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Acting white
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Acting white
In the United States, acting white is a pejorative term, usually applied to Black people by other Black people, which refers to a person's perceived betrayal of their culture by assuming the social expectations of white society. The term is controversial, and its precise meaning is hard to define; some usage focuses on success in education. It is theorized that some students in racial minority groups are discouraged from achieving in school by the negative prejudices of ethnic peers (such a view has been expressed in articles in The New York Times, Time magazine, and The Wall Street Journal) and by public figures and academics across the political spectrum.
The question of whether or not "acting white" attitudes are prevalent has been debated in academic literature. In 1986, Nigerian sociologist John Ogbu co-authored with Signithia Fordham a study that concluded that high-performing African-American students in a Washington, D.C. high school borrowed from hegemonic white culture as part of a strategy for achievement, while struggling to maintain a black identity, and the "acting white theory" was born.
Black comedian and media figure Bill Cosby used the term in what became a noted May 2004 speech when he challenged the black community against the idea that gaining education was "acting white." Don Lemon has also claimed that African-American communities are harmed by referring to use of standard English or finishing school as "acting white."
Black people accused of "acting white" are sometimes referred to as Black Anglo-Saxons, a term coined by comedian Paul Mooney.
In 2008, before Barack Obama's election as president of the United States, longtime activist Ralph Nader characterized the then-senator as "talking white."
Obama's presidential campaign and public image prompted a public discussion about whether he would shift the ground of critics of "acting white." Commentators John McWhorter and Stephen J. Dubner have said that it might. Yahanna of the Israelite School of Universal Practical Knowledge, described by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a black supremacist sect, did not consider Obama to be black but "African of white descent" and advised African Americans not to vote for him.
Obama strongly criticized the idea that achievement was limited to "acting white" in his keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. He said that "children can't achieve unless we raise their expectations and turn off the television sets and eradicate the slander that says a black youth with a book is acting white."
American Football player Russell Wilson came under fire in 2014 when anonymous sources alleged that the feeling in the locker room of his then team, the Seattle Seahawks, was that Wilson lacked "blackness." Mike Freeman, writing for Bleacher Report, speculated that this conflict was a possible reason for the trading of player Percy Harvin from the Seahawks to the New York Jets.
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Acting white
In the United States, acting white is a pejorative term, usually applied to Black people by other Black people, which refers to a person's perceived betrayal of their culture by assuming the social expectations of white society. The term is controversial, and its precise meaning is hard to define; some usage focuses on success in education. It is theorized that some students in racial minority groups are discouraged from achieving in school by the negative prejudices of ethnic peers (such a view has been expressed in articles in The New York Times, Time magazine, and The Wall Street Journal) and by public figures and academics across the political spectrum.
The question of whether or not "acting white" attitudes are prevalent has been debated in academic literature. In 1986, Nigerian sociologist John Ogbu co-authored with Signithia Fordham a study that concluded that high-performing African-American students in a Washington, D.C. high school borrowed from hegemonic white culture as part of a strategy for achievement, while struggling to maintain a black identity, and the "acting white theory" was born.
Black comedian and media figure Bill Cosby used the term in what became a noted May 2004 speech when he challenged the black community against the idea that gaining education was "acting white." Don Lemon has also claimed that African-American communities are harmed by referring to use of standard English or finishing school as "acting white."
Black people accused of "acting white" are sometimes referred to as Black Anglo-Saxons, a term coined by comedian Paul Mooney.
In 2008, before Barack Obama's election as president of the United States, longtime activist Ralph Nader characterized the then-senator as "talking white."
Obama's presidential campaign and public image prompted a public discussion about whether he would shift the ground of critics of "acting white." Commentators John McWhorter and Stephen J. Dubner have said that it might. Yahanna of the Israelite School of Universal Practical Knowledge, described by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a black supremacist sect, did not consider Obama to be black but "African of white descent" and advised African Americans not to vote for him.
Obama strongly criticized the idea that achievement was limited to "acting white" in his keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. He said that "children can't achieve unless we raise their expectations and turn off the television sets and eradicate the slander that says a black youth with a book is acting white."
American Football player Russell Wilson came under fire in 2014 when anonymous sources alleged that the feeling in the locker room of his then team, the Seattle Seahawks, was that Wilson lacked "blackness." Mike Freeman, writing for Bleacher Report, speculated that this conflict was a possible reason for the trading of player Percy Harvin from the Seahawks to the New York Jets.