Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people

Post by throwaway2037 » Fri, Aug 06, 2021, 2:33 PM UTC

afavour wrote: post #39

f6v wrote: post #2

“X for black people” sounds so bizarre to me(non-American). The cultural divide between the people must be insane.

I don't know what country you're from but if you don't think there are subcultures in your country under-represented by the dominant media I'd assert you're almost definitely wrong. Perhaps it feels a little strange from the outside that such a subculture is definitively "black" but yeah, that's basically how things are in the US. The country has a deep history of racism and black people being literal slaves, in that…

Post by commandlinefan » Fri, Aug 06, 2021, 2:35 PM UTC

zwieback wrote: post #29

afavour wrote: post #17

I can't help but feel like everyone commenting here read the headline, brushed straight past the lengthy explanation and went directly to outrage in the comment box. This is a streaming service set up to elevate content by black creators, to make up for the fact that the mainstream media under-represents those people. I'm struggling to see the outrage on a cultural level and on a startup level I can absolutely imagin…

100% agree. How is it racist to offer something as a business, it's not like it's a government or other public project. We already have BET so this is just a similar offering in a different format. "Netflix for black people" might not be a good choice as a tagline, though.

Post by csmpltn » Fri, Aug 06, 2021, 2:35 PM UTC

werber wrote: post #40

josteink wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are only a “minority” because someone decided to come up with a way (race) to divide people into groups where one group is bound to end up smaller, and somehow claim that division is of significant importance. IMO the solution to that problem is definitely not to reinforce that division.

The United States is 76.3% white ( https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045219 ), it's not a division it's a number, there are just literally less people of color in the country, a minority of the population.

Post by tootie » Fri, Aug 06, 2021, 2:35 PM UTC

f6v wrote: post #2

“X for black people” sounds so bizarre to me(non-American). The cultural divide between the people must be insane.

Post by afavour » Fri, Aug 06, 2021, 2:35 PM UTC

josteink wrote: post #25

afavour wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> imagine the outrage if someone had made “X for white people”. There’d be riots in streets. The difference between majority and minority is surely not that difficult to comprehend from outside the US?

They are only a “minority” because someone decided to come up with a way (race) to divide people into groups where one group is bound to end up smaller, and somehow claim that division is of significant importance. IMO the solution to that problem is definitely not to reinforce that division.