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Thursday, December 02, 2010

Howard University

Washington, DC

Introduction to Philosophy

Professor Richard A. Jones, Ph.D

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Is There Really A Such Thing as ͞Authentic Blackness?͟

The pigment of skin has proven to be very detrimental in the aspect of human interaction and

the overall existence of some. It has been proven as far back as the times of slavery, when people of

lighter pigment took advantage of people of darker pigment, making them slaves, arguably the worst

crime against humanity. The reason the crime was so heinous is because of the added notion that

people of darker complexions were not human beings, but rather property, to be put to use. This divide

between human and property has further added issues by the socially constructed term ͞race.͟ The

term was constructed to make people of lighter complexion feel more important, whilst the darker

complexioned people were meant solely for service, inferiority at its finest.

As a starting point, races were giving names, so that people of similar skin tones would fit into

that social construct. Then, the most common ͞races͟ or skin tones were given colors, giving birth to a

spectrum; ͞white,͟ is attributed to people with less melanin in their skin (lighter skin tones) and is on

one side of the spectrum and ͞black,͟ or people with more melanin (darker skin tones) is on the

opposite side of the spectrum. This created spectrum further escalated the problem in terms of races

relations, which are generally antagonistic. People have a tendency to place themselves on the

spectrum of ͞blackness,͟ and ͞whiteness;͟ it used to be, the darker you are, the ͞blacker͟ you are.

However it has gone farther than skin tones determining a person͛s ͞race.͟c

͞Race͟ inadvertently has a set of rules/stereotypes that are associated with them. For instance,

to go to college, speak correct English and retire in the Cayman Islands is often associated to ͞white͟

people. Whereas, ͞black͟ people talk very loudly, usually in ͞broken͟ or ͞incorrect͟ English, college is

not even a thought, and retiring is pretty much non-existent; to have had a job is a blessing enough. I

personally have immense issues with ignorance of placing people in these spectrums just because of

their skin tone because it is a form of racism.

One of the main reasons that
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 was such a huge hit with audiences in the

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1980͛s is because, arguably, for the first time, America had seen a ͞successful͟ black family. However,

even I have heard that some blacks disliked the show because it did not give and actual depiction of

what black life is really like, and ͞often failed to address social issues facing black Americans (Gray, 73).

Reasons like some of the ͞Huxtables͟ were too light, the mother and father were a lawyer and doctor,

respectively, made them not ͞black enough.͟ The first issue with that notion is nobody is black (or

͞white͟ or ͞Hispanic͟ for that manner) because race is not real since it was socially constructed.

Secondly, there is a question of what does it mean to be ͞black enough?͟

Gray mentions that he believes that ͞television remains a decisive arena in which struggles for

representation, or more significantly, struggles over the a

waged at various levels of national politics, expressive culture, and moral authority͟ (xvii).

Unfortunately, it goes further than television. Seemingly all of America, including black people, have

these ill conceived notions, including, the strength of family units, interest in education and the will to

work (hard) have gradations that are matched determines how with how ͞black͟ somebody is. Most

times, the less education, the lesser ability/will to get a job (or the caliber of said job), households

headed by a single parent and living in the ͞ghetto͟ is what [greater] proves a person͛s blackness. In

other words, it has gone further than the ͞paper bag test,͟ where a lighter complexion made you ͞less

black.͟ This purpose of this paper is to prove notions as such are sad ones to convey because it gives the

misconstrued vision that a black person is not to be ͞successful͟ and is limited to doing illicit activities,

or playing sports.

II.c ! c 
Scholars͛ Various Divisions and Perspectives on What Determines ͞Blackness.͟

Aside from the historical reasoning behind color lines and the determination to place people on

spectrum, there is a need to mention the various standpoints of doing such a detrimental thing. In an

effort to bring some structure, I shall separate the arguments in regards to comments made regarding

blacks and the family unit, blacks and education, blacks and the work force, and last, but arguably the

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most important, blacks and the skin tones/colors which most times determines a person ͞race͟.

Various sociologists have long tried to study the validity of the well-known ͞one-drop͟ rule; if

there was on ͞drop͟ of African within you (meaning, one black person in your lineage, most times

someone of your immediate family), you are automatically considered black. This presents an identity

crisis with people who are defined as ͞bi-racial,͟ and this crisis is enhanced by the question ͞Are these

individuals 
cblack for categorization purposes because of their parentage? Is it equally legitimate

for a multiracial person to choose and exclusively white vs. an exclusively black identity͟ (Brunsma &

Rockquemore, 110)? These questions give light to a possibly disfavored status; is anybody really happy

to be a black person amongst all of the racism and nonsense that usually comes along with it? The ͞one-

drop͟ rule is too vague to determine a person͛s race, as race is extremely vague in itself. Sometimes I

wish that the world would recognize that everybody is human and race simply does not account for

anything in terms of human biology. But since the world has placed such a burden on the human

existence forcing people to determine/decide what ͞race͟ they are, confusion on what makes a person

really ͞black͟ continues to exist.

However, the issue is that ͞black͟ most times does not put a person in the best light in terms of

human interaction, for instance in terms of the family unit. The black family has been deteriorating for

generations. According to statistics from The Center for Marriage And Family,

Between 1950 and 1996, the percentage of Black Families headed by married couples declined from
78% to 34%. Between 1940 and 1990, the percentage of Black children living with both parents
dropped from 75.8% to 33.2% and the household headed by a female is now 68% of the African-
American community.

It has become more and more common for black children to be raised only by one parent, and even

more and more common, the parent raising said children is the mother. These are indeed very alarming

statistics. However, what is more alarming is this false notion that both parents raising a black child is

something that is considered ͞strange,͟ or an anomaly. It is disrespectful to the family unit in general,

especially the ͞black͟ family unit because it makes it seem as if having two parents around is something

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to be ashamed of, with the fear of being called ͞spoiled,͟ or even ͞lucky.͟ While statistics try to show

the good of being raised by two-parents (kids raised by one-parent are more ͞prone͟ to do violent

things in their lifetime), the social aspect has changed where people turn up their noses at black kids

raised by two parents.

And this dislike is furthered out of the home; it follows the kids onto school as well. There was a

time where I would be teased for my heightened vocabulary; I was an avid writer and loved to read, so

my language did not always fit into the ͞black vernacular,͟ or ͞slang͟ that my peers were looking for.

Even further, I was teased for the fact that I received high grades on all of my assignments; I took school

very seriously. However, what hurt me the most was that I was labeled ͞whitewashed͟ and

͞bourgeoisie.͟ My question was always why did the fact that I took used ͞sophisticated͟ words and the

fact that I took school seriously negate my blackness? J. Martin Favor touches on this exact question

talking about The Harlem Renaissance by asking ͞what is the position of those who did not have

signification as part of their adolescent education? Are their culture and their identity somehow less

͞Afro-͞ because of their distance from the vernacular͟ (6)? The ignorance of my peers angered me the

most; the ignorance that I was talking ͞white.͟ To this day, I ask what is talking ͞black?͟ Considering that

͞slang͟ can be understood just as well as ͞correct͟ English, because my friends did understand what I

saying, they just did not like how I was saying it, why is there this need to differentiate. In opinion, there

is no such thing as ͞talking [acting] white͟ or ͞ talking right.͟ Education and language is universal and

should be treated as such.

The same universality comes to work. When I was growing up, I was always taught that kids

were expected to go to school and the adults were expected to go to work. My mother has been a

social worker for over twenty years, finally making it to supervisor in her department. As a result, many

of our family members consider to have ͞standoffish͟ tendencies towards her; why they act/feel that

way, I am not sure. Is it because even though she never made it to college, that she decided not to be a

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nurse, schoolteacher, or simply a stay at home mother? Not displaying any disrespect to the professions

I just mentioned, but it seems to me that my mother has long been accused of being the ͞successful,͟

and ͞bourgeoisie͟ one who did not fit the ͞black woman͛s role (whatever that is).͟ This reminds me of a

story of Malcolm X, chronicled by Jerome E. Morris in which Malcolm ͞Although elected class president,

and one of the top students in his junior high class, when Malcolm expressed to his teacher [Mr.

Ostrowski] his ambitions of becoming a lawyer, he was informed that such an aspiration was unrealistic

for a Negro.͟ I have heard that story numerous times, and quite frankly, it insults me. Anybody should

be able to obtain any job he or she chooses; race should have nothing at all to do with it. Unfortunately,

that would require a dream world. The real world in which we live in thinks quite differently; for a blacks

person to obtain higher anything is ͞unrealistic.͟

Unfortunately, the color/ pigment of his or her skin first determines a person͛s ͞race,͟ with

people associated with darker skin tones equate to ͞blackness.͟ However, what happens when a

person͛s complexion is similar to the color of the well-known brown paper bag (with is technically tan);

is that person not ͞black enough?͟ I shall answer my own question

NOBODY is ͞black͟ (or ͞white,͟ or ͞Mexican,͟ etc.) for that manner. I͛ll say it till I am blue in the face

race is not real! It was socially constructed in an effort to make people seem different (better) than one

another. Richard A. Jones, asks the arguably the most bewildering question of critical race theorists

͞How can it not be real if it so profoundly occupies the walking consciousness of millions, if not billions,

including myself... It should be obvious whether or not race is a real or objective property͙͟ (613) I

stand by the notion that ͞race͟ is not real (which is why quotation marks, indicting sarcastic realism, are

all throughout this paper in regards to terms that include inhibit racial divides); people just pretend it to

be and are fixated with keeping as such. The question then presents itself of why this fixation exists? If

the concept of ͞race͟ has done nothing but created issues and cause divide (and grouping) amongst

humankind, then why are humans so eager to keep feeding into it?

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III.c º 
cBlackness Should Not Automatically Equate To Mediocrity (or ͞Bad͟)c

The basis of this argument was to exemplify my irritation with the notions that ͞blackness͟ is

determined by not only skin complexion but also by things that generally equate to inferiority, including,

but not limited to, a lesser ability/ will to perform well in school, to have a lucrative job and to take care

of the family unit, such things automatically associated with ͞acting white.͟ The reason why I mention

this is because some blacks do that the other blacks; to be successful makes a black person

͞bourgeoisie͟ or ͞white-washed.͟ This leads me back to the example of the ͞Huxtables.͟

In a „c c a article from 1989, ironically the same year ͞The Cosby Show͟ was at its

height becoming the first show with a predominately African-American cast to be rated number one in

television viewership for the fifth consecutive year, the patriarch Bill Cosby himself commented on

criticisms of the show

One critic of the show said it was unrealistic. 'The problem is that they talk about college too
much, which puts too much pressure on the kids.' What do you think that reinforces? Is it that
difficult for you to set a goal for yourself, or solve a math problem? When's the last time we
totally crumbled because we set a goal and couldn't make it?... Run down what you saw of black
people on TV before the Huxtables. You had 'Amos n' Andy,' one of the funniest shows ever,
people say. But who ever went to college? Who tried for better things? In 'Good Times,' J. J.
Walker played a definite underachiever. In 'Sanford & Son,' you have a junk dealer living a few
thousand dollars above the welfare level. 'The Jeffersons' move uptown. He owns a dry-cleaning
store, lives in an integrated neighborhood. Where are the sociological writings about this?
(Christon, par. 33-35) ͟

I cannot help but agree with Cosby͛s frustration with the notion that having a black family portrayed as

successful is a problem, or ͞pressure,͟ but when a black person is portrayed with mediocrity and

buffoonery, its ͞comedy.͟ It goes farther than television; John L. Jackson͛s mentions hip-hop ͚s

͞preoccupations with realness͙ predicated as much on the sacred and the spiritual as on graphic

violence and sexism͟ (31). If being ͞real͟ means that I have to degrade myself by shooting my fellow

man and calling women ͞nappy headed hoes,͟ I would rather be ͞fake.͟

It would take an entire other paper to discuss that notion because it has been a problem

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for generations, going as far back as to when blacks would only receive money for performing in

͞blackface,͟ arguably, the early version of black self-degradation. In other words, the media has long

had an issue with letting black people even remotely seem ͞successful.͟ But it is arguably more

degrading when blacks do it to other blacks. What I mean by that is, black people should stop judging

one another and quit with the notion of ͞authentic blackness,͟ because blackness, just like every other

race, is not real. It is a socially constructed notion used to bring people down and put them in a lower

status. Perhaps for some blacks to label other black people bourgeoisie makes them feel better about

themselves; if so, that is very sad, and should be addressed. In order to destroy racism, we have to

destroy this gradation of blackness that makes absolutely no sense. That is not to attack my fellow

͞black͟ man. Everybody must stop doing it, because whites have long been accused of inner insecurities,

which manifest through racist tendencies. Everyone needs to see the beauty that everybody else

naturally posses (including within themselves).

Butcif there is really is a dire need to label people using race, then why is that the ͞darker͟ race

automatically mean everything bad? As quoted by Cosby himself, ͞It isn't a matter of black is beautiful

as much as it is white is not all that's beautiful.͟ In other words, that means that means that the word

͞black͟ does not, but should, equate to beautiful, and that must change. Scratch that; the world needs

to change its view to that simply being HUMAN makes EVERYBODY beautiful, smart, and everything else

positive. Until the world begins to realize and accept that truth, it will continue to be at a standstill in

terms of progress and complete harmony.

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IV.c  cc

29 Nov 2010. <http

Brunsma, David L. and Kerry Ann Rockquemore. ͞What Does 'Black' Mean
Exploring the Epistemological

Stranglehold of Racial Classification.͟ 

101-21. Print.

Christon, Lawrence. "The World According to THE COS." „c c ac10 Dec. 1989, Print.

Cosby, Bill. African American Quotes, 2007. Web. <http

Favor, J. Martin. 
c

1999. Print.

Gray, Herman. 

 c

c c
c
c cc
. 2nd ed. Minneapolis, MN

University of Minnesota Press, 2004. Print.

Jackson, John L. 
c
c
cc

c. University of Chicago Press, 2005. Print.

Jones, Richard A. ͞Race and Revisability.͟ 

Morris, Jerome E. ͞Malcolm X's critique of the education of Black people.͟
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c25.2 (2001). Print.

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