My thoughts on the topic of acting white
Disclaimer:
DISCLAIMER:
This post will discuss heavy topics that may invoke uncomfortable feelings. The topic of race and racism, extreme violence, and triggering words will be referenced . This is for educational purposes. FACT CHECK EVERYTHING. This post is not an attack on anyone nor is it promoting hate for any group. It is discussing the phenomenon of acting white.
I simply don’t understand how this subject or concept got conflated with education. I want to dispel this myth and how it is used as racist propaganda.
While in the marines I realized a key feature in the dehumanizing effect of racism was that in the mind of the racist, the person is animalistic. They could be physically stronger, faster, etc they could be clever but the racist people I was surrounded far thought they were inherently smarter. They couldn’t believe I had an aversion to sports and was into things that they thought the traditional black person wasnt.
I was told: “You’re the whitest black guy I know.”
I began to realize they had two reactions depending on the context:
1) since I didn’t fit the what they believed as the stereotypical black male I must have been on “their” side
2) they thought I was what they believed as the stereotypical bm, so when i did speak about the annals of history, when I proved them wrong, etc
They would attempt to whitewash me or what I later discovered, humanize me.
“You’re not like the rest of them”
I understood that the racist mindset not only dehumanizes a person but some go further and demonize the person. Before I opened my mouth, it was assumed I was lower intelligence.
Today I read reports
Margaret Beale Spencer and Vinay Harpalani (2008
Stuart Buck, a lawyer, also explored this issue in Acting White: The Ironic Legacy of Desegregation (2010)
But the main contender that pushed this hogwash was OGBU (taken from Wikipedia)
In 1986, Signithia Fordham co-authored with Nigerian sociologist John Ogbu a study that concluded that high-performing African-American students in a Washington, D.C. high school borrowed from hegemonic white culture as part of a strategy for achievement, while struggling to maintain a black identity. Ogbu made a related claim in his 2003 book, Black American Students in an Affluent Suburb: A Study of Academic Disengagement, concluding that black students’ own cultural attitudes sometimes hindered academic achievement and that these attitudes are too often neglected.
Another statement read on Wikipedia.
“A black student trying to achieve high educational success may then be considered as trying to leave the minority group.”
Black communities have experienced brain-drain over the years.
Here’s my take:
From my experience, we were treated like prisoners, metal detector, no roaming etc. the schools were poorly funded, etc. people who performed low in school were clowned and if you made high grades you were respected. A lot of kids who performed low has A LOT going on at home.
The smartest person I knew mom was addicted to crack and she dropped out in middle school to run the streets. She never acted less intelligent or carried herself as if she didn’t understand. She went into survival mode at ayoung. She could’ve been so much more. The socioeconomic factors placed in front of her made the probability of her being successful increased the moment her mother for whatever reason decided to smoke crack. She’s doing well for herself now though.
The point I’m making here that as a people or culture education isn’t valued highly, survival was the upmost importance but times have changed and while some still are in fucked up situations a good majority aren’t.
Acting white doesn’t have Jack shit to do with acting intelligent. That is pure racist propaganda while acting white and taking white references is real social phenomenon.
What people are recognizing is that this person isn’t socialized as black, or their cultural affiliation isn’t the culture that is associated with their background. It’s putting the American (white American) before the black. Often times and ESPECIALLY in the past this clued have detrimental consequences.
A person who acted white was shamed because they were attempting to “whitewash” themselves. They were ashamed to be black. They were told speaking AAVE meant they were less intelligent so they spoke white (standardized English)
They were shamed for their desire to assimilate and be white while being ashamed of black culture NOT because they wanted to better themselves pursue higher education or learn
We learn much more about the hostile environment that cause this situation rather than the action itself. What would happen if black people used AAVE in an environment that viewed speaking that way as improper English? Talking white is literally code-switching from AAVE to standardized English. Acting white is literally being assimilated into white society because they see it as superior Whereas being whitewashed is being assimilated and thinking you are white.
What boggles my mind is in our communities we are quick to call out appropriation and point at people who are “acting black” but when members of our community are washed and are acting white, the narrative have changed
You can be unapologetically black highly educated (educated and intelligence are two different things) and use AAVE etc it doesn’t affect your ability to solve a math equation
TLDR:
Pursuing education and wanting to better yourself has never = acting white
Acting white = the desire to assimilate into white culture/society (by mimicking white people) thinking it is superior.
Who’s old enough to remember the sayings that bill Clinton was the first black president?
Acting white has always been a problem in the black community fueled by internalized racism (colorism)
Here’s an more interesting take
Abagond
