As a White person, I think your magazine (or whatever you want to call it) is very racist…a clear example of double-standard racism. If the White community came out with a magazine with nothing but stories about White people and all-White advertising, the Black community would be screaming racism.
Randy Brash
Mr.Brash,
We appreciate you reading OurWeekly. We appreciate all of our readers. On a weekly basis, our goal is to provide accurate, beneficial information to keep our readers aware of what is happening in their lives locally, nationally, and worldwide. Additionally, we understand that the audiance we are targeting is Black. Everyone on the OurWeekly staff understands that. Everyone on our staff, whether they are Black, Brown or White, understands that this is the primary demographic we are trying to reach. We are targeting the Black readers of Los Angeles and Antelope Valley because too often the stories of their race/culture rarely are covered for the better, worse, or objectively in the predominantly White media. And, unfortunately, when one is covered, the story is usually negative.
Positive portrayals of Blacks in the media are quite often confined to entertainment and sports. With the 2008 election of President Barack Obamam and the White House now the official Obama residence, we have a Black family with at least one of its members in the mainstream news everyday for at least the next four years. But to represent an entire race using one family is ridiculous. Therefore, we overwhelmingly disagree with your view.
Here are reasons why we disagree with you, Mr. Brash. The motivation of our publication, and many Black publications, is to promote a positive or at least balanced portrayal of Black people (our culture, our goals, our success, our failures). Our motivation at OurWeekly is never to purposely portray Whites, or any other non-Black population, in a negative light. Quite often, Blacks have been unfairly portrayed in a negative manner in the White-owned media outlets. Many Whites (and other non-Blacks, for that matter) have no real true connection or relationships with Blacks. What they have is the media. The majority of what they are exposed to regarding Blacks is negative. That can cause them to form perceptions, which people can mistake for reality, which can lead to discrimination, hatred and much worse.
The Black media provides a safeguard not only for Blacks but non-Blacks, as well. At OurWeekly, we show the positive and just everyday accomplishments of Black people, because other White-owned publications in the Los Angeles area fail to do so. We do not run away from our culture as Black people; we embrace it. We are also fair and balanced in our coverage, because we know there are flaws within the Black race. We have published many articles and editorials that have been critical of those Black people within our culture, who we see attempting to destroy it.
Additionally, our advertisers are people who either have set up their businesses within the Black communities of Los Angeles or provide a service that can be beneficial to Blacks.
Finally, our publication is no different than periodicals that serve the Latino, Native American, Asian, or ethnic White (e.g., Italian, Scottish, Polish, Irish, Semitic, etc.) comunities. We are simply giving representation to a segment of the population that the mainstream media is not. OurWeekly is not guilty of racism. You, Mr. Brash, are guilty of a false comparison. We appreciate your readership.
Sincerely,
Joseph Wright
