Happy Black Girl Day x Assimilation x Whiteness

Whiteness assumes the authority to marginalize other identities, discourses perspectives and voices. By constituting itself as the center, non white voices are Othered, marginalized and rendered voiceless.

When we think about assimilation we have to think about whiteness because the two are related, in this country. Furthermore, what are the political, social and spiritual consequences for a Black person assimilating into a system that is historically rooted in oppressing that person. Yancey goes on to write quoting Ruth Frankenberg,

First whiteness is a location of structural advantage or race privilege. Second, it is a standpoint a place from which white people look at ourselves, at others and at society. Third “whiteness” refers to a set of cultural practices that are usually unmarked, unnamed.

Now that we have a working definition of whiteness laid out, we can get into Zahara and assimilation.

Black peoples respectability politics make my ass itch and Samuel’s comment is the embodiment of Black respectability politics.

There is no greater freedom than being about to be yourself, and I cannot be myself assimilate for Whites at the same time. Or perhaps I should say it is a tenuous challenge to do so. Don’t get me wrong, I understand that it is a dance and I have changed my self presentation in order to pursue opportunities throughout my life.

We constantly adjust our Blackness in order to make White folks feel more comfortable.This is the essence of QuestLove’s piece about bout “The Little Things” and the ways in which he adjusts his presentation of Black masculinity in the presence of White folks.

We do what we have to do in order to survive. Wigs, perms, weaves and God knows what else. Jonzey says that I put too much on White perception of our hair in the workplace. And I may, however, if it comes down to me and another candidate and her straight blond hair is perceived as more attractive then my black napps, twists or straight hair, then I lose, and this, is structural domination.

What would our hair look like if we didn’t need to straighten it in order to keep a job?

The Gods to honest truth is that Zahara Jolie-Pitt, for all intents and purposes is a member of the American elite, and one of the benefits of being member of the elite is that your “deviance” is not susceptible to being punished the same way that it would be if you are low income. Which brings me to the social costs of assimilation.

Assimilation has a price. This is one of the reasons why I liked the conversation around “Bitch is the New Black“ because I would frame it as a one about the social costs of assimilation.

As I read the article I thought, class wise, do working class heterosexual and queer Black women have the same dating and marriage statistics and challenges?

Do affluent queer and heterosexual Black women and have the same dating and marriage statistics and challenges?

When I hear middle class heterosexual folks talk about the “dearth” of similarly position Black men to date, I think of public education. What does it mean for heterosexual Black women when Black boys are placed by a White school system on a punishment/jail track at six years old, in first grade, and what are we going to do about it? Why in the name of apartheid is this acceptable?

Historically, America has been premised on both the notion of Democracy and the material reality of Black oppression and the denial full citizenship to all African Americans. Peniel Joseph’s new book from Black Power to Obama gets into this. The fact that we have been denied full citizenship is why the “Are West Indians/Black beef is so deep?” This is why all immigrants are compared to American Blacks.

The notion is, if you can’t BE White you sure as hell don’t want to be Black.

Which leads me to ask, when can we just be, just simply be able to live and be ourselves?

We were never meant to survive, so for us to be talking about Happyblackgirlday is revolutionary on levels that I lightweight can’t articulate right now but I am trying.

When will we be able to be happy, joyous and free?

Page 2 of 3 | Previous page | Next page