BuzzFeed’s “Questions Black People Have For Other Black People” Video is Appalling
I like BuzzFeed, and lawd knows I’ve spent endless hours watching their videos on Facebook. But they are not strangers to controversy about their content, with accusations of plagiarism, or just plain old ignorance. They scrape content with the best of them sometimes. However, the company has redefined how we curate content and how to scale so now they are one of the big 10 in delivering news and information we consume online.
BuzzFeed has been expanding rapidly, so now they have BuzzFeed Motion Pictures, which churns out videos daily. To their credit, many of their videos are brilliant. They seem committed to amplifying progressive thought, normalizing the presence of marginalized people and elevating conversation beyond the usual.
But they failed on one of their latest videos.
The disconnect of this video from their other ones seems so wide that I wonder if they just forgot the point of the other things they’ve done. Where other videos they created were thoughtful, nuanced and smart, this one was foolish, trite and a waste of time.
Their “27 Questions Black People Have For Black People” video was garbage and you might think I am exaggerating until you watch it..
You can watch here:
Pure basura (oxymoronic, but go along with me). These low hanging fruit ass, no thought behind them ass, tired ass, trope ass questions, though. It’s like the team who came up with the script asked Uncle Ruckus to guest produce. How many stereotypes can you fit in a 3 minute video? AT LEAST 27!
Some of these questions were so bad that I cussed out loud when I heard them. By “some” I mean “most.”
“Why are we more likely to get involved in a new dance trend than we are to get involved in politics or open a new business?”
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?
“Why do we call each other the n-word but then get vehemently upset when a white person uses the n-word?”
NIGGA LISTEN. I can’t even.
“Do you really believe that Black is beautiful or is that just something you say because it sounds good?”
FIRST OF ALL COMMA BITCH COMMA. You cannot be serious. How much did you get paid to utter this utter trash? How fucking dare you, girl in amazing lipstick??? Your Black is beautiful but what isn’t is your UGLASS questioning.
“Why do you protest Black Lives Matter and then tear each other down in the next breath?”
BUT I THOUGHT WE DON’T GET INVOLVED WITH POLITICS!
“Is there a cutoff time for this whole homophobia thing in the Black community?”
“Why is growing up without a father so common in our race?”
“Why is being educated considered a white thing?”
GIRL DID YOU FORGET BLACK WOMEN ARE SOME OF THE MOST EDUCATED PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY??? I can’t.
What I’m not gonna do is give responses to each of these questions, because there are logical answers to every one of them. They didn’t ask these questions to actually have discussions. They did it because maybe they really needed to put out a video. Or maybe someone wrote the script, handed it to them and they were the mouth breathers who accepted the mission. Or maybe they really believe that these questions are valid to ask and put out for millions of people to hear.
All I know is that I wanted to jump through the screen and give everyone involved a papercut. I’m so embarrassed for each and every one of them. I am appalled for them, because whatever they got paid to do this, it was not worth it. Congratulations to all of them for Uncle Tomming all up through that video.
I’m not even gon talk about how his goatee is straggly or why homegirl’s smokey eye looks like raccoon chic because that is not the point here and I’m trying to be less petty in 2016. Or the one with dry hair. You know the one(s).
Every one of the people in this video come across as people who are trying to let white people know that “I love my people but I’m not like many of them” is a defining core value in their lives. What the world needs LESS of are Black people who are NOT unabashedly proud to be Black. What we need less of are new negros who love seeing themselves as exceptions to the rule.
BuzzFeed Videos completely played themselves with this for dumbing down the conversation.
I, along with every Smart Black Person Who Writes Online, has friends who work at BuzzFeed. But this is BuzzFeed Motion Pictures. The giant BF is a large company with many divisions and arms that don’t always talk. I’m sure folks are having to be all “that ain’t me” today. Either way, this still gotta be tough for them to swallow.
This is just the worst. Who taught all these people in the video to hate themselves???
Get these blogposts directly in your inbox! Sign up for my weekly LuvvLetter below:
It is time to write that book. Come into The Book Academy and learn how to go from IDEA to INK.
Related Posts
67 Comments
I stopped watching when homeboy asked the question about growing up without fathers. Naw son. You lost me regurgitating that same tired unfounded bullshit.
man yes that’s the question that pissed me off like really this has been debunked so many times i cant…….
Sorry if this is rude of me but this is what pops up on first search of “statistics of single parent household by race”
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2013/jul/29/don-lemon/cnns-don-lemon-says-more-72-percent-african-americ/
Federal data confirms that 73 percent of African-American births in 2010 were out of wedlock. Estimates for the percentage of African-American children growing up in single-parent households are slightly lower, at 67 percent. Finally, black children counted in these statistics may have contact outside the household with their biological father [further skewing the data]
It’s way too high regardless of what percentage it is at as long as it happens somewhere. I just hope the stats have changed from 2010 to now for the better.
I completely get the statics and how they work; however, who were the people they provided the survey to? I didn’t get one, did you? Everyone has two parents it’s impossible to have a child without sperm. This is not only a Black cultural issue. We’re any other races or ethnicities survey? This is why analytical thinking is vital.
PREACH GIRL
After watching that video, I wanted to tell the black folks in that video the same thing that Sgt. Waters tole CJ Memphis…”Black folks can’t afford y’all no more.” I’m tired of this idea that you’re being “real” about black people by mimicking the same white supremacist tropes as…well…white supremacists…
Might as well have had Ben Carson and that black Tea Party chick who flacks for Trump as extra special guests…
I hope all of their LinkedIn profiles automatically have a line that says, “Have proven to coon for likes…”
#IDidntTakeTheLessPettyPledgefor2016
*applause
You betta come all the way through with this comment!!! “The day of the geechie is done”!!!
OH. MY. LIFE.
Just 3 minutes of missed opportunities. Shoulda been named “27 Stereotypes About Black People That We Hired Other Black People To Validate”
YESSSS! That’s IT right there!
yes 27 Stereotypes! Just horrible!
Yes! Just Yes!
Where’s the “like” button for this comment?
Exactly!!!
Sharing…
My immediate reaction was that it must have been scripted by a White person.
Why did I make the mistake of thinking this would be deep? About waking up folks or something along those lines!?! Same stupidity. Smh…
Damn, I thought so too…ol’ bootleg ashy hotep boolsheet…smdh.
That one time I was looking at her fro and thinking… I hope your question resonates with me as much as your hair does and got wholly disappointed.
If these questions, when asked by white people, seem crude, rude and just hella wrong… da fuq are you doing asking the same thing.
Black folks never considered being educated a white thing.
Growing up without a father didn’t seem like a black folks thing to me, cause my dad and the dads of my friends are front and center.
etc etc etc… for all of these pretty stereotypical question from OUR OWN.
Ugh buzzfeed… just ugh
If you’re not gonna be woke, stay asleep AND silent.
I didn’t make it even so far as the dad thing, but that boils my blood because my dad is amazing and my close WHITE friends who have shitty or absent dads look to him as a father figure, call him on his birthday, the whole nine.
“NIGGA LISTEN” I screamed, cackled, and guffawed in my office! #fixitlightskinJesus
I’m so glad I wasn’t the only one who watched that with the screw face and found it to be complete and utter nonsense. It was a video of black people feeding into and trying to validate stereotypes but at the same time separate themselves. Like they were the chosen few. Gtfoh. Terrible job buzzfeed. Just terrible.
I NEVER HATED a VIDEO SO MUCH.
The answers are reasonable and sensible and endless.
The producer should be fired.
How are you going to ask about watermelon and then moan “Why is education considered a white thing?” Come on now. Open up a book. You can even use your phone and consult Ms. Google.
I don’t need to add anything else to this because you said it all. However, I am using Lawrence’s hashtag above: #IDidntTakeTheLessPettyPledgefor2016. I’m headed to my bathroom to oil up my hair.
I thought it was going to end with some deep insight about stereotypes until dude asked the question about watermelons and I was DONE!!!! I stopped watching and I love the BuzzFeed videos
Welp
I am totally done with Buzz Feed and every black person in the gahdamb video …I need to never see them in any version of public media ever .
Watching this video made me think they studied the “Poundcake” speech AND had a brunch caucus with Bill Cosby to make sure they were on the same page about which stereotypes they were going to use. The video was disgusting.
After reading this, I chose NOT to click the video. The only power I have is with my $$ and clicks = $$ to them.
What I wanna know is: whaat were they hoping to achieve with this video?? like when all these actors signed up for this, showed up to set, were nibbling on snacks between takes.. what did they hope to do with this video? I mean, no useful cultural dialogue can possibly come from regurgitating these raggedy tropes so that which leaves us with…..??
They all sound like they low key hate themselves and every single Black person they know except those two Black people who think just like their dumb asses.
Also, the majority of these questions are DEEPLY rooted in Black people’s history in this country, Jim Crow laws, the middle fucking passage and a number of other things that were put upon us through no choice of our own. The “growing up without fathers” bit, for instance (easily one of the MOST ignant questions) is rooted in our men and boys being sold off or killed during slavery and a legacy of strong Black women who raise families on their own as an evolutionary result of that. When an entire race of people is pre-programmed for certain behaviors over hundreds of years, you can’t get mad and conveniently forget the history that got them to that place. (One of the main problems with this video – these people act like they’ve had NO education on the history of Black Americans in this country) NOR can you assume that that legacy is being perpetuated on purpose – especially when there are MORE BLACK FATHERS THAN EVAH IN HISTORY who are raising happy, healthy kids and being good husbands or co-parents to the women of those children.
Lawd, now I know why you didn’t wanna answer each one of these individually, Luvvie. The Watermelon one literally made my soul hurt. As did any and ALL questions regarding Black women’s hair. I need a drink and it’s only noon.
If ever a convo comes up and Donald Trump or someone similar says “I’m not racist, I have a black friend”, bet money they’re talking about someone in this video.
I don’t see anything wrong with any of the questions. Just answer the questions. There is no such thing as a stupid question.
Wrong Pam. This was a video of 27 stupid questions and no self-loving Black person who also loves other Black people would even dignify them with a response other than a strong side eye and a resounding “Girl(Boy) BYE”.
I agree Pam. Some of these questions needs to at least start a decent mature conversation. Some of these questions needs an answer. Black or white
Pam – Soooo you don’t think “Do you really think black is beautiful? Or is that just something you say to sound cool?” are stupid questions? Or how about “Why is growing up without a father so common in our race?”..You have to admit that “Why is blackness only defined by adversity” is a ridiculously stupid question.
Jewel – Yes let’s have a mature conversation about how stereotypical and half thought out these dumb arse questions are.
Right after that mature comment by jewel you add in your immature and passive-aggressive comment. Very nice.
I will say I don’t like the question about if black is beautiful, but the father one is true. Single parent is very common in the United Sates right now according to the federal government.
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2013/jul/29/don-lemon/cnns-don-lemon-says-more-72-percent-african-americ/
This whole video confused me. Were they all actors reading a script? All the way through I kept waiting for a laugh track, like it was comedic sarcasm. I hate that I’ve only ever seen People during my life but now we are all forced to see color first. When I was a child I had very bigoted family members. I didn’t understand it then, and I never would have believed it’d be worse now. It hurts my soul that people would hold such judgements against their own race. I again this was a waste of 3 minutes that could have spoken some truth into this brotherhood of man.
We really need that clip of Courtney B. Vance in People vs. OJ turning to Chris Darden and whispering “nigga, please” under his breath. I didn’t even make it to a minute 30 before I just had to turn it off.
The hair that grows naturally out of my head IS a political statement. White people made it so. When they told me to “do something with your hair” in school and at work! Black people did not make this into a political statement. I don’t understand that. Anyhow, this pissed me off and I couldn’t watch the rest. They all deserve severe paper cuts to the white meat!
I’ll take your word for it. I don’t think my boss would be too happy if I threw a company computer out the window, which I fear would be the only appropriate response.
Buzzfeed is trying too hard to seem relevant. I’ll check it when the “Questions White People ask White People” video gets posted.
They actually have a “Questions White People Have For White People” video…which I suspect was a big reason why this one was made.
I’m willing to bet money that they only made this video to placate all the butthurt white people that were crying racism for all the “Questions [insert race here] Have For White People” videos that they were making. Which was a dumb move, because those videos all had legitimate damn questions. This one was just pure fuckery.
Who are you to determine what is and what is not a legitimate question for whites and nonwhites?
These people have bought into the racist assumption that one Black person is responsible for the behavior of another, that black people are collectively responsible for the actions of anyone who has the same skin color. It’s racist bullshit and if a White person came at us like that they would be cussed out. These people are propogating the racist belief that people of color have to prove that we are worthy of respect, that we are just as worthy as white people. Bullshit. We are worthy of respect because we are human beings. This is some respectability politics bullshit.
After the first question I replaced everyone’s voice with Stacey Dash’s trembling voice, and it made it kinda funny. Transformed it into the joke that I hope to goodness it was meant to be.
You beat me to it Eva! I was just about to ask why folks were upset that Stacey Dash is out here trying hard to be relevant by shucking and jiving. Again.
I was appalled when I saw the video. I do not know any African Americans who have asked themselves or their friends theses silly, insulting, racist, biting questions. I believe they’re questions non-African Americans ask themselves about us but are afraid to say it to our faces. The video was not funny and had no redeeming qualities. We have a complex history and anyone with common sense would know those simple questions do not even warrant asking. I’m very disappointed with BuzzFeed and the actors that allowed themselves to be used as a tool to further poke fun at our race.
Oh maaannn. As a white person, I REALLY hope no white people are posting this!! Really hoping no ignorant people see this and think it’s a good idea to spread the ignorance!
As you can see, Quinta wasn’t in this video. She probably was like “Hell no!!”
WHAT IS THE SWEET MOTHERLOVING HELL IS THIS!!??
No I didn’t watch this video. WTF is THIS:
“Why is being educated considered a white thing?”
WHAT THE.. WHO THE… WHAT?!
No. Absolutely not.
Anybody else think Ashton Kutcher was going to come out at the end and tell us we’ve been PUNK’D? *looks for gif of Beyonce giving the finger in Formation video*
These questions reflect the reality in a large section of ethnic populations. Essentially, within any ethnic population, you have to meet certain criteria to role with x ethnicity, in this case, we’re talking blacks. If you don’t meet those criteria, you lose your card. Or if you identify with a subgroup that people of that ethnicity generally look down upon, then you have trouble fitting in with the people of that ethnicity.
As someone who grew up in an all-black community and attended an all-black school, then moved to the suburbs and struggled to fit in with both white kids and black kids simultaneously, I’ve seen and experienced the reasoning and validity behind asking the questions in the video discussed. Yup, it’s a bunch of stereotypes. But so what? Stereotypes have truth to them, as ugly as those truths might be.
The first question made me laugh, because I am the stereotypical tardy black woman. I embrace it and just accept it, even though it’s viewed negatively.
Maybe this wasn’t satire, but I found the questions humorous and valid. What could some of the questions have been alternatively? It’d be nice if you would have discussed that instead of trashing the video and the people in it. Let’s be results-oriented instead of focusing on the problem, shall we? Besides, what are you gonna do about all the tardy, homophobic, black supremacist, uneducated, stereotypical black people? They’re out there in great numbers, and those outside the black community aren’t aware that these issues exist within it, or that these types of issues exist within each ethnic community.
Understanding oneself to be different from the people of their ethnicity is not a sign of hating oneself or one’s ethnicity. The sign of hatred comes from those who look down on others for being different, or for meeting stereotypes. This video is not about being proud of being different from one’s own people, but it’s about asking “why don’t my people accept me for who I am?”
I read every comment. I’ve learned from some. I see a lot of bombastic statements. Misunderstanding on any level is a problem I feel. I feel the approach to a conversation is just as important as the content of it. I felt like I was missing something because I didn’t feel the same sentiment as many. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone voluntarily and systematically explained why I’m this or that but I can’t shake one thought expressed somewhat by Raven. Stereotypes turning into reality. The people from childhood taught to believe what we call stereotypes. I wonder if those children that had some of these things imbedded into their being see it as a truth…a reality rather than a stereotype. Is it not the responsible to do than lovingly correct what may have been a lifetime of unchallenged learning? To say this is so dumb I won’t even discuss it ALMOST seals their fate. I don’t see how one can complain about the ignorance of others and not want to share a part in educating them unless their is some other unspoken intent. I know I grew up for many years perpetuating error I was taught was true( not about race). I guess what it sums down to for me after reading this is -discussion without the right intent (to lovingly educate, correct, understand better, seek resolution) can be damaging. And since these traits are not genetically inherited and have nothing to do with pigmentation and so on. Any human should be able to discuss them effectively as long as they have certain intrinsic qualities. Ignorance is ignorance no matter the color, Caring is caring no matter the race. May we all strive for sensitivity of our brethern all the while holding to our convictions. Not needlessly offending one another to prove our correctness, but humbly seeking a resolution if all possible.
Well I don’t know how to edit what I previously wrote, but some statements I made I think were inaccurate. In short I find everyone’s comments interesting at least
“Stereotypes have truth to them?”
Let’s put on our critical thinking caps, shall we? The idea that stereotypes begin in some general “truth” is disproved by the fact that stereotypes evolve over time, changing to fit the need and purpose of the prevailing hegemony. So, for example, the stereotype, widely-accepted, in Nazi Germany was that Africans were physically (and intellectually) inferior. Which is why Hitler was surprised as hell when Jesse Owens came to Berlin and kicked ass. Then the stereotype changed to Africans being physically superior (but still intellectually inferior.) The stereotype of Native Americans when Thomas Jefferson wrote “Notes on the State of Virginia” in 1781 was that they were genetically — racially — equal to white people and were hardworking, industrious etc. It was only education and cultural differences that made them do things differently from the white colonists. Thus the Cherokee “Civilization Plan.” But that’s because Jefferson didn’t want the land the Cherokees owned in the south in 1781. By the time that asshole Andrew Jackson came along, however, American WANTED that land. So the belief became that it was not simply education and cultural differences that distinguished Native Americans but actual racial inferiority. And thus the stereotypes of laziness, etc were born.
I could go on and on and on …
The idea that a stereotype must be rooted in truth in order to become a stereotype is a kind of circular thinking that leads to — you guessed it — the perpetuation of stereotypes. Worse, it leads to the internalization of stereotypes. People (some of them) become what you tell them they are.
Shame on anyone who does that. Shame.
I’m confused….
Why are people, black or white or red or yellow or brown, not allowed to have questions? I have questions I would pose to the gay community that I’m a part of. I have questions, like this one, that I’d pose to all racial and faith based communities. Hell, even Mother Teresa had questions of faith. Stephen Hawking questions existence. Einstein questioned time. Questioning is part of the development of ourselves as better people. If we do not question we do not learn.
“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’ ” MLKjr.
just sayin’
“Why are people, black or white or red or yellow or brown, not allowed to have questions?”
I’m not sure that anyone has stated that people aren’t allowed to have questions.
I’m confused about the questions asked. What exactly was this Buzzfeed video meant to achieve….?!
I’m petty….one of the women was missing her right big gold hoop…it worked…I was distracted from the ignorance that spilled forth from her trap
Yall should look up the parody Blavity did of it
But it’s OK for Buzzfeed to ask men how they feel being the same gender as Donald Trump? Because I had so much choice in the matter?
Buzzfeed videos are always accusatory towards people who happen to share the same skin colour or genitals for something someone else with the same arbitrary characteristics.
But I guess it’s OK as long as it’s aimed at white straight men, right?
The answers to these questions are readily available but they are answers that the mainstream won’t like. They are answers Buzzfeed’s viewers won’t like. They are answers that make too many whites feel guilty. So the answers were omitted and only the questions were presented. Some of these are worthwhile questions, but omitting the answers implies that there is indeed no good answer and therefore black folks must simply be trifling, or petty, or self-loathing, or hypocritical as a matter of a uniquly black deficiancy of some sort. Of course this is not true, but this is the type of thing that is always promulgated within a culture that devalues and marginalizes people of African descent so it’s really not surprising or new. The brothers and sisters in the video were used by Buzzfeed the same way the mainstream has always used black people: pitt us against each other and deflect the conversation about race into a different focus. Absent proper context, the video frames the conversation as only an internal “black-on-black” issue rather than acknowledging our current day “black-on-black” issues are merely a by-product of the nation’s very long and disturbing “white-on-black” racist history. These questions are really about residual effects of white supremacy that continue today, and they are examples of the many negative ripple effects and consequences of such a system and culture. But that’s not the conversation they wanted to have. Buzzfeed, like other mainstream media outlets, would just prefer to present yet another lopsided soliloquy on what’s wrong with black people. But what else is new? The video was in poor taste and grossly one-sided, but I’m not outraged or anything. Perhaps the questions will prompt some people to dig for the REAL answers. Be careful what you ask for.
I thought these were all legit questions. Though some of them I definitely think could more properly fit under a title of”questions Black people have for America” type of thing. In all honesty, I’ve definitely thought all of these questions growing up at some point in time. I see a lot of people here say these questions are based off of stereotypical statements regarding the black community and maybe they are, but for a reason. I was one of those dark skinned girls who was made fun of for liking reading, anime, and school and was told multiple times to do something with my hair by other dark skinned Americans. Not to mention how many times my proverbial black card was removed. So to me, these are all valid questions that we should all be willing to answer, to eliminate tension and stereotypes within the Black community.
OMG I’m glad you and a few others felt this Way. I thought these were legitimate questions as well. Black ppl do ask these questions of each other and any black person is lying if they’ve never had a convo with other black ppl about our bullshit. Chile this article over reacted. I was like ok girl ????. And I’m not a fuckin uncle tom for not seeing a problem with the questions lol…. We’ll just have to agree to disagree on this one Luvvie.
I am far from an expert but I think it comes down to personal experience, specifically with regards to exposure to direct racism.