Caucasian

Since our discussion of white culture a few days ago, I've been thinking a lot about what "white culture" means. I attempted to put my thoughts to the page several times, all very unsuccessfully. So, in the spirit of The White Boy Shuffle, I decided to write a poem reflecting some of my thoughts on what it means to have a white culture (specifically in Urbana).

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the cadillac bumps us up and down
in our booster seats
as mom drives us to the bookstore.
we sit in the kids section
flipping through roald dahl.
dr suess.

strawberry field's and co-op(-eration),
we play operation when
dad goes to work.
he returns for dinner
at 6:30, sharp.

stand still
and let mom dress us up
hannah anderson, ralph lauren, merrell
names said as she brushes
our thin brown hair

petit racquets,
ones we grip for forehand volleys
every tuesday and thursday
while we produce pristine beads of sweat
and drink cool bottled water.

back at school, we study colors,
cultures teachers say are easier than the
alphabet.
but i don't know.
if white has no color but absorbs them all too,
what am i?
beige i guess.

Jar Jar Binks: A Racist?

In last week's showing of Ethnic Notions, we were shown crude cartoons of happy-go-lucky mammies, uncles, Sambos. All were portrayed as stupid, and the faces were unforgivably exaggerated. Racism in the first half of the 1900's (and earlier) was clear-cut and obvious. But in present-day America, the line between socially acceptable and inadmissible is very blurred.

In the class discussion following the documentary, we were all amazed at how many racist characters we were able to name from today's popular culture, all of whom we had never realized fit into racial stereotypes. The Suite Life's Mr. Moseby was one that we talked about in class for being a mammy-like figure in that he took care of Zack and Cody. Adding to this list of mammy characters, we could say that Eddie Murphy's character in movies such as Daddy Cay Care or Imagine That or Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's role in The Game Plan, could also be considered mammy roles.

Also fitting into roles defined by Ethnic Notions to be racist are the "Black Rambos" (I think that's what the film called them) which are the African American sidekicks, normally cops, who crack jokes and like violence. Again, a whole list of characters come to mind: Chris Tucker in Rush Hour, Eddie Murphy (again) in Tower Heist, etc. I'm sure you can come up with many more, especially if you generalize and count black sidekicks (there seems to be one in every show/movie)

My first reaction was one of horror, I've been consuming all of these stereotypes, not realizing any of it? As evidenced, there are so many examples of African American characters who fit into certain racist categories. Even our favorite character Jar Jar Binks, from the first Star Wars movie, is suggested to be racist because of his Caribbean accent, dim-witted character, bell bottoms and vest, and ears that are suggested to look like dreadlocks.

At some point, it seems like we've gone too far. Are we just looking for racism? What's wrong with having a funny alien with long ears? And as for the African American sidekicks and babysitters/single fathers, aren't there hundreds of white characters who play the exact same roles?

I think that the problem with our depictions of African Americans is not that there are too many funny sidekicks, it's the lack of serious black characters.

On the drive home from the Ethnic Notions movie night, Natalie Hummel and I tried to see if we could think of a single thoughtful African American protagonist in recent films/TV shows. We could barely come up with five. That is, in my opinion, scarier than the long list of comedic relief characters.

Gunnar and the Gun Totin' Hooligans

As we begin to delve into The White Boy Shuffle (I know, a new book already!) I think Gunnar's move to the hood is very interesting. At first, it seems as though he hates this neighborhood of hypodermic needle-littered parks and racist police officers. The 'hood' is very different from the environment he lived in in Santa Monica. There he had many friends, though he did feel a bit different from his predominantly white classmates, but in the hood Gunnar and his sisters are very much the outcasts. They are mercilessly beaten and insulted daily for being "white Negroes." And yet, Gunnar very much wants to become affiliated with a gang, which he describes as becoming a "soul brother".

At first I was very confused. Why would Gunnar want to forge a relationship with a group like the "Gun Totin' Hooligans" after he's abused time and time again by these gangs? But after our recent class discussions, it seems like his family legacy may have something to do with it. The Kaufmans have a history of being Uncle Tom's and bending down to racism (ex. Swen Kaufman running into slavery, Franz von being a 'seeing eye dog' for his master, and even his father being a sketch artist for the LAPD). But Gunnar tells the reader that while most fruit don't fall far from the tree, he's "tried to roll down the hill at least a little bit." By that, he means he wants to get away from his family's willing submissiveness to whites. So when Gunnar moves out of Santa Monica and into a neighborhood where he's surrounded by people of his own race, I think he feels it's an opportunity to break away from the Kaufman line (a gang member is definitely different than an Uncle Tom).

Of course, tied into this are wishes to fit in to a new environment and find some sort of identity, but I think that differentiating himself from his shameful lineage is the main reason for Gunnar's determinedness to join a gang, even if it means getting beat up and humiliated.