The Racial Divide

Well, we just elected a black man to the highest office in the land, the Presidency, but I guess even that does not prove that the races are equal.

While "surfing the net" this evening, I ran across this delightful little article about an internet browser designed and marketed for blacks. You can read the full article here, but I thought I'd give you the gist with just a few quotes.

About the "Blackbird Web Browser":

"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."

Reaction to the browser is 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."

But there are some who feel differently:

"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."

I guess I shouldn't be surprised by stories like this anymore, and yet I still am. I mean, it's late 2008. We just elected a black man as the President of the United States of America. Slavery ended a LONG time ago. Black men and women have every single right that white men and women have, and due to affirmative action, sometimes have more job opportunities. The civil rights movement is over. I believe we are equal. So why are we still dealing with this nonsense? Why are some still determined to create a racial divide? How much more equal can we get, folks?

And finally, I saved the best for last. The last quote in the article was too good to pass up. I have a feeling that, other than the man's poor choice of language, he and I would agree on this topic.

According to "Cordfucious the Unbuntu Walker", a poster on the blog "Gizmodo",

"I am offended at this," ... "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."

AMEN!!