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(131,143 posts)Susan Calvin
(1,649 posts)Going to bed before watching the vid, but I assume it's either "He's not" or "Who cares?"
Watched the first 30 seconds.
"Why is everything white?"
Yessssssssssss!
Quixote1818
(28,979 posts)His use of humor and wit to get his point across is breathtaking to watch. He mentions how in society everything good is white and everything bad is black and goes on to talk about his winning the gold medal in the Olympics for the USA and still not being able to eat at a restaurant in his home town because he was black.
Susan Calvin
(1,649 posts)Gotta watch the whole thing. Thanks.
keithbvadu2
(36,937 posts)msongs
(67,453 posts)SunSeeker
(51,726 posts)He retells the story with humor, but it must have been infuriating and painful.
Quixote1818
(28,979 posts)SunSeeker
(51,726 posts)Honeycombe8
(37,648 posts)Jesus was a real person, supposedly. He was of the group of Hebrews that lived in that area at the time. Hebrews still live in that area, so we know what race or ethnicity they were/are.
As for everyone depicted in pics being white....most movies back then, and now, feature men and boys. We all know everything there is to know about being male because the movies & tv shows have told us repeatedly. Why isn't Ali talking about how men are everywhere, in charge of everything, and the center of everything? Is it because HE is male, so he sees things from his point of view? So it is with others.
Pics of Jesus with blonde hair were done, and in movies, because it appealed to masses of blonde haired people, who, like Ali himself, project themselves onto icon images, and see things from their point of view, not reality. Ironic that Ali can't see that because he's so focused on himself.
aeromanKC
(3,328 posts)It's not male of female. It's an entity. (damn, to think how saggy those boobs would be after all this time, though)
WinkyDink
(51,311 posts)do you really think a BLACK man in 60s America FELT like a full and powerful man in our society? Do you not remember A-A Civil Rights marchers holding "I Am a Man" signs?
Honeycombe8
(37,648 posts)If hair can be lightened w/o turning orange, it's in the blonde family group, IMO. Brunette hair turns orangish. But not outright nordic blonde.
I'm just pointing out, in my post, that these sorts of things don't JUST apply to one group. They apply to all groups that aren't in the favored, privileged group of the time. And particularly women. And especially black women.
When one calls out the favoritism, I prefer to see it being applied to all those affected. Ali, being a man who was, let's face it, endowed with a large ego and seeing the world from his male eyes, didn't think to apply the privilege prejudice to women and other minorities. Just to those like himself. Which is, ironically, what he was criticizing in the first place.
Susan Calvin
(1,649 posts)Warpy
(111,359 posts)He is SO missed.
Catholic schools were integrated during Jim Crow, it was the one really good thing they insisted on. I always wondered where the hell all the black and brown faced angels were, also, one of the questions that got me into trouble. I had a lot of questions that got me into trouble and "it's one of god's mysteries" was an unsatisfying answer.
And Ali didn't even bring up Revelations, a silly fantasy of the destruction of Rome that I'm sure was included because it had the only physical description of Jesus: hair like lamb's wool and feet the color of burned bronze. In other words, dark skin and a Jewish 'fro.
Something was wrong back then and most of us have worked hard to correct it. We're still working on it. We won't be done until we can look at a room full of people whose folks came from all over the planet and just see fellow Americans.
At least by the time he died, he didn't have to settle for a hot dog and cup of coffee at a crappy lunch counter. He was finally getting the good tables at good restaurants and the respect he deserved all along.