I hear that many think all black people look alike -- I take that back -- we have all experienced this widespread social phenomenon. But is it possible that a major mainstream publication would promote the idea that all black businesses are in a similar way "related"? You would hope this type of analogous thinking would not be possible among even semi-literate members of the press. Yet, the much-respected New York Post found a way to link Desiree Rogers, who is now CEO of Johnson Publishing, with Bob Johnson, founder of BET -- all while trying to attack President Obama.

Talk about a triple threat of race-baiting news reporting. AOL Web site Daily Finance reports:

The item in Sunday's "Page Six" gossip column [, which appears to have been taken down from the New York Post Web site -- BV editor,] claimed that former White House social secretary Desiree Rogers is a hypocrite for taking a job as CEO of Johnson Publishing because "her new boss, Bob Johnson, who also founded Black Entertainment Television, was one of Obama's harshest critics." ...

The only problem with the Post's reasoning: Bob Johnson has nothing to do with Johnson Publishing, which is run by Linda Johnson Rice, daughter of deceased founder John H. Johnson, and which publishes Ebony and Jet magazines. A number of sharp-eyed Post readers pointed out the error in the comments section of the website. "Bob Johnson isn't the only black man to have owned a media company," wrote one.


Daily Finance writer Jeff Bercovici makes a very basic point in his article: There is more than one black media empire. By extension, not all black people or companies named "Johnson" are related. And with so few black media empires out there, you would think it would be difficult to confuse them. This is the sort of tactic you have to take when you meet someone telling you that you look just like a black person they know who of course, you look nothing like. I can sort of take giving this simplistic line of instruction to people I meet in my daily interactions. I expect more from a major news source.

But this kind of mistake in the world of business journalism points to a continuing social ill -- the fact that many people in America's majority culture have a tendency to group all black people together. This shows a lack of sensitivity to our diversity and our humanity, which has many negative repercussions for blacks. Issues ranging from disproportionate levels of police brutality in our communities to African Americans being paid less are just some of the effects of being casually considered as a monolithic group by the society we have been a part of for 400 years. When people in power have a tendency to see a group as "all the same," it is almost impossible to see members of that group as full and equal human beings.

It's funny that in 2010 on a day to day level, blacks are still often confused for one another, while on the macroeconomic level the same thing happens for black business entities. And we get people writing in daily asking: "Why is there a Black Voices?"

This story is a strong illustration of the reason why.