"...black folk saying that Im 'too intelligent' and white folk saying Im a little too niggerish/It's got me in a strange predicament/....b/c I aint shucking and cuz I aint jivin'/some of these crackaz wont stand beside me/and cuz I aint killin' and dont support pimpin'/some of these niggaz wanna call me a 'Cosby'/well...I'll play that role/ I'll scratch that itch/ I'll be that dude/Call me 'Heathcliff' bitch!" - Phonte of Little Brother
So a friend I and were talking and she mentioned that she felt a tad weird b/c as a black woman she doesnt necessarily identify with most things considered 'black'. And in speaking with her about this it got me to thinking. It occurred to me that if you, as a black person, dont adhere to the (supposed) 'aesthetic' closely you could be accused by your peers as 'acting white'...whatever that means. And if that aint the biggest crock of bullshit I done heard I dunno what is!
What the fuck is wrong with those of us that equate being black with being ignorant? The two are just not the same. And again....what the fuck is 'acting white'? So is reading for pleasure considered 'acting white'? What about opting not to liter? Am I 'acting white' when I use a more proper tone when doing business over the phone? Im sorry if I paid attention in English class and actually can use proper diction when Im talking to you. Sometimes I forget to dumb it down when we speak. My bad!
My mama taught me a long time ago that there is a way you speak when you are amongst your friends and family. And there is a different way you speak when you are in a more formal setting and/or dealing with white people. That was some of the best advice ever. It's called 'playing the game'. It just so happens that white people still run the world. As minorities we simply have to 'play the game'.
So please dont EVER question my blackness! The police sure as hell dont!
*What do yall think? Is there a such thing as 'acting white'? What constitutes someone 'acting white'? What's really the bigger picture here?*
Posts
Full Regalia
12 years ago
5 comments:
The bigger picture is that until we as a people teach our kids not to make fun of our children who excel in school and stop calling them white, this conversation is moot.
The other day I heard a dad at the park asking his, what seemed to be 4 or 5 year old daughter, why she was acting all bougie. WTF! It starts at home. He was training her to "keep it real." I can imagine how he is going to react if she comes home from school wanting to excel. I guess he will call her white a that point.
The problems lies with us and how we teach or kids. If we don't expect anything of them, why should they?
D
This is a very interesting comment you brought up brother. I've dealt with some of the same nonsense my entire life. Recently I had the oppurtunity to bring some family together that haven't seen each other in mad years. My brother moved out to Seattle from NYC a lil under 10 years ago and even before then he never really kicked it with some cousins we grew up with.
Through out his teenage years, he was busy attending boarding school and then going off to an IV league school. He's done his thing.
Me on the other hand, I've been a city cat. I've been out here way too long but am glad that I was exposed to many cultures and environments from a very young age. You build a sort of chameleon effect in dealing with family, the hood and with excelling.
To make a long story short, I had one of my cousins after the get together mention to me how funny my brother was how glad he was to have hung out with him.
Now me and my brother have not always had the best relationship but now I realize that's because we are so alike. My cousin goes on to say after all those cool things... "But he talks white."
I was so turned off by that, I didn't even know what to say to it. Instead of getting into how much nonsense just came out of his mouth, I simply chuckled and let it ride.
It still bothers me though and I wish I knew how this could be challenged.
Flip it: What does acting black mean if the person in question is white?
i have much to say about this, since i just finished watching the first part of "race: an illusion" but so that i don't write a blog on your blog, i'll just say that, it is apart of the bigger picture, that we as a culture equate ignorance and acting unintelligent and not speaking "properly" with being "more black"
its time that we teach ourselves and thus subsequently our children that being well rounded, educated, and speaking intelligently isn't anything other than BLACK! Let's raise our standards...
the truth is those with money have power, white or black and run it...so you have to be ON your game no matter what at all times to make it happen..."playing the game" as you would say...my daddy taught me the same (my momma too that me that i wasn't going to an HBCU because the world wasnt' black and i needed to know how to work in it...)
it starts at home with our own ability to learn to accept each other for who we are and just be us...
ok so i did write a blog entry but i could go on further
As a black man who has been called, "Gray", "Oreo", "Snowqueen", it is sad to me that for someone to be black you must talk and appear a certain way. I agree with TeeJ, one doesn't act a race. I may not use 'ebonics' or validate some 'street cred'. But when I walk in an elevator with a white woman, I am still black, when I driving my car in a nice 'hood, I am still black.
I also agree that it starts in the home and within the neighborhoods. But we also perpetuate it ourselves, when we hang out with out boys and use he slang to be down, when we dress thug, to be in. I will disagree with you on one thing TeeJ. There shouldnt be two you's, you don't need to play the game. Because be it black or white, regardless of your crowd you should be the same. And if you are too black for one, or too white for the other, get rid of both!!!!
Post a Comment