Is Separate but Equal Returning?

[zakubandit]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,465808,00.html

New Web Browser Caters to Black Americans

Friday, December 12, 2008 | FoxNews.com

For African-American Web surfers who just can't relate to their browsers, there's hope: the Blackbird Web browser.

Billed as "the Web browser for the African-American community," it's a modification of Mozilla Firefox with a different color scheme — black and earthy shades of green and brown — as well as certain built-in features meant to appeal to black Americans.

These include "Black Search," which brings up results tailored to what its backers assume are African-American interests; "Black News Ticker," which does more of the same; and "Blackbird TV," which is "the best of Black video on the Web."

"We believe that the Blackbird application can make it easier to find African American related content on the Internet and to interact with other members of the African American community online by sharing stories, news, comments and videos via Blackbird," reads a press release posted by 40A, the somewhat mysterious firm behind the browser, on the CrunchBase Web site.

Downloads (for Windows XP and Vista only) are free; the project claims to be funded by ads and targeted links.

Reaction from black bloggers, tech writers and commenters has been, shall we say, a bit mixed.

"Wait, why do I need a special Web browser?" asked Gizmodo writer Adrian Covert. "Last time I checked, I don't physically browse the Internet any different than anyone else."

"The way this browser is marketed, the language, and the very idea that Black people somehow need a different piece of software to deal with the Internet all rubs me the wrong way," wrote K.T. Bradford of Laptop magazine.

The BlackWeb 2.0 blog was more supportive.

"There is a Black culture and a Black Experience, and this naturally translates online and into any other medium since we are all a part of the human race," regular poster "Markus" wrote. "In 2008 it is not wrong to want to identify with your culture regardless of what that culture may be or how you choose to identify with it."

But the angriest reaction came from a commenter on Gizmodo who calls himself "Cordfucious the Ubuntu Walker."

"I am offended at this," he posted. "As a Black man in this country I don't need a browser to help my kids find culturally relevant material... it's the damn WORLD WIDE WEB... not the Black Web, or White Web or Yellow Web. ... It's s--- like this that burns me up. I need to tell my wife (who is Hispanic) that the[y] need the BlackBean browser for the Hispanic community."

So MLK fights for equal rights, then decades go by and then a group comes out to make the races separate again. Why would any group, community, race, or company do this? Honestly.

[Space05us]

"I am offended at this," he posted. "As a Black man in this country I don't need a browser to help my kids find culturally relevant material... it's the damn WORLD WIDE WEB... not the Black Web, or White Web or Yellow Web. ... It's s--- like this that burns me up. I need to tell my wife (who is Hispanic) that the[y] need the BlackBean browser for the Hispanic community."

I frequently go to the local newspaper and news stations' websites because they are relevant to me. I also keep up with major news from the North Slope of Alaska. I don't think I need a whole new browser developed for those reasons.

[Sava]

Do the random Google ads have links to fried chicken, watermelon, platinum grills, Hennesey, and chrome wheels? Because that could be offensive to some, but helpful to others.

[Wernazuma III]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,465808,00.html

So MLK fights for equal rights, then decades go by and then a group comes out to make the races separate again. Why would any group, community, race, or company do this? Honestly.

And WTF does this have to do with your thread title which refers to a racist legal premise? Or am I not allowed to download and use the browser? Not that I wanted to...

But OTOH, this doesn't come as a surprise. In Afro-American movements, a segregational branch coexists with integrational approaches all the way through the 20th century. This branch simply hasn't died out, thus this group doesn't really "come out", they just crafted a nice tool for the media to pick up.

I agree that this is a completely stupid project but we have to face that idiots will never die out, in all demographic groups. But as long as such ideas don't affect the freedom or rights of others, it's not of much concern to me. Just a a bunch of dickheads fooling around.

Just for provocation someone could advise them to use the Pimpzilla-theme to do the same trick.

[zakubandit]

The reasoning for the title is simple enough. The more we grow as a society the more each ethnic group separates from everyone else. Blacks push everyone to refer to them *not all, not trying to generalize* as African-Americans, not just black. They have their black movies and black shows, black channels, black this or that and if someone of a different background wants to be a part of it they get treated like an outsider, a wanna be, a loser, etc. So it seems racism is alive and thriving not by different groups, but because groups themselves let racism survive. This is just another stupid ploy to push that separation.

[Mint]

The more we grow as a society the more each ethnic group separates from everyone else.

No

[Zkribbler]

So MLK fights for equal rights, then decades go by and then a group comes out to make the races separate again. Why would any group, community, race, or company do this? Honestly.

I hope you are just pretending to be stupid and are not really as this thread makes you look.

[DaShi]

This is nothing more than marketing. Racism is the new sex.

[Dinner]

Do the random Google ads have links to fried chicken, watermelon, platinum grills, Hennesey, and chrome wheels?

Oh, I want some of those.

[Dis]

I don't get it. What's wrong with the broswers?

I know everyone is not like me, but I like my browser to be minimal. What color scheme? All I see is a gray header at the tope, the rest is a beige color. I have file, edit, view etc. Then the navigation bar. That's it. I don't want anything else. I fail to see how the firefox browser is "white" in any way.

[zakubandit]

No

Really? No? What group is located in Chinatown? Little Italy? Little Odessa?
What ethnic group primarily controls the hip hop culture? What minority group is the only cast in a Tyler Perry...anything?

And people don't separate themselves? When a white walks down a neighborhood that is predominantly black or Hispanic, what is the result? What is the result when a Hispanic or black walks down a street that is dominated by whites? People get awkward, hostile, stare, talk quietly, move to the other side of the street, or harass.

So groups aren't separating themselves from everyone else?

[Wernazuma III]

Really? No? What group is located in Chinatown? Little Italy? Little Odessa?
What ethnic group primarily controls the hip hop culture? What minority group is the only cast in a Tyler Perry...anything?

And people don't separate themselves? When a white walks down a neighborhood that is predominantly black or Hispanic, what is the result? What is the result when a Hispanic or black walks down a street that is dominated by whites? People get awkward, hostile, stare, talk quietly, move to the other side of the street, or harass.

So groups aren't separating themselves from everyone else?

You were insinuating that this phenomenon is on the rise, thus I agree with Mint's somewhat short answer of "No".

[Elok]

So, Zaku, I take it you're in favor of increased miscegenation? That's the best long-term answer to this problem.

[Tuberski]

And people don't separate themselves? When a white walks down a neighborhood that is predominantly black or Hispanic, what is the result? What is the result when a Hispanic or black walks down a street that is dominated by whites? People get awkward, hostile, stare, talk quietly, move to the other side of the street, or harass.

So groups aren't separating themselves from everyone else?

Based on my experience, my neighborhood being predominantly black and Hispanic, nothing.

ACK!

[MrFun]

I don't see how printed, special publications such as magazines for black people (like Ebony and so on) or such publications targeting any kind of minority group is a problem.

Magazines for gay people for example, such as Out or Advocate present news, travel information, opinion pieces, and material on various topics in way that targets gay people that I would not find anywhere in other publications.

Having said that, I have to say that a browser for blacks is kind of ridiculous. I do not need a browser exclusively for gay people to find content that targets my particular interests as a gay man - I know how to use the WORLD WIDE WEB to find what I am looking for. Whether that be international news, travel information, health information, notices about cultural events or anything else that is slanted to appeal to gay people.

Is it a serious problem for someone to create a browser exclusively for black people? No, I don't think so - just ridiculous because you can use the WORLD WIDE WEB to find content/material that targets interests of black people.