I wouldn't call it a cultural divide (despite what our media wants), I would call America more a collection of cultures and I love being exposed to multiple different cultures just outside my proverbial front door.
That said, this is a great idea and I wish this company the best. I'd love to see something similar for the Hispanic community, as well.
"Netflix for black people" implies that the color of someone's skin determines so much about their personality that they need their own separate streaming service to watch shows on. I don't see how this is any improvement over the existing streaming services that already include a ton of indie content from a lot of different cultures.
I can certainly see where saying "for black people" doesn't sit well with a lot of people. However, that's exactly who we're targeting with the content. That doesn't mean it has to be exclusive. Most of the lyrics in rap songs are generally by black people and intended for black audiences, but it doesn't mean other people don't love it, can't appreciate it, or shouldn't listen. It just means the artist wanted to reach a certain demographic, a demo that was also likely wanting to hear an artist that spoke to how they see and live in the world.
> Most of the lyrics in rap songs are generally by black people and intended for black audiences, but it doesn't mean other people don't love it, can't appreciate it, or shouldn't listen.
We tried "rap music for white people" and we decided we preferred the rap music for black people :D
They explictly say that they're trying to break out of homogenous black programming. Obviously being black doesn't correlate to a consistent personality, but it does in many ways lead to a shared experience that someone who is not black has not had.
That said, this is a great idea and I wish this company the best. I'd love to see something similar for the Hispanic community, as well.