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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

#721

Post by dragonwriter »

dcow wrote: post #678
dragonwriter wrote: post #654

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Culture matters, but culture isn't race (at least not in a western liberal society). “Race” is, in origin, a mythology drawn around culture; it is either an actual ethnicity that is an in-group or an imaginary one ascribed on the basis of external appearance as an out-group. And the mere act of creating that distinction by an in-power group can create a shared experience reifying the ascribed ethnicity into a real…

Sure, I agree. So why do we need a Netflix for black people? How does that help? Why can't e.g. the existing Netflix simply air culturally black content if people are craving more of it? Why does the service itself need to be exclusive and segregated?

> So why do we need a Netflix for black people?

Someone perceives an unmet need, and seeks to meet it.

> Why can't e.g. the existing Netflix simply air culturally black content if people are craving more of it?

They could. Someone with sufficient motivation and resources to launch a business thinks they aren't. That's...kind of true of most startups—an incumbent could meet the need they are marketing too, but they think the incumbents aren't.

> Why does the service itself need to be exclusive and segregated?

The proposed offering is neither exclusive nor segregated; no one is excluding people from subscribing or segregating them.

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

#722

Post by jxramos »

disneygibson wrote: post #351
endisneigh wrote: post #332

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The lie you’ve been fed is that America was ever integrated.

The melting pot is a goal and a living idea, not an idealized time in the past. And yes, groups of white Americans that were hostile to each other a century ago are now so integrated that it’s not even thought about. An Italian Catholic marrying a German Protestant was a huge deal in 1900. Today it is nothing.

interesting, so by analogy just as as those disparate groups got subsumed into a larger one in some rough identity integration thing so too we would hope to further widen that group to join with other groups to subsume everything under the sun where group divisions are no longer even perceived. The whole "just one race" sort of thing I'm imagining.

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

#723

Post by dcow »

tptacek wrote: post #714
dcow wrote: post #712

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think like many have pointed out, there's a messaging issue. I want to feel like I'm welcome, even though I'm not culturally black, to consume content created by black creators on a platform that helps promote that content. I like k-pop, I like Bollywood, I like Sister Deborah, I generally enjoy experiencing other culture. I don't need attenuation. One of the strengths of America is the capacity for cultural exchan…

They're not trying to promote Black cultural exchange. That's not the point. Rather, argumentative message board nerds are telling them that's what they need to be doing, rather than serving the customers they really need to love them. They would do well not to take that advice, not least because it is not, in the main, well-intentioned.

I'm not sure what you're suggesting about my intentions or those of people giving honest feedback here. If BlackOak is only interested in black viewers, then good luck. They simply won't be getting my money or attention, then, since I don't identify as culturally black. Personally I don't see why their (or any) platform needs to be exclusive to further their mission. If I made a "Neflix for white people", what do you think the response would be?

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

#724

Post by tekromancr »

vorpalhex wrote: post #645
tekromancr wrote: post #417

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you may be horrified to learn that American schools are still segregated https://www.epi.org/publication/schools-are-still-segregated...

> These data show that only about one in eight white students (12.9%) attends a school where a majority of students are black, Hispanic, Asian, or American Indian. (We refer to this group collectively as students of color hereafter.) In contrast, nearly seven in 10 black children (69.2%) attend such schools (see Figure A). That seems less like segregation and more of just statistics. If black students are a minority,…

Keep going! How did there come to be schools that were predominantly black? Why is school funding tied to property taxes? Why isn't there a level of mobility that would allow students to go to a more well funded school? Who made these policies and why?

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

#725

Post by crooked-v »

Perstone wrote: post #370
bluedino wrote: post #305

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Non-black viewers are less likely to watch videos with black people in them.

Is that because they are black though? Without asking those people why they watched something else you are just making the assumption it was to do with their skin colour and not anything to do with the content itself. e.g. I don't watch a lot of content with women on Youtube. Not because I have anything against women. It because the subjects I am interested in, isn't covered typically by women.

> Is that because they are black though?

Bluntly, yes. A lot of people in the U.S. are implicitly or explicitly racist. You can see this in statistics, such as 'black-sounding' resumes consistently getting less callbacks than 'white-sounding' resumes [1].

[1]: http://www-2.rotman.utoronto.ca/facbios/file/Whitening%20MS%...

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

#726

Post by k12sosse »

calvinmorrison wrote: post #553
k12sosse wrote: post #528

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So; Gilligan's Island for black people

I can't find the quote from Tyler Perry, but Madea is definitely not just for Black people. All of his stories are like this: they trick you into watching because it's funny, and easy to watch - but at the same time every story also had hard to talk about problems related to things like family life, drugs, intramarital issues, and prostitution. I listened to an interview with Tyler and he called it a bait-and-switch.…

I can enjoy TP films, for the record. I agree with those statements. Why don't you write the teleplay and try to shop it around? You seem invested in the idea!

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

#727

Post by disneygibson »

jxramos wrote: post #722
disneygibson wrote: post #351

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The melting pot is a goal and a living idea, not an idealized time in the past. And yes, groups of white Americans that were hostile to each other a century ago are now so integrated that it’s not even thought about. An Italian Catholic marrying a German Protestant was a huge deal in 1900. Today it is nothing.

interesting, so by analogy just as as those disparate groups got subsumed into a larger one in some rough identity integration thing so too we would hope to further widen that group to join with other groups to subsume everything under the sun where group divisions are no longer even perceived. The whole "just one race" sort of thing I'm imagining.

I think that is probably the best outcome for the US, if it wants to remain as a unified state for a long time. If not, then separatism eventually leads to a divorce. It’s happened before in world history, it can certainly happen again.

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

#728

Post by tptacek »

dcow wrote: post #723
tptacek wrote: post #714

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're not trying to promote Black cultural exchange. That's not the point. Rather, argumentative message board nerds are telling them that's what they need to be doing, rather than serving the customers they really need to love them. They would do well not to take that advice, not least because it is not, in the main, well-intentioned.

I'm not sure what you're suggesting about my intentions or those of people giving honest feedback here. If BlackOak is only interested in black viewers, then good luck. They simply won't be getting my money or attention, then, since I don't identify as culturally black. Personally I don't see why their (or any) platform needs to be exclusive to further their mission. If I made a "Neflix for white people", what do you…

I don't know anything about your intentions, but this whole thread is a good illustration of, again, something YC tells people all the time: start by making something that a few people love, rather than something that everyone will like a little bit, or, worse, just not object to.

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

#729

Post by tptacek »

thegrimmest wrote: post #717
tptacek wrote: post #663

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, it doesn't; if you replace countries with communities, the other statement becomes immediately and obviously problematic.

Really? Would you care to elaborate as to why? Why are larger groups (countries) criticizable and smaller groups are not?

Maybe, if we keep parsing for the rest of the day, we can solve all of racism on a message board thread. But because it's unlikely to happen, and because this isn't the purpose of this thread, I decline to try.

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

#730

Post by crooked-v »

tibbydudeza wrote: post #688

Try and showcase some African content - there is big film industry in places like Nigeria/Uganda and Ghana.

There's also some fascinating stuff going on with ultra-low-budget filmmaking in Uganda (for example, entire films done for under $100, including choreographed action scenes and basic special effects). It's like a fast-forward recreation of the early days of Hollywood.
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