“Black-ish”, as defined by urban dictionary, is the characteristic of not being a stereotyped urban black person; an urban black person with non-urban characteristics. Black culture has been borrowed from and exploited for as long as Black people have had the freedom of being creative. With a resurgence of “urban” Black culture from Champion hoodies to Nike Air Force 1’s, other races continue to claim Black culture as their own by making it a part of the mainstream social culture.
As a member of the Black community, I have witnessed this firsthand: White people wearing, saying, and stealing parts of Black culture and exploiting things that don’t belong to them. Imagine being forced to build the foundation of a community others have isolated themselves from for so long, only for the things you wear and say to be labeled “urban”. It has become harder to embrace being Black when everyone has their stereotypical ideas of who a Black person is and should be. Being boxed and marginalized within these stereotypes limits the growth of Black excellence. Ironically, it is the same people marginalizing Black people who continue to take parts of our culture.
“Feeling “Black-ish” is something that members of the Black community are now accustomed to because White people have changed what it means to identify as the typical “urban” image of a Black teen.”
Maybe if we got our well-deserved recognition rather than having bits and pieces of our fashion, music, language, and aesthetic being manipulated and restyled, there wouldn’t be the need for us to detach ourselves from our culture. Feeling “Black-ish” is something that members of the Black community are now accustomed to because White people have changed what it means to identify as the typical “urban” image of a Black teen. Black teens now detach themselves from their culture in hopes of redefining what it means to be an “urban Black teen”.
With companies (such as Urban Outfitters) catering to mainstream teenagers, reselling bamboo earrings for outlandish prices and carrying Kinky Curly Knot Today in their beauty section, attempting to rebrand several aspects of black culture; there is no question that cultural appropriation is going on right underneath our noses. I mean think about, would you want to associate yourself with parts of your culture that are being exploited and sugarcoated into the pool of mainstream production?
“If everyone who wanted to look like Black people, talk like Black people and have hair like Black people understood what it means to be Black in America, they would return their bamboo earrings and Kinky Curly as soon as they bought them.”
As a multi-ethnic teenager, yes I have felt the need to disassociate myself from the stereotypical image of my own culture. I don’t feel like identifying as a part of something that everyone else wants to be. If everyone who wanted to look like Black people, talk like Black people and have hair like Black people understood what it means to be Black in America, they would return their bamboo earrings and Kinky Curly as soon as they bought them. It is this exact misconception that leads myself and many others to fit in with what the majority (typically white people) are doing because fitting in has always been much easier than standing out.
Living in a world where “streetwear” has become trendy and being Black is the new fad isn’t a world I want to live in. My blackness isn’t a trend, and it will simply never go out of style. As for my ancestors who were mistreated and abused, their blackness never received this praise and neither should mine. The reality is, blackness is selectively profitable for white people when they feel they need a new trend. My advice? Don’t ever get too comfortable within the bounds of your own ideas and culture, because despite the originality it may have, it could easily be rebranded and marketed into something more “socially acceptable”.
