re: Standing on the soapbox - Racism and media coverage

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I can't speak for the other posters, but I can recall from my youth, that this notion of black teens jeering other black youths for doing well in school, and speaking proper English is the biggest misconception and fallacy out there. 

Whenever I see someone say this, it shows me just how little interaction some people have with black peole

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I grew up in the public school system in Louisiana. I interacted with African Americans on a daily basis when I was in school. The African Americans males in my school that made good grades were definitely told by some, but not all, of the other African American males that they were too "white acting" because they made good grades. Never really heard this amongst females though. In saying that, I realize not all schools are the same so that may not go on at others. But it definitely did at mine. I never understood back then why you were "white acting" if you did well in school.

Because I'm telling a societal truth? How about you do some reading sir.

Studies suggest that women, in terms of beauty, are ranked:

White
Asian
Hispanic
Black


That largely has to do with western standards of beauty too, which are heavily biased towards lighter skin

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I grew up in the public school system in Louisiana. I interacted with African Americans on a daily basis when I was in school. The African Americans males in my school that made good grades were definitely told by some, but not all, of the other African American males that they were too "white acting" because they made good grades. Never really heard this amongst females though. In saying that, I realize not all schools are the same so that may not go on at others. But it definitely did at mine. I never understood back then why you were "white acting" if you did well in school.

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When? The 70s and 80s?

This train of thought was largely none existent in the late 90s/00s/10s.

If people were accused of acting "white" , by other black people, it was for other reasons

I think many agree with you, even if they don't admit it.

The entire discussion is an exhausting cycle, especially for those born after say 1975 or so. Obviously this is a huge generalization, but for many 40 or so (somewhat arbitrary number) and younger, they have never seen first hand actual discrimination, as in Jim Crow, legitimized discrimination.

Many are brought up to to believe they should either feel sorry for how they were born or that they are victims. Both are regressive and destructive.

Legitimate discussion is impossible in this climate. What you stated, if said in a public forum would be shouted down as hate speech. There is only victim and oppressed in the modern narrative. That discourages real discussion and analysis and creates a bigger problem then would have otherwise existed organically.

In business (DBE credientials), academics, etc., it's getting even more nuanced. A black man who went to St. Augustine and Tulane who runs a business is considered "disadvantaged" by the government, yet an Indian woman who spoke Bengali for the first 25 years of her life is not.

I mostly agree with Strong Safety when it comes to blacks calling other blacks white because of the way that they act.

I think you only see that line of thought coming from the most ignorant of blacks, and who cares what they think.

I've only had a few people tell me something along the lines that I acted white, and I never took offense to it.

My typical experience was that a lot of blacks encouraged me to pursue my education and make something of myself.

Good discussion all. I was particularly interested in Strong Safety's hierarchical chart of:

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White
Asian
Hispanic
Black

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I'm not sure if I agree or disagree with it. I haven't given it too much thought until now actually.

Strong Safety, is there any acerbity in the African American community stemming from darker color to lighter color African Americans? My fellow co-worker that I mentioned earlier is more of a lighter skin tone. I always assumed that he wasn't respected as being "black enough" in the community because of his education, work, where he lives, where his kids go to school, who he hangs out with, etc. I never really thought of it as a skin-tone issue.

Growing up in Detroit, I never heard or saw one wasn't "black enough".

I'd like to add a new (related) topic of discussion.

Ex-NAACP President, Rachel Dolezal, steps down



-Ex-NAACP President Rachel Dolezal identifies herself as black.

-She comes from a white family.

-Dolezal's parents said her ancestry is white with traces of Native American.

-Ms. Dolezal said her identification with black people went back as far as when she was 5 years old. “I was drawing self-portraits with the brown crayon instead of the peach crayon, and the black curly hair,"

-But when shown a picture of her as a teenager with fair skin and straight, blond hair, she conceded that at that time, she did not identify as black

-Dolezal initially identified herself as transracial....then biracial....and now black. Interesting mutation she went through, no?

-On previous applications, she has checked boxes of Native American and Black.

-She identifies a black man, who is not her relative, as her "dad". She adopted a black son.

-She was in a lawsuit with Howard University (HBC) claiming discrimination because she was "white". Within a few years, she started claiming she was black.\


What do you all think? Obviously, she played the system. Can someone "identify" themselves as black? One can obviously dive in and immerse themselves in a culture. But does that really make them a member of that race/culture?

I graduated high school in the 90s. The African American males who ridiculed others for good grades were generally the losers and trouble makers who in my opinion were probably jealous of their peers that did well and wanted to bring others down to their level.

"Rabble, rabble, rabble, we still slaves at heart. Thanks whitie! More slavery references. Throw out the word disenfranchised. Rabble, rabble, rabble" - StrongSafety

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I mostly agree with Strong Safety when it comes to blacks calling other blacks white because of the way that they act.

I think you only see that line of thought coming from the most ignorant of blacks, and who cares what they think

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The issue with this is that there are a lot of ignorant blacks. There are a lot of ignorant white people as well, so that's not something special to blacks. Difference is that it's much more damaging to black culture because of the state that it is in (whatever caused that state is a different issue). There should be no issue whatsoever with "acting white". I don't personally think of it as "acting white". When an Asian guy or a Hispanic guy speaks with proper grammar and dresses in slacks and a button down, I don't think "man that guy dresses white". I don't think of it as racial, but as just the American culture of how things are done.

So to me when a black person (however small a percentage it might be) makes a negative comment about someone "acting white", it sends a message that the person is against assimilating into the rest of the country's social norms. So how does one expect equality, if they are not willing to partake in those social norms?