I try to be aware of Black culture and Black issues.
I know it’s important. I don’t want to be someone with too many blindspots, who thinks white stuff is just the ‘default’ or whatever.
I read books by Black authors. I follow Black creators on social (especially TikTok – my favorite app).
I went to a nearly all-Black middle school. I’ve worked on a few very diverse shows, led by Black people, where we delve into black issues.
[Not that I think any of those things are ‘special’ or worthy of applause for the bare minimum. I’m just giving the context.]
So, I try a reasonably amount to not have those embarrassing moments where someone has to point out, maybe YOU didn’t know this, but a whooooooole part of the culture knew this.
So, anyway, I made a TikTok… I still haven’t found my ‘niche’ there or whatever, and I don’t know if I will. But I’ve been throwing some things at the wall, just to try some stuff. And a lot of people seem to like my stories of reality television, so I told one of my favorite ones, of how Jermaine Jackson was a little bit my nemesis.
And I give the context that it was during a show about his blended family. He and his brother Randy each have two kids with the same woman. And basically every time I’ve told that to someone, since around 2014 when I first started working on the show, most people are like “WHAT?!” I had no idea.
So, I’m running around here, thinking it’s a Jackson secret in plain sight.
But when I gave the context on the video, I had a number of black people commenting versions of ‘white people might not know this, but we do!’
So, I graciously take the L.
[And I’ve actually taken the video down, because I think there are more concise ways to talk about Jermaine Jackson being my nemesis haha, and people were right that I shouldn’t be like “nobody knows this” when LOTS of people who just aren’t my race or age most definitely know it – some people even know it better than I do! I had people writing me new information, and I’d worked with the Jacksons! So, I felt stupid in my presentation, and am going to try to present it better, if I make another video about it.]
In conclusion, I’m a little embarrassed. I hate when white people are like “look at this thing nobody knows about!” and it’s a specific local dish or something that LOTS of people in a specific culture know about. And the white person is saying like ‘white people don’t know about this’.
[Although there was one person who commented, “I’m black, and I didn’t know!” So, thanks for making me feel not toooooo out of the loop haha. (And there were a few who commented maybe I was too young to know. So, yeah, let’s just think that – that I was too young, not too white (eep).]
And I know this isn’t exactly the same, because it’s not like appropriating food or clothing. But still! Gah! I can’t believe I got caught in the trap of ‘so many people don’t know this!’ just to get the ‘so many white people don’t know this!’
Aye, aye, aye. So, I’ll keep working on my blind spots. But what a slightly embarrassing moment!