Young, Black, and Confused: What Does It Mean To Act White? Part 2

Go into any inner-city neighborhood, and folks will tell you that government alone can’t teach kids to learn.They know that parents have to parent, that children can’t achieve unless we raise their expectations and turn off the television sets and eradicate the slander that says a black youth with a book is acting white.”—Barack Obama, Keynote Address, Democratic National Convention, 2004

"Acting white" has always been a negative accusation within the African American community. It means that you're out of place and out of touch with heritage. Such an allegation communicates that you've rejected your inherited culture and traded it in for that of the culture of the "former oppressors". It means that you believe that white culture is better than black culture.

It means that you're a sell out.

Though scholars do not agree on a standard definition, they are certain that this social occurrence has a negative impact on black youths. Harvard scholar Roland Fryer describes the phrase as "a set of social interactions in which minority adolescents who get good grades in school enjoy less social popularity than white students who do well academically." In other words, black youths don't think being smart is as cool as their white classmates. Many researchers believe this to be one of the reasons why black youths don't achieve as well as their white and Asian counterparts. This issue particularly plagues young black males. Not only are they under represented in college, but they are more likely to be labeled disabled; more likely to drop out high school; and more likely to attend under funded schools.

We all know that adolescence is a critical age in terms of discovering and establishing one's identity. Many young black males are finding themselves having to choose between retaining what they believe to be a critical aspect of their identity or developing their intellect and becoming productive members of society.Their choice will determine how they spend the rest of their lives.

In my last post I spoke about how I had been deemed the "white-black" guy. It's something I've hear both within and outside of the black community (I've even heard it from some of my family members). When we make such comments with a moderate degree of certainty not only are we reserving what we perceive to be intellectual or academic but we also assign what we perceive to be base or vulgar to another. We create a completely arbitrary measure of how authentic we are to our respective groups instead of celebrating each others unique qualities. We carve out these neat little sections for each group within society and we accept whatever roles these sections prescribe, not realizing that these sections keep us from understanding one another. Where there is no understanding there can be no trust and how can we build strong communities without trust.

But my black coworkers filled me with some hope. They didn't have any roles or expectations that I needed to meet in order to satisfy some standard of "blackness". But apparently some of my other coworkers did, to whom I gladly disappointed. 

Young, Black, and Dreaded: A Brief History of Dreadlocks In The U.S.

One would assume that matted and twisted hair has no place in an age where the cosmetology industry makes billions marketing a multitude of shampoos, conditioners, and treatments dedicated to detangling and straightening hair. Yet many prominent men and women alike including musicians and athletes sport matted coils of hair. In some cultures, the hairstyle is considered divine, adopted only by the most pious of holy men.

The hairstyle we have come to know as dreadlocks is pretty standard within the African American community, but the hairstyle has been observed across times and cultures dating back to ancient Egypt. Many archaeological explorations have uncovered sculptures of Egyptian men and women wearing locks and wig locks. Some unearthed Egyptian tombs have revealed mummified remains locked hair. Dreads bear spiritual significance in many different religious traditions. Holy men such as shamans, men or woman who commune with spirits or deities, have been known to wear dreads. Sadhu and Sadhvis, Hindu holy men and women, wear dreads as a sign of their abstinence from vanity.

But the introduction of dreadlocks into Western culture comes by way of the Reggae and Rastafarians. The Rastafarians or "Rastas" are a religious group founded primarily in Jamaica who worship the late Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie as God incarnate or the Second coming of Jesus Christ. It is said that they integrated the hairstyle into their lifestyle when photos of the Mau Mau insurgents who wore "dreaded (feared) locks of hair" surfaced in Jamaican newspapers, but some have traced the hairstyle even earlier within Rastafari culture. Rastas cite Biblical references for not cutting their hair such as Leviticus 21:5:"They shall not make baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any cuttings in the flesh." In  fact, Rastas believe the comb, razor, and scissor to be instruments of oppressions by "Babylon", the world system in opposition to God. To the Rastas, dreads symbolize wisdom, patience, and their spiritual journey. Rastas identify so heavily with dreadlocks that a "dread" or "natty dread" commonly refer to Rastas.

The Rasta movement gained significance not only as a religious movement, but as a Afro-centric rebellion against western values and structures. The movement emerged when a white elite dominated every aspect of Jamaican society which mean that upward social mobility could only be attained through identifying with the elite. Many Jamaicans, most of which were former African slaves, abandoned their African heritage in hopes of making a better life for themselves. This meant low cut hair, shaved faces, suits and other western style attire were the only way to receive any recognition from the ruling class. The Rastafarians not only rejected this structure but also empowered their fellow blacks turn back to their African heritage. Dreadlocks are an outward expression of this rebellion.

Though dreadlocks have been stripped of there spiritual significance in mainstream western culture, they remain a powerful visual of this legacy rebellion and a spiritual journey.

Though dreadlocks

Young, Black, and Conflicted: The Curious Case Robert Peace (Part 2)

So what do we take away from the story of Robert Peace? Was he just another statistic? Is his a story of unfulfilled potential? Is he a hero? Is he villain?

Peace undoubtedly straddled two completely different worlds. On one side existed a world full of privilege and passage to upward social mobility that a minute percentage of the population has access to (the world of Yale), on the other side existed a world in which violence and darkness claims it's inhabitants, sentencing many of them to early graves(the world of the streets). The fact that the duality of these two worlds existed harmoniously within Peace captivates all that follow his story, but that captivation gives way to sadness when one considers how his intellect and charisma could have impacted the world in a positive way.

His story is complicated, one that can't be summed with racial stereotypes or the struggles of poverty. His intelligence and grit led him to one of the most elite universities in the world while at the same time allowing him to form a very lucrative criminal enterprise. He lived his life on both ends of the spectrum and yet found a way not to be summed up by either side. His struggle was one that many young black men can relate to who grow up in poverty and in a single parent home and he struggled in a deeper as he tried to reconcile all of both of these worlds within himself. Anand Giridharadas of the New York Times made this very poignant statement about the message that Peace's life sends:

"It will force liberals to reconsider their aversion to talking about culture, habits, values and family breakdown as contributors to poverty. Poverty may be “structural,” as liberals like to say, but the structures worked for Peace, and still there was a brokenness to his spirit, “crippling emotional trauma” from the absence of his imprisoned father, and a rage of generations — a rage that cannot be explained by the physics of one life alone...

 Conservatives will love that a religious school and a rich banker were Peace’s principal rescuers, but Hobbs’s reporting shows us that Peace was the beneficiary of happy accidents, and that free markets and charity will never, on their own, solve a problem this dense, complex and knotted."

When asked why he wanted to figure out what Robert Peace's life, Jeff Hobbes responded:

"That's an important question. I was brushing my teeth next to my wife when I learned he had died violently and pointlessly a mile from where he'd grown up. And the funeral — 400 people — [was] very painful, also beautiful — people from all over the world in downtown Newark. But, outside that church, it seemed like a lot of people were almost eagerly condemning him as this cliche of potential squandered. 

We were there; it was sort of a reunion aspect to it with mutual friends. We just knew Rob Peace was not a cliche. We write about what conflicts us, whatever medium. And nothing's ever conflicted me more than this loss."

Sources:
- http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/21/books/review/the-short-and-tragic-life-of-robert-peace-by-jeff-hobbs.html?_r=0
-http://www.npr.org/2014/09/23/350577398/remembering-the-short-and-tragic-life-of-robert-peace
-The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace by Jeff Hobbs
-http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/book-review-the-short-and-tragic-life-of-robert-peace-by-jeff-hobbs/2014/09/26/5c7a5436-2700-11e4-8593-da634b334390_story.html

Young, Black, and Conflicted: The Curious Case Robert Peace (Part 1)

It's not significant news to hear of yet another black male being gunned down in a drug related shooting. After all, stuff like this happens everyday. But what if you heard that the victim of such a crime was brilliant young man with an Ivy League education?

Such is the story of Robert Peace. Robert was born to a single mother in the ghettos of Newark, New Jersey. His father dealt drugs and was incarcerated after being convicted of murder when Robert was three. Determined not to see her son allured by the trappings of street life, Jackie Peace worked tirelessly to see to it that her son grew up to be a better than his father was. She worked long hours in cafeterias and kitchens while making time to take her son to the library. Even at an early age, Robert's brilliance emerged earning him the nick-name "the Professor" at the local library.

Aware of the troubled public school system in the area, Jackie scrounged up every bit of finances she could to send her son to a Jesuit high school. Robert excelled academically and in sports as a water polo star, which awed all of his classmates. The charisma and leadership abilities Robert displayed easily made him a magnetic personality, this kid was going places and everyone knew it.
After delivering the keynote address at his high school graduation, he was approached by a wealthy banker with the promise of financial support to whatever school Robert desired.

And so Yale was the destination. All those years of sacrifice, determination, and perseverance on both Robert's and his mother's part had finally paid off. Robert's intellect and charisma shone no less brighter among the Ivy League elite. Jeff Hobbs, author of The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace which chronicles Peace's life, remembered how he looked to Peace to help him navigate through college life.

But Robert sold marijuana. A lot of it. He was the biggest dealer at Yale all the while making straight A's in his classes. It's believed that he made $100,000 by the time he received his degree in biochemistry and molecular biophysics. Upon graduating, Robert traveled to Brazil, leaving most of the money with a family member. When he returned, he found that most of the money had been spent on insignificant items. He returned to the neighborhood he grew in, taking odd jobs. Soon, time began to pass without living up to the promise that so many thought he'd live up to. He returned to dealing to raise money for graduate school, a decision that would cost him his life. He was thirty when he was murdered.

Young, Black, And Oppressed: How Patriarchy Hurts Young Black Men

The previous post observed how young black men and the rest of society could benefit from the experiences and struggles that composes the black feminist movement. Along with that discussion arises the opportunity to talk about how one of the central struggles of feminism affects young black men and society as a whole.

Bell Hooks (referenced in my last blog post) offered a thorough and precise definition of patriarchy: "Patriarchy is a political-social system that insists that males are inherently dominating, superior to everything and everyone deemed weak, especially females, and endowed with the right to dominate and rule over the weak and to maintain that dominance through various forms of psychological terrorism and violence."

Misunderstanding abounds concerning the concept of patriarchy. The social plague doesn't usually appear within the mainstream discourse. Think about it. When was the last time our(U.S.) society had a public discussion on the problems that a male dominated society imposes? As a result, the burden of raising awareness regarding these issues falls almost exclusively on those that identify with feminism. The tension this lack of dialogue creates is reflected in the passion that feminist display.Most people (particularly men) interpret this passion as whining or "bitchy-ness", when in actuality feminist raise questions and pose solutions that could make all of society better.

But what does patriarchy look like with young black men? First we must understand how patriarchy effects men in general. With the idea of male dominance arises the figure of the "ideal man". The " ideal man" is tough and emotionless, never betraying any thoughts or feelings that would jeopardize his "manhood". This idea of manhood needs to be reaffirmed on a constant basis including through risky behavior and violence.

The negative impact of this perspective emerges in many ways including the way in which philosopher Martha Nussbaum observes:

"Perhaps males, in our society, are especially likely to be ashamed of being incomplete and dependent, because a dominant image of masculinity tells them that they should be self-sufficient and dominant... When they are frightened, they don’t know how to say it, or even to become fully aware of it. Often they turn their own fear into aggression. "

The population that this blog investigates grapples with longstanding issues, at the forefront of which is violence and lack of education. Both of these issues are symptomatic of a patriarchal mentality. Black youths turn to violence because they never learn to articulate emotions and to not be perceived as a "sissy". They shun education because it means depending on the system, and remember, dependence is weakness. (Why go to school when I can just hustle on the streets?)

Images and music in pop culture echo these sentiments but that's a blog post for another day. Whether we acknowledge it or not, patriarchy has devastating effects on society, and young black males suffer from its clutches.

Still working on conclusions guys.

Sources and further reading:

-Take My Advice: Letters to the Next Generation from People Who Know a Thing or Two (Includes essay from Martha Nussbaum)

-Essential Concepts: How Patriarchy and Rape Culture Hurt Hurt Men: http://www.safercampus.org/blog/2011/03/essential-concepts-how-patriarchy-and-rape-culture-hurt-men/

-Patriarchy Hurts Men Too...No Really:http://zora-alice.com/2010/07/patriarchy-damages-men-too…-no-really/

-"Understanding Patriarchy " by Bell Hooks

Young Black and Feminist: What Young Black Men Can Learn

Patricia Collins defined black feminism as "women who theorize the experiences and ideas shared by ordinary black women that provide a unique angle of vision on self, community, and society".The black feminist movement began as the offspring of the Black Liberation Movement and the Women's Movement of the 1960s. During this time black women collectively began to find their voice and identify their distinct struggle within society. Not only did they find themselves in opposition with the oppressive patriarchal white establishment, but they battled against the patriarchy that endured within the ranks of the Civil Rights movement. Civil Rights leader Anne Moody remembers the biting sexism stating, "We were told in the same breath to be quiet both for the sake of being 'ladylike' and to make us less objectionable in the eyes of white people."

To top it off, they also struggled to legitimize their stance to white feminist who felt that focusing on race distorted the goal of feminism. But black feminist adamantly held their position, maintaining that because of the vastly different experience that black women faced on a day to day basis, they deserved their place as a valid feminist group. Bell Hooks, one of the foremost black feminist voices noted:

"In those days white women who were unwilling to face the reality of racism and racial difference accused us of being traitors by introducing race.... In reality, we were demanding that we look at the status of females realistically, and that realistic understanding serve as the foundation for a real feminist politic."

But what does that have to do with young black men or anyone for that matter?

One of the beauties of the black feminist movement lay in it's ability to challenge us all to build an authentic self. Through stifling sexism and racism, the goal of black feminism has always been to define ourselves beyond race and gender based social constraints to build a meaningful and multidimensional life for ourselves and to encourage future generations to do the same. The movement encourages women of color to use their experiences, no matter how painful, to empower themselves and find their voice.

Many young black men grow up in harsh environments and are bombarded with images (mostly negative) of who they're supposed to be through the media largely driven by racism and patriarchy. If left unchecked, those images could develop into dangerously narrow perspectives. If we all learn to challenge conventions set in place by racism and patriarchy, not only do young black men benefit, but all of society benefits.

Sources:
-http://www.mit.edu/~thistle/v9/9.01/6blackf.html
-"Feminism Is For Everybody" by Bell Hooks
-Coming of Age in Mississippi by Anne Moody
- "Defining Black Feminist Thought" Patricia Collins

Young, Black and Confused: What Does It Mean To Act White? Part 1

Over the past few weeks I've observed an intriguing phenomenon at work, but first a little context.  I enjoy a work place diverse in age, race, and experiences. My particular field attracts many people with former law enforcement and military backgrounds making my workplace male dominated by nature. I wouldn't say my department is testosterone driven to the point of spontaneous flexing bouts to see whose latissimus dorsi is more pronounced, but we have our fair of passionate conversations about sports, women, and other socially pre-designated "guy" stuff. We're all pretty laid back and comfortable with one another, with very little one-upmanship that tends to emerge in male dominated environments.   

 Oh, and penis jokes. The place is rife with'em. We specialize in the "Deez Nutz!" brand with each successful execution awarded with hoots and hollers.

Example:

       Worker 1: "These pieces need to be verified and put away."

       Worker 2: "Yeah, but what about these?"

       Worker 1: "These? These what?"

       Worker 2:  "DEEEZZZ NUUTTTZZZ!!!

       Worker 3: DDDAAAAAAMNNNN!!!!!

       Worker 4: WWOOAAAAAAAHHHH!!

       Worker 5: CALIENTE!! (My personal addition.)

You get the picture.

The banter from time to time becomes racial, drawing on the stereotypes of our respective races. For a while I was the only black employee in my department, so I became known as the "white-black" guy so to speak.

I don't use much Ebonics and am told that I am well-spoken.  I tuck in my work shirt and try to speak politely to my coworkers. I'm not that good at dancing and basketball. It's known that I don't listen to rap music much and I enjoy reading and philosophy. To be honest, I've always been this way, so the designation was hardly new or original for that matter. The joking wasn't everyday, and for the most part the jokes were fleeting and light hearted. But every once in while I'd hear something that would betray a hint of ignorance or even racism from certain individuals. But those situations were fewer and I generally dismissed them.

The phenomenon that caught my attention occurred with the addition of two more black males. I found myself wondering if they thought I acted "white" or betrayed some sort of self-hatred regarding my race. So one day I just asked them. To my surprise, they just saw some weird, goofy guy that would throw out  a "big" word from time to time. Not a white man in black skin. Not a black guy trying to be white. They saw me. It made me think.