Heart Healthy Cheerios not so good for the hearts of racists

So there is this Cheerios ad, with a white mother, a black father and their bi-racial kid. I have a SERIOUS problem with this ad.

Seriously...the cuteness factor in the ad is just too much for my senses. That is just the cutest kid and the cutest little scenario where she tries to protect her daddy's heart with Heart Healthy Cheerios.

I also have a real problem with all the closet and not-so-closet racists who found this ad offensive. I guess it is tolerable when they - those awful people who choose to walk the streets with someone outside of their race - are just in the corner of one's eye. But how DARE the good people at Cheerios put this travesty on national television, where for 30 seconds, one has to be subjected to the flagrant display of interracial unions and the offspring which come from them. Cheerios - that down home all American breakfast cereal should not be associated with this intermingling. But according to one of the posts on the now disabled comments section under the ad on YouTube, it is not about the ad. Of course not! How silly of me.

“Throughout all of human history, race-mixing and multiracial/multicultural societies have never, not even once, occurred ‘naturally’. It has always been the result of conquest, group A being forced by group B. The systematic decline of western economies has lead to lower white birth rates. Massive non-white immigration leads to loss of land, resources and opportunities for whites. Encouraging whites to race-mix leads to loss of white genetics. It’s not about one Cheerios commercial.”

The truth revealed, kids!

It reminds me of a conversation I had with a white Brit who did not believe that racism existed in the UK. He thought black people were too sensitive to what they perceived as racism. I was flummoxed to say the least. But it does exist and when faced with the growing reality that there are those who choose to not let race, sexuality, gender etc be hindrances to the fulfilment of life's happiness, we see the real and ugly side of society that some of us (un)consciously choose to ignore. Speaking as someone who has dated all kinda men, of all shades, shapes, and sizes, these people offend me greatly and sadly, disabling their hateful comments on social media is just a band-aid on an oozing sore.

While I saw a cute cherub of a child, and did not stop to think of her ethnic background, others saw the decay of society, when in fact their own reaction underscores the real decay out there. I wonder if they will stop eating Cheerios as well. Kudos to Cheerios for standing their ground on what is a great heart warming commercial. Kudos to Saatchi and Saatchi for just ramping up the creativity with mega cuteness.

While we are not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, I can still take heart that when I cross the street, I can turn all kinds of heads - black heads, Asian heads, white heads - and we can all laugh and smile about it and life goes on. That my own nephew, like so many others in Trinidad and Tobago, is the result of this awesome interracial love fest and is just loved for being cute and mischievous is also pretty award winning.


 

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The Good, the Bad and the Reality: The T.O. Show/Ochocinco

My reality tv fix last night was about football players. I don't know a damn thing about American football, nor do I care to know, but the NFL sure is getting some PR - whether they want it or not - via the reality show vehicles of two of their most flamboyant and controversial stars. Terrell Owens and Chad Johnson...sorry...Ochocinco both have joined the fray of sad celebrities looking for more fame on VH1 - which once upon a time, like MTV used to be a music channel. I am not complaining because both men are in fine and ripping form.

But black people strike again! I mean, first it was Chilli from TLC dating and finally choosing vanilla latte over mochaccino on her reality show "What Chilli Wants". Now Ochocinco and T.O have weaves across America in a bunch with their flagrant display of, and this is a new term for me, colourism, i.e. dating non-black women. Are we still on this old junk? Apparently so. I mean, to each his own. The funny thing about it is the T.Os and Ochocincos of the world aren't interested in the Maggie Mayhem from the block. Their lifestyles are fast, furious and frenzied and the women who will throw themselves at them are the same. Do you want to be a female statistic? Maybe they have a type - ditzy groupies. Are you really aspiring to be a football groupie?  Really?

Everyone is allowed to like whomever they want to like. I am black and have dated black men, white men and potpourri men and black men get all upset because you may find a white dude to be cute. So I guess I am a colourist! Well, I thought I was human and free to date whomever I wanted to date. I was not aware there was a formula for this thing. Seriously...it's old.


I think this comment sums it up for me though:

It never ceases to amaze me how when a black man has a great deal of money to his name, its in blood that he has to have a black woman on his arm. If he was T.O. the fedex man, none of you would give a damn
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In the meantime, I get to admire the fine male athletic form of both men. I don't want to date 'em. I just like looking at the form. And reality shows are in essence, simply hilarious!

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What Chilli Wants, What Black Women Want

I like reality tv. Not all - you won't catch me watching Tool Academy for example, but I love some reality tv. I watched the season finale of What Chilli Wants today and was happy with her choice cause I thought Bill was hot. I know that there are some black people in the blogosphere who don't like her choice, mainly because Bill is a white dude.

I personally thought Bill was kinda hot and an all round nice guy. Of course this is tv and he could be a total ass, but the point is, there are still so many hang ups about black women dating white men. I see black men, dating non-black women all the time - the white models, the Latina actresses, the Hawaiian pop artistes. This equation does not seem to be an issue. But let the black woman be checkin' on a blue eyed, wavy haired Caucasian, and all hell breaks loose.

Why do we still do this? And this is not only coming from the black men, but also from the black women. I saw a tweet that said something like I want to slit my wrists after watching this show. Chilli makes me ashamed to be a black woman.

Because she had a nice date with a white man? That is so stupid. Chilli is a beautiful woman, and why should she sit around the house, twiddling her thumbs waiting on this perfect black man, if there is a perfectly good white or Latin or Asian man waiting at her doorstep, ready and willing to sweep her off her feet. And guess what, she was totally feeling Floyd Mayweather at first and was willing to see where that could go and then Pretty Boy Floyd left her ass waiting at the dinner table. Soooo...she had a choice - sit around waiting for Floyd, or get going and try something else. C'mon people, get serious.

Regina King, another gorgeous black celeb notes

Black women are the least likely group of women that will date outside of their race. When you have everyone else who is willing to explore but a Black woman is like, "I want me a brother," well, if the brothers are out and they’re open to date everybody and the majority of Black women aren’t willing to look twice when a man outside of their race is sending them messages, then that makes our percentage rate lower and the chances of finding love, because we’re only looking in one specific place for finding love—with Black men. -  Vibe

I have a lot of friends who have married outside of their race, and hell...outside of their countries, thus not limiting themselves. I thought love was far reaching and all encompassing. I thought it was about finding that person who gave you butterflies, who stood by you and supported you through thick and thin, who could make you laugh and be comfortable in your own skin, who you saw a future with - regardless of race. But I guess still for some, it's about race and colour and another blog entry on the topic is ultimately pointless so I will stop here.

She was a little anal and picky, making even the pickiest of us look like Mother Mary, but I think she got the picture soon enough that the long list would not get her any lovin' anytime soon. I still think Bill was kinda hot, except for the little bump on his nose, which a good plastic surgeon can fix, so you go Chilli.

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