The very concept of "race" is racist! It was invented and perpetuated by racists to prevent people of dark color from voting, marrying, owning, etc. We have no need of this concept anymore, and this series, which I intend to watch and learn, is racist from the name and its concept. Soledad O'Brien is no more "black" than I am...I'm a pale pink: not white. She is a healthy light brown. The charade of black & white divides us. We are all one race: human; and we all bleed one color: red. I acknowledge our varying heritages, with all the rich diversity, but when the media keeps using language that divides us instead of uniting us, like naming this documentary thus, division once again slaps us in the face. It's time we start using language that unites us, because on the personal level, in my church, in my social group, and in my workplace, we have no use for racism. Yes, we acknowledge racism still exists, and we know we were all raised with it and know in our hearts we may harbor old fears, but our love overcomes those old musty notions society instilled in us. The media could help reinforce our love instead of our fears. Thanks!

I am a Jamaican and consider myself black. I have lived in the US over 25 years, served in the military and believe that my experiences are no are no different from that of all black folk living in this country.
I think that discussing race is always important but should not be a one sided discussion. Every year there is another program or documentary that tries to educate the public about race and how it impacts all. I think one of the problems is that the news media never shows programs about white America. It would be very enlightening to show the other side. Show how great white America has had it in comparison. Show the roots of white America. Show how it all came to pass. Show how white America has flourished and continues to flourish from the sweat and tears of blacks. Be brave and do a show on white America ..... this would be much more provocative than merely the same old same old.
When the media constantly shows black people how dissadvantaged we truly are, after awhile we and everyone else starts to believe it. This includes my three children who are being raised by my wife, myself, theri grandmother, their grandfather and extended family.

I felt the show "Black in America" was a good start and I commend CNN for airing it. However, it merely scratched the surface. Slavery was mentioned in passing. Police harrassment was also only mentioned in passing.

In order to really understand the affects of our American History on Blacks I recommend reading the book Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome by Joy DeGruy Leary, PhD.

It explains how hundreds of years of horrific treatment of a group of people can translate to just as many years of adverse side affects. For example a father today looses one child to abduction, his wife is raped by another man, and he is beaten in the process and no one blames him for his grief or the behavior that might result.

However, we fail to examine the consequences of several generations of a group of people being tortured, families ripped appart never to see children or "spouses" again, raped, beaten, denied education, and stripped of their culture, etc. Once we examine the ugly truths of Amaerican history we can then TRULY understand what it means to be Black in America and possibly begin to heal the racial divide.

I agree with JJEdwards. I think many of the problems African-Americans face today are rooted in the legacy of slavery. I can't even begin to imagine coming from a family where generations of my ancestors were told they couldn't marry, they couldn't read, they couldn't apply for certain jobs, etc......... Many of the problems that black america struggles with today are the exact same ones that for two hundred years they were forbidden from doing. Education, literacy, marriage, employment, etc...
So for white america to think you can undo in 40 years what they took 200 years to create is crazy.

Black people are trying. We are fighting the stereotypes, the prejudice, the indoctrination of inferiority that was laid upon us. I know one day, Martin Luther King Junior's dream will come true, but we are still far from that day. Both whites and blacks still have alot of work to do, for that dream to become reality.

Can anyone say Emmy Awards? I want to offer kudos and accolades to Soledad O'Brien and all of the CNN staff members for being audacious enough to air such poignant, groundbreaking documentaries about being Black in America!

Secondly, as an educated, middle class African-American female, I can not fathom why so many of us had problems with the pejorative parts of them. Hypothetically speaking, the truth cuts like a sword, but when you are sick, you must visit a doctor so that he can heal what is ailing you; however, you must divulge to him your symptoms before he can diagnose them, etc.

Suffice it to say, the time for marching is long gone, and we need to use a similar ideology as a means to ameliorate the issues which are plaguing us as people. We need to continue to have courageous conversation about them and evolve a universal remedy for them. Besides, we need to demand that the news mediums present the news in an unbiased way! We need to demand that the rappers refrain from using rap as a means to showcase us as being "ballers", "pimps", and sexual objects, etc. We need to demand that the history books be rewritten so that they reflect the truth about our predecessors or continue to write our own books so that we can inculcate in them the images we want to reveal to the world. We need to demand that are children are given the same right to a good education regardless of where they live!

We have our work cut out for us, and the aforementioned demands are just a diminutive amount of the things we need to do in order to revolutionize our people, and until they are done none of us "have overcome"!
BAT

Please forgive my typos, middleclass and are(our)I did not proofread it very well!Ha,
BAT

CNN documentary on "Blacks in America". Just another attempt to make people feel sorry for blacks, and we would feel better if Obama was elected. Liberals always vote for the underdogs, CNN pushing a sympathy vote?
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&suggon=0&rls=GGGL,GGGL:2006-19,GGGL:en&as_q=&as_epq=black+in+america&as_oq=&as_eq=&num=100&lr=&as_filetype=&ft=i&as_sitesearch=&as_qdr=all&as_rights=&as_occt=any&cr=&as_nlo=&as_nhi=&safe=off&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wn&q=%22black%20in%20america%22

Here is a Black man that is worth listening too
Columns by Walter E. Williams
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/walterewilliams/archive.shtml

Another Black man I look up to
Republicans and Blacks
by Thomas Sowell

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/ThomasSowell/2008/04/10/republicans_and_blacks

My comments are related to the "Black in America" documentary.
I was disappointed with the coverage. I felt that it was very negative in its foundation. You can't disagree with the stories as these were individual
stories and based in truths, but the foundation of the
documentary was from what I call the "old model" of media coverage on African Americans. Which only cover the social ills that affect the African American community, and all of those ills are drawn from slavery. What I was expecting from this documentary was a fresh point of view of the African American community, that draws from the "new model" media coverage on race relations. which now includes the many accomplishments that have been made by African Americans since the 60s and draws from the new re-visionary history of Africa and their descendants which includes contributions made by Africans and their descendents. And that their history do not start at slavery but starts with the beginning of civilization. See Newsweek magazine, November 2006 "Who Gave Us Our Smarts?" The truth is that in 2008 African Americans are better off than in any time in American History, and yet there are too many of them still dealing with issues that exist before the 50s, yet on paper we have more elected officials representing African Americans, since the end of the Civil war, more middle class African Americans ever! And at the same time there are more African Americans killing African Americas ever. Why is that? And what can we do about addressing that.

Investigate and report on what you find.

Eric A. McMiller, Author of the up coming book
"Before we Were Black"

Though I think the effort was valiant, I am appalled at the lack of in-depth reporting done to uncover the root causes of racism, poverty and lack of equal access which I believe is based on the historical effects of slavery. Where was the much needed discussion of how the economic, emotional and psychological set-up of slavery and more than a century of systematic disruption of Black life has permanently affected the African-American community? How that history has affected our present experiences from the poorest to most economically advantageous? Being Black in America is not as simplistic as was presented, and I encourage the network to do another series where the link between the enslaved African's history here in America is a direct correlation to some of the hotbed issues presented in the "documentary"; a discussion that does not shy away from our intertwined relationship with White Americans. A lot of being Black in America has to do with NOT being White in America, and if that conversation cannot be had with some honesty, then it is exploitative to have had the one CNN did.

Being Black in America with an accent is disheartening to say the least,because we experience racism from our own black brothers and sisters who are born citizens of this country. As a people, we need to address the ill feelings we have for each other, in order to forge a relationship with the White man. It is the hatred of ourselves, that have allowed others to look as us with disdain. Racism is evil and we work to Bury it.

Stop complaining Black America and let us look at yourselves in the mirror. Because the person looking back at us, must share the burden of responsability for the ills that plague our lives. Yes, there is racism and it is alive and well, but in order to conquer this evil, we must all join forces to dismantle this scourge. Indeed, white America shares some responsibility but we do not love ourselves and believe that the Church will save us. Have we placed too much of our faith in the Black churches. Yes, we have, and it has been the source of our way of life today. What have the Black churches done for our society? We have left everthing in the hands of the lord. Remember,God said he will help those who help themselves. The next documentary on Blacks in America, should focus on the black churches and their progress in our communities. Unfortunately, we have allowed these sweet talking, well dressed hustlers to drain our communituies of all its resources, shouting 'Amen'. After the sermon is over, these fast talkers leave the church another day richer. Black America, I am an immigrant, served in the church and realised that this is our problem. Stop blaming it all on White America. Black America,wake up and look at your spiritual leaders and see the disparities in our lives. Look at the homes they live,in and the cars they drive and you keep giving the little you have earned to enhanced their live. Unfortunatelly, what is preached from the pulpit, has absoutey little effect on our lives. We have to look somewhere, in order to put our thumb on the source of our dormancy,that has allowed our race to remain stagnant, while some in our community who suffered similar fate to succeed. Blacks in America, did not cover the source of our prblem, it only helped to highlight some of the outrageous and irresponsible behavior of men and women in our society. This series helped to showcase how Black women and men use their sexuality to compete with each other and in the process, children are brought into the world to be a burden to society. Unfortunately, THIS IS MAKING WHITE AMERICA MAD. I have outlined just a few thing that have created racial tention in our society. Wake up Black America, stop blaming others for our outrageous way of life.

The CNN special "Black in America" was a grand disappointed. More importantly, it serves to further perpetuate the negative perspectives that the greater society and the world have of our race. I expected, as others did, a fresh view--capturing the root of the AA plight or should I say history. White supremacy is the reason we are where we find ourselves and that should have led the story. Shame on you CNN, thanks for nothing!!

here is a great website for anyone interested in what is going on and needs to go on within the african-american race.

blackeconomics@blackeconomics.org

Josie22

Disappointment is what I feel.CNN should be ashamed to broadcast such garbage around the world. Soledad O'Brien like others before her, missed a golden opportunity to establish a meaningful discussion on the issues, she simply mirrored the media's misconseptions of blacks in America. She never explored any of the root causes of our problems, "institutional racism" lack of equal treatment, poorly educationed and lack of equal opportunity this is the plight of Blacks in America. !!