The Black Hole: What Does It Mean To Be Black?

 

(The following in italics are quotes from the film Black is… Black Ain’t on the scope of blackness)

To tell the truth, there's nothing better in this world than my Big Mama's Gumbo. I guess it's because it's got a little bit of everything in it.

Everything that you can imagine can be put into gumbo. Shrimp, crayfish, sausage, alligator sausage, pork sausage, crab ...           

There are as many kinds of black people as there are black people to be.

If a people is like gumbo, then you might ask, ''What is the roux?" That special element that binds and gives everything its distinct flavor. I think all black people have to reconcile themselves to each other, to our differences and we have to get over the notion that you can, that you can only be unified as a people as long as everybody agrees. You know, we don't achieve freedom by those means.

''WE'RE A THOUSAND AND ONE DIFFERENT COLORS." - Malcolm X-

I think we have such an obsession with naming ourselves because during most of our history we we've been named by somebody else.

I love kente cloth. I have kente cloth in my house and I wear kente cloth but I don't confuse that with my identity. Because I can wear kente cloth, but I can also put on a pair of jeans and I feel just as black as I did when I had the kente cloth on.

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You can tell me I am black by the color of my skin, but beyond that what does it truly mean to be black? The black experience has been one of the most complex scripts written into the history of people. Since the displacement from Africa and native tongues, to the shackles of slavery, black people are now attempting to overcome the preconceptions so deeply ingrained in their history. For hundreds of years black people have been told how to be. As their phenotypic characteristics did not match it’s white counterpart, they were seen as everything white fragility was afraid of. These representations were so potent in the media, that black people themselves have come to embrace them. However, these stereotypes are very problematic as they contradict each other, and because they can never be concrete because they restrict the agency that cultural identity and blackness demands. The Boondocks created by Aaron McGruder, does a great job at exploring this dynamic critiquing not only the stereotypes and the contradictions they present, but also how ridiculous it is when black people blindly participate in them. The Boondocks promotes a “new type of racial literacy,” that widens the lens on racial experiences, informed about social and political possibilities (Elam, 63). Through analyzing the characters of The Boondocks, I will argue for the indefinite capacity of blackness. Blackness cannot be contained, nor essentialized, and understanding this will allow black people to break the current system of oppression upheld by stereotypes.

            There are five main characters in The Boondocks and many minor characters that make an appearance throughout the show. There is Huey who is the young intellectual black kid whose voice is often not heard. Rylie is his little brother who is concerned with all the wrong things. He is obsessed with pop culture and materialistic things, getting girls and is considered a wannabe gangster. Then there is Robert, better known as Granddad, who represents the older generation of black folk that are too concerned with the struggles they had to overcome, and fail to see the modern-day struggle of black people. There are two Uncle Tom critiques, Uncle Ruckus and Tom. Uncle Ruckus is a representation of black hate, while Tom represents the black person who has successfully been integrated into white culture and has seemed to have forgotten his black identity. Other portrayals of black people on the show also come through rappers such as Gangstalicious and Thugnificent. Of course, there are also various portrayals of women who are often exploited, objectified, and seen as either ratchet, bossy, the single mother who struggles raising her kids, and so forth.  

            Huey and Riley juxtapose each other perfectly and it just so happens that they are also brothers. In a way they are two sides of the same coin. Rylie indulges in activities that society has anchored to black men (e.g. angry, hypersexual, lazy). “He is proof in the show that what children see in the media heavily influences their thoughts, ideas, actions, and dialogue” (Moore, 6). That is problematic because he has a limited view on what it means to be black, and rejects anything that strays from that outlook. Huey on the other hand is everything that white fragility fears, an intellectual, well-spoken, ambitious black man. Huey often struggles with being identified as the educated black person, and is often confused as to why it is thought of an accomplishment that he is a black person who likes to read and talk properly (Moore, 4). This indicates the stereotype that to be black means you are inarticulate and ignorant.

            The show also touches on other stereotypes that make up “typical niggas” (Moore, 11). This can be seen in the Hurricane Katrina episode, where Granddad does not want to help his relatives who have been affected because of this fear of the “typical nigga.” By that he means that he is worried that they will be unappreciative of the favor, and overstay their welcome because they are too lazy to get back on their feet by their own means. This is an unfair portrayal of black people, however when people indulge in this behavior, it only pushes forth that narrative. But why do people behave in ways that reaffirm a stereotype? Simple, they have been taught that, that is all they can aspire too, especially when under less than ideal circumstances of poverty. Although these are stereotypes, it is important to realize that they persist because there are undoubtedly people who play into these roles. To be clear, embracing performances that are stereotypical is not necessarily the issue, however restricting the entire experience of blackness to said stereotypes keeps others from seeing black people beyond that lens.

There are various images of hip- hop culture that comes to life in the show, primarily Thugnificent and Gangstalicious. These characters, for the most part, fit the role of the tough, hostile rapper, who is only concerned with money and sex. Men play into this role as a way to counter the abusive and embarrassing narrative of the black man during the times of slavery (Johnson, 37). They exaggerate their masculinity to prove that the past of their ancestors does not take away from their manliness. They constantly show these men participating in the stereotype that black men are aggressive, especially with other black men. Gangstalicious for example, was shown “beefing” with another rapper. In the episode he was in the hospital multiple times after being shot, and was nearly killed at one point. This is arguably one of the most dangerous stereotypes that white media has imposed on black men. Now, people within the black community are killing each other, doing the job the master's hand can no longer do today. Another interesting dynamic that Gangstalicious presents is the fact that he is a gay rapper. This begins to break this restrictive mold of what it means to be a gangster/rapper, while simultaneously highlighting yet another potent narrative within the black community, homophobia. Callaloo argues that we must challenge the mainstream images of black masculinity today as a counterpart to black feminism, because doing so allow for new possibilities how we see the disruptive binaries within blackness (i.e. straight or gay) (404).

 When black people are tied to stereotypes, it leads to prejudice outside of the community. This prejudice fosters the idea that black people are violent, angry, lazy, and so on. Within the community, because so many black people are conditioned to fit into a particular script, it builds this standard of what it means to be authentically black. This is not only backwards in the sense that this “authentic blackness” was born out of stereotypes and prejudice, but also because it is meant to divide the community. Black people will look at these stereotypes and see that they do not fulfill them and will be alienated from their own community and be ostracized. People who want to transcend these stereotypes in fear of confirming them are participating in the social identity threat. This is where people are afraid to act in a stereotypical way that perpetuates the stereotype, and the divide between authentic and unauthentic blacks deepen. For example, Rylie falls victim to the stereotype of hypersexual black men and the homophobia within the black community. When he finds out his idol, Gangstalicious, is gay, he immediately retracts is admiration for him, condemning Gangstalicious’ sexual orientation, and saying he is “not a real nigga” (The Story of Gangstalicious, Season 2, Episode 13). On contrast, Uncle Ruckus participates in the stereotype threat through his black hate. He refuses to partake in anything tainted with blackness.

            It could be argued that this divide between what constitutes as black and what doesn’t, continues because of the lack of a centrality to blackness. Blackness has always been revolutionary and changing decade to decade. In the 60’s it was about power, the 70’s and soul, the 90’s and hip-hop, and so on. Black people have failed to push forward in a collective force because they fail to accept the vastness and ever changing identity of blackness. With this lack of understanding, how could others outside of the community be asked to see us as more than what the media presents? It would be far more valuable to bond over the common thread that no matter what we indulge in as individuals, society sees all black people of any shade as just that. There is a systematic oppression that affects all black people and that doesn’t change just because of your choice in music, hobbies, or pronunciation.

The Boondocks also uniquely critiques Black Entertainment Television (BET). It is a stance against mainstream media and their narrow portrayals of blackness, yet at the same time BET itself only displays a narrow view of blackness (The Hunger Strike, Season 2, Episode 14). This further touches on the ignorance that the black community has when it comes to it’s own identity. The Boondocks claims that moments of ignorance, “nigga moments,” would be the a top leading killer against black people (Granddad’s Fight, Season 1, Episode 4). The show on one hand critiques white fragility and the way they try to contain blackness. On the other hand, black people can watch and laugh along with the ridiculousness of the show. However, the black audience is also challenged also look within themselves and ask why they are portrayed this way and the mechanisms behind the controlled image. Stuart Hall would argue that this hegemonic representation of blackness is a mutual agreement (Hall, 2). Which is essentially saying that because we have been saturated with limiting depictions of what it means to be black, we have come to accept the role we have been given. Again, these “nigga moments” ultimately comes from black people not knowing themselves, and not having yet the capacity to take on the responsibility that blackness can be anything they wish it to be.

As I mentioned before, this lack of understanding for those who choose not to partake in stereotypical roles alienates and divides the black community. Those who do not fit the mold are often seen as mythical figures and although they are definitely not white, they are not quite black either. The Boondocks’ characters are undeniably performing blackness from different angles, stereotype or not. However, they passively acknowledge these differences in conversation, so unwilling to divulge in where these differences come from, not allowing them simmer together to enrich the flavor of gumbo that blackness bathes in. Hall claims this disinterest of embracing distinct differences within the black community comes from the fact that white people are unwilling to tell the difference between them anyway, so why bother (Hall, 444)?

Well, we should bother because the black community must form a collective to overcome the complications black people have faced for too long. There are so many stereotypical scripts The Boondocks pulls on, that in itself should be proof of the complexity of blackness. Even when sticking to a stereotype, there are so many to choose from; so how can you ever come up with a concrete definition of what the black experience withholds? The Boondocks is one of the most important media social critiques of the 2000s and continues to have an influence. Although many of the topics may make black and white audiences uncomfortable at times-- due to the brutal yet honest critique on the black community and the view of the black community-- this has allowed for many to self-reflection on their own actions and the actions of those around them. For black people, it will begin the process of acquiring the ability to taste the individual ingredients within the gumbo of blackness, realizing that together these components contribute to something unique. The beauty of it all is that anything can contribute to gumbo; anything can contribute to blackness. For non-blacks, it opens their view on what blackness actually is, and might even find that they at times participate in the performance of blackness. When we all appreciate the variance that blackness demands, we can move forward beyond the twisted cycle that has perpetuated the oppression of black people through stereotypes.