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

news.ycombinator.com

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

#701

Post by thegrimmest »

tptacek wrote: post #665
thegrimmest wrote: post #652

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd say the very fact that you have to read into the detailed post to understand which "black" is indicated in the title supports my claim that the term is problematically overloaded.

You are expected to read the posts on HN before commenting. It's one of the norms of the site. This isn't a newspaper article; it's a post they wrote specifically for us, in our norms. You should not feel good about trying to litigate this at their expense.

I did read the post. It doesn't however detract from my claim that the term is overloaded.

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

#702

Post by tptacek »

thegrimmest wrote: post #701
tptacek wrote: post #665

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are expected to read the posts on HN before commenting. It's one of the norms of the site. This isn't a newspaper article; it's a post they wrote specifically for us, in our norms. You should not feel good about trying to litigate this at their expense.

I did read the post. It doesn't however detract from my claim that the term is overloaded.

We're here to talk about the startup they're launching, not about this. Again, I don't think you should feel good about trying to score points like this.

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

#703

Post by spywaregorilla »

brudgers wrote: post #154

The screenshots on the “Free episode” page give me the immediate impression the shows are low budget productions. It’s a combination of the locations/backgrounds, lighting, and the randomness of some of the frames…the out of focus hand in the first image. For marketing, it might help to color grade the stills on the page similarly. The natural balance of the first still makes the green and magenta casts in others mor…

It seems like most of it is going to be indie content so... they are low budget. I suspect it will be hard to win with this approach. I'm not convinced mainstream black audiences value black-centric content more than they value production quality.

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

#704

Post by TheAdamAndChe »

dang wrote: post #690
throwyourkid wrote: post #684

Why YC fund this kind of startup. I am fine if you want to downvote me but this kind of things I don't want to exist. There are other ways to do this but building a streaming service for people based on their race is too much extreme. I think people should try to bring people together instead of further separating based on their Race.

Please don't hijack top comments by replying with non-replies, and certainly not with flamebait. We detached this comment from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28089696 .

Discussing the negative social repercussions of the product isn't flamebait. It's pretty important.

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

#705

Post by tptacek »

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?

It "helps" by satisfying a market need for a space for Black creators to tell Black stories without shouldering a burden to translate, soften, or attenuate that culture for other audiences, as would be the expectation on a mass media cable channel. It's not complicated; venues like this serve all sorts of ethnicities.

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

#706

Post by dcow »

wolverine876 wrote: post #657
thegrimmest wrote: post #631

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's try it this way: "A lot of hispanic countries have problems with drug cartels, crime and corruption" vs. "A lot of black communities have problems with drugs, violence and poor educational outcomes" It's pretty easy to accuse the latter statement of being racist isn't it? Not so much the former though huh? Why do you think that is?

> It's pretty easy to accuse the latter statement of being racist isn't it? Not so much the former though huh? Why do you think that is? I'm not sure that it's easy; it depends on the context. As we know well, many racists use conceivably non-racist criticism to find ways to denigrate African-Americans, so it's important to be careful and sensitive to that. But the big difference is the vulnerability of the groups. I…

> As we know well, many racists use conceivably non-racist criticism to find ways to denigrate African-Americans, so it's important to be careful and sensitive to that.

This, of course, deeply depends on your definition of racist/racism. If I criticize some behavior that happens to be more prevalent among black americans than other americans, to some people that simple fact makes that critique, and thus me, a racist. That's the problem with the modern definition of racism. It's an ex-post-facto evaluation and it's way too easy to slap that on to pretty much whatever you want.

> But if I post that '(vulnerable minority) are morons', that's a very different matter - they are in danger.

No, they're not. I don't know a single reasonable human that would read that comment and go immediately fire '(vulnerable minority)'. Come on..

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

#707

Post by jandrese »

silicon2401 wrote: post #142
jandrese wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You say this like the Hallmark channel or Lifetime don't exist.

What are you saying about non-white people who enjoy those channels?

That they are like white people listening to Hip Hop. You're allowed to like it, but you should never expect them to cater to your demographic.

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

#708

Post by horrified »

I feel like I have read about a similar YC startup before. Search brings up afrostream.tv - how did they fare, and what is different? https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/afrostream

Not that there can't be more than one.

For non-blacks, what would be recommended shows to watch to get a feel for black culture (or your vision of black culture, I guess)?

Edit: it seem Afrostream shut down in 2017 https://techpoint.africa/2017/09/22/afrostream-shut-down/

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

#709

Post by [deleted] »

kbelder wrote: post #512
kadabra9 wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

Crunchyroll keeps getting mentioned here, as a success story. Certainly, they focus nearly exclusively on Japanese content. But they in no way market to Japanese, or Asians in general. I think that is the key. You should be marketing "black content for everybody", not "content for black people". Sure, the segment that responds will be heavily slanted to certain demographics, but at least you aren't putting up artific…

[deleted]

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

#710

Post by thegrimmest »

tptacek wrote: post #702
thegrimmest wrote: post #701

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I did read the post. It doesn't however detract from my claim that the term is overloaded.

We're here to talk about the startup they're launching, not about this. Again, I don't think you should feel good about trying to score points like this.

Yes indeed, and discussion of the title of the startup, and how it fits into the wider social landscape is very much relevant here, don't you think?

Also if you are under the impression I'm writing to score some "points" I can assure you you're mistaken.

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