Yeah, yeah, yeah
I don't know why people act surprised by things...hell reality tv is total crap either way it goes, even the shit I watch...American Idol and America's Next Top Model. We know damn well Yaya should have won, but anyways!!!!
Black Wharton grad doesn't survive `The Apprentice's' racial minefield
By: Bonnie Newman Davis, BlackAmericaWeb.com
December 10, 2004
Last night's episode of "The Apprentice" was similar to the finale of last season's show during which an intelligent, well-educated black male failed to convince Donald Trump that he was the best choice to run a Trump company.
Last season's loser was the immensely photogenic and suave Kwame Jackson, a Harvard business school graduate. Jackson wasn't selected because he failed to confront a black female "employee," the infamous Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth.
Last night's loser was boyishly cute Kevin Allen, a Wharton School of Business graduate who ditched law school for a chance to compete on Trump's popular reality show.
Like Jackson, Allen survived a series of cat fights [mostly among women contestants], backstabbing and racially coded language. One recent episode featured Allen perspiring profusely during a presentation. A female colleague later described his demeanor as "threatening." Last night he was deemed "too aggressive."
So many inherent obstacles for these black males beg the question: Does a brother ever stand a chance of winning a permanent seat at one of Trump's board room tables?
That's probably a question that only Trump himself can answer. But Eric Deggans, a St. Petersburg Times columnist and writer, isn't surprised by Allen's loss.
"Those same qualities that allowed Kevin to make it this far, a bland, unchallenging generic quality that doesn't offend or discomfort his white teammates, is the same quality that ensures he won't be picked as the winner," Deggans told BlackAmericaWeb.com in an interview hours before last night's show.
Deggans, in saying that Allen "wasn't distinctive enough to make an impression," echoes some of the business executives Trump trotted out to evaluate remaining contestants. The executives lauded Allen for his education but wondered where all his self-imposed grooming was headed. Allen, who owns a software firm with his brother, according to one Web site, wasn't able to [or allowed to depending
on how you view it] explain his career objectives.
Deggans added that the next week's show will answer the question of whether Trump seeks another winner "who is a faint echo of himself * arrogant, self-entitled white male. Remaining contestants are Kelly Perdew, a former military man, and Jennifer Massey, a leggy blonde lawyer who takes no prisoners.
Joseph Watson, president and owner of StrategicHire, an executive search firm in Reston, Va., is perhaps surprised by last night's outcome because he'd expected Allen to do well during the interview session with other corporate executives.
Allen's ability to communicate his broad range of skills and overcome the "soft bigotry of low expectations," should have been key selling techniques, said Watson, whose book, "Diversity Without the Excuses," will be released next spring.
Despite Allen's loss, Watson offers advice to him and others climbing the corporate ladder.
"Always remember that the goal of the client is to exclude you, not include you," he said. "That client is going to be talking to four other people and so the first thing they're looking to find is something to exclude people.
Candidates forget that and misunderstand a good conversation for progress."
While overall "Apprentice" ratings have been down from last season and the contestants not nearly as exciting [Who can top Omarosa?], Watson predicts the show filled with "crass commercialism and obvious sexism," will return.
"It's all about the money," he said, pointing out the numerous commercial and retail product placements on the show.
Which is perhaps why the show's theme song is the O'Jays' thumping "For the Love of Money." [Ever notice the show's version of the song skips the lyrics "Money is the root of all evil?"]
4 comments:
nahmix!!!! where you been?
i mean, i understand what newman davis is attampting to articulate, but i really think she just glosses over kevin's alleged lack of ability to figure out what the hell he wanted to do. seriously, dude had not fucking clue.
that whole "aggressive" bit was some racially coded bullshit, though.
Girl...I think on Mars!! A couple of people sent me this article. A friend was all upset and complaining. I personally don't get it. I don't watch The Apprentice. I only watched it at the end of last season to see what the Omarosa hype was all about, but I don't like The Donald and I'm certainly not surprised. I remember when the show concept first hit the airwaves, many were speculating how diverse the show would be because his own companies most certainly ARE NOT. I don't know why people get so hyped up behind bullshit that happens on "reality tv". I'm constantly checking myself when I get all into AI and ANTM.
You right.Reality Tv is bare crap for the most part.
I do think that the Donald just looks for a new mini-me each season, some great white hope to mold in his own bigotted image. I also think that the thing about black people having to be "generic" in business, so that they aren't deemed aggressive is true, and one of the biggest traps that blacks climbing the ladder end up falling into. I say do you, and if the funny-looking white man with the fucked-up hairpiece can't deal with that shit, fuck 'im, go on the lecture circuit, and make your own money your own way. That's what Omarosa did. She said a convention of Korean businessmen paid her $20,000 to come to a banquet and say "You're fired!" That's flipping some shit on the Donald's ass like it should be flipped.
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