 12:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-10-10 12:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-10-10 12:20 pm (UTC)People really need to consider that environment, not racial makeup, influences behavior. Does Pete act like most of the African-American kids I went to high school with? Well, no, but I attended a high school that was 50% white and 50% black, where most of the students had attended elementary and middle schools that were not racially diverse; most of the white kids were from rural areas, whereas the black students were bussed in from suburbs of Atlanta. Therefore, we perceived a lot of social differences between the white and black students. I'm not going to try to analyze Pete's social/economic/geographical/racial experiences, because I haven't lived them, but that certainly does not seem to be the case in Smallville.
If the writers had chosen to develop Pete as a character more aware of racial differences or cultural behaviors-- like Gunn, for instance-- that would have been fine, too. They could have developed the character sixteen thousand different ways. But race should not be the deciding factor in that characterization, as some would make it.
Does SV tend to avoid race issues? Perhaps. (Certainly no more than BtVS, with its perpetually white cast.) But for me, living in an area of the country where many high schools elect two homecoming queens and kings and some are just now desegregating their proms, I think I'd rather see a little refreshing avoidance than being hammered over the head with lame stereotypes. YMMV.
no subject
Date: 2002-10-10 12:49 pm (UTC)This was the point I was attempting to make, however, I suspect that I got a bit too hot to make it. I went to a school that was about as diverse as it could possible get: 1/3 black, 1/3 white, and the remaining third was Asian and Latino. Everybody dated everybody else, everyone hung out with everyone else. Where I grew up there some something for everyone and we were taught that you are who you are regardless of what you look like. Oh, the optimism, oh, the environment, it's made me a better person. Even if I'm not supposed to know how to horse-back ride, speak three languages, or gasp wear A&F - which actually I don't cos ick.
no subject
Date: 2002-10-10 01:05 pm (UTC)You were very lucky- my school wasn't like that. Not counting a few pretty violent incidents around the time that they started talking about changing the state flag (it still had the Confederate emblem until recently), there weren't a lot of overt racial problems-- just a lot of latent racism and "separate but equal" mentalities. White students assumed that black ones didn't like them, and vice versa; when you walked into a classroom you'd usually see all the white kids sitting on one side of the room and black kids on the other. Sports, activities, and student groups were clearly segregated-- for two years I was the only, or one of only two, white student in the choir. White kids played baseball; black kids played basketball. (Granted, there was only one black kid on the golf team, but the golf team only had two members.) Interracial friendships were rare and interracial dating was unheard of.
Since the groups I hung out with were more academic than social- honors classes, drama club, the band- there was a lot more diversity in my social circles. But for the most part, bussing in students to make the school diverse didn't help a damn thing. Unfortunately, I think a lot of counties in the South have cancelled their "forced desegregation" programs within the last couple of years-- too much expense, too little result.
no subject
Date: 2002-10-10 01:39 pm (UTC)If you had said this to me back when I was in school I would have looked at you and asked you where the hell you came from. It's amazing how what you think you know, can become your whole world, but then I got out in the world, and I went to college and I travelled and I learned a lot. I've been down south exactly once, and truth be told I'd like not to go back again. I know one experience does not the gospel make, but on some level I suspect that because it's what I'm accustomed to that I'm more comfortable with the subtle, and on occasion, not so subtle way that we do things up north. You know I'm a Gen X kid, to me the idea of segregation and busing is as foreign as sit-ins and bombings, but it doesn't mean that I'm not aware of them. Just because you I don't actively think about it doesn't mean it doesn't happen, and I suspect that goes for a lot of things in life. Actually I know it does. Just because someone doesn't think it can happen doesn't mean it can't. Which is probably where the whole Pete-issue comes in, the idea that just because someone hasn't met a football playing, A&F wearing black person doesn't mean they don't exist. It doesn't mean they're not possible.
God that pisses me off.
White students assumed that black ones didn't like them, and vice versa; when you walked into a classroom you'd usually see all the white kids sitting on one side of the room and black kids on the other.
It's the assumption that makes things the hardest, IMO, because when you assume instead of asking it's nothing more than ignorance. It's fear, it's a case of not wanting to know makes it far easier to dismiss. I'm not pointing the finger at anyone, just calling a spade a spade.
Interracial friendships were rare and interracial dating was unheard of.
I know of a lot of people who don't approve, I know of a lot of people who do. As someone who once was on the recieving end of a pick-up line that asked 'what extraction' I was, I have to say that I have no time for people who can't get with the program. My friends look like the United Nations as does my dating track record, but I know that I'm a lot more open minded than most.
no subject
Date: 2002-10-10 03:01 pm (UTC)I went to a school that was 95% black, 3% "other" and 2% white. I work in the same neighborhood at a University that switches those numbers on the ends around. I won't break into "I've Looked At Life From Both Sides Now" but for the love of God... it cannot be 2002 and have people thinking that skin color honestly equals a particular behavior. Can it?
Environment. Thank you. I must go kick things now.
it_even-sezitt_on_her_NAAAAYME
"It can, CAN!??@!!!"
Mzz WISE, my multi-cult, multi-cult ENG proff,cum,BLACKpheeeNOMinale WOHmuhnn, she, like, says so.
:shruggZ
Re: it_even-sezitt_on_her_NAAAAYME
Date: 2002-10-10 03:25 pm (UTC)What. Ever.
no subject
Date: 2002-10-10 03:27 pm (UTC)you would think not. we would all *hope* not, but you know, that's our idealism shining through i suspect.
no subject
Date: 2002-10-10 03:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-10-10 04:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-10-10 03:55 pm (UTC)There's one brief scene in Jitters that bothers/puzzles me, though. The few words that he has with Martha after the kids get out of the plant is obviously dubbed in--and it sounds rather un-Pete un-Midwest un-Middle class. I can't help but wonder what it dubbed over.
no subject
Date: 2002-10-12 06:58 pm (UTC)Joan
no subject
Date: 2002-11-07 03:58 pm (UTC)WORD.
You're so shibby with words. I ::heart:: you.