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Date: Thu, 16 Dec 2004 14:11:36 -0600
From: Vicki Washington <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: The 'Acting White' Myth
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Date: Thu, 16 Dec 2004 09:51:06 -0600<br>
To: vicki Washington &lt;[log in to unmask]&gt;<br>
From: Corliss Olson &lt;[log in to unmask]&gt;<br>
Subject: Fwd: The 'Acting White' Myth<br><br>
<font color="#0000FF"><i>Hi Vicki,<br><br>
I thought this was an interesting article, good information for
myth-debunking, &amp; another awareness of how racism sneak in -- &amp;
can be booted out.<br><br>
Corliss<br><br>
<br>
</i></font><blockquote type=cite class=cite cite>The 'Acting White'
Myth<br><br>
By PAUL TOUGH<br><br>
The New York Times<br><br>
December 12, 2004<br><br>
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/12/magazine/12ACTING.html?oref=login" eudora="autourl">http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/12/magazine/12ACTING.html?oref=login</a><br><br>
When Bill Cosby spoke out publicly in May against<br>
dysfunction and irresponsibility in black families, he<br>
identified one pervasive symptom: ''boys attacking<br>
other boys because the boys are studying and they say,<br>
'You're acting white.''' This idea isn't new; it was<br>
first proposed formally in the mid-80's by John Ogbu, a<br>
Nigerian professor of anthropology at the University of<br>
California at Berkeley, and it has since become almost<br>
a truism: when smart black kids try hard and do well,<br>
they are picked on by their less successful peers for<br>
''acting white.''<br><br>
The only problem with this theory, according to a<br>
research paper released in October, is that for the<br>
most part, it isn't true. Karolyn Tyson, a sociologist<br>
at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and<br>
William Darity Jr., an economist at Duke and U.N.C.,<br>
coordinated an 18-month ethnographic study at 11<br>
schools in North Carolina. What they found was that<br>
black students basically have the same attitudes about<br>
achievement as their white counterparts do: they want<br>
to succeed, understand that doing well in school has<br>
important consequences in later life and feel better<br>
about themselves the better they do.<br><br>
So where does the idea of the burden of ''acting<br>
white'' come from? One explanation the authors offer<br>
will make sense to anyone who has ever seen a John<br>
Hughes movie: there's an ''oppositional peer culture''<br>
in every high school -- the stoners and the jocks<br>
making fun of the nerds and the student-government<br>
types. When white burnouts give wedgies to white A<br>
students, the authors argue, it is seen as inevitable,<br>
but when the same dynamic is observed among black<br>
students, it is pathologized as a racial neurosis.<br><br>
More insidiously, the authors say, the idea that<br>
failing black kids pull down successful black kids can<br>
be used as an excuse by administrators to conceal or<br>
justify discrimination in the public-education system.<br>
The one school where the researchers did find anxiety<br>
about ''acting white'' was the one in which black<br>
students were drastically underrepresented in the<br>
gifted-and-talented classes. And significantly, at this<br>
particular school, the notion of the burden of ''acting<br>
white'' was most pervasive not among the black students<br>
interviewed by the researchers, but among their<br>
teachers and administrators, who told researchers that<br>
blacks are ''averse to success'' and ''don't place a<br>
high value on education.''<br><br>
Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company<br>
_______________________________________________________<br><br>
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<font size=2 color="#800080"><b>Vicki C. Washington, Director<br>
Office of Equal Opportunity &amp; Diversity Programs<br>
UW-Extension<br>
432 N. Lake St., Room 501<br>
Madison, WI 53706<br>
608-262-0277; 608-262-8404 [FAX]<br>
Hearing and Speech Impaired Relay: 711<br>
<a href="http://www.uwex.edu/diversity" eudora="autourl">www.uwex.edu/diversity</a><br><br>
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