I don't live in a different world from any other American. But I experience that world as an individual, through the prism of my identity which consists of many elements including "race" as the concept has manifested in this country. As a black woman, I don't see the world as a white male or white woman does. Another example, as an able bodied woman, my experiences are different from a disabled person's. It would be uninformed for me to presume that although I am a supporter of the Disabled Rights movement, that our news and information priorities are always the same.
This is perhaps a long wind up to get to the question I'd like to address here. Frequently, visitors to this site ask this:
Why no "WhiteVoices?" This continues to segregate no matter how you sell it. Maybe just "Voices‚" or "REGIONAL VOICES?" Just sets things back further. Not much of an INDEPENDENCE DAY positive movement. Really look beyond colors would ya???My first reaction is always to wonder if these same people write Time, Newsweek, Huffington Post, AOL's Fanhouse or any other online forum host about the preponderance of white opinion on those pages.
It seems somehow that many white people do not see "white" as its own race and influencer on personal experience. They see black, brown, gold and America. Or they see black, brown, gold and "the rest of us." They don't think in terms that no matter what you call majority white opinion and news organizations, they are predominately and in essence "white voices."
Those "mainstream," i.e. white majority, forums generate topics and focus attention on issues editors decide are important to their primary readership – as does "Black Voices." Like "Black Voices," those staffs are racially integrated and articles are open to anyone to read and comment on.
One of the ideas I most oppose is the notion that recognizing differences in American experience is "setting things back further" or "divisive." I really do not understand that. In my ideal America, we respect and honor the vibrant diversity of the United States.
Abre los ojos. That means open your eyes.
We have to SEE each other's experiences and listen to what each other has to say and from that exchange we forge a fuller understanding of the world. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. talked about being judged on the content of one's character.
Dr. King never, ever, suggested that a person's skin color would have to be rendered unspeakable or invisible in order for them to be considered equal.
10 Ways Black People Have Progressed
The new generation of African Americans going in to ownership and entrepreneurial routes are well equipped and more knowledgeable than ever before. Despite many obstacles unparalleled to other races many African American have perceived to receive equality and the right to ownership since the ending of slavery. Now in the 21st century we are able to see how their successes and potential to become business moguls and CEOs of major companies.
History was made At the 74th Academy Awards® in 2002 when Halle Berry became the first African-American woman to win Best Actress. She also gave one of the most memorable acceptance speeches of her life that gave thanks to all those powerful black females that had came before her. This was not a moment in her life to be remembered but a witness that women of color are be. Denzel Washington continuing the path of Greatness when he was awarded Best Actor for Training Day after Sidney Poitier, the first African-American male to win Best Actor 39 years ago, was awarded an honorary award. These two men are examples of how much we have came along in history and in entertainment. And now that they have opened the door for a new generation to enter and blow even more borders for the future.
2. In recent years there has been a glimpse that black education rates are on the rise. School teachers have been becoming the main influence for students to excel in test scores for reading, writing skills, math, and social sciences. Now that teachers are receiving more respect for their hard work, society is noticing that they are the gateway for their children's future.
Digital divide Narrowed
hip-Hop Culture Takes Over
6. Williams Sisters/Michael Jordan
As Barack Obama continues his path to the White House to become the first African American for the President of The United States of America history is being made every step he takes closer. It was monumental when Barack defeated Hillary Clinton as the leader of the Democratic Party for the election but as
Women Empowerment
Condoleeza Rice - Secretary of State Colin Powell being the top military person in America
As the first black female to be in such a hig position in politics, Condeleeza is a women in charge of being president Bush's right hand and has been very influential in the advancement of black women in the U.S. government.


Comments: (197)
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By: Michael Mosel on 7/30/2008 9:11PM
" IF I MAY SAY, THAT I NEVER LIVED DURING THE TIMES WHEN THERE WHERE SIGNS ON THE WALLS FOR DESIGNATION BY RACE, SO WHEN I SEE A SIGN OR LETS SAY "BLACK" VOICES I FEEL IT MEANS MEAN BECAUSE PUBLICLY I WAS TAUGHT TO EVEN THOUGH I KNOW WE DO NOT TOLERATE SEGREGATION WE ARE STILL ACCEPTING OF IT..ITS AOLS IDEA
THIS IS A VOICE FOR ME " Please tell me English is not your first language.Heres a tip writing in all capital letters is almost never done. It's perfectly understandable for someone learning English to make mistakes.Anyone raised in america has no excuse for some of the grammatical errors I see here.I also feel Ebonics is an excuse to speak poor English.It's embarassing really.
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By: InMyOpinion on 7/30/2008 9:31PM
Post #6 - Nicole J. Butler.......VERY WELL SAID, How insightful! AMEN and AMEN!
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By: chris on 7/30/2008 10:38PM
To me it's ALWAYS the same dumb questions. What if we had "WET"? What if we had "White Voices"? What if we had a "NAAWP"? (they do) Why do you need a "Miss Black America"? The Black Panther Party was a racist as the KKK. If you would get off your tail and high horse and do a little research, you'd find out why. I look at it like this. It was fine when Black folks would be crawling to join your schools,clubs,and other social entities. You got to belittle us. But as soon as we wised up and did for self, all of a sudden it's "You're only keeping back progress". Whatever. I tried but the more message boards I read, the LESS love I have for White people. Some are cool,but the majority seem to be STUCK on "race". Like they are born that way.
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By: warren on 7/30/2008 10:41PM
It is amazing to me - and I'm sure many here- how naive / stupid Whites pretend to be when the issue is our having our own forums, organizations, etc,.Conveniently, they all have no knowledge(or memory)of the institutionalized racism and segregation that excluded us from everything from jobs to decent housing, from educations to the arts, from sports to simply eating a sandwich in a restaurant! We had to fight - and die - to be seen as even human beings in this country. When there were no schools for us - we created our own - when we couldn't compete in sports - we created our own leagues - just as we created our own newspapers, our own network, and our own funding sources so our kids could go to our colleges. They (Whites) don't want to hear that tho - it's "living in the past" - you damn right - our past has, and will always will shape our perspective of this country.Whites pretend not to be aware of the priviledge and rights they are born into- and that's straight B.S.They're very much aware of the gift of their whiteness, and it's benefits. Everything in this country is designed for them - laws, the economy, the class structure, the judicial system....and on and on. That we have even a small piece of this so-called pie drives them nuts, and prompts them to ask "Why Black this and that?" Because we can, that's why!
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By: warren on 7/30/2008 11:05PM
White people don't have to "train" their children on how to reduce their chance of getting shot during a traffic stop - we do. White people don't sit around the dinner table talking about how they got followed around some store while shopping - we do. White people don't have to shed who they are to be seen as intelligent, or articulate, or deserving - we do.When the racism we encounter daily ceases to exist - then and only then will we be able to assimilate properly, and shed the prefix "Black".When NBC, CBS, ABC, Time, and others give a sh*t about our issues and communities - we won't need to create our own forums. Until then, Whites need to stop asking stupid questions about our "self-segregation" as they like to call it.
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By: Mariah on 7/31/2008 8:49AM
People really irritate me saying that we need to forget the past, that it is we (blacks) that separate eourselves from white society..., yeah right. Just because certain people close their eyes and minds to the "truth", it is still there when the blinders come off!
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By: isaiah on 7/30/2008 11:20PM
The reason someone would even ask a dumb question like that is because they are so used to the "preordained privilege" that they don't even recognize that they have. As long as white folks have been the so-called "enlightened voice of reason," they have never had the shoe on the other foot until this time, and in this century. For the first time in their existence they are realizing what it's like to be a minority and to have their own values played against them. You see more people of color doing things to better their own races and prospering at it. Malcolm X had always said there were more black ppl on earth than there were white people which can be taken to mean that all people of all colors in general are of greater number and if they were all to unite in a common cause would dwarf the so-called "majority." There have always been "White voices," but education is teaching us to not listen to what they dish out cause it isn't always the truth and if it is it is the truth that they want you to know.
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By: DaniBaby on 7/30/2008 11:56PM
CNN, FOX, NBC, ABC, CBS... There you have it..."White Voices".
The caucasians calling for such a thing are absurb. This country identifies completely with a WHITE person's experience before anyone elses and the idea that their white-washed media needs to encroach upon (and dominate) other ethnic forums is ludicrous. Gimme a break.
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By: Janice on 7/31/2008 12:13AM
Has anyone heard of "MSN" that's totally white voices.
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By: luke on 7/31/2008 5:27AM
When are white folks finally going to realize that anything not labeled black or Latino is for whites. Its that simple. This is probably the only place on AOL where a black person can really express themselves without having to be subjected to racial and cultural attacks. Anyway great article.
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