Your Average Nigga: Performing Race, Literacy, and Masculinity

Index

Abrahams,฀Roger฀D.,฀151n2฀(Ch.฀3) “acting฀white,”฀1–3,฀41;฀as฀effect฀of฀ racialization,฀121;฀leads฀to฀success฀ in฀school,฀92–93;฀obligation฀to฀ after฀Jim฀Crow,฀129;฀as฀passing,฀ 43;฀prohibition฀against฀during฀ Jim฀Crow,฀127–28;฀by฀“talking฀ white,”฀75–78;฀through฀writing฀ performance,฀120–21,฀122–23 Adler,฀Robert฀B.,฀130 Akom,฀Antwi,฀142,฀143,฀144 Alexander,฀Bryant฀K.:฀Performance฀ Theories฀in฀Education,฀149n2;฀ “Performing฀Culture฀in฀the฀ Classroom,”฀149n2 antiessentialism,฀reduces฀the฀demand฀ ฀ for฀racial฀performance,฀50 Are฀We฀Not฀Men฀(Harper),฀151n3฀฀ (Ch.฀2) Arledge,฀Roone,฀66 assimilation:฀educational฀process฀as,฀95;฀ immigrants฀vs.฀minority฀groups,฀ 110;฀limitations฀of,฀43 authentic฀blackness.฀See฀black฀racial฀ authenticity index 161 “authentic”฀ghetto฀life,฀xvi “autocritography,”฀12 Awkward,฀Michael:฀Scenes฀of฀Instruction,฀ 11–12 Baldwin,฀James,฀126 barbershop,฀as฀masculine฀space,฀xi,฀xiv Barbershops,฀Bibles,฀and฀BET฀(HarrisLacewell ),฀148n6 Bauman,฀Richard,฀150n3 Benston,฀Kimberly฀W.,฀12 bilingual฀education,฀109–10,฀111 Birkenstein฀Graff,฀Cathy,฀154n3 black-black฀conflict,฀27–28,฀37–38 black฀bourgeoisie,฀32,฀55 Black฀Bourgeoisie฀(Frazier),฀32 Black฀English฀Vernacular฀(BEV),฀ 149n1;฀combined฀with฀formal฀ English,฀106;฀Cosby’s฀view฀of,฀ 75–76;฀historical฀and฀popular฀bias฀ against,฀111;฀and฀loud-talking,฀67;฀ personified฀by฀black฀masculine฀ identity,฀90,฀152n2;฀privileging,฀ 93;฀research฀that฀gives฀parity฀with฀ WEV,฀112;฀resistance฀of฀ INDEX฀฀/฀฀162 Black฀English฀Vernacular฀(BEV)฀ (continued) ฀ some฀parents฀to฀efforts฀to฀teach,฀ 2–3;฀stylistic฀and฀rhetorical฀value฀ of,฀105;฀viewed฀as฀foreign฀and฀ different฀from฀the฀“language฀of฀the฀ marketplace,”฀134 black฀lower฀class:฀accuse฀middleclass ฀blacks฀of฀promoting฀racial฀ disidentification,฀143 black฀lower฀class,฀scapegoating฀of,฀69,฀78 black฀males:฀academic฀success฀and฀ masculinity,฀152n5 black฀male฀students:฀choice฀between฀ being฀insufficiently฀masculine฀or฀ insufficiently฀black,฀92,฀93;฀feel฀ coerced฀to฀abandon฀masculinity฀ if฀they฀succeed฀in฀school,฀90;฀feel฀ forced฀to฀abandon฀their฀race฀if฀ they฀succeed฀in฀school,฀90–91;฀ formation฀of฀school-resistant฀peer฀ groups฀among,฀4;฀may฀be฀acting฀ out฀their฀own฀feelings฀of฀rejection฀ by฀schools,฀5;฀resist฀most฀the฀ performances฀of฀race฀and฀gender฀ that฀schools฀demand,฀4 black฀masculine฀performance:฀and฀ identifying฀with฀the฀racial฀concerns฀ of฀blacks,฀65;฀and฀literacy,฀class,฀ and฀anxiety,฀148n7;฀willing฀ and฀coerced฀collusion฀with฀ performances฀that฀the฀terms฀nigga฀ and฀faggot฀signify,฀53,฀60 black฀masculinity:฀barbershop฀as฀site฀ of,฀xi,฀xiii,฀xiv–xv;฀and฀BEV,฀90,฀ 152n2;฀capitalizing฀on,฀61–62;฀ compromised฀by฀academic฀literacy,฀ 10,฀90,฀91,฀148n7;฀ghetto฀masculine฀ characteristics,฀92;฀narrow฀ definitions฀of,฀xiv;฀silencing฀of฀in฀ predominantly฀white฀contexts,฀ 64–65 black฀men:฀criminalization,฀xii,฀139,฀ 147n1;฀white฀fear฀of,฀144.฀See฀also฀ black฀professional฀men black฀middle฀class:฀defines฀its฀class฀ identity฀by฀means฀of฀negative฀ images฀of฀lower-class฀blacks,฀69;฀ ideology,฀61;฀intraracial฀conflict฀ with฀street-identified฀counterparts,฀ 88 black฀nationalism,฀129 blackness:฀and฀concepts฀of฀masculinity฀ and฀sexuality,฀46;฀as฀a฀question฀ of฀class,฀77;฀as฀a฀rhetorical฀ performance,฀3 black฀professional฀men:฀disidentify฀ from฀blackness฀to฀escape฀racism฀ and฀to฀retaliate฀against฀black฀ men,฀xii;฀identify฀with฀ghetto฀ to฀embrace฀blackness,฀xii;฀ performance฀as฀compliance฀with฀ restrictions฀on฀black฀speech,฀ 65;฀performance฀understood฀ to฀express฀homosexuality,฀65;฀ risk฀of฀identifying฀too฀closely฀ with฀the฀struggles฀of฀the฀people,฀ 66;฀underplay฀blackness฀and฀ masculinity,฀63 black฀racial฀authenticity,฀45,฀133,฀148n4;฀ discourse฀of,฀60;฀incompatible฀with฀ literacy,฀xvi;฀and฀phenomenon฀of฀ passing,฀42;฀racial฀performance฀as฀ central฀problem฀of,฀xiii,฀37,฀49 blacks,฀transition฀from฀being฀denied฀the฀ opportunity฀to฀act฀white฀to฀being฀ obligated฀to฀“act฀white,”฀129 black฀students:฀learning฀how฀to฀write฀ involves฀escaping฀their฀class฀and฀ repudiating฀the฀language฀that฀ bespeaks฀their฀race,฀115.฀See฀also฀ black฀male฀students black฀verbal฀behavior:฀considered฀ aggressive฀by฀whites,฀143;฀ exaggerated฀characterization฀that฀ could฀be฀used฀as฀evidence฀of฀black฀ inferiority,฀115–16;฀has฀become฀ black฀person’s฀ultimate฀sign฀of฀ difference,฀117;฀“loud-talking,”฀ 67,฀151n2฀(Ch.฀3).฀See฀also฀Black฀ English฀Vernacular฀(BEV) Bloom,฀Lynn฀Z.:฀“Freshman฀ INDEX฀฀/฀฀163 Composition฀as฀Middle฀Class฀ Enterprise,”฀111–12,฀114–15 Bonvillain,฀Nancy,฀96 Bourgeois฀Blues:฀An฀American฀Memoir฀ (Lamar),฀149n8 “Boys฀Can’t฀Write,”฀4 “Breaking฀the฀Silence”฀(Gates),฀132–35 Brown,฀James,฀2 Brown฀v.฀Board฀of฀Education,฀74,฀77,฀117,฀ 151n3฀(Interlude) Broyard,฀Anatole,฀42 Campbell,฀Kermit,฀4–5,฀87,฀89,฀ 93;฀“The฀Signifying฀Monkey฀ Revisited,”฀152n1 Canagarajah,฀A.฀Suresh:฀“Safe฀Houses฀ in฀the฀Contact฀Zone,”฀118–21 Cannon,฀Sally฀I.,฀113–14 Chamillionaire...