Not Black Enough Syndrome

[katsteve2012]

I grew up in a similar situation;I was a mixed race kid growing up in the NYC metro area in the seventies and early eighties. I had my share of Black folks making those comments, but they were definitely in the MINORITY and usually the fools who were going nowhere good in life. I also had my share of ignorant White folks who made their share of ignorant comments as well, they were definitely in the MINORITY and many of them were going nowhere good.
In short, I think that this "syndrome" is being overblown to fit a certain biased narrative. What I experienced above, made me a stronger, fairer, and better person.

Well it does happen in many ways. Not black enough. Not white enough. Women in Africa actually bleaching their skin these days.

Too flat chested or too busty; Too short or too tall; Too skinny or too fat; any of those in any color.

But as far as this thread goes there's a great documentary called Dark Girls that supposedly really explores colorism in the African American community.

I've never had a chance to see the whole documentary but I'd love to. I saw Bill Duke being interviewed on CBC and man oh man he showed some really hard hitting clips.

(I'm a Bill Duke fan from way back).

Sigh. This is one of the problems of living where I live now, I don't have access to much media these days. Two hours plus one way to see a movie (and that's in good weather)

Bill Duke has become an excellent producer/director over the years. I remember him from way back as well, when he had roles in the movies "Car Wash" and "American Gigolo".

 

[yidnar]

1. In my youth I wanted so badly to fit in. I wanted to be a regular black kid like the other black kids. The problem was, as was pointed out in my eighth grade English class: “He talk like a white boy!”

2. My best friend lived in a white neighborhood and had the same debilitation: correct usage, impeccable diction, large vocabulary. Woe is us. So, for a week of so, we tried. We spent the entire week calling each other *******. “Nigga, please!” and “Nigga, whatchu talkin’ ‘bout.” But our proper English kept getting in the way, and the experiment failed.




3. I’m certain that my life would have been different had I kept trying. One thing is certain, I would have has greater success with women! Talking like a white boy hit me most often where it counts- my ability to get nookie. I discovered, much to my chagrin, that black women are highly sensitive to the Not Black Enough Syndrome. Black women like the jive talk.

4. It is an actual syndrome. Not only have I lived it, but it is also documented in the book “Black Rage,” written by two black psychiatrists, William H. Grier and Price M. Cobbs. Page 127: “A group of black men was asked to describe their techniques of seduction. Without exception, each one said that at a crucial point he reverted to the patois. Black women said they experienced an intensification of excitement when their lovers reverted to the ‘old language.’”

a. Of course, it had been pointed out in the eighth grade, I don’t have the patois. I fell to my knees and pleaded with God: “WHY? WHY DON’T I HAVE THE PATOIS??”

b. They go on to say: “For the black man in the United States, the boudoir is a field of combat in which rightfully or not he is deemed by his society pre-eminent. His use of patois,…may dramatically highlight an already heroic presence.”





5. Need proof? I dated Robin Givens years before she was Robin Givens. I was laying down my best stuff, wore my good cologne, told my best jokes trying to sound sophisticated. Even got in good with her mother. Nothing. Years later she married Mike Tyson. Later, I heard her on a radio interview with Howard Stern, talking about how she loves really thuggish black guys. What a gyp! I go to school, stay out of trouble, really try to make something of myself, but the street thug gets to make love to Robin Givens.

6. Well, I refuse to fake the funk for anyone. Even Robin Givens. Now, as an actor, I can fake the sound and syntax, the turn of phrase, the inflection, if a part requires it. But, it is not my normal way of speaking. Hardly a week goes by without someone commenting on my ‘proper’ speech. In fact, an actor I worked with reminded him of a professor he had in Trinidad, and he swore that one day, the professor waded out too far in the ocean, and, instead of hollering “Help! Help!,” he called out “Excuse me, may I have some assistance please?”



7. Fortunately there is a happy ending. Years after rebounding from the Givens snub, I met and fell in love with a pretty young black woman with red hair and freckles, who would become my wife. Oddly enough, while we were dating, I would speak to her on the phone, and find myself thinking, “She talk like a white girl.”
It was a match made in heaven.
The above from Joseph C. Phillips' book "He Talk Like A White Boy"




I hope that the above serves as education and a cautionary tale for our Liberal friends:
all black people are not the same.

Nor must they be ground to dust if they don't fit your political perspective.

sadly if you want to be accepted in the black community you need to speak and act like this ...[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpAOwJvTOio]Original Obamaphone Lady: Obama Voter Says Vote for Obama because he gives a free Phone - YouTube[/ame]

 

[PoliticalChic]

A couple of events occurred on this day, March 20th, and are related to the OP:

1852 - Harriet Beecher Stowe’s classic book was published. "Uncle Tom’s Cabin", subtitled "Life Among the Lowly", became an instant success, selling 300,000 copies in its first year.



1854 A group of people met in a small white schoolhouse in Ripon, Wisconsin to protest the opening of Nebraska and Kansas territories to slavery. Disgusted with the failure of the current political parties and congress to uphold the cause of freedom in the West, they formed a new anti-slavery party and called it the Republican Party. “We went in Whigs, Free Soilers and Democrats, and came out Republicans.” Horace Greeley gave publicity to the new party.


The Democrats, of course, the party of slavery and segregation.

 

[editec]

That's rather ironic.

So many of us Whites were never quite White enough, too.

 

[aplcr0331]

I was shocked when I spent time in Georgia and Mississippi about the hatred (by some not all) of dark skinned blacks against light skinned blacks. I saw more black on black racism than I would have expected. It was an odd dynamic.

 

[ClosedCaption]

Wow this is compelling...Why cant all black people do every other black person a favor and never say anything stupid. Because once one black person says something stupid white people use that as an example of ALL BLACK people.

Or maybe they use that example to further their own previously held beliefs about all black people.

 

[aplcr0331]

Wow this is compelling...Why cant all black people do every other black person a favor and never say anything stupid. Because once one black person says something stupid white people use that as an example of ALL BLACK people.

Or maybe they use that example to further their own previously held beliefs about all black people.

Wow this is compelling...Why cant all white people do every other white person a favor and never say anything stupid. Because once one white person says something stupid black people use that as an example of ALL WHITE people.

Or maybe they use that example to further their own previously held beliefs about all white people.

Yep, sounds about right in both cases dontcha think?

 

[ClosedCaption]

Wow this is compelling...Why cant all black people do every other black person a favor and never say anything stupid. Because once one black person says something stupid white people use that as an example of ALL BLACK people.

Or maybe they use that example to further their own previously held beliefs about all black people.

Wow this is compelling...Why cant all white people do every other white person a favor and never say anything stupid. Because once one white person says something stupid black people use that as an example of ALL WHITE people.

Or maybe they use that example to further their own previously held beliefs about all white people.

Yep, sounds about right in both cases dontcha think?

Yep

 

[PoliticalChic]

Wow this is compelling...Why cant all black people do every other black person a favor and never say anything stupid. Because once one black person says something stupid white people use that as an example of ALL BLACK people.

Or maybe they use that example to further their own previously held beliefs about all black people.

Wow this is compelling...Why cant all white people do every other white person a favor and never say anything stupid. Because once one white person says something stupid black people use that as an example of ALL WHITE people.

Or maybe they use that example to further their own previously held beliefs about all white people.

Yep, sounds about right in both cases dontcha think?

So....your solution is for everyone to remain silent?


Did you notice that this is a public message board?

 

[ClosedCaption]

No the solution is for you not to take one black persons statement and apply it to all blacks...I know its hard to do and leaves you pointless but you'll seem more credible

 

[aplcr0331]

Wow this is compelling...Why cant all black people do every other black person a favor and never say anything stupid. Because once one black person says something stupid white people use that as an example of ALL BLACK people.

Or maybe they use that example to further their own previously held beliefs about all black people.

Wow this is compelling...Why cant all white people do every other white person a favor and never say anything stupid. Because once one white person says something stupid black people use that as an example of ALL WHITE people.

Or maybe they use that example to further their own previously held beliefs about all white people.

Yep, sounds about right in both cases dontcha think?

So....your solution is for everyone to remain silent?


Did you notice that this is a public message board?

You're kind of slow.

 

[PoliticalChic]

No the solution is for you not to take one black persons statement and apply it to all blacks...I know its hard to do and leaves you pointless but you'll seem more credible

"No the solution is for you not to take No the solution is for you not to take one black persons statement and apply it to all blacks..

Could you show where I have applied "... one black persons statement and apply[ed] it to all blacks.."

For, if you cannot....it brings into question your ability to judge reality.

Although, it must be admitted, if you cannot judge reality, it will have no bearing on your position as a "reliable Democrat voter."

 

[PoliticalChic]

Wow this is compelling...Why cant all white people do every other white person a favor and never say anything stupid. Because once one white person says something stupid black people use that as an example of ALL WHITE people.

Or maybe they use that example to further their own previously held beliefs about all white people.

Yep, sounds about right in both cases dontcha think?

So....your solution is for everyone to remain silent?


Did you notice that this is a public message board?

You're kind of slow.

Well, then....in light of my 'slowness,' could you elucidate your position more clearly, so that even I can understand it?

 

[ClosedCaption]

No the solution is for you not to take one black persons statement and apply it to all blacks...I know its hard to do and leaves you pointless but you'll seem more credible

"No the solution is for you not to take No the solution is for you not to take one black persons statement and apply it to all blacks..

Could you show where I have applied "... one black persons statement and apply[ed] it to all blacks.."

For, if you cannot....it brings into question your ability to judge reality.

Although, it must be admitted, if you cannot judge reality, it will have no bearing on your position as a "reliable Democrat voter."

Sure heres your proof:

Fu----Q

 

[PoliticalChic]

No the solution is for you not to take one black persons statement and apply it to all blacks...I know its hard to do and leaves you pointless but you'll seem more credible

"No the solution is for you not to take No the solution is for you not to take one black persons statement and apply it to all blacks..

Could you show where I have applied "... one black persons statement and apply[ed] it to all blacks.."

For, if you cannot....it brings into question your ability to judge reality.

Although, it must be admitted, if you cannot judge reality, it will have no bearing on your position as a "reliable Democrat voter."

Sure heres your proof:

Fu----Q

Another Liberal exposed.

 

[ClosedCaption]

Sure you believe that but your OP was "All black people arent the same" - Who said they were? Your strawman did

It also said: Dont crush them when they dont agree with your politics. - Again, who does that? No one, you play the victim to pretend to rise from it. When in reality, blacks are free to agree with who they want with no "crushing to dust" occuring.

You're a constant victim being attacked constantly by your own paranoia. Congrats

 

[PoliticalChic]

Sure you believe that but your OP was "All black people arent the same" - Who said they were? Your strawman did

It also said: Dont crush them when they dont agree with your politics. - Again, who does that? No one, you play the victim to pretend to rise from it. When in reality, blacks are free to agree with who they want with no "crushing to dust" occuring.

You're a constant victim being attacked constantly by your own paranoia. Congrats

'It also said: Dont crush them when they dont agree with your politics. - Again, who does that?"

Liberals.

" And there’s one other name by which I am frequently, yet indirectly addressed (which I’ve now surprisingly embraced). To the best of my knowledge, neither my six-year-old, nor my twenty-nine-year-old sister has any children. Nevertheless, I am given the title “Uncle”....

....with the intention of hurting and insulting me, folks have dubbed me as “Uncle Tom”. The last time I checked my birth certificate, Tom wasn’t there. But I guess no one pays any attention to the validity of birth certificates. Isn’t that right, President Soetoro? (Oops, I mean “Obama”). For about as long as Blacks have tried to mentally step OUT of the mental and political plantation, their complacent Black counterparts have made the term synonymous with self-hatred, betrayal, and more negative terms than Hollywood liberals apply to the United States of America.

When a Black person calls another Black person an Uncle Tom, their intention is to hurt, sting, and denigrate that fiscally/socially/personally responsible individual for veering away from the group-think mentality. The term is used so hatefully, it’s as if their want to call the person a ****** without actually saying it."
KiraDavis.net » Liberals Say Uncle?Tom, That Is.




"You're a constant victim being attacked constantly by your own paranoia."

BAAA--ZZZIINGGGGG!

 

[Twofox]

The term is in and of itself a racist term. Not Black Enough. Really?

 

[ClosedCaption]

Sure you believe that but your OP was "All black people arent the same" - Who said they were? Your strawman did

It also said: Dont crush them when they dont agree with your politics. - Again, who does that? No one, you play the victim to pretend to rise from it. When in reality, blacks are free to agree with who they want with no "crushing to dust" occuring.

You're a constant victim being attacked constantly by your own paranoia. Congrats

'It also said: Dont crush them when they dont agree with your politics. - Again, who does that?"

Liberals.

" And there’s one other name by which I am frequently, yet indirectly addressed (which I’ve now surprisingly embraced). To the best of my knowledge, neither my six-year-old, nor my twenty-nine-year-old sister has any children. Nevertheless, I am given the title “Uncle”....

....with the intention of hurting and insulting me, folks have dubbed me as “Uncle Tom”. The last time I checked my birth certificate, Tom wasn’t there. But I guess no one pays any attention to the validity of birth certificates. Isn’t that right, President Soetoro? (Oops, I mean “Obama”). For about as long as Blacks have tried to mentally step OUT of the mental and political plantation, their complacent Black counterparts have made the term synonymous with self-hatred, betrayal, and more negative terms than Hollywood liberals apply to the United States of America.

When a Black person calls another Black person an Uncle Tom, their intention is to hurt, sting, and denigrate that fiscally/socially/personally responsible individual for veering away from the group-think mentality. The term is used so hatefully, it’s as if their want to call the person a ****** without actually saying it."
KiraDavis.net » Liberals Say Uncle?Tom, That Is.




"You're a constant victim being attacked constantly by your own paranoia."

BAAA--ZZZIINGGGGG!

Thats an opinion...again, what liberals? You dont know, they are nameless faceless liberals. All attacking...from everywhere. Thats the story and you believe it....gullible

 

[PoliticalChic]

Sure you believe that but your OP was "All black people arent the same" - Who said they were? Your strawman did

It also said: Dont crush them when they dont agree with your politics. - Again, who does that? No one, you play the victim to pretend to rise from it. When in reality, blacks are free to agree with who they want with no "crushing to dust" occuring.

You're a constant victim being attacked constantly by your own paranoia. Congrats

'It also said: Dont crush them when they dont agree with your politics. - Again, who does that?"

Liberals.

" And there’s one other name by which I am frequently, yet indirectly addressed (which I’ve now surprisingly embraced). To the best of my knowledge, neither my six-year-old, nor my twenty-nine-year-old sister has any children. Nevertheless, I am given the title “Uncle”....

....with the intention of hurting and insulting me, folks have dubbed me as “Uncle Tom”. The last time I checked my birth certificate, Tom wasn’t there. But I guess no one pays any attention to the validity of birth certificates. Isn’t that right, President Soetoro? (Oops, I mean “Obama”). For about as long as Blacks have tried to mentally step OUT of the mental and political plantation, their complacent Black counterparts have made the term synonymous with self-hatred, betrayal, and more negative terms than Hollywood liberals apply to the United States of America.

When a Black person calls another Black person an Uncle Tom, their intention is to hurt, sting, and denigrate that fiscally/socially/personally responsible individual for veering away from the group-think mentality. The term is used so hatefully, it’s as if their want to call the person a ****** without actually saying it."
KiraDavis.net » Liberals Say Uncle?Tom, That Is.




"You're a constant victim being attacked constantly by your own paranoia."

BAAA--ZZZIINGGGGG!

Thats an opinion...again, what liberals? You dont know, they are nameless faceless liberals. All attacking...from everywhere. Thats the story and you believe it....gullible

"....folks have dubbed me as “Uncle Tom”."

So....you require signed affidavits?


[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pImzUT-eRBc]Why Are Educated Black People Called Uncle Toms - YouTube[/ame]