I hate giving disclaimers, but given that some people rarely read these days, I must. We've become so accustomed to 140 characters or less and status updates, that paragraphs are just a haze. Because of that, we sometimes form opinions of something within seconds of reading the intro. That's why I'm giving this disclaimer: I am a black man and I love black women. Simple enough?
Now you're really curious on what I have to say, aren't you? :)
Who would guess that the U.S. could learn a few lessons from France? A country that is the butt of so many U.S. jokes is far more progressive than the U.S. could ever imagine. France seems to have a better grasp on race relations. They even ignore race when it comes to their census only seeing people as "French" instead of white, black, etc. Does this mean that there is no bigotry in France? Absolutely not. But at least there is something that resembles unity with everyone being considered "French." We still choose to remain White, African-American, Asian-American, Latino, etc. Ironically, the only places we're really considered "Americans" are outside of the U.S. How sad is that?
Because of France's views on race, they're having a huge problem with the 1st "Miss Black France" pageant that's upcoming. Now, the promoters are arguing that the pageant is a good thing. They say it's going to shine the light on black women who lack media attention. Does having a contest force the media to cover it? If so, then I'm going to start a Common Sense Pageant (if I can find enough people to qualify).
If enough black women don't think they're being represented in the "Miss France" pageant, is joining a "Miss Black France" fixing anything? I have concerns with this. Representation can some times cause separation. If someone started a "Miss White France" pageant, then Al Sharpton would be on the next Concorde flight over to Paris. Stop it. Stop separating yourselves and sending subliminal messages that "you're not good enough" because you are good enough. Anyone of any race can win any beauty pageant as long as the voting is unbiased. If you feel as if you're not winning because of the voting, then fight to change judges, not pageants.
It’s definitely a “white man’s world,” but having a separate pageant won’t fix anything if you ask me. That’s like starting a new basketball league because the NBA won’t draft you. It’s your prerogative, but it’s still not the NBA. It’s well within the rights of of the black ladies to participate in their own competition, but I think it would be more productive to protest the Miss France competition.
I’d rather fight to desegregate than separate if I’m going to fight at all.
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