The Cookie Syndrome

I think it’s safe to assume that every African-American person in this country understands the term “Oreo” as it is used to describe a certain “kind of Black person”. In a nutshell, it’s a black person who is perceived by another black person or other black people as one who attempts to “be white”. But, what does that really mean…to me?
Well, I think it certainly goes beyond how one dresses, wears his/her hair, where a person lives, or whether a person’s speech is inundated with strings of wanton slang. What the hell did he say???? And, I’m black. I’m good and in my thirties so I have had considerable time to mull over my perception of things; situations, people, and the one thing I’ve concluded for myself is that using correct grammar is not “talking white”, however, changing your entire accent, or voice inflections, pitch, etc, so that you sound like your white counterparts is “talking white”. Blacks who pay attention can usually tell when you’re trying too hard.

If I’m on the phone with a black woman, I don’t care if she has a law degree from Yale, a medical degree from Harvard, and an MBA from Vassar, for the most part, I can still tell that I’m speaking to a black person…..or maybe I believe that I should be able to tell she’s black. Thing is, I don’t automatically equate the use of grammatically correct English by a black person as their trying to “talk white”. I mean when black people accuse other blacks of that, do they realize that in contrast or what they’re saying, by default, is that “dumb speech” is automatically equated to being black? And I say that because what’s really being thrown at a person is “you’re trying to sound smart”

I think trying to be white calls for a more stellar psychological performance than is necessary simply for the black boy who actually shops at Abercrombie & Fitch. I recall how Ice Cube’s pronouncement about “Black police showing out for the white cop” resonated with me in the 80’s. I had no negative experience with law enforcement on any personal level yet I understood fully his accusation.

I think acting white is more about the things Blacks do to other Blacks that scream their undying commitment to showing whites how much like white they really are than it is about whether they surf, or play hockey, or go to the Opera. It is a black person who not only mimics white culture, but attempts to denigrate and retreat from their own. Thing is, whether you like it or not, we’re not all just a mass of CBS Afterschool Specials. We don’t all have these stories about our mothers and/or fathers being crack heads, or living in the inner city projects. We didn’t all have to share two coats between eight siblings or sleep eleven to a room. Sometimes we have parents who were actually professionals; they may have spent summers on Martha’s Vineyard, dined at fine restaurants, and wore clothes whose prices didn’t end in .99. So hey, maybe they picked up playing golf and skateboarding with the white kids in their neighborhoods; or….. Communities if you will. I guess if some of their friends wore tie dyed shirt and khakis, well, they would follow suit. I mean isn’t that what we all do? The point is, none of this means he doesn’t want to be black.

Personally, I believe it’s more about a black person who may or may not have experienced the latter lifestyle, but has an overwhelming desire to mentally remove himself from their very real reality in this country. A Black person who may have much, or not, has actually convinced himself that by acting as his white counterparts act, and doing what they do, he will receive some special pass from being black in America because he did the smart thing in disassociating with “those black people”. He now feels equal in their circles and believes that he has their backs so they’ll have his. Then one day, inevitably, the thing that was once a reality in his mind becomes fallacy. Because eventually, at some point in their lifetimes; perhaps more than once, something or someone will happen to Mr. or Ms Sellout, that will remind them that they’re still ….well you know……. Damn! ….you know, like OJ.

Holla at me!

Chyna