Your Average Nigga: Performing Race, Literacy, and Masculinity

Interlude: Hooked on Ebonics

I฀am฀often฀of฀two฀minds฀when฀members฀of฀the฀black฀underclass,฀“the฀ lower฀economic฀people,”฀as฀the฀comedian฀Bill฀Cosby฀recently฀called฀ them,฀are฀chastised฀for฀their฀speech,฀their฀behaviors—their฀failure,฀ according฀to฀Cosby,฀in฀“not฀holding฀up฀their฀end฀in฀[the฀civil฀rights]฀ deal.”1 ฀With฀one฀mind฀I฀believe฀that฀poor฀blacks฀could฀do฀more฀for฀ themselves฀by฀taking฀better฀advantage฀of฀educational฀and฀other฀opportunities .฀With฀the฀other฀mind฀I฀see฀the฀many฀obstacles฀that฀block฀ their฀way,฀that฀prevent฀them฀from฀realizing฀their฀dreams.฀The฀irony฀of฀ this฀double-mindedness,฀however,฀is฀that฀it฀produces฀a฀certain฀clarity,฀ not฀about฀which฀to฀choose—whether฀to฀side฀with฀Cosby฀or฀those฀he฀ scolds—but฀about฀how฀views฀like฀Cosby’s฀are฀inevitable฀in฀our฀racialized ฀society. ฀ In฀this฀interlude฀I฀want฀to฀briefly฀meditate฀on฀Cosby’s฀statement฀ and฀connect฀his฀words฀to฀some฀of฀what฀I฀said฀in฀part฀1,฀that฀is,฀why฀I฀ want฀to฀be฀white฀and฀why฀I฀and฀other฀black฀men฀sometimes฀fetishize฀ one฀another—and฀sometimes฀want฀to฀destroy฀each฀other.฀Because฀the฀ purpose฀of฀this฀interlude฀is฀to฀mark฀my฀intellectual฀shift฀in฀this฀book฀ from฀the฀personal,฀from฀“Home,”฀to฀the฀professional฀and฀theoretical,฀ to฀“School,”฀I฀also฀want฀to฀place฀Cosby’s฀discussion,฀to฀which฀I฀return฀ in฀the฀last฀chapter,฀within฀the฀larger฀context฀of฀race฀and฀language. 73 Interlude฀ HOOKED฀ON EBONICS฀ INTERLUDE฀฀/฀฀74 ฀ In฀his฀speech,฀given฀on฀the฀occasion฀of฀the฀fiftieth฀anniversary฀of฀ Brown฀v.฀Board฀of฀Education฀(hereafter฀Brown),2 ฀Cosby฀categorically฀ castigates฀the฀black฀underclass฀because,฀as฀he฀told฀the฀crowd,฀“these฀ people฀are฀not฀parenting.฀.฀.฀.฀They฀are฀buying฀things฀for฀the฀kid—$500฀ sneakers.”฀He฀then฀asks,฀“For฀what?”฀To฀him฀the฀parents฀should฀spend฀ more฀wisely;฀they฀could฀“spend฀$250฀on฀‘Hooked฀on฀Phonics,’”฀he฀ says.฀While฀many฀defended฀Cosby’s฀statement—even฀the฀ugly฀manner ฀in฀which฀he฀delivered฀it—it฀actually฀supports฀an฀inaccurate฀and฀ prejudicial,฀although฀popular,฀point฀of฀view. ฀ It’s฀inaccurate฀because฀the฀landmark฀case฀that฀gave฀rise฀to฀the฀civil฀ rights฀movement฀and฀that฀in฀effect฀ended฀sanctioned฀segregation฀was฀ not฀a฀deal.3 ฀Granted,฀as฀a฀consequence฀of฀racialization,฀Brown฀may฀ function฀as฀a฀deal.฀But฀it฀doesn’t฀constitute฀one.฀There฀is฀no฀contract฀ stipulating฀that฀blacks฀must฀behave฀or฀speak฀in฀a฀certain฀way฀in฀order ฀to฀prove฀we฀deserve฀to฀benefit฀from฀the฀rights฀all฀blacks฀should฀ have฀had฀long,฀long฀ago.฀But฀since฀laws,฀just฀like฀everything฀else,฀are฀ raced฀in฀America,฀and฀since฀race฀still฀has฀a฀polarizing฀effect,฀Brown฀is฀ stifled฀in฀its฀potential.฀This฀leads฀to฀comments฀like฀Cosby’s฀that—perhaps ฀inadvertently—justify฀the฀American฀racial฀apartheid฀that฀keeps฀ blacks฀separated฀from฀whites฀and฀the฀corresponding฀American฀class฀ apartheid฀that฀separates฀the฀$500-shoe-buying,฀Hooked-on-Phonicsdenying ฀folks฀from฀the฀middle-฀and฀upper-class฀blacks฀to฀whom฀Cosby฀ delivered฀his฀speech. ฀ In฀other฀words,฀segregation฀based฀on฀color฀may฀have฀been฀outlawed฀ by฀Brown,฀but฀race฀(of฀which฀color฀was฀only฀one,฀albeit฀the฀prime,฀indicator )฀was฀not.฀The฀effect฀that฀Brown฀was฀intended฀to฀have,฀but฀has฀ been฀prevented฀from฀having,฀would฀have฀voided฀race฀as฀a฀marker฀of฀ difference฀that฀limits฀opportunities,฀especially฀educational฀ones,฀for฀ black฀people.฀Instead,฀the฀full฀achievement฀of฀Brown฀is฀deferred—because ฀the฀progress฀toward฀making฀race฀not฀matter฀stopped฀when฀the฀ focus฀shifted฀from฀color฀to฀performance.฀Thus฀language,฀dialect,฀and฀ accent฀must฀now฀be฀understood,฀at฀least฀in฀regard฀to฀black฀people,฀in฀ the฀same฀way฀that฀skin฀color฀wrongly฀used฀to฀be฀(and฀in฀some฀cases฀ still฀is),฀as฀outward฀signs฀of฀inward฀flaws,฀as฀verbal฀manifestations฀of฀ inherent฀inferiority,฀as฀faults฀of฀character. HOOKED฀ON฀EBONICS฀฀/฀฀75 ฀ Of฀course,฀since฀one฀can’t฀exist฀without฀the฀other,฀can’t฀have฀racial ฀behavior฀without฀first฀identifying฀a฀race,฀the฀shift฀from฀color฀to฀ performance฀is฀at฀best฀inexact,฀and฀the฀aim฀imperfect,฀which฀makes฀ it฀necessary฀to฀stress฀the฀differences฀between฀the฀main฀target฀(those฀ who฀perform฀characteristic฀blackness)฀and฀those฀they฀look฀like฀(but฀ who฀acceptably฀perform฀whiteness).฀As฀E.฀Patrick฀Johnson฀puts฀it฀in฀ his฀discussion฀of฀the฀performance฀of฀the฀“‘white-talking’฀black,”฀that฀ “person’s฀authenticity฀is฀called฀into฀question฀by฀his฀or฀her฀‘own’฀based฀ not฀solely฀on฀phenotype฀but฀also฀on฀the฀symbolic฀relationship฀between฀ skin฀color฀and฀the฀performance...