SxSW 2008: On Loren Feldman and Black Tech Bloggers

This year’s Black Tech Bloggers panel at South by Southwest was a response to the furor caused by Loren Feldman’s “Black Tech Blogger” An Internet Opera, broadcast last summer.

I did not watch it then. I tend to get very pissed off and physically affected when folks make broad, offensive generalizations about me and mine and my netfam confirmed that it would probably piss me off. But I did watch when Lynne played a portion of the clip to give us some context for the panel.

And you know what? It was kind of funny. And then I remembered that it was called “Black Tech Blogger.” It became a lot less funny then. I took some time to think about why. I discussed it with other members of South by Southwest Black Student Union. And I wanted to explain to y’all and to Loren Feldman why he became the target of a whole lot of angry black folks.

You see, he didn’t call it the:

• “Hood Tech Blogger,”
• “Pimp Tech Blogger,”
• “Gangsta Tech Blogger,”
• “Thug Tech Blogger,”
• “Wigger / Wigga* Tech Blogger,”

No, he called it the “Black Tech Blogger.” By using Black, it became a simple rehashing of stereotypes. By using Black, Feldman reduced the diversity of black Americans into ‘niggas’ and ‘hoes.’

Had Loren even gone with ‘TechWigga.com’ — which is what it is, in my opinion — I suspect we all would have thought it 7th-level hilarious and understood it as a white man’s parody of white people who try to ‘act black.‘ As it stands now, it’s simply a white man parodying black people. And yeah, while ‘we‘ — meaning the Exceptional Negroes on that panel and those that Feldman counts as friends — may not have been who he intended to parody, when you use a term as broad as ‘black’ that’s what happens.

Then add insult to insult, when Twanna asked during the panel (roughly) ‘What onus do people have to seek out black tech bloggers (or what-have-you) if they’re wondering where they are?’ Feldman’s response was ‘None. Look, I’m a comedian. I’m trying to gain traction.’

Even with the slack-cutting that goes with being unexpectedly put on the spot that was a bad answer. After all, he asked the question.

It’s a doubly bad answer since Feldman asked the question in the summer of 2007. At least three of us have been blogging about technology since 2004 or earlier (2002 in my case). Most of us are also visibly and publicly black, and have been a part of panels and presentations on technology topics.

Was he just not paying attention? Or maybe he’s just comfortable asking questions and posting responses that make him appear clueless, ignorant, and more than a little bit racist.

I don’t know the man or his work beyond that video, so I can’t and won’t label him personally. But I think I’m on safe ground when I say Feldman f*cked up with that video. And I hope eventually he will own up.

Possibly related: ebogjohnson’s instructive post and diagram “Should I Use Blackface On My Blog?”

*I have no qualms with the word ‘wigger.’ I find that people who get slapped with the label are usually acting in accordance with the ‘nigger’ stereotype rather than an actual, authentic, respectful version of blackness.