Whoopi Goldberg
I just watched the talk show "The View" which is a guilty pleasure of mine and a great way to get the pop culture news pulse of the day, when I heard show host and comedian Whoopi Goldberg say to Joy Behar, "Your African-American Berry is OK." Or words to that effect.
A bit of backstory.
Earlier in the show one could hear what sounded like a cell phone saving a voice mail message - the kind of sound a Blackberry generally makes. Then as the show was ending, the sound came on again. This time Whoopi Goldberg was on the spot: she said "Did someone break wind!" Then she looked at Behar and asked if that was her. Behar said it was her cell phone and Goldberg responded, saying "I'm glad your African-American Berry is OK."
OK. For the record, I'm not complaining about this so much as I just find it strange, so I looked up the term.
The only listing I found was in something called "The Urban Dictionary" where it refers to "President Obama's Blackberry" and says that's the politically correct definition of a Blackberry cellphone.
Well, that's stupid and not politically correct.
The Blackberry has been around for years but just because we have an African American President who uses one - for the first time in POTUS history - someone has to give a racially-based name to the device. Why?
It's another way of American society essentially marginalizing blacks - and yes, blacks like Whoopi Goldberg are doing this. It says "Ok, now that someone Black's using a Blackberry we have to somehow give another name or designation for the cellphone."
OK. When I started writing this blog post, I was curious; but now at the end I'm just plain mad. I will be happy to see the day when African Americans like Whoopi Goldberg don't feel so out of mainstream American society that they have to "color" life in the way they do.
As far as I'm concerned it's a Blackberry and it has nothing to do with my skin color, and yes, I use one.
Geez!
Good grief. I just stumbled upon your blog. You're over-reacting. It's a JOKE. Blacks have been referring to themselves as "African-American" for years. The term was probably not coined as a result of having a black president, but rather in response to the PC way of referring to black people (of which I am one). Maybe we'll have African-American Friday one day. I wasn't offended. I thought it was funny. Lighten up. (No pun intended.)
ReplyDeleteWhat about people like me I am black. I am not from America. I don't think I will ever live in America. What would you call someone like me? Are you going to call me African American Irish because I am black and I am from Ireland. What about other black people all around the world who are not from America or Africa. Are they all African American whereever they came from ? Stop this nonsense!
ReplyDeleteI AM BLACK AND I AM PROUD OF IT!
Oh for Pete's sake, it's a joke! These people aren't serious! Sheesh!
ReplyDeleteAnd FYI, the 'Urban Dictionary' isn't an actual dictionary, random people simply define funny words or terms, and then give them humerus examples.