First impressions: I’m a tall Indian girl, who can seem reserved and awkward at first. However, if you see me at a party where they’re blasting some ghetto rap music, you will probably see me cat-daddying it up. My love of rap and hip-hop music has resulted in a direct correlation to my recent attraction to African American men. Yes, people, I have been hit by jungle fever.
I don’t know what it is, but for some reason I’m rarely attracted to men of my own race, much to mother’s appall. My friend Nicole thinks I am attracted to black men because they are much cooler versions of Indian men, which may or may not be true.
I guess I kind of brought this crazy obsession upon myself. This past summer, while flipping channels, I found a VH1 Behind the Music documentary on Lil Wayne. This resulted in me buying a shirt with Weezy’s face on it and attempting to call the local radio station to win concert tickets.
While watching the documentary, I became even more hooked on Drake (yes, wheelchair Jimmy from “Degrassi”). Not only did I download the leak of his album Take Care (in stores today!), I also pre-ordered it on Amazon just to support him. I’ve got posters of him and he is my current phone background. I’m not crazy, just a tad obsessed. This past weekend I won tickets to see him live in December, so my life is pretty much made.
While doing more channel surfing over the summer, I ultimately landed on BET’s “106 & Park”, where they play the top 10 hip-hop/rap music videos. The show soon became a daily ritual that I would make time in my lackluster schedule for. Something about being able to identify the obscure rappers that showed up randomly in the music videos made me feel like a music connoisseur.
To add more excitement to this ritual, my brother and I would have Rick Ross grunting competitions while watching the music video for DJ Khaled’s “I’m on One.” Pretty soon, it became second-nature to spit Busta Rhyme’s rap in “Look at Me Now” and memorize the songs on ‘Ye and Jay’s “Watch the Throne.”
By the end of summer, I was not only darker in skin tone, but also had a greater understanding of African American culture, or at least rap music. There was only one thing left to do: start scouting out those men.
Many of my closest friends began to knowingly point out black guys to me. They were now aware that my type had shifted from tall brunette men to tall African American men and helped me scout out these hotties.
Most people are taken aback when they hear about my obsession with rap music. I recently came out to my fraternity about my attraction to black men and hip hop. Here was this quiet Indian girl who seemed like nothing more than a hard-working student and now she’s in the living room teaching people how to dougie and yelling about how much she loves Drake.
I’m not one of those girls that will exclusively date black guys, though, I’m still open minded to men of all types. I did get an application to join the Black Student Union, but I’ve been a little too intimidated to turn it in because I lack the confidence to go in there and check it out.
My jungle fever, although recent, has become a huge part of all aspects of my life, as strange as that may sound. I’ve gone from listening to alternative bands like Linkin Park and Incubus to rap music from the likes of E-40 to Childish Gambino.
This music has also gotten me more into dancing because who doesn’t want to take a hip-hop class where you learn to dance to your favorite songs? Not only do I enjoy dancing and listening to rap and hip hop, but I feel like I have become more open-minded through the experience. So next time you’re at a party, don’t be surprised if you see me trying to jerk and cat daddy at the same time to impress that hot Drake look-alike in the corner. Don’t hate, I’m just being me.
MEDHA SRIDHAR loves her dark chocolate. If you want to accompany her to a BSU meeting, contact her at mdsridhar@ucdavis.edu.
Look, clearly some etiquette of journalism was broken in this article and it is a sad thing to see. The approach, undeniably, was one with attempted respect for a culture unfamiliar to the author. The delivery is another matter, and is, yes, offensive.
That being said, the words and ideas that are put forth by the author are not nearly as corrosive as some of these comments are. Attacking the personal integrity of the author with vulgarity, calling her derogatory names, and publicly threatening her are not solving the issue at hand. Until the commentary is constructive rather than destructive, this internet hate is just as bad, if not worse, than the stereotypes the author falls victim to.
You nailed it.
I typed up a long reply to many of the comments made, since I’m not “in” on this African American community, but the comments so far seem so narrow-minded that Medha is “racist” and essentially a terrible person that it doesn’t seem like any argument would do any good.
Some of these comments are just disgusting, and really hurt your arguments out there.
My personal belief: Chill out. I’m not in the African American community, yes. I read it with an open mind, I had to re-read it to understand the argument that it was blatantly racist. To make the arguments that many do, I had to make assumptions that she meant for it to be racist and to not logically think the argument out.
But look at the subject lines on some of the ListServ e-mails: ALERT: OFFENSE COMMITTED AGAINST US (or something similar like that, written in all caps). That’s not instigating or putting some bias before someone reads the article at all…
Sieghart,
You’re completely right. I feel like people are focusing on the anger, but not so much on the resolution. The problem is diversity awareness and the use of certain language or stereotypes to describe certain people; this is where the author failed. Some people are calling this racist, but I honestly do not think that it is. She was most likely raised in a community where saying these things wasn’t out of the ordinary and was never educated about the importance of thinking about these ideas from the perspective of other cultures (an honest assumption).
I will say it once more, this article is IGNORANT, not racist. I do not believe that the author hates African-Americans or wants to degrade them, but I also don’t believe that she understands how she is objectifying, degrading or being racist against this group
I’ll def. agree with you there.
She made a mistake, and she’s paying a severe price for it… The article’s wording was a wrong choice, but to call her a racist, or saying she just wants some “black dick” isn’t the way to go about it. Yes, you can make the argument that this article is racist, but I don’t think you’re going to have too much of a logical evidence to back that up. It’s easier to see how she wrote to article to be more light-hearted, and to describe something that actually happened.
I think she understands now that it wasn’t the best of ideas, or if not in the morning… But it’d be nice to see some of the more immature comments to stop. As well as the hate going around. =\. It seemed as if the Emergency meeting of the BSU and ACE (? I believe) was going to start another round of protests here =\.
Yes, a lot of the comments are getting extremely personal, and one needs to take a step back and also see this from her perspective.. She may not be aware that anything she said was wrong, she may talk like this to her friends or family and they may not say anything about it, and she’s not alone.
The issue lies there.
I’m glad to see some positive commentary. I think that based on the general response through these comments, the author will certainly realize there was an issue in her choice of topic. I think it’s fair to say that a mistake was made and will not happen again. More hate at this point is senseless, and I only hope everyone realizes that.
Ok, Medha. In all seriousness, if you need someone to go with you to a BSU meeting I’d go with you. I don’t want this “I love black guys” article to be the reason you never get to really experience black culture. I’d hate for you to have to walk away from this thinking black people are mean and all black people act like the ones in the music videos. You clearly need to be educated on the matter and the fact that you made the effort to get a BSU application means you’re at least trying. Just know that it isn’t a rap & hip hop dance party, its an actual organization.
In the case you are just looking for some ghetto/hood black guys like the ones in the music videos you love, you don’t need to go to a BSU meeting for that. Those type guys don’t frequent college campuses. Just drive down to some ghetto neighborhood in sac and pick one up.
Thank you so much for posting this. You are so right… It was easy for me to fly off the handle and want to show her how wrong she is, but the only true way to change this is through education. Educating her on black culture is the only way to make her see why her article was so offensive.
PUBLIC EDUCATION IS UNDER ATTACK, WE ARE AT WAR ON MULTIPLE FRONTS, THERE ARE PLATFORMS OF CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE BEING CONSTRUCTED EVERY SECOND, PEOPLE ARE SUFFERING AND STARVING IN THE WORLD, GLOBAL WARMING IS WORSENING WITH EVERY DAY, ON TOP OF THE CURRENTLY TURMOIL THAT OUR COUNTRY IS IN… AND YET ….THIS IS WHAT YOUR COLUMNIST CHOOSES TO PUBLISH AS NEWS?….HER SEXUAL PREFERENCE, PEPPERED WITH OFFENSIVE TERMS WHICH SHE OBVIOUSLY DOES NOT KNOW THE HISTORY OF. THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN SOMEONE GIVEN THE POSITION OF ‘COLUMNIST’ THINKS THAT BECAUSE SHE HOLDS SAID POSITION, EVERYONE SHOULD CARE ABOUT HER OWN VACUOUS THOUGHTS AND CULTURALLY OFFENSIVE PREDILECTIONS. SHE HAS ABUSED AN OUTLET DESIGNATED FOR NEWS WHICH WEAKENS THE STRENGTH OF THE CA AGGIE AS A WHOLE. THE SCARIER QUESTION, HOWEVER, IS WHY WAS THIS ALLOWED TO TAKE UP SPACE WHERE AN OTHERWISE INFORMATIVE PIECE COULD HAVE BEEN.
IT IS AN OPINION ARTICLE, CURRENT NEWS IS AUTHORED IN OTHER SECTION OF THE AGGIE.
Are you serious? Whether or not you yourself do, others often have opinions regarding current events. As for the argument that this is an ‘opinion article’- I’ve read it multiple times, and the only opinion I’ve been able to find is that her friend Nicole thinks Black men “are much cooler versions of Indian men”.
This article was a waste of paper, ink, space and time. There were no valuable opinions or thought provoking points. It only served as a unveiling of the facile author’s ignorance. Who is her audience? I don’t know this girl or give a crap that she watched some rap videos and now is into black men. Its like she took this article from her diary. Even if it was not offensive at all it was completely pointless and the readers of the Aggie deserve better journalism than this garbage.
Guys chill out, stop trying to start a war over this article. It’s a funny piece, stop trying to analyze it and stop taking it literally.
When someone attacks your culture and generalizes it through its music, you can tell us to chill out but until then, we have the right to voice our offense.
AND ITS NOT FUNNY! ITS OFFENSIVE! If you think its funny then you need to reevaluate yourself.
I think that the Asian culture also receives a lot of stereotypical remarks dealing with their culture so it’s not fair to say they have yet to experience it. Also, if you are so offended why don’t you get on the aggie and write about how stereotypes affect you?
You make an excellent point… however, I would not tell someone who has experienced blatant disrespect to their culture that it is funny, as this gentleman chose to. Furthermore, if someone did say something offensive about asian culture and asians were offended by it, I would not tell them to “chill out” and then state that it is funny- which is why I asked him to take a look at it from my perspective, as someone who has been offended by an attack made on my own culture.
Dear Ms. Sridhar,
I share your parents’ opinion of being appalled, not because of your attraction to African American men but because of the narrow-minded, fantasy-driven objectification that stimulates and propels your interest. While you may think your words complimentary to Black males, they are actually incendiary and driven by stereotypes and the false glory of drivel depicted in those rap videos of which you are so fond. It is as if MTV and BET provided you a safe mechanism by which to “come out” of a sheltered closet and latch onto a brazenness that you erroneously interpret as freedom. Suddenly the Black male has gained visibility and you crave his attention and intimacy. Why? To reenact video thrills? Or to satiate some latent or manufactured desire only a Black man can supposedly fulfill? Now that you “love your chocolate” (if that’s not objectification, I don’t know what is!) you wish to enlist the company of other such secretly salacious ones to overtake and overwhelm the Black male population for your own selfish pleasure. You even wish to intrude upon the BSU and enter spaces designed for the cohesion of a race not your own. (I would feign curiosity, but I assume BSU represents a perfect chance to meet Black men to you). Your disrespect is painfully blatant. You were, however, very wise in omitting any overt references to Black male sexuality. Unfortunately, the very title of your opinion piece lends itself to sexual notions. Did you not view the film by the same name? If not, the premise was based upon illicit and adulterous sexual relations between a Black man and a non-Black woman. But, studious young woman that you are I’m sure you knew this, which is precisely why you chose the title you did. I pray you also choose to educate yourself on the painful sexual past of African American men and women since our arrival in this country. Perhaps when not salivating over the “Big Black Bucks” and bad boys exalted by the genres of hip hop and rap you would be well-advised to enroll in a course that would elucidate the “real” lives and history of this people whose men you claim to love. As the mother of an African American male you represent the young woman I object to my son bringing home. I need my Black son to be loved for who and what HE is, not what media depictions typecast him to be. I wish to shelter him from women, non-Black or not, whose attraction to him is based on the perceived thrills he can or SHOULD offer…just because he’s Black and a man. Be careful that your new-found thirst is not thinly-disguised rebellion against your parents and your culture. Be careful not to denounce the beauty of all Indian men in your quest to attain something new. That, too, is prejudice. And as a woman of color you may wish to steer clear of recycling and perpetuating racism-with-a-twist. We don’t all find your “chocolate love” sweet, desirable, or liberating for anyone…not even you.
I could not say it any better myself.
AMEN TO THAT!
THIS! agreed…couldn’t have said it better.
Hello all, Jason Alpert Editor in Chief of The Aggie. I would like to point all of your attention to The Aggie’s online comment policy as seen here (http://theaggie.org/commentpolicy/). The Aggie will begin to moderate the conversation to abide by this policy. Please email me at editor@theaggie.org if you wish to discuss this column or the comment policy. Thanks.
Jason,
Is something going to be done here? Some of the comments here were a little harsh, and I tried to keep my personal comments on a professional level, but what’s the next step? I believe we all wish to know.
We will be relatively liberal unless we determine a comment is in direct violation of the policy and does not pertain to the article above in any respect.
Well this article is very upsetting and I , as a black female, am totally offended by this. How dare you publish something so insensitive and full of generalities, which is only trying to get one of your columnists laid. This girl needs to apologize and so does your newspaper. Perhaps I was out of line by saying I would beat her ass, but she needs to understand that “chocolate” people are not going to let her stand by and degrade our culture.
No no no Jason, you misinterpret me. I think people have the right to speak out against this article within these boundaries. When I asked if something was going to be done, I was referring to the content of this article or the author or the idea itself?
On second thought. No I wont. Im sure you have enough people wanting to do that already. I hope you see the error in your ways and write a retraction! BECAUSE YOUR IGNORANT.
I completely agree that this article shouldn’t have been published for various reasons and that The California Aggie should be ashamed of itself. BUT I also think that it needs to be pointed out that you are promoting ignorance yourself, by not using correct English. It should be “you’re ignorant” as in YOU ARE ignorant NOT “your”. Please learn the difference!
Wow. you seriously want to go there. I know the difference, however this is an informal forum. IT IS ALSO NOT PROPER TO AGGRANDIZE PARTICULAR WORDS OUT OF SENTENCES BUT I SEE YOU CHOOSE TO DO THAT ALSO, WHICH IS NOT PROPER ENGLISH. I am upset because my cultural heritage has been offended, and I will write about it any way I want. Don’t tell me to learn anything. What you need to learn is respect for other people’s method of expression.
Yes, actually I will go there. I completely respect your self-expression but we are university students and forum or not, being able to differentiate between your/you’re and their/they’re/there is a good way to show that you are not ignorant while you are calling someone else ignorant. It’s basic grammar. Have you ever heard of the saying, “the pot calling the kettle black”?
Also, enlarging letters emphasizes particular words, you obviously understand that 🙂
I know the difference yet I choose to write any way I want to.. especially about a hot button issue such as this. Being a grammar nazi is not something to be so boldly proud of, honey. It’s actually quite annoying and I’m sure that you have made a mistake or two when writing something, so yes… it is disrespectful to call someone ignorant for a simply mis-typing, and then snidely tell them to “please know the difference”. As you stated, we are university students so I obviously know the difference or I wouldn’t be here.
for one, jungle fever is an offensive term,
two, a culture cannot be generalized by one genre of music which is actually comprised of many races and cultures. African american cultural music IS NOT RAP!
For one…Jungle Fever is a movie produced in 1991 as well as an album produced by Stevie Wonder, if you think this terminology is offensive then people of all races shouldn’t use. And two she wasn’t generalizing an entire culture by music, she was generalizing her interest in music to rap, and while we are on the top of rap, the word itself stemmed from apart of “American American culture in the 1960’s” meaning to “converse”…if you ask me that statement alone shows it very much represents African American cultural music. Three this is an OPINION column, you are aware of opinion you’ve expressed yours enough, but that does mean she is aloud to express her opinion, which should she should be able to do without harassment. Your choice of wording in the statement, “this bitch is straight up stupid, ignorant, and in need of a swift kick in the ass” only proves YOUR ignorance!
No, she was not generalizing a culture by music, but she was doing so through stereotypes.
The word jungle fever isn’t offensive? So the idea of the term jungle fever, or affinity of things that resemble wild or violent things, doesn’t offend you when referring to African-Americans, or any group for that matter. This is NOT about African-Americans, although they are the specific group here. This is for the bigger picture.
Rap can represent any culture, that’s why it is so universal, and that’s why most of the people that listen to rap are actually.. White. Yes, it’s true.
And she is not “aloud” to express her opinion, but she is very much “allowed” to do so, yes, but not in a way that objectifies, degrades, or is ignorant of a particular group’s culture. This is an attempt at admiration, yes, but it is a poor shot at it.
I understand now that Jungle Fever is an offensive term and I apologize for my ignorance regarding it in the previous comment. I agree with your stance on rap music representing a large variation of cultures, races, and backgrounds; I was merely trying to say that African-American cultures is ONE OF the cultures that is represented by it, and I’d like to add I am completely aware that African-American culture and specifically music can not be generalized to rap, nor can rap be generalized to only associate with African-American culture. Lastly I would just like to say I have read and read this article and I see the insensitivity, generalizing, and poor choice of wording but I strongly belief that it stems from Medha’s naiveness and poor understanding of the culture, not from a place of hate or racism.
ignorance upon ignorance upon ignorance…
I will let the previous comments about the offensiveness of this article speak for themselves. I agree with them.
However, this is a horrible article in terms of an opinion piece. This is not an opinion, but the ignorant rant of a Jersey Show cast member.
What communication and writing skills does the Aggie require?
As I read the piece, I was hoping for some insightful twist about her ignorance. But, by the end I was just hoping this was an article copied from the Onion.
I’m concerned. And not for the reason you think. She’s not racist. BUT…this writing is atrocious! I’m sorry but this is no literary gem. I know opinion columns are written a little informally, but geez. That’s not even the worst of it. The worst part is that 978 (as of 10:25pm) have ‘liked’ this article. So either UCDavis has 978 ignorant students or 978 mentally incompetent students who think this is good writing. The latter scares me the most.
Also, I agree with Inbanh. Please do not use the Aggie to “scout some dick” lol I’m pretty sure that’s what fraternity parties are for.
Don’t worry, that’s the number of people who shared it on facebook not “liked” it! The number surprised me too so I double-checked it.