RE: Black Electorate’s: Hip Hop Fridays: Urban Legends_Debunking The Myth of Acting White by Ras Baraka.

On Friday Jan 6 Black Electorate posted an article by Ras Baraka in which Mr. Baraka supposedly attempted to debunk the “Myth” of “acting white.” I say attempted because most of the article was actually about Cory Booker, Barak Obama and Bill Cosby. He also went on about the origins of so called “Black conservatives” noting their attendance at Ivy League Univesities.

Let me say at the outset that I agree with much of what “Shorty for Mayor” writes in regards to the suspect nature of Barak Obama as well as the nonsense that comes out of the mouths of many so called black conservatives however I think he has the wrong idea regarding Bill Cosby’s commentary as well as the true issue of the devaluing of education by African- Americans. In part Baraka writes:


What I really want to get at though is this growing urban myth that black people don’t like education, that we think being educated is acting white and somewhere deeply inherit in our culture is a lack of value for education. Maybe it came from slavery. I used to hear this being whispered from time to time at political meetings or conferences on education. Then the whispers began to grow louder, and finally Cosby, angry at why the civil rights movement and the struggle for democracy in this country did not bear the fruits expected, gave a scolding and dangerous speech at Howard University. It was dangerous because it opened the door for every nut of every nationality and their hatred for the black community. The Economists, a conservative magazine, began to recognize Cosby as a social critic. I guess they never saw “Black History Lost Stolen or Strayed.” They praised Cosby for his criticism of Black street culture and his notion that it was time to give up the excuses and blame us for having low expectations (or as the Bush calls it soft bigotry) thus low results. Cosby was no longer participating in the “conspiracy of silence about blacks’ dismal performance in school.” Its not poverty. Its not racism. Its not parity in school funding. Its rappers that are responsible for the state of black America. In fact we are the only people that have come here (well we were knocked over our head and dragged here) that have not been able to take advantage of the American Dream. As if the majority of people in this country that are poor are not white, that are failing are not white, that are on welfare are not white, that commit crime are not white, that even buy rap music are not white, that own the radio stations and communication outlets that play it are not white, that constantly cut money for education are not white.

This education issue is not an urban myth. Let me point the reader to a post I made entitled Of Bantus and Bill in which I discuss the attitude of recent immigrant Africans towards education:

at Mission Vista one Friday, Ms. Osman's son, Abdullahi Osman, 15, sat at home at the dining table, homework assignments and an English-Somali dictionary in his lap...Until I finish my education, I don't want to do anything else," said Abdullahi, who dreams of becoming a doctor. He said that books were his most valued possessions, though he checks them out of the public library.

...Hamadi, who goes to school and helps his brother at his job at a Boston Market restaurant, said of his new life, "I don't have time for watching TV"


What is the attitude of African Americans in general towards education vis-à-vis-TV? I wrote in another post More on Black Education

After having this discussion I took a gander at The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education (Nov. 24, Spring 2004) where I stumbled across an article attempting to discuss the general low-scores of blacks on the SAT. Among the 14 points discussed ETS, two immediatlty jumped out at me:

12) Reading to Young Children: Almost two thirds of all white children ages three to five are read to every day. Only 48 percent of black children in this age group are read to daily.


13) Television Watching: In black households, 42 percent of fourth-graders watch six or more hours of televisions each day. Only 13 percent of white fourth-graders watch six or more hours of television each day.

So then lets bury the argument for good. Any group of people who allow their children to watch six or more hours of TV daily does not value education. Period. Here at Garvey’s Ghost we have stated that the problem with AA’s in general is one of culture. Many of the other non-white immigrant groups that come here come with intact cultural practices and expectations that re-enforce certain priorities. In the American Black communities much of that culture has been stripped. It is for this reason Kwanzaa is a potent tool to reclaim certain attitudes that we have lost.

In order to clear up any confusion at no point does Garvey’s Ghost, or Bill Cosby for that matter, believe or state that all blacks are down on education. It has always been an issue for a portion, rather sizeable, of the population. Yet many people opposed to this fact attempt to put that claim on us. It is wrong and only makes us look bad.

But one may ask: Is devaluing education the same as “acting white?” this is a very good and relevant question. Let’s, for the sake of argument, say that it is not. Let’s say that instead it is considered ‘not black.” With this concept we can say that if a group is stereotyped as being a certain way then anyone who behaves in the manner ascribed to the group may be seen as trying to emulate that group. Running with this logic, we know for a fact that there is a certain group of black people for whom “Street knowledge” is king. Certain modes of dress are a hallmark of this group. Knowledge of certain events, music and material items are also hallmarks of this group. The playing of certain sports and the use of a particular vernacular are all hallmarks of this group. This group claims to be “keeping it real” which implies that others, not exhibiting certain behaviors are less real by various degrees. Now this lifestyle has adherents who are not from the same racial group who behave in the same manner as the joined group and they are referred to as “wanna be’s” , “wiggers” or some other reference that clearly shows that they aspire to be the same as the group to which they are fitting into. Clearly if this group can identify those who are outsiders trying to get in, then they can also identify supposed insiders who are not “keeping it real.” If they are not keeping it real then what are they being? I would allow the reader to draw their own conclusion.

There are also many African nationals in the US who upon seeing the behavior of some of our people, send their children back to Africa for socialization and education because they can see the problems to which many of us are willing to cover up publicly while talking about it privately. Now many of us here get defensive and say that recent African immigrants are ignorant to our history and are being unfair to us. Some of that is indeed true, but it does not erase the facts on the ground.

Technorati Tags: Black Education, Culture