Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

221–230 of 898 posts

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

#221

Post by namdnay »

raclage wrote: post #189
disneygibson wrote: post #152

This just makes me sad. We seem to be returning to a segregated society with separate services for every ethnic group. It’s not the “melting pot” idea of America that I was raised with, where everyone contributes their own unique culture to a unified American whole. That was the brilliance of American identity, which is now fracturing at an accelerated rate.

> It’s not the “melting pot” idea of America that I was raised with, where everyone contributes their own unique culture to a unified American whole. Then I don't understand why your response to someone trying to create a platform to express their culture strikes you as "Fracturing."

Having a separate platform per “culture” (although what culture is “black”? That’s a skin colour) definitely sounds like a fracture to me

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

#223

Post by shipmaster »

disneygibson wrote: post #194
raclage wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It’s not the “melting pot” idea of America that I was raised with, where everyone contributes their own unique culture to a unified American whole. Then I don't understand why your response to someone trying to create a platform to express their culture strikes you as "Fracturing."

Because it’s encouraging separatism. I would much rather have a startup that promotes black creators to the broader culture than one exclusionary by design. Looking at top musicians, artists, and other cultural figures, it seems to me like this is already largely the case. Hip hop sales come in large part from white people. I want more of this cultural sharing, not isolationism.

You seem to think there is a monolithic "culture" that needs to be augmented. This has never been the case. There are always a dominant culture that is not necessarily named and multiple subcultures per minority group. Why are folks more sensitive to black sub-culture manifestations in the US vs other minority groups?

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

#224

Post by upgrejd »

mc32 wrote: post #195
bgroat wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to believe that media representation didn't matter. After all, fictional characters are fiction, why should I expect them to look like me? Then someone pointed out to me that my favourite super-hero was Spider-Man because Peter Parker is a 20-something loser, just like me.

Yeah people used to say video games and violence on TV had no effect on people -that is was just made up worlds and allowed people to role play, etc… now they are admitting there is influence and it does affect people…

How does it influence real life?

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

#225

Post by rdiddly »

zo1 wrote: post #141
tag2103 wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why does "Netflix for Black People" scarily remind me of "Water fountains for Black People". This is horrifying, OP please consider this in your approach.

It's not "Water Fountains for Black People". It's "Water Fountain - White People Not Welcome". That's the part that's missing here, we're straw-manning as if white-people are affronted to this catering to a black-culture niche, not at all. I'll stand 100% corrected if this new service hosts white-people, white-actors and white-content that black-people would enjoy watching, and is staffed by an inclusive mix of black…

Why so hung up on that though? White actors and content are already available over at Universal, Paramount, MGM etc. It's like a white person complaining Howard won't admit them so they're stuck going to Yale. The idealism of 100% equality and 100% integration are appreciated, at least by me (white), but how is a black person supposed to experience the feeling of being in the majority the way white people take for granted? A: By sometimes being a group unto themselves, and not always a subgroup within a much larger mostly-white group.

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

#226

Post by KittenInABox »

kadabra9 wrote: post #171
essem wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Racial segregation is a stretch. They do not block you from subscribing if you're not black.

Realistically though, how many white people would pay for a platform with all black content, one that they are told is explicitly not for them?

My understanding is that they may not need to cater to white people, but they also don't need to exclude them either. Black hair often has a texture that requires specialized hair products and the people who make them can make a ton of money. It isn't excluding white people to cater to black people.

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

#227

Post by hn_throwaway_99 »

rchaud wrote: post #185
disneygibson wrote: post #152

This just makes me sad. We seem to be returning to a segregated society with separate services for every ethnic group. It’s not the “melting pot” idea of America that I was raised with, where everyone contributes their own unique culture to a unified American whole. That was the brilliance of American identity, which is now fracturing at an accelerated rate.

Can you provide a definition for the 'melting pot' idea that you were raised with?

The first paragraph defines it well: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melting_pot

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

#228

Post by mattlondon »

f6v wrote: post #2

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

Agreed.

Where I work (US-company, but I work outside of US) it is similarly weird to me.

We appear to have gone backwards in the past 5-10 years in my view - no longer can you just be "you", but now it feels like we have to be labelled, categorised, and segregated into different groups. We now have to make a big deal and a big song-and-dance to highlight our differences and define what our ethnic backgrounds are (apparently to "celebrate" it or whatever), despite there being various laws (at least in the UK) about this sort of thing being a protected characteristic that you simply cannot talk about during interviews - its weird.

What if I don't fit into some neat pigeon hole on some spreadsheet? What if I don't want to explain in detail my family tree and pointing out which ethnicity my ancestors were? This idea that people are 100% Ethnic-Category-A/Ethnic-Category-B/Ethnic-Category-C and fit neatly in those slots without any kind of overlap seems willfully ignorant at best, and subversive at worst.

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

#230

Post by jrm4 »

knicholes wrote: post #109
sokoloff wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

BET wasn’t offensive me. Telemundo wasn’t offensive to me. Nickelodeon wasn’t offensive to me. Food Network wasn’t offensive to me. Serving targeted programming to an identifiable minority audience seems like a perfectly reasonable business (and social) proposition. I don’t know that “Netflix for Black People” will test well, but it seems perfectly fine to me. [white middle-aged male if context matters]. Edit to add:…

It kind of assumes that all black people will like these kinds of shows, like Nickelodeon assumed that all kids would like their shows. In a world where diversity is so celebrated, I find it odd to try to show black people only other black people. Kids like kids shows because the content is more suited for kids. I know the original poster said they felt good seeing the shows with black people in the 90s, but can't th…

Horribly bad comparison, of course.

"Drikning fountains for black people" existed because "Black people using white drinking fountains" was prohibited. It wasn't a preference.

Post reply on HN