Whether you found it amusing or not, I think Feldman has a point and his argument that it is satire, not racism, is well-founded. However, as one black tech blogger put it, "As a customer of Verizon, I don’t want to contribute to Feldman’s bank account and I don’t want Verizon to do so either." She is perfectly welcome to voice that concern to Verizon, and I support putting your money where your views are.
What I don't support is professional agitators like the National Action Network stirring up trouble over a year-old video that was commenting on an industry that the NAN has no business commenting on.
When reached for comment by local Bay Area TV-station KNBC, Feldman said "I’m a professional comedian... I know parts [of my work] are over the line, or in poor taste, created by my company 1938 Media."
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self-righteous? ridiculous?
basically you're placing the blame on people who share indignation over this racist video?
you couldn't be any more distant from reality.
tell a man you're being satirical and see how far that "humor" gets you outside of your computer monitor.
for every action, there's a reaction.
It amazes me how wrong you guys at TIS get it time after time. Echo calling chamber. Leave the keyboard maybe once, twice a week?
Feldman's "Black People Are Lame," "Black People Can't Get It Together," and Technigga, not to mention his latest round of could-be-funny-but-aren't puppet videos, don't add to a mainstream brand like Verizon. What would you expect?
Golddigga Feldman wanted mainstream money and mainstream glory for niche NY street corner "humor." Not gonna happen.
That's show business.
No, that's Big White None of Our Business Men.
"I did wonder where the black minds in tech are. Sure, there are a few, but they aren't very prominent."
You might want to start here, Mr. Golson: http://whydoeseverythingsuck.com/2008/07/verizon-dumps-loren-tech-nigga-...
Like I said, not very prominent. I'm sorry, I have trouble taking someone seriously who uses a standard blogspot template.
Oh My God. You really are an idiot, Jordan. Isn't there a thunderstorm you should be chasing somewhere?
Well whether I am "prominent" or not is indeed a matter of opinion. I have certainly never called myself that. But if you base it on stats, like my monthly pages views after 6 months of blogging (30-35k) or the fact that I am a regular (and high traffic) contributor at alleyinsider.com might also be relevant. Of course maybe all you really need is a pretty template to fit your definition. In any case I am no Scoble, or Arrington... but then again blogging at thestandard.com (120k uniques/month for entire site) neither are you. Then again Industry Standard does have a very nice template...
"I'm sorry, I have trouble taking someone seriously who uses a standard blogspot template."
Well thank you Judge Judy. It may be of some interest to you to realise that a lot of early adopters still use "a standard blogspot template", including authors of The Cluetrain Manifesto and the inventors of the first blogging tool - without whom we would not be having this inane "conversation".
I can see clearly where you stand on the book cover issue - and its human equivalent.
... umm, not to mention, Jordan have you checked out your own template? http://jordangolson.com/
case rested.
"I did wonder where the black minds in tech are. Sure, there are a few, but they aren't very prominent. "
Let's see: there's Newsweek's gaming blogger N'Gai Croal and the folks (Paul Scrivens and Tyme, who is also a woman) behind 9Rules. There's tech blogger and CEO Lena West of InfoWorld.
Former MSNBC contributor Omar Wasow is biracial, making him legally black. There's Tony Pierce who manages blogs at the L.A. Times -- or maybe blogs aren't "technical" enough. Lynne d. Johnson ran the sites for Spin and Vibe before decamping to FastCompany.com.
No, they may not be Mark Zuckerberg famous ... but then neither are most white guys. "Prominent"? I guess it depends on how you define the term.
I mean, you can zing me, I guess, but that doesn't change the fact that I still haven't heard of any of those folks.
Why are you arguing so hard against me? I'm saying that blacks are underrepresented. Are you saying there are plenty of blacks in tech, so don't worry about it?
Not that I like referring to The 250, but how many of these folks are black?
http://www.twitterholic.com/
And haha nice thunderstorm comment. For the uninitiated, she's probably referring to http://www.thestormtrack.com/
Everybody: This thread is interesting, particularly the debate about whether or not black writers are underrepresented in the tech sphere.
However, when I read Jordan's comment, I was very disappointed. The use of Blogger is completely unrelated to the arguments in Jordan's original post and Hank's analysis on his own blog. In addition, the choice of a blogging platform has *nothing* to do with the quality of one's writing or their prominence in the tech sphere. Hank is an excellent writer. I also follow several other quality blogs which happen to be hosted on blogspot, including one of the most authoritative blogs on 3D technologies that I know of, Len Bullard's 3D on the Web - cheap. While neither Hank nor Len is in the Techmeme Leaderboard, there are a few prominent bloggers who are, including Dan Lyons/Fake Steve Jobs (see Jordan's coverage of FSJ from yesterday).
For anyone who is interested, Jordan explains his reasoning behind the blogspot comment, and has also elaborated on his original post about 1938media on this Friendfeed thread.
Ian Lamont
Managing Editor
The Industry Standard
I think the most important thing is in fact not to distinguish by skin color, gender, eye color, or any other physical characteristic.
Om Malik is a well-known blogger. Is he a well-known Indian (guessing) blogger, or is he just a well-known blogger. Mike Arrington is a well-known blogger. Not a well-known WHITE blogger, but just a well-known blogger and entrepreneur.
Is Will Smith a well-known actor, or a well-known black actor? Judging by the success of all his movies (he has the $100 million golden touch) I would say he is a well-known actor, regardless of his skin color.
The more you focus on any physical or genetic distinction, the more you miss the big picture. America is about equal opportunity. Not just on websites and employer contracts, but that for many from all over the world of whatever background, America levels the playing field. Is it perfectly level? Of course not. Never in history has everyone been born into an equal situation, even in all-white societies, all-red societies, or all-black societies and cultures.
We don't focus on color except when it comes to blacks. No thoughts on whether Om is Indian, whether Jeremiy Owyang is Korean (i'm guessing), or whether , or whether Mike is Scandinavian.
Don't miss the forest for the trees.
Jordan, you're focusing on the wrong aspect of Feldman's piece. The issue isn't why aren't there more black tech bloggers. The issue is why did Feldman find it funny to characterize black bloggers with crude and offensive stereotypes? And by extension, why did you find it funny? Perhaps there's an opportunity for self-reflection and growth here.
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