-Cover of the 1899's children book "Black Sambo". Sambo being a racial slur for black.
First off, I need to point out my love of TV on the Radio, and especially Barack Obama. Now on with the point of this...
I'm really sick of political commentary, and a lot of other people in the world debating over how black Obama is. Because he doesn't announce his blackness on a daily basis, put an strong emphasis on only black relations, speak in Ebonics, or break out into dance every time he hears a beat, somehow he really isn't really black but more of an 'acceptable negro'.
I'm having the same problem in my life as a black female. I am obviously black, but am often excluded from my race of people because of the way I speak, the way I wear my hair, and the things I like. The two most prominent examples of exclusion I can think of now is when a girl said she there were way too many black people in the club, and she didn't like that, but I didn't count because I was a 'pretty black', and people I work with saying that on a scale of blackness, I was at the low point and not at the high point and therefore not really all that black.
Blackness now has less to do with heritage or skin color, but more to do with the stereotypical idea of black people and how well they fit into that realm of blackness. Obama, me, and a few of people I know go through the same problem. I think as a country, we really need to examine how we classify black people and learn to take into account the rich history, the complex mix of races that might be a part of a black persons lineage, and that being black isn't just talking loud and eating fried chicken.
As black people, we deal with a lot of issues regarding expectations of how we should be. TV on the Radio has a song about blood diamonds which is called 'The Wrong Way', when I hear it, I can't help but to take the first part of the song out of context. It states:
woke up in a magic nigger movie
with the bright lights pointed at me
as a metaphor
teachin' folks the score
about patience, understanding, agape babe
and sweet sweet amour.
When I realized where I was
did I stand up and testify
oh, fist up signify
or did I show my soft shoe
maybe teach 'em a boogaloo
busy playin the whore
When I heard it in the recent months, I always think of Obama, and now I think about myself and black people in general. We are some great people, and have lots to contribute to the world, but they don't want to see that. People want us to be the entertainers, the bojanglers, the silly clowns in bright colors and big clothes that can bust a funny rap, and chuck a jive every now and again. If a black person isn't that way and reflect a different black outside of the stereotype, the discourse quickly shifts from the great things they are doing, to how they aren't black enough. If a black person is chucking and jiving every 3 minutes, they are accepted as being black and can fit into mainstream culture, but then are talked about for how 'black' they are acting and put down, therefore being accepted, but not an acceptable negro. It's a situation that seems like it can't be won. A sick cycle which keeps repeating itself.
I guess it'll be okay in the distant future. When you think about it, being black in America is a fairly new concept. We were shipped her from Africa or Caribbean islands, had our culture, religion, family and freedom stripped from us, and had to develop a new culture out of basically nothing. I think we are all, black...white...red, trying to fine tune things. Maybe one day black people will just be able to be black, without being analyzed and placed on a scale of blackness.
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