I luv your comment! And thank you for sharing your story. I am always attracted to tales of nuance and complexity. That's what I enjoy about people, and life. I like your quip -- "the same ship different decks." Smile. My white Twyman ancestors came over in 1677 and then transitioned to black and white around the year 1790. Half of all Twymans are black and half are white today. Distant cousins all of us.
I understand the need to curb your little one's quips and slang. She sounds like a fun loving kid. As you know, I totally get the 95% white school in the suburbs vibe. Does this type of experience render us trans racial through the lens of cultural experience? Do we oftentimes defer to more stereotypical experiences as the real black experience? Maybe, we're masters of fluid identity able to easily move between different worlds.
What makes culture "black" in America? Is there one black culture or a plentitude of cultures? Can one jump in and out of culture? What are the elements in culture that should be maintained in a beautiful future of trans racialism? What are the elements that can be maintained? I just have questions, no answers at the moment.
Cultures have been lost before on American soil. The Igbo is lost in the Black American culture and consciousness. The Fulani mindset has been lost. Same goes for the long ago embers of Yoruba and Esan culture in the memories of first generation Africans on Virginia and North Carolina plantations. Black culture arose out of a time and place and served a good function. I wonder what function it might serve if the average American is 12% black like my third cousins once removed. Do they live in black culture? Hard to say. I sense it is an uphill battle to convince unambiguous black class mates my third cousins share the same culture of skin color struggle.
It is ok to grieve the death of "blackness." I totally get it. Maybe, the bright future of transracialism will be ample reward for one's grief. Once again, thank you for a delightful comment. You made me think which is a true, rare pleasure these days. (And thanks for inspiring me to expand my wings with an essay on wiggers/double smile.)
I love this! Thank you! My white mother from a family who came over in 1636, lived as a black woman in Brooklyn for 10 years before she died. Super pale skin, kente cloth garb, no side eyes. My black side (dads) were slaves... at one point of the Cherokee (still need to confirm this). I always joke that my family came over on the same ship different decks 😆
But still it's not comfortable yet when my "white" kids say "gurl" and suck their teeth. The little one LOVES the show "Family Reunion" and I love it too! But I dial her back in public with her quips and slang from the show because I fear getting the side eye from black people, especially admin at her school because we bus black kids in from Boston to attend our 95% white scho in the suburbs.
The problem I have always faced is I don't think we can have both. We won't be able to maintain the culture that makes "black" in america if it becomes everyone's. By definition, if you can't differentiate something, it ceases to exist on its own merit. It becomes something else, just part of the whole.
So as much as I want a full, whole, integrated society, I think its OK to grieve the death of "blackness". Because you cant have both. Either cultural blackness and cultural whiteness is for everyone or we double down identity politics. I'm for the former but its a tough pill! I've been grieving tthat death for years. But still accepting it.
I luv your comment! And thank you for sharing your story. I am always attracted to tales of nuance and complexity. That's what I enjoy about people, and life. I like your quip -- "the same ship different decks." Smile. My white Twyman ancestors came over in 1677 and then transitioned to black and white around the year 1790. Half of all Twymans are black and half are white today. Distant cousins all of us.
I understand the need to curb your little one's quips and slang. She sounds like a fun loving kid. As you know, I totally get the 95% white school in the suburbs vibe. Does this type of experience render us trans racial through the lens of cultural experience? Do we oftentimes defer to more stereotypical experiences as the real black experience? Maybe, we're masters of fluid identity able to easily move between different worlds.
What makes culture "black" in America? Is there one black culture or a plentitude of cultures? Can one jump in and out of culture? What are the elements in culture that should be maintained in a beautiful future of trans racialism? What are the elements that can be maintained? I just have questions, no answers at the moment.
Cultures have been lost before on American soil. The Igbo is lost in the Black American culture and consciousness. The Fulani mindset has been lost. Same goes for the long ago embers of Yoruba and Esan culture in the memories of first generation Africans on Virginia and North Carolina plantations. Black culture arose out of a time and place and served a good function. I wonder what function it might serve if the average American is 12% black like my third cousins once removed. Do they live in black culture? Hard to say. I sense it is an uphill battle to convince unambiguous black class mates my third cousins share the same culture of skin color struggle.
It is ok to grieve the death of "blackness." I totally get it. Maybe, the bright future of transracialism will be ample reward for one's grief. Once again, thank you for a delightful comment. You made me think which is a true, rare pleasure these days. (And thanks for inspiring me to expand my wings with an essay on wiggers/double smile.)
Best and warm regards,
I love this! Thank you! My white mother from a family who came over in 1636, lived as a black woman in Brooklyn for 10 years before she died. Super pale skin, kente cloth garb, no side eyes. My black side (dads) were slaves... at one point of the Cherokee (still need to confirm this). I always joke that my family came over on the same ship different decks 😆
But still it's not comfortable yet when my "white" kids say "gurl" and suck their teeth. The little one LOVES the show "Family Reunion" and I love it too! But I dial her back in public with her quips and slang from the show because I fear getting the side eye from black people, especially admin at her school because we bus black kids in from Boston to attend our 95% white scho in the suburbs.
The problem I have always faced is I don't think we can have both. We won't be able to maintain the culture that makes "black" in america if it becomes everyone's. By definition, if you can't differentiate something, it ceases to exist on its own merit. It becomes something else, just part of the whole.
So as much as I want a full, whole, integrated society, I think its OK to grieve the death of "blackness". Because you cant have both. Either cultural blackness and cultural whiteness is for everyone or we double down identity politics. I'm for the former but its a tough pill! I've been grieving tthat death for years. But still accepting it.