Or you could say that everyone collectively decided that being a cash money millionaire was a better goal. I see a lot of get rich or die tryin in the news, so the guess seems more accurate.

The wounds were self inflicted.

Charles: I agree with you. Queen Latifah said it best.

Also: It sucks to be harassed on the street. Often people don't have time to talk and just wanna be left the fuck alone. I understand that women resent the assumption that their time isn't valuable, that their attention is fair game for anyone who wants to accost them.

However: many of the men were saying totally innocuous things such as "hey, have a nice day," or "how you doing today." Yeah, it's annoying! But even men who haven't been taught to check their privilege are human beings who long for connection and authenticity. I've found that, on the occasions that I take the time to respond, I often have mutually enriching interactions that let men (often men of color) know that I don't see them as a threatening "other," and that I am not an object on which to project their insecurities and confusion, but a full, complex human being.

Our culture is rife with entitlement. Yes, it is terribly, maddeningly unfair that women are subjected to unwanted attention on the street. But the world is brimming with injustice of all kinds. I see a lot of extremely privileged white women bemoaning the difficulty of their existence as a person with a vagina, without it ever occurring to them that directly engaging men on these issues might be a fruitful approach.

Ironic that the project is called "Hollaback!" - never do we see the protagonist of the video engaging her harassers, even to tell them to fuck off, a la Latifah.

(I'm a young white woman and a staunch feminist, fwiw.)

I stand with you Charles.


But I will have the U.N.I.T.Y part of that song stuck in my head all day. Maybe that's a good thing.

It's a shame you didn't have a look at what Hollaback itself says about the video. ihollaback.org released this:

New York City, NY (30th October, 2014) – When the street harassment video was launched earlier this week, we hoped that it would make an impact but never imagined that it would be viewed more than 15,000,000 times in the first three days. The response has been overwhelmingly positive. Many women feel a little less alone and a little more validated in their experiences and we have heard support from our partners, new and old.

Rob Bliss Creative donated time and labor to create this video and support our work. We are grateful for his work and the wide reach that this video has achieved but we feel the need to directly address other responses to the video.

First, we regret the unintended racial bias in the editing of the video that over represents men of color. Although we appreciate Rob’s support, we are committed to showing the complete picture. It is our hope and intention that this video will be the start of a series to demonstrate that the type of harassment we’re concerned about is directed toward women of all races and ethnicities and conducted by an equally diverse population of men.

Hollaback! understands that harassment is a broad problem perpetuated by a diversity of individuals regardless of race. There is no one profile for a harasser and harassment comes in many different forms. Check out our Harassment Is: Identities and Street Harassment guide on how individuals experience harassment differently. This video should have done a better job of representing this knowledge.

There are many more voices to add to this conversation and Hollaback! is committed to continuing to make space for those voices by providing platforms and amplification of people sharing their stories and finding ways to push back.

Second, there has been another problem which deserves further attention: the onslaught of rape and death threats that have been directed at the Shoshana B. Roberts, the subject of the video, are unacceptable but sadly unsurprising. When women are visible in online or offline spaces, they experience harassment. When women demand change, they meet violent demands for their silence.

We understand that violence exists on a spectrum that is played out on the street and online. We understand that it needs to change. We hope that you will work with us to end street harassment and to fight harassment wherever it is found.

Third, the coverage that this video has received shows how far we have come and how far we still have to go. Many outlets have used the video to have conversations about street harassment that would never have happened even five years ago. For many, street harassment is a real problem to be reported as such.

Other coverage, however, shows that sexism still shapes culture in a way that harms women. When journalists on major news networks reinforce, support, and normalize street harassment they minimize the violence and fear that women experience on the street.

We want to thank everyone for participating in this vital dialogue — and we encourage continued conversation and debate.

Sorry, Charles, but as a mixed girl who has lived in both "black" and "white" neighborhoods, I gotta say: the brown guys do it more often, more crudely and have usually responded more violently when I've told them to leave me alone. Sure, it's anectdotal, but I'm willing to bet imy experiences line up with many other women's.

As a white man who has lived in mixed neighborhoods, I don't notice a lot of street harassment (because I'm a man, so it's virtually never directed at me). But the public harassment I have witnessed, and what my female friends have told me about, has mostly come from black and latino men.

I'm not saying that white men don't harass women on the street, but they're just quieter about it I guess, or more likely to do it from a passing car than from a stoop or street corner.

Men of color play it up for the camera, so to speak. Shouting "dayum baby you got a nice ass for a white girl!" on the sidewalk is a lot more cinematic than posting crude rape threats on Twitter (which is how white boys do it), so it makes for a more compelling viral video.

Psh. This conversation was even around in 1981 with Ms 45, where the majority of the men were white. Highly recommended.

Good Afternoon Charles,
I viewed the video 2X yesterday. Indeed, more minority men are making catcalls at the woman in the video. Some were nasty and some were not so much.

It suggested something I already knew. It's a cultural phenom that predates hip-hop and is not necessarily related to Hollaback! I agree with @7 & @8.

About a year or so ago, I dated this woman who (I'll be delicate here) had a "nice figure". She happened to be white and a mother. She told me that she had recently visited the Passport Office and while exiting, two African-American fellows approached and solicited her. One remarked "Hey babe, you gotta nice frame, please tell me, what is your name?". It was clever but she felt uncomfortable.

I didn't even notice the skin color, and in all of the commentaries I've seen people have just been calling the harassers men and not mentioning if they are white or black. Seems like maybe most people didn't jump to the conclusion that it's anything more than men in general.

As a white woman walking in Belltown, Pioneer Square and the International District for work and home, easily 90% of street harassment I have experienced personally comes from black and Latino men. Not sure why the white men aren't as vocal but they aren't.

Charles, have you seen the show black-ish? One of the plot points in the second episode was that it was a part of grown up as a black man to learn to say "damn" when a women with a nice ass walks by. The final scene had the dad and granda dad praising the kid while he cat calls women. I'm honestly interest in your take on this.

First of all, saying "hi" is NOT harassment. Honestly liberals, why all the commotion about this video, but NOTHING being said about this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcAcBcqK…

So a woman dealing with people saying "hi" gets more press than a woman being told by jyhadists to cover up from head to toe? Liberals...

Second, none of the crazy feminists would ever admit to this: a man who goes to bars, clubs, etc and never in his entire life gets a single solitary second glance from the opposite sex feels just as dehumanized as a woman who gets cat called. Yes, saying sexually explicit things to women is awful (but "hi" is not sexually explicit) but being ignored one's entire life is also horrible.

Feminists will NEVER say this was tragic and instead would rejoice at another male committing suicide: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/tee…

For every Elliot Rogers who takes his feelings of loneliness and rejection out on others there are 30-50 Joe Burns who take it out on themselves, and feminists don't care because they just hate all males.



And no, I'm not rejected by women: I prefer cock.



Third...so what, Charles, are white people not suppose to but hip-hop? And hip-hop artists aren't suppose to rap about what they want but instead be a bunch of politically correct Uncle Toms?

Charles, in closing, you fucking suck as a human being and are nothing but a Bojangling house slave for your white liberal "massa."

I'll leave you with some of my favorite hip-hop artists performing an anti-socialist anthem about personal ambition and drive. And of course, personal ambition is something a socialist koolaid drinker like Charles hates to hear.

I bet you Sawant probably wants this song banned from Seattle, because it is as anti-socialist and pro-individual as they come:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmXumtgw…



But thanks Charles. I always get a kick out of humiliating you.

Charles, you are off-base here.
While a critique of the editing of the video may be appropriate, dismissing the entire project as BS because Queen Latifah called it back in 1993 effectively dismisses the legitimate concerns of women of ALL races. Can we not walk down the street without constant comments and harassment? Must we fear for our daughters and teach them they cannot move about freely as their brothers can? If a woman acknowledges unsolicited attention, you can bet she will be blamed for whatever follows. If she ignores it, she's a bitch. And if she confronts the harasser, he may do REAL violence to her.
Few women could pull off QL's strategy, although it makes for a nice fantasy.