an open letter to the “thugs” of the Barlow High School volleyball team

Word gets around pretty quickly through the Portland/Portland-area high school sports grapevine. Given my impressive ability to be terrible at every sport I try, I’m usually not included in this extensive yet exclusive loop. However, I’ve just learned about a pre-game dress up day, a self-titled “thug out”, recently performed by your volleyball team. The “thug out” was done in preparation for your game against Gresham High School. In the “thug out”, girls put their hair in cornrows, and called each other the N-word. I wasn’t there, but I’m assuming a good amount of ghetto talk, or “blaccent”, was paired with this casual use of the N-word, simply because it almost always does when the word isn’t being used with blatant aggression. There’s two very important things to realize, to help you understand why this is not something your team/you as a person should be proud of. #1) Mocking aspects of modern black culture, whether it’s ebonics or aesthetic, is not only cultural appropriation, but racism. #2) equating actions which you see as low income or “un-classy” with an entire race of people is also (surprise!) racism.

#1) Barlow is a predominantly white school, with a 1% black population, in the predominantly white suburb of Gresham, which has a 1.3% black population. With such little diversity, I would assume most of the information about black culture is being provided not by the schools, but by the media. This is scary because in television, African Americans are more likely to be portrayed as one dimensional background characters with thugish qualities. The other insight into black culture is probably black music, which is often the pop music high schoolers hear on major radio stations. This music uses slang that has been redefined by black culture, such as the N-word, now deemed as acceptable within the community. What white people, those who hear this and think it is now tolerable for them to use it, don’t understand is cultural context, along with the existence of history. If you grow up in a black community, hearing the N-word used to describe friends and family, this word is a positive aspect of your culture. It’s context is one of comradery, and it usually brings people together rather than pull them apart. African Americans may feel comfortable saying it, especially if their family says it, and because people who grew up in communities like theirs say it on the radio. It’s a positive cultural term, and they have every right to say it. But, Barlow High School volleyball team, I am fairly certain none of you grew up in this world. You wouldn’t hear this word being thrown around at your family reunions, unless maybe your grandfather was reminiscing on his days with the Klan. In the cultural context of white America, the N-word is/was used as an incredibly hateful, brutal racial slur used historically to degrade and oppress African Americans. That is the cultural context of the N-word for you, so whether you intend it or not, when you say the N-word, that’s the baggage that comes with it.

Cultural appropriation is exploiting an aspect of another culture that is not your own. Notice this is different from admiring or appreciating aspects of a different culture. This is offensive because it is not an homage, it’s usually a misrepresentation of that culture, and is a reminder of white people’s ability to dominate and reclaim a culture to satisfy their own agendas, without having educated insight into the significance of it. Read about Katy Perry for an example. Your team’s cornrows and ghetto-talk is a scary mix of appropriation and obvious racism. In this context, corn rows weren’t being used to celebrate black culture, but were paired with much discussion regarding “how ugly cornrows are”. Also consider ghetto-talk (ebonics emulated by non-blacks). Ebonics, or American black english, is an American dialect popular in black and southern communities. It’s not the result of poor education- it contains grammar rules and structures that children pick up from their surroundings at a young age when learning English, just as you did as a toddler with your dialect of English. Ebonics and corn rows are two important aspects of black culture, and exploiting them without proper cultural understanding and background education is appropriation, and it is offensive. Imitating them with an underscore of ridicule is undeniably racist.

#2 Here comes the worst part of it all; the black population of Gresham High School, the school being mocked by this “thug-out”, is 3.9%. That’s 68 black kids of 1754 students. Gresham High School is not a black school. Do you know what Gresham High School is, in comparison to Barlow? A poor school. Your volleyball team immediately made the connection that since they see Gresham students as low income, these students must also identify with black culture. This inherent linkage between poverty and blackness is internalized racism. Since Barlow students are not exposed to much diversity (*cough* 1% black population *cough cough*), this connection between poor and black probably developed from what they see in the media. I wish this just meant that some white volleyball players were racist. However, the fact that the team, and a lot of young people in America, intuitively link black people to unsuccessfulness has serious consequences. This internalized racism will effect the way they vote, the way they spend their money, the people they hire, the neighborhoods they move into, the products they buy, and the way they raise their kids. This bias, whether it is acknowledged or not, means the actions done throughout these girls lives will work against the success of black people within, and outside of, their country.

It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that since you know a black kid, and don’t use the N-word spitefully, that your actions are not racist. The “thug-out” was a result of lack of diversity and ignorance. The best thing to do is not just ask yourself if you are offending those around you, but rather if your actions are a result of misinformation being provided to you about a culture or race. Usually, the safest thing to do is leave cultures that aren’t yours alone, and ask yourself if the automatic associations you make between character traits and races are valid.

Also, please stop twerking!