Posted: Mon 02 Jan 2006 03:18 Post subject: Attention: I'm A Proper Negro, Strange online phenomenon....
*I wasn't sure on were to put this*
I've noticed a trend on several online forums.
Some blacks will find a reason to slide in a post about not being a "ghetto" black person.
Example:
I'll started a thread about a leaf (long story)...
A member posted about how pretty the leaf is.
Some members want me to eat the left.
Others talk about the diversity of leavess on their property.
Then a member posts about similar leaves they have seen.......then toss in "oh yeah, I'm black and I know about this leaf because I studies botany for 2 semesters at Harvard. I know most black can't afford to go there but my mama and daddy are educated and 189 out of my family have PhD's and the reason I have access to all these leaves is because I don't live in the projects and can ride my horse around to look at them. You know many blacks don't know how to ride a horse”
And for some reason they feel the need to repeat their pseudo-pedigrees over and over again in countless threads.
Even when I was talking about quiche.
(The quiche at the B'ham Art Museum tastes like hot garbage! )
They posted " I don't know many blacks that eat quiche, but I do cause I'm educated and I studied in Europe and my mama and daddy took me to expensive restaurants cause I know how to order and eat properly cause I went to finishing school in Paris and now I can eat quiche all the time because I make $500K a year with my 4 degrees".
WTF?
I've NEVER noticed this kind of behavior among other races.
Another thing I've been noticing among blacks is the need to announce how many languages they speak.
I could be talking about pouring hot chocolate over wooden sticks and they would pop into my conversation, “I know how to say "hot chocolate wooden sticks" in Spanish, French, Chinese, Martian Alien, Cat, Dog, Fish bubble, and Cherokee.”
I've only know blacks do this. The only people who know I speak other languages are those who ask me or those who hear me speak it.
My theory is that these "proper negroes" believe that society believes in the negative stereotypes about blacks and for them to gain acceptance by society (specifically whites) they must make an effort to IMMIDIATLY set themselves apart from that stereotype. Because they assume that society judges them because they are black, they instantaneously announce that they are not the stereotypical ghetto black person in order to gain them white man's trust and approval.
WTF? Did I just repeat myself?
Posted: Mon 02 Jan 2006 13:38 Post subject: Re: Attention: I'm A Proper Negro, Strange online phenomenon....
MivharMeni wrote:
My theory is that these "proper negroes" believe that society believes in the negative stereotypes about blacks and for them to gain acceptance by society (specifically whites) they must make an effort to IMMIDIATLY set themselves apart from that stereotype. Because they assume that society judges them because they are black, they instantaneously announce that they are not the stereotypical ghetto black person in order to gain them white man's trust and approval.
WTF? Did I just repeat myself?
I disagree with your statement that "proper negroes" present themselves this way to gain acceptance from whites. Clearly some do, but many do this simply to refute the popular notion that highly educated people do not exist in the black community. Others may do it to show that they are on par intellectually with other groups, especially whites.
Sadly today we have conceptions of blackness emanating form within the black community that are rooted in defiance and opposition to so-called white middle class norms. Much of this is supported by some black intellectuals, many of whom are from solidly middle class or stable working class backgrounds.
As a result, for some people, “real” black people refuse to use possessive pronouns (“they was drivin’ they cars”), engage in any kind of intellectual activity, are surly and potentially violent. Watching some of the programming on BET, for example, would support these conceptions about black people, especially those who are young and male. Often these views of blackness are, in twisted way, positive, accurate and representative, if they are articulated by someone black and can be seen as a people’s reaction to oppression. If articulated by someone non-black, especially white, they are seen as racist and inaccurate.
So given the current state of affairs, I can see how some black folks on message boards go out of their way to challenge some of these stereotypes by playing up their education backgrounds and their personal experiences that are outside the monolithic (and in my opinion often negative) conception of the black experience.
My theory is that these "proper negroes" believe that society believes in the negative stereotypes about blacks and for them to gain acceptance by society (specifically whites) they must make an effort to immediately set themselves apart from that stereotype.
I doubt MivharMeni's theory because I see the same behavior in all Americans. The well traveled know that, wherever you go, an American stands out like a sore thumb. Dozens of subtle hints of posture, body language, attitude, and expression identify Americans overseas.
Some noticeable U.S. oddities are of unknown origin. When U.S. males cross their legs, the on-top leg's shin (tibia, fibula) rests upon the bottom leg's thigh (femur) near the bottom leg's knee. Their knees are apart. To an observer, the legs form the numeral "4". When U.S. females and non-U.S. males cross their legs, the on-top leg's thigh rests upon the bottom leg's thigh. The knees are together, on atop the other. The upper leg's shin hangs freely, not resting on the bottom leg. The figure-4 posture is unique to North American males. It is also offensive in many other cultures.
Other oddities have known historical origin. Imagine that you are eating a steak at a formal dinner in polite society. As you cut off a bite-sized piece of steak, your fork is in your left hand, tines curving down, holding the meat in place. Your knife is in your right hand, sharp edge down. Other Westerners do the same. But before putting the steak in their mouth, Americans put down the knife and switch the fork to their right hand, which then inserts the piece tines up. People from other lands cut the piece off the steak in the same way but then simply lift the left hand and insert the fork tines down, with the meat impaled on it, while still holding the knife in the right hand. Only North Americans perform this odd, inconvenient, fork-switching ritual with each piece of meat. It is a breach of cultured table manners in many other lands.
Americans made a conscious decision to be different in Andrew Jackson's time. Europe's class distinctions of the time rubbed Americans the wrong way. And so, they adopted the fork-switching fad to show that they were ordinary salt-of--the earth folk. They wanted to show disdain for those high-falootin' European table manners. (It sounds reversed, but that is precisely the point.) Read de Tocqueville's account of his 1830 visit. He got the impression that Americans were deliberately crude and vulgar when around him and other foreign visitors.
What it comes down to is that Americans are painfully self-conscious about class differences. Wherever you go overseas, doormen open cab doors and touch their caps, busboys remove knife and fork at the end of each course, waiters hover to refill your glass at every sip, and wine stewards eagerly display their stock. Americans squirm uncomfortably at lording it over all these fawning underlings. What Americans do not realize is that those of Old World culture truly enjoy treating guests like kings and queens. When you visit my place, I want you to feel like the lord and lady of the manor. When we visit your place, we expect to be treated like empress and emperor. For you to rise from your chair between courses is a faux pas. For you to help clear the table is a grave insult. It means you reject our gift, the temporary aristocratic role we offer you. Even when Americans are forewarned and really try to just lean back and accept others' pampering, they squirm with discomfort. This makes everyone else uncomfortable and unhappy, too.
Some people are more educated, talented, or skillful at particular things than others. Most Americans, and only Americans, feel uncomfortable and embarrassed at knowing more than others or at appreciating the finer things.
Mary Lee and I hosted dozens of American business visitors and their spouses in Spain, France, Germany, Brazil, and Argentina. Many were Black. In each of the above examples -- but especially in being embarrassed by one's own accomplishments -- Black Americans are no different from White ones. You can set your watch by it. And yet in our experience, only Black Americans rationalize their discomfort by saying that it is because they are Black. They say, for example, that they don't like being waited on by servants because their ancestors were forced to serve others. They say that they deprecate their knowledge and skills because it makes them different from ghetto Blacks. As far as Mary Lee and I have been able to discern, Black Americans honestly do not realize that in foreign eyes they are Americans, first, last, and only. They honestly think their behavior is somehow different from White behavior. In reality, their oddities of posture, body language, attitude, and expression are the same as White Americans. The only difference is that White Americans have a hard time introspecting why they dislike being waited on or why they are embarrassed by their own talents. Black Americans, in contrast have a ready (inaccurate) explanation: "because we are Black."
Posted: Thu 05 Jan 2006 14:34 Post subject: Re: Attention: I'm A Proper Negro, Strange online phenomenon....
MivharMeni wrote:
G-Man wrote:
Others may do it to show that they are on par intellectually with other groups, especially whites.
I've never had to spit out stats about myself.
And if you are intellectually on par it will show regardless.
Perhaps, but some people will refuse to take notice nonetheless.
Just as there are some black people in the U.S. who feel the need to pass themselves off as ghetto (thinking that "real" black people are crude, crass and criminally-minded), there are others who feel the need to prove themselves capable in the eyes of whites. The latter are not, as some people assume, "kissing up" to whites.
Sadly, many non-blacks underestimate the intellectual capacity of the black people they encounter. As a result, some black folks feel the need to present themselves as super educated, independent of whether or not there is a need to challenge other people’s low expectations.
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