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

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

#241

Post by zentiggr »

sombremesa wrote: post #179

I think people who are being downvoted in this thread have valid points, and they’re not really critiquing the company, rather the problem seems to be your messaging. You shouldn’t say “Netflix for black people” because Netflix is for black people already. Moreover if I start selling boxed water called “water for black people” with black stories on the carton, I’m unnecessarily limiting my audience (even alienating s…

You make it sound like segregation end... the last few years, and especially the state voting laws passed in the past year, show that while it may not be explicit law anymore, it is still certainly what a lot of people are fighting to do in any way possible.

I (as a middle age white male) WANT people to be thinking about because it's still happening 24/7, and people who aren't bigoted should be aware and pushing back every minute, in every way they can.

Saying "X for black people" is a cultural focus, on the same level as "Finnish music" or "Flamenco dance" or "Swahili language".

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

#242

Post by jrm4 »

h3daz wrote: post #68
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:…

My only problem with marketing "X for black people" is that marketing "X for white people" isn't socially acceptable.

Sure, I get the immediate reaction. But this all has to do with what "blackness" and "whiteness" means; "Whiteness" effectively means here, "most everybody who didn't have to be enslaved because of their skin color."

No problem with e.g. "X for German-Americans" or the like, if the niche is there.

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

#243

Post by umvi »

afavour wrote: post #236
umvi wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What does "X for white people" look like though? Totally hypothetical example... "NBA for white people" - basically majority-white professional basketball teams playing each other. I'm sure that would ignite a firestorm if someone tried to do that.

But what would the justification be for setting up such a league? "Netflix for black people" is a representation of cultural differences and seeing those differences reflected on screen. "NBA for white people" would just be... excluding non-white people. White and black basketball players aren't different physically (on average) nor do they typically have different playing styles. There isn't really a lot of justific…

Fair point. How about "Rap for white people" - a record label that only features white rappers for people that want to hear more suburban white-America culture expressed through rap? Still might ignite a firestorm, all it takes is one media outlet framing it as racist.

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

#244

Post by jhcxdfb »

spaniard89277 wrote: post #183
afavour wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

> 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 What constitutes under-repressented? Is proportionally represented ok? I mean, I'm one of those "subcultures" and honestly I don't feel the need to be represented in media. I'm ok with it, but I don't see what does it bring to me or to m…

Well, some Americans, like myself, have hoped that the vision of the melting pot would come to pass instead of this new segregation movement. But it seems that the Woke movement wants us to resegregate: don't share culture, that's cultural appropriation. Don't move to an area that isn't your racial makeup, that's gentrification.

Don't hire people who are white, if you can help it. That's inclusion.

Create institutions, like TV channels, only for specific races. That's diversity.

Pass lots of "stimulus" bills to trigger inflation through printing money, causing everyone from the middle to the bottom to get poorer, but the same amount of poor by the end of it. That's equity.

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

#245

Post by swman »

brodouevencode wrote: post #207
Uzo0312 wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a great point. I think both things probably need to be done. We took the distribution route, because ultimately we believe it's the direct relationship with the consumer that will allow for this to work. As a production company, you're a step away from the end-user, so you're at the mercy of a distribution company that has more than just the black audience to worry about. But if a company is solely focused on…

But it would take Netflix just one or two demo-specific properties to win that demo back. Unless the goal is to be acquired.

It’s a yc (VC backed) company. You know the goal.

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

#246

Post by f6v »

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…

I haven’t lived in a society with such a tragic racial history as in US. So my intuition tells me socioeconomic class is more relevant than the race. If I’m a white UPS driver, I have more in common with a black DHL driver than with a white physician. Like, working people go to the same restaurants, shops and have the same struggles overall. But then again, I’ve seen all the news about the BLM protests and I realize I know nothing about how society is structured in the US.

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

#247

Post by pyb »

throwaway2037 wrote: post #72

Can any French, Belgians, or Dutchies with significant Black African sub-culture comment? I am curious: If there was a French-language or Flemish-/Dutch-language "Netflix for black people" in your country, what would be the reaction?

You may find further comments here :

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9903503 ("Afrostream (YC S15) Is Netflix for African and African-American Movies")

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

#248

Post by [deleted] »

disneygibson wrote: post #210
sombremesa wrote: post #179

I think people who are being downvoted in this thread have valid points, and they’re not really critiquing the company, rather the problem seems to be your messaging. You shouldn’t say “Netflix for black people” because Netflix is for black people already. Moreover if I start selling boxed water called “water for black people” with black stories on the carton, I’m unnecessarily limiting my audience (even alienating s…

This is an easy fix. Make it “Netflix by Black People” or “Netflix by Black Creators.” by , not for

[deleted]

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

#249

Post by zentiggr »

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?

You need to justify how "for " is exclusionary, as opposed to it's normal meaning of "focusing on ".

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

#250

Post by afavour »

namdnay wrote: post #211
snakeboy wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> but suggesting that racism is only racism when the government does it too is a first. I think you've misunderstood this post. This is less like a "white's only" restaurant, and more like an Italian food restaurant. It's supporting a cultural niche, not excluding another.

Now I’m European, so maybe I’m not in the right cultural mindset for this, but your comparison really highlights what is problematic for me: based on someone’s skin colour you are determining their culture/heritage. What does a Nigerian have in common with a Jamaican, apart from the melatonin in their skin? Why would they have similar tastes in media?

> What does a Nigerian have in common with a Jamaican, apart from the melatonin in their skin? Why would they have similar tastes in media?

They don't necessarily. Not speaking for the BlackOakTV folks here but I don't think this is trying to target all black people. The US is somewhat unique in having a large population that was ripped from their respective home countries and forced to create their own shared culture under the thumb of slavery. Someone that immigrated from Nigeria in the last decade doesn't have that same experience.

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