Racial topic: What do struters think of this?
DjArcadian
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http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060701/D8IJEPF80.htmlJul 1, 5:43 PM (ET)By ERIN TEXEIRANEW YORK (AP) - Keith Borders tries hard not to scare people.He's 6-foot-7, a garrulous lawyer who talks with his hands.And he's black.Many people find him threatening. He works hard to prove otherwise."I have a very keen sense of my size and how I communicate," says Borders of Mason, Ohio. "I end up putting my hands in my pockets or behind me. I stand with my feet closer together. With my feet spread out, it looks like I'm taking a stance. And I use a softer voice."Every day, African-American men consciously work to offset stereotypes about them - that they are dangerous, aggressive, angry. Some smile a lot, dress conservatively and speak with deference: "Yes, sir," or "No, ma'am." They are mindful of their bodies, careful not to dart into closing elevators or stand too close in grocery stores.It's all about surviving, and trying to thrive, in a nation where biased views of black men stubbornly hang on decades after segregation and where statistics show a yawning gap between the lives of white men and black men. Black men's median wages are barely three-fourths those of whites; nearly 1 in 3 black men will spend time behind bars during his life; and, on average, black men die six years earlier than whites.Sure, everyone has ways of coping with other people's perceptions: Who acts the same at work as they do with their kids, or their high school friends?But for black men, there's more at stake. If they don't carefully calculate how to handle everyday situations - in ways that usually go unnoticed - they can end up out of a job, in jail or dead."It's a stressful process," Borders says.Melissa Harris Lacewell, a political scientist at the University of Chicago, says learning to adapt is at the heart of being an American black male."Black mothers and fathers socialize their sons to not make waves, to not come up against the authorities, to speak even more politely not only when there are whites present but particularly if there are whites who have power," she said."Most black men are able to shift from a sort of relaxed, authentically black pose into a respectable black man pose. Either they develop the dexterity to move back and forth or ultimately they flounder."It's a lot like a game of chess, says 43-year-old Chester Williams, who owns Chester Electric in New Orleans. He has taught his three sons, ages 16, 14 and 11, to play."The rules of the game are universal: White moves first, then black moves," he said. "Black has to respond to the moves that the whites make. You take the advantage when it's available."Twenty-year-old Chauncy Medder of Brooklyn says his baggy jeans and oversized T-shirts make him seem like "another one of those thuggish black kids." He offsets that with "Southern charm" he learned attending high school in Virginia - "a lot of 'Yes, ma'ams,' and as little slang as possible. When I speak to them (whites), they're like, 'Hey, you're different.'"Such skillful little changes in style aren't talked about much, especially not outside of black households - there's no reason to tip your hand. As Walter White, a black sales executive from Cincinnati, puts it: "Not talking is a way to get what you want."He recalled that, "as a child, we all sat down with my mother and father and watched the movie 'Roots,'" the groundbreaking 1970s television miniseries tracing a black family from Africa through slavery and into modern times.The slaves were quietly obedient around whites. "But as soon as the master was gone," he said, "they did what they really wanted to do. That's what we were taught."Historians agree that black stereotypes and coping strategies are rooted in America's history of slavery and segregation.Jay Carrington Chunn's mother taught him "how to read 'Whites Only' and 'Negro Only' before she taught me anything else," said the 63-year-old, who grew up in Atlanta. "Black parents taught you how to react when police stopped you, how to respond to certain problems, how to act in school to get the best grade."School is still a challenge, even from an early age.Last year, Yale University research on public school pre-kindergarten programs in 40 states found that blacks were expelled twice as often as whites - and nine out of 10 blacks expelled were boys. The report did not analyze the patterns, but some trace it to negative views about black boys.Black male children are often "labeled in public schools as being out of control," said Lacewell, who studies black political culture and wrote "Barbershops, Bibles, and BET: Everyday Talk and Black Political Thought.""If you're a black boy who is smart and energetic and always has the answer and throws his hand up in the air," she said, "you might as a parent say, 'Even if you know the answer you might not want to make a spectacle of yourself. You don't want to call attention to yourself.'"Bill Fletcher still has nightmares about his third-grade teacher, a white woman who "treated me and other black students as if we were idiots," he said. "She destroyed my confidence."But his parents were strong advocates, and taught him to cope by having little contact with teachers who didn't take an interest in him, said Fletcher, former president of TransAfrica Forum, a group that builds ties between African-Americans and Africa.As black boys become adolescents, the dangers escalate. Like most teenagers, they battle raging hormones and identity crises. Many rebel, trying to fit in by mimicking - and sometimes becoming - criminals."They are basically seen as public menaces," Lacewell said.Rasheed Smith, 22, a soft-spoken, aspiring hip-hop lyricist from the Bedford Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, recently tapped his long fingers, morosely counting his friends killed in neighborhood violence in the last five years - 11 in all. Few spent much time beyond their blocks, let alone their neighborhood. Some sold drugs or got in other trouble and had near-constant contact with police.Smith has survived by staying close to his family. He advised: "With police, you talk to them the way they talk to you. You get treated how you act."Twenty years ago, Carol Taylor's teenage son - now a lawyer - was mugged twice near their Brooklyn home, but police officers "treated him like he had done the mugging," she said. She wrote and self-published "The Little Black Book: Survival Commandments for Black Men" filled with tips on how to deal with police: keep your hands visible, carry a camera, don't say much but be polite."Don't take this as a time to prove your manhood," wrote Taylor, a retired nurse and community activist who said she's sold thousands of the pocket-sized, $2 books.And more general advice: "Learn to read, write and type, and to speak English correctly. This is survival, not wishful thinking. If you are going to survive in America, go to college!"One selective business program at historically black Hampton University in Virginia directs black men to wear dark, conservative suits to class. Earrings and dreadlocked hairstyles are forbidden. Their appearance is "communicating a signal that says you can go into more places," said business school dean Sid Credle. "There's more universal acceptance if you're conservative in your image and dress style."One graphic artist says he wears a suit when traveling, "even if it's on a weekend. I think it helps. It requests respect."But in the corporate world, clothing can only help so much, said Janet B. Reid of Global Lead Management Consulting, who advises companies on managing ethnic diversity.Black men, espec
ially those who look physically imposing, often have a tough time."Someone who is tall and muscular will learn to come into a meeting and sit down quickly," she said. "They're trying to lower the big barrier of resistance, one that's fear-based and born of stereotypes."Having darker brown skin can erect another barrier. Mark Ferguson has worked on Wall Street for 20 years. He has an easy smile and firm, confident handshake."I think I clean up pretty well - I dress well, I speak well - but all that goes out the window when I show up at a meeting full of white men," says Ferguson of New Jersey, who is 6-foot-4 and dark-skinned. "It's because they're afraid of me.""Race always matters," said Ferguson, whose Day in the Life Foundation connects minority teenagers with professionals. "It's always in play."Fletcher knows his light brown skin gives him an advantage - except that he's "unsmiling.""If you're a black man who doesn't smile a lot, they (whites) get really nervous," he said. "There are black people I run across all the time and they're always smiling particularly when they're around white people. A lot of white people find that very comforting."All this takes a toll.Many black men say the daily maneuvering leaves them enraged and exhausted. For decades, they continuously self-analyze and shift, subtly dampening their personalities. In the end, even the best strategies don't always work."I've seen it play out many times" in corporations, said Reid of Global Lead. "They go from depression to corporate suicide. Marital problems can come up. He loses all self confidence and the ability to feel manly and in control of his own fate."Sherman James, a social psychologist at Duke University, studies how the stress of coping for black men can damage the circulatory system and lead to chronic poor health. Black men are 20 percent more likely to die of heart disease than whites, and they have the highest rates of hypertension in the world, according to the National Medical Association.The flip side, black men say, is that many learn to be resilient.Ferguson recalls when a new Wall Street colleague, minutes after meeting him and hearing he grew up in a housing project in Newark, N.J., asked if he had been involved in "any illicit activities" there. He shrugged it off.Over the years, as he has earned promotions and built client relationships over the phone, he has learned to steel himself for face-to-face meetings - for clients' raised eyebrows and stuttered greetings when they see he is black."It just rolls off our backs - we grin and bear it. You can't quit," he said, sighing heavily. He vents his frustrations to mentors and relaxes with his wife and young children."Then you go back," he said, "and fight the good fight."
ially those who look physically imposing, often have a tough time."Someone who is tall and muscular will learn to come into a meeting and sit down quickly," she said. "They're trying to lower the big barrier of resistance, one that's fear-based and born of stereotypes."Having darker brown skin can erect another barrier. Mark Ferguson has worked on Wall Street for 20 years. He has an easy smile and firm, confident handshake."I think I clean up pretty well - I dress well, I speak well - but all that goes out the window when I show up at a meeting full of white men," says Ferguson of New Jersey, who is 6-foot-4 and dark-skinned. "It's because they're afraid of me.""Race always matters," said Ferguson, whose Day in the Life Foundation connects minority teenagers with professionals. "It's always in play."Fletcher knows his light brown skin gives him an advantage - except that he's "unsmiling.""If you're a black man who doesn't smile a lot, they (whites) get really nervous," he said. "There are black people I run across all the time and they're always smiling particularly when they're around white people. A lot of white people find that very comforting."All this takes a toll.Many black men say the daily maneuvering leaves them enraged and exhausted. For decades, they continuously self-analyze and shift, subtly dampening their personalities. In the end, even the best strategies don't always work."I've seen it play out many times" in corporations, said Reid of Global Lead. "They go from depression to corporate suicide. Marital problems can come up. He loses all self confidence and the ability to feel manly and in control of his own fate."Sherman James, a social psychologist at Duke University, studies how the stress of coping for black men can damage the circulatory system and lead to chronic poor health. Black men are 20 percent more likely to die of heart disease than whites, and they have the highest rates of hypertension in the world, according to the National Medical Association.The flip side, black men say, is that many learn to be resilient.Ferguson recalls when a new Wall Street colleague, minutes after meeting him and hearing he grew up in a housing project in Newark, N.J., asked if he had been involved in "any illicit activities" there. He shrugged it off.Over the years, as he has earned promotions and built client relationships over the phone, he has learned to steel himself for face-to-face meetings - for clients' raised eyebrows and stuttered greetings when they see he is black."It just rolls off our backs - we grin and bear it. You can't quit," he said, sighing heavily. He vents his frustrations to mentors and relaxes with his wife and young children."Then you go back," he said, "and fight the good fight."
Comments
It's a fucking shame. Straight up.
We all know this story, but at least it's getting addressed in the media.
Every fool who trys to say "hey, things are good now. Black folks are on TV, they own their own businesses... etc." needs to read this and step into reality.
The fact that people need to adjust themselves to survive on a daily basis speaks volumes on just how far we have to go in this country.
i think it would actually make me really nervous if anyone were perpetually smiling around me. yes, even if black people did it.
That article was real talk!!! It's true, all of what was communicated. Since I'm a big, Black dude, I've encountered a lot of that stuff: Shook White women on elevators; police questioning; overhearing company representatives ask the hotel staff where I am when they pick me up for job visits/interviews, even though I'm sitting in plain view, wearing a business suit, in the lobby (i.e., since I'm articulate, they didn't expect me to be Black). On the flip though, I'm not a cat that tip-toes around (i.e., I speak my mind), but I get over professionally by out-performing my peers. Achievement makes folks leave you alone on the job; that's always been my strategy. They accommodate me because they don't want me to leave because I'm marketable.
Peace,
Big Stacks from Kakalak
BULLSHIT
i stress to my youthworkers to consider the skills their first jobs are giving them rather than the twenty-thirty cent wage difference. get skills sharp and be thorough and professional so that they are indispendsable in a workplace. coping skills for a fucked up world.
good article. everyone should be expected to be professional at work and around clients, but that some people have to compensate for size and skin tone is a damn shame. i think its hard for a lot of non-af.amer. to grasp the significance/ prevalence of institutional racism and subconscious prejudice.
You should check this book when your done.
Have you read any Cheikh Anta Diop?
not as of yet...sounds like i need to 'get familiar'....thnx
Come see me. Or if you're up for it I'll come see you. Then you can show me that glock of yours.
How's it feel to be a crumb?
If you believe that, then - to quote Big Rube - "you a cracka. or a n*gga who think he a cracka."
Plaese to explain....my boy Chucky M. in San Quentin didn't get copied on this memo.
Sounds like he didn't adhere to the standard of conduct either!
1) Acting articulate, in professional attire or mannerisms or whatever that's cool, but equating that with "acting white" is an insult to blacks and ever other non-white race. and non-whites calling their non-whites bretherens "white-washed" for doing so need to grown the phuck up. Composing yourself in a "professional" demeanour when in the company of a professional environment, is exactly that, being professional. You are not fake for talking slang with your homies and speaking in a Carelton dialect from Fresh Prince in business meetings...
2) That article is totally on point for visible minorities. The same article could perhaps be written for people with turbans or whatever. And you could do everything text book from A to Z and you will still get conscious/self conscious hate from others because of their prejudices.
But i'm phucking tired of people saying this "acting white" bullsheit, its phucking insulting. its back to that chris rock skit "he speaks so well, he's so well spoken"...that skit shouldn't be a comedy special on hbo, it should be a text book primer for ignorant fucks.
I'm big, ugly and have hair down to my ass.....and unlike color or ethnicity I could change that all in one hour and "conform" so that I don't get dirty looks or judged by folks who have no idea what I'm really like.
But fuck that....if some ignorant fuck wants to judge me by what I look like I don't want to know them anydamnway.......and eliminating them out of my life from the get go allows me to avoid meeting a shitload of ignorance...and that's a good thing.
Do you mind me asking what you do for a living BATMON ? just curious
I know its none of my business ...so i understand if you choose not to answer
I didn't get too far into this thread, so excuse me if I'm being redundant here.
But what exactly does it mean to "act white"?
This already sounds a lot like what a bunch of idiot black kids in my school used to say to a bunch of the smart black kids in my school.
Any sort of scholastic achievement was percieved and dismissed as "acting white" and/or "speaking proper", etc.
It was the worst sort of peer pressure, and sadly a few kids with a lot more of the grey matter in between their ears than I ever had gave in to it and eventually dropped out of school altogether.
But it's all good. They certainly don't "act white" any more.
I think subconscious prejudice exists outside of racial stereotypes, In an office or white collar work environment i get called anything from an 'emo kid' to a 'hip hop wanna be black kid' to a 'hippy'or a 'stoner' depending on the way I talk (slang slipping by accident) or just how I choose to dress (sneakers) and my hair (big and curly). I'm white or slightly hispanic or whatever but i still find myself over analysising how I chose my words, what I wear and especially my hair lenght. I know this is nothing in comparison - It's not a big thing and by no means do I wish to play the victim, I just feel that at the end of the day 99 percent of the population are going to be completely ignorant or intimidated by anything outside of what they know to be of any value or importance be it skin colour, cultural identity or whatever. most people only know to eat, fuck, make money, sleep, and be fucking wankers.
(That's not how i really feel, jus talkin' shit.)
Unfortunately, a lot of white people have NO IDEA that such a thing exists. I think articles like this help shed some light on the kind of conditioning that Black people in particular in America are subject too, and how unconsciously White people adhere to their role in it. Like Drewn said, it is quite a complex scenario just from his side of the coin. Add in the relationship to White folks and it becomes tougher still to unravel.
This conversation reminds me of The Apprentice when Randall was asked to share with that chick who was against him in the final. People didn't get it when the debate on here was going on. The first co-Apprentice was gonna be a black dude, when it was the first time a black person won? Just like that fucking Tyra Banks Sports Illustrated swimsuit "co-cover." It's bunk, it's an okey doke and white America continually tries to shove it down black America's throat, especially black males. Fuck that. America should be a meritocracy, and it is continually shifting away from that into who you know and who you're related to.
My professor in college spoke on this and he went into the Big Stacks discussion, which in colloquial terms he used to describe as "I will intellectually choke the shit out of you like Latrell Sprewell."
and i would also point out that, drressing conservatively, smiling, and speaking with deference is part of being successful as a professional regardless of skin-color so to present that as somekind of additional hardship is off-the-mark. And anybody who is physically imposing white or black needs to be conscious of that. But, I also see the point to the article and agree with most of it, and like I said a good amount of the blame can go to the above, because most people in those settings dont know any african americans to even have experience to draw upon to support the stereotypes other than what they see on TV and in the music industry.
I cant think of the last time I saw a movie with an African American male where he didn't carry a gun. Do they make any?
Not for nothing, but I'm white, and I happened to feel threatened by no one (and I happen to know plenty of us who feel the same way).
So feel free to act like yourself... whoever that is... at least around me.
It's just too bad you have to live your whole life as a two-face.
The reality is that we live in a majority redneck, racist, and backward nation, in a cultural sense. National polls show that the majority of the country (who is disproportionately White, I might add) endorse in-group favoritism, out-group derogation, and generally conservative and racist values (see "social dominance orientation" research by Jim Sidanius, Lawrence Bobo, Felicia Pratto, and colleagues as examples; also check out Gallup polling studies available on-line). This explains the co-winner exception made for Black folks explained earlier. Spatial assimilation research (see John Logan and colleagues' work) also shows that, in spite of income, Blacks are LEAST likely minority group to gain residence in desirable White suburbs. Why??? There is a general disdain for folks of color (especially for Blacks), so we will NEVER be acceptable, by and large, in our own right. Sure, it's a fucking dismal conclusion, but that's why I try to outperform on merit to get a smidgen of a chance to succeed. This leads to the "John Henryism" leading to hypertension, higher mortality rates, etc. among Blacks (see work by David Williams and colleagues). Racism has negative physiological and psychological effects as a lot of health psychology research shows as well. Sadly, just to be considered "acceptable", we have to be superior (as my father would tell my brother and I all the time as kids). Imagine that kind of pressure.
Peace,
Big Stacks from Kakalak
HI J****l
ain't really got much to say on this topic, it's not a shock that people change their way of acting when in certain situations, I don't know how everyone else really gets down in terms of social actions but I've learned long ago that the way I was not raised to "act white" and coming from a welfare background I'd say theres a good amount of people who can say the same regardless of color.
Americas a game and you just need to find the right stragety to keep on playing within its rules.
speaking on skintones I've always thought these girls clashed with their sheet
comments? opinions?
5 pages.