Never mind that black voters are some of the most anti-white, racist, ill-informed participants of American society.
One of the most destructive epidemics plaguing the black community for years is the notion that there is a specific way to “act black” versus “acting white.” The destructive part is the idea that acting white is synonymous with speaking grammatically correct English and having high academic achievement, while “acting black” is not.
Speaking as someone who, growing up, was told that I “talk white” on more than one occasion, I am certainly sensitive to how toxic and ridiculous this entire concept is. No singular group has ownership of a particular language, intellect or behavior, or even taste in certain types of music. (Yet although it is widely accepted that white teenage boys are among hip-hop’s most loyal accolytes, an African American expressing love for rock music still seems to raise a surprised eyebrow in certain circles.)
But there remains an inescapable question: Does acknowledging that the very idea of “acting white” versus “acting black” is offensive and destructive mean that we still don’t have the right to challenge someone’s emotional racial identity, based on his own destructive efforts to purposely distance himself from his community?
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