Yeah, If he asked asked me; I'd be willing to get on that Greyhound bus to Rock-Land whenever was convenient for him.   See 7 other replies

chris rock didn't ask me. i would switch places with him. but i doubt he would want to be a middle aged fat white guy with no money and huge child support payments. racism in todays society seems to mainly revolve around money. black and white don't matter as much as it used to, now green is the color of choice. rich black guys get off (remember o.j.?) and rich white guys get off way more often than poor black or white guys. have you ever seen the show Cops? where is the wall street episode?   See 7 other replies

AH.. Going on a part of your argument.How come they didn't ask the black/African American students how much it would take for them to wake up white (admittedly paraphrasing the original question)? What would their answer have been?I think AH has a good point. Why would anybody, who is normal, what to wake up and suddenly be someone else or look drastically different? Sure there are movie stars who change their appearance daily, but then I do not consider them normal. Also, you couldn't pay me to be a single one of them. Their lives are so messed up (on average- there are a few who I could stand being, but I wouldn't play Russian roulette with which one I would get.) Maybe everybody should see things in a big whole group picture instead of "my group" or " my culture" or " my skin" kind of view?? Just a thought...   See 7 other replies

Denise, I was around when that question was asked. It was NOT asked of ME. So, if everything in my life stayed the same except the color of my skin how much money would it cost? A lot. That doesn't make it racist. That means I am comfortable in my OWN skin and really don't want to walk around an entirely different person after 45 yrs.I don't see that as a "race" issue. I see that as a personal preference. You are confusing the two. Just because I don't want to suddenly wake up with black skin, doesn't mean that I am racist. It means I like who I am and don't want to change.PS. If you are going to be bringing up something that happened 30 years ago, it kind of deflates your argument. What happened back then is completely different then what would happen now. This is a 30 yr+ gap, not a 2 yr gap. BIG difference, and a completely different generation to ask.   See 7 other replies

Continued from above...Fourth.. Roles that win awards ( I will admit I couldnt' care less about the Oscar's or Tony's because I believe they are completely political....) .. from my observations at least, are for high drama. I hate to say it, but upstanding citizens are pretty boreing drama wise. Think about it.. How often do you see the queen of England on the cover of people because her yards are well maintained or her dogs are well behaved?? But if one of her dogs bit someone where would that news come out? So yes some one who sleeps with a jailer is far more dramatic than any "decent person" role. Hollywood and Broadway like to push the envelope... They don't really reward roles that are based in Honor or decency very often ( I actually can't think of one example at the moment.. so I reserve the right to stand corrected.) They are very "activist" communities.. "Decent" isn't exactly their genre- not that they are not decent people, but I don't think their goal is to solely appear "decent"Fifth... I bet you could go to Hollywood or New York and find a dozen people who fit your example... There are losers in every group... That doesn't mean that they represent all of a community, group or profession. So while I disagree with your viewpoint.. I do acknowledge that it is a plausibility...   See 7 other replies

Number one... Those students were in the 80's I can't speak for you, but I've moved on.. I was maybe 3 when those kids were questioned.. and by the sounds of it, they sound stupid, in my book at least.Number two.. I really don't consider Chris Rock as an Anthropologist... Not saying that what he said doesn't fit his experience, but I don't think he is exactly an Expert on all humans or American's opinions about anything. He makes his living by saying things that A) get a reaction out of people or B) make people laugh or C) Both. Number 3... You want to talk about Halle not getting Meryl Streeps roles?? Do you honestly think that Meryl Streep could walk into any producers office and say, " I want that role that you were thinking of giving Halle Berry." ?? Even 50% of producers offices and say that? and actually work? I dont' believe it. Each actor and actress has their own strengths and weakness and each character has certain things that are required to play that character. There are infinite ways to arrive at a certain casting... Your skin color is only a small fraction of that. So to demean Halle by saying that her total value as an actress is determined by her skin color - to me that is appalling and to be honest.. I think it is racist.Continued below. ..   See 7 other replies

Actually, Rosie, that statement by Biography is true...Halle Berry does not get the roles that a Meryl Streep gets, even with her Oscar. And of all of the roles Halle has played that showed decent African Americans, she is awarded an Oscar for playing a woman having sex with the racist jailer of her condemned husband (Billy Bob Thornton, at that!). Same with Denzel...after playing a Union soldier on "Glory", and playing the lawyer in "Philadelphia", as well as his portrayal of Malcolm X, what does he get an Oscar for? Playing some gangster. This wouldn't be an issue with black people if we were not so scapegoated as being some monolithic mass of cultural pathology within American society.
Even sociologists recognize this phenomenon...in the 1980's, a group of white college students were asked what compensation they would require if, with all other parts of their lives unchanged, they would wake up the next morning with black skin. Without exception, the students' answers were that they would need quite a bit of money to compensate for the loss of their societal status as whites.
One more thing...in Chris Rock's stand up DVD, "Bigger and Blacker", he states, "No white person would change places with me...and I'm rich!" So long as that is the reality of African American existence in 2010, the situation of race in this country will never change.   See 7 other replies