To Whom It May Concern:
Greetings. My name is Elon James White. I’m Black.
I write this letter on behalf of alot of people that fall into the category of Average Black People. (Yes, I capitalize it, as if it were a title.) I do not claim to represent them because that would be absurd. I really, truly don’t. I don’t even represent my circle of friends. At any point in time one of my Black buddies will, in fact, tell me to go to hell when speaking on concepts of race, politics, or religion.
I do, however, qualify as an Average Black Person. I am neither a part of the Black intelligentsia, nor do I fall into the category of your garden-variety street Negro. A lot of folks see Black people in one of these two categories. Normally, let’s be honest, it’s the latter.
I don’t qualify.
I do come from “the Hood.” That’s right. I am a born and bred Brooklynite raised in the middle of Bed-Stuy. If you aren’t familiar with Bed-Stuy, perhaps you have never listened to gangster rap. You’re probably also unfamiliar with Jay-Z, Biggie Smalls, or the thousands of songs that yell out “Brooklyn!” and then give a shout-out to Bed-Stuy. It’s fine. Just understand that Bed-Stuy has a primarily negative connotation and for many years was used in boasts to gain respect or fear because it’s an incredibly violent environment.
In other words, you could get shot, son.
Speaking of which, I am the son of a single mother. My father is in prison. My grandfather was a pastor and I grew up in the church. I, without shame, also enjoy fried chicken, watermelon, ribs, and orange soda. I can have an incredibly in-depth debate on the best five MCs ever. My credit isn’t great and I’ve been shot.
With facts like this I qualify as a STEREOTYPICAL Black person right?
But I am also a computer programmer. I’ve been known to quote Nietzsche. I, on occasion, host dinner parties where I serve five-course meals, including a specialty of mine, White Truffle Tilapia (It’s delightful). I have the entire John Williams discography and wear a backpack that is emblazoned with the Thundercats insignia.
Those with one half of that story shake their head at the sheer mass of stereotypes I carry. Then those with the other half question if I even understand the Black experience at all. Some refer to me as someone who “made it out.” I currently live in Crown Heights. Some say “You’re not like the others.” Most people I interact with are very similar to me.
I am an Average Black Person.
So, as an ABP I have a few requests:
Media.
Please stop referring to blacks as a monolith. I can’t possibly express to you the different types of Black people that exist. We neither move as an entity, nor do we move as three or four entities. For every Sharpton, there’s a Steele. And for every Sharpton and Steele there are a hundred folks in the middle. What we share is a past, which on occasion helps shape our view on things. Also? Obama is not a unicorn. Please stop acting like Obama and his family are magical in the Black community. Just because some of you may not have seen a Negro like this doesn’t mean they don’t exist. Lots of smart black folk living with their smart mates and their cute smart kids. So please remember. Obama? Not a unicorn. Black people? Not one voice: I don’t care what the supposed Black leaders try to claim.
Supposed Black Leaders.
Please stop speaking for us as if we were a monolith. This is NOT the 1960s. We don’t need a Martin Luther King, Jr. or a Malcom X. You speak for yourselves and your view on what’s happening. You also can’t police black people. THERE ISN’T AN US. Are there issues within the Black community? Absolutely, but its not everybody as much as it’s certain groups, most time classes that are in need of help and focus. Hence you can’t speak for “Blacks.” There are people who NEED your help and don’t want you SPEAKING for them. Oh, and for the love of all that is holy, could you please stop critiquing Obama simply to show you aren’t drinking the kool-aid. I get it. You’re sugar-free. Got it.
Critics Of Obama
Hey, um . . . guess what Black people are not? A monolith. We are not holding Obama on a pedestal. Some critique him harshly (and personally I feel unjustly) and others love him. This is the case WITH EVERY PRESIDENT. Obama is not the spokesperson for Black people. He is a symbol of hope. He is a symbol of opportunity in a land where opportunity for us seemed nonexistent. He’s a symbol of a fight where people cried and died and sacrificed in order for the opportunity for HIM to exist. But his actions are his actions and have to be judged. Just not 4 months after he walked in the door with one of the worst clean up jobs in the countries history. You may critique him without critiquing Blacks’ ability to critique him.
The hypocrisy of saying we are not One, and yet speaking for the exact group for which I just emphatically denied exists, is not lost on me. Perhaps there are Black people who absolutely want to be spoken for and referred to as if we were one big team. I acknowledge the possibility, but if this was the majority people like Dyson and Smiley would be way more important, and let’s be honest: they aren’t. After reading this, the next time you talk to a Black person you can feel comfortable in NOW KNOWING with every fiber of your being that you have no clue what they think or feel based on their skin color.
But if they’re wearing a Soulja Boy shirt you may disregard this essay and judge them immediately.
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theprisonerswife Says:
i love this!
i’m an Average Black Person with some interesting quirks as well. we ain’t all the same & it’s GREAT!
Posted on June 24th, 2009 at 11:19 am
Aiesha Says:
First, what black leaders?
As another average black person, thanks for posting this. It’s a shame that even other black folks can’t fathom that we are not a monolith. My friends clown me for my adoration of all things Wonder Woman and my love of any food that originated from a slave quarter.
You are not alone in this.
Posted on June 24th, 2009 at 12:43 pm
April Says:
Well said. So well done I wish I had said it…LOL.
However, I think the people who categorize blacks mostly do so by choice (not so much out of ignorance).
Posted on June 24th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
Marcy Webb Says:
I agree with your points; Black Americans are *not* a monolith. However, I do believe that Black Americans perpetuate a type of group-think that as a racial group keeps us as a group in bondage. In other words, we don’t allow each other to be individuals, but tied to a monolithic way of thinking, being and doing.
Posted on June 24th, 2009 at 4:50 pm
tiffany Says:
co-sign. and i need to add: plenty of average black folks DIDN’T grow up in “the hood,” but in the suburbs. in houses with lawns, *GASP!* both parents, and swim lessons at the local park pool.
it just amazes me how out of touch non-black people are with black people.
Posted on June 25th, 2009 at 8:47 am
Ayik Says:
just be black without having to explain yourself. if you listen to heavy metal and have all white friends: DO YOU. If you voted for Obama and live in Section 8 : DO YOU. If you are queer, and love Birkenstocks: DO YOU. Stop always trying to compare yourself to the sterotype and distancing yourself from a community you have to put in quotations
“ghetto”
” da ‘hood”
just do you and shut the hell up about it.
damn
Posted on June 25th, 2009 at 11:33 am
tiffany Says:
ayik: that’s *really* easy to say until you run into somebody who just assumes your whole biography, and treats you accordingly, based on how you look.
Posted on June 26th, 2009 at 1:15 pm
Oscar Says:
@tiffany
That’s what a middle finger is for…
Posted on June 27th, 2009 at 8:49 pm
mertz Says:
omg. thanks so much for this. i totally feel you. i’ve said the same thing many times and i get these cross eyes or comments from people like i’m not black or i just don’t understand or that my being african distances me from blacks in the diaspora or north american blacks. i call bull on all of that. i know where i come from. i know my history. unlike some people i know exactly my history and we weren’t slaves in m y family but we were a part of selling people to the foreginers who came to the villages and made deals. so when some ignorant person comes up to me, black or white, takes a look at my skin colour and decides that they know who i am i once again call bullshit. puhlease. i’m not black enough. by what and whose standards, the collective? shank me. i know who i am and i know where i come from and i am tired of people speaking on my behalf or people who are of the same colour as me looking at me and laughing because i read, i’m not a baby mama, i actually take the bible and religion seriously, i am artistic, and i use my brain, i believe in learning too and asking questions as well as researching answers…yet everytime i’m laughed at because i don’t dress like all the other people and i don’t act like all the other people…if god wanted me to be other people i wouldn’t be me. so thanks for this elon.
Posted on July 1st, 2009 at 1:44 am
Darren Says:
It’s amazing how much people need to know someone race to feel “comfortable”. It’s one of the first few things you ask when you meet someone new (an aquaintence, a date, a coworker). After you ask for the person name and where they live that 3rd question is always some sort of ethnicity question. I’m biracial (black and asian, Blasian) so I either get an in your face “What are you” (yes just like that verbatim) or a more covert question like “so…uh..where your parents from”. People HAVE to know, so then can “make sense of the world”, begin to create and build ideas, expectations, assumptions, and judgements in there head. When I tell them to “guess” and walk away it drives them crazy. And of course they ask again later.
Posted on July 8th, 2009 at 11:28 am
Alicia Says:
I love you.
Posted on July 8th, 2009 at 11:49 am
White Bob from Whiteyville Says:
It would help us dumb whites not see you as a monolith if you, um….wouldn’t vote as a monolith. Seriously, when your folks vote at over a 90% clip to support the same causes, it’s not an outrageous conclusion to come to.
I’m just sayin…..
Posted on July 24th, 2009 at 6:55 am
karinova Says:
Oh my god, FINALLY.
I too grew up in The Hood– shoutout to NYC! also, single moms!– and I’m well educated, love Spinal Tap, and have never used the word “holla.” I don’t get the whole Scarface thing, and I’m not really into hip-hop (anymore). Hell, I’m Jamaican… and I’M NOT THAT INTO BOB MARLEY. As a non-American Average Black Person, I’m so there with you on the idiotic pressure/expectation to black it up. (I couldn’t if I tried, and I don’t want to. And no, I’m not going to Jah it up for you, either.) I’ve gotten it from both sides. In some places/cases, I’m not black enough for anybody, apparently. Some people actually get hostile! It’s like I mess up their whole world view or something.
So if there’s anything I would add it would be…
White people: stop trying to force all black people into one stereotypical box.
Black people: stop trying to force all black people into THAT SAME FRIGGIN’ BOX!
Attention Citizens! Not all black people are approaching things from some stereotypical Black American frame of reference. Seriously: America’s black people not a homogeneous bloc.
That is all.
Posted on July 28th, 2009 at 1:44 am
RVCBard Says:
Now who do I tell the aliens to talk to when they get here?
Posted on November 30th, 2009 at 2:52 pm
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Posted on December 19th, 2009 at 9:40 am