image of African-American Male

[The Original Ape]

I would like to know from all of the Sorority sisters how they feel about the image of African-American men. How are we portrayed on television? Are you satisfied with this portrayal? Have you any programs to uplift our image? Do you believe it necessary/justifiable?

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[Manders]

I respect your question but knowing this website and forum, chances are your question is going to do more harm than good and we really should try and stick to greek topics. People get into huge arguments over these kind of things.

[The Original Ape]

Originally posted by Manders:
I respect your question but knowing this website and forum, chances are your question is going to do more harm than good and we really should try and stick to greek topics. People get into huge arguments over these kind of things.

Dear Manders:

I wrote that question to solicit an answer from Sorority women. They are supposed to be the most intelligent, caring women of our group. Answering such a question would give the Brothers a pulse of what they think of us, and how we can improve our relationships.

I'm really sorry you don't see the merit in this. I crossed in 1980, and I was curious about how the sisters actually see today's brothas. My intent is only to exchange ideas; not to start an argument.

[ZetaAce]

Original Ape-

I don't believe that Manders doesn't see merit in the question. What she is saying is that on this board, anything even remotely related to race usually turns in to a 'flame' war. Usually, some unregistered user makes a nasty comment, and that jump starts the drama from there. (If you move your topic to the Alpha board, they can't post, and that will cut back on the negative stuff.)

Anyway, to answer your question-

The image of the African-American male is not good in our society. Television is one of the problems, but so are music and movies. It's like there are only 3 types of black men in the mainstream media: The criminal/thug, The laughing/joking never-serious 'homeboy', and the extra-militant brother. Those are not representative of the bulk of black men. Unfortunately, we help perpetuate this by not suppporting the shows with positive images of african-americans (i.e. City of Angels) and supporting the others that aren't so great. Unfortunately, that says to the networks that that is what we want to see.

As far as programs go, we have an auxilliary called the Zeta Male Network that is geared toward men in the lives of Zetas. It is a positive group. When I was an undergrad, we had 2 programs geared toward discussing interraction between black men and women. They were well attended by women and poorly attended by men. It's hard to keep giving programs when the 'other side' is not showing up, ya know?

ZetaAce

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Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. (http://www.zpb1920.org)
1-UL-97

[The Original Ape]

Originally posted by ZetaAce:
Original Ape-

I don't believe that Manders doesn't see merit in the question. What she is saying is that on this board, anything even remotely related to race usually turns in to a 'flame' war. Usually, some unregistered user makes a nasty comment, and that jump starts the drama from there. (If you move your topic to the Alpha board, they can't post, and that will cut back on the negative stuff.)

Anyway, to answer your question-

The image of the African-American male is not good in our society. Television is one of the problems, but so are music and movies. It's like there are only 3 types of black men in the mainstream media: The criminal/thug, The laughing/joking never-serious 'homeboy', and the extra-militant brother. Those are not representative of the bulk of black men. Unfortunately, we help perpetuate this by not suppporting the shows with positive images of african-americans (i.e. City of Angels) and supporting the others that aren't so great. Unfortunately, that says to the networks that that is what we want to see.

As far as programs go, we have an auxilliary called the Zeta Male Network that is geared toward men in the lives of Zetas. It is a positive group. When I was an undergrad, we had 2 programs geared toward discussing interraction between black men and women. They were well attended by women and poorly attended by men. It's hard to keep giving programs when the 'other side' is not showing up, ya know?

ZetaAce

Thank you and Manders for your explanations, and your point is well taken.

Peace to you all.

[PotentialPledge]

I think the image of the african american male in america is really bad. And its sad to say that I dont think many people know how, or where to start to improve it.