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07.31.04 02:40 PM
questions about blackness arise...
in teaching the sociology of group behavior with a focus on racial and ethinic realtions, a lot of interesting topics come to the fore. a lot of heated debates are had - and a lot of contradictions about America and race end up on blast. today's racism is not yo' momma's racism, nor is race, yo' momma's views of race from the past. of course some old views still uphold. color, genetic code, culture - what exactly is it that makes blackness. consider this fact as you realize that, especially in america, no one is truly black or white, in biological terms that is.
the past couple of weeks of class have been interesting. a week ago, i lead my students in an emotional debate over John H. McWhorter's essay, How Hip-Hop Holds Blacks Back. Surprisingly there were really no opponents or proponents of his piece. There were more middle-of-the-road arguments presented. yet eyes became wide opened this past week when hashim shomari, Chief of Staff for New Jersey State Senator Sharpe James, author of From the Underground: Hip-Hop as an Agent of Social Change, and one of the organizers of the National Hip Hop Political Convention, stopped by. Shomari had the students believing that hip-hop was definitely building its political clout.
where these hip-hop arguments and discussions of race conjoin, is at the epicenter of course. the praxis for hip-hop critics who deem the music and culture as a detriment to black folx, such as McWhorter and Cosby, illuminates this fact all the more.
and as i'm steaming with questions about racial identity, questions about race and politics, and hip-hop and blackness, i come upon the Rhetoric and Race blog, which I haven't visited for quite some time. And there is this question posed there: "can a "Black" person who passes for "White" be "racist" or not???" and there are barely any comments there. you must read the entire post before you deal with this question though - an experience and revelation brought it forth. i'm just surprised it isn't on anyone's radar yet when it's been up there since july 25.
posted by lynne | link to this |
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Comments
Thanks for sharing the link that posed the question. I seconded your comment on the site about it being blackness being mental these days. This question is indeed thought provoking.
Take Care!
posted by Carla | August 4, 2004 1:39 AM #
umm, i think we've talked about this before. i definitely think hip hop, directly or indirectly, is undermining black culture as a whole. for one, hip hop music was not meant to shoulder the burden of all of black music, but is. it's the most dominant of all black music, while being the least musical. i have a problem with that. i also have a problem with the fact that so many black kids and adults are claiming hip hop as their culture. this is where me and krs-one cross paths. i am not hip hop, i am black. already, young people are putting way more focus on learning hip hop history, than BLACK history. so our blackness is taking a backseat to our hiphopness. which, as i see it, is a devastating blow, to a people whose cultural ties to africa have been severed, now our cultural connection to your traditions, history, and lifestyle is also being severed. except this time, it's not them that's cutting the ties, it's us, through hip hop. i could go on, but i won't. i'm sure others will chime in. maybe i'll post about this later this week and explore it further.
posted by hardCore | August 4, 2004 2:24 PM #
race, ethnicity and culture used to be closely correlated. in a world where people, ideas and cultures circle the globe much more dynamically than ever before, these relationships are becoming more and more fluid. it will become harder to define, and more so to claim, a certain ethnicity and link it to a particular culture. however, the aspect that is often omitted is power. who benefits from these blurred lines? who has something to gain from (the lack of) definitions? and more importantly: who has something to lose? in a country that's as race-obsessed as the US, those who are in a position to shape "isms" will ultimately also redefine what it means to be racist...
posted by HoneyforOshun | August 4, 2004 10:56 PM #
My Mom used to be very good friends with John McWhorter's Mom. I believe when John was a young child, one of his parents suffered a debilitating stroke. As a result John was not allowed out of the house and grew up as a recluse. I once had a teacher that would always say to truly know the writing, you need to examine the writer. I know that growing up in a predominantly middle class African-American neighborhood in Philly as the odd man out must of had a serious effect on him. I think it is clearly reflected in his writing.
posted by nenah | August 19, 2004 11:23 PM #
o.k well i don't understand will someone please explain
posted by bob | May 18, 2005 9:10 AM #