Covering is where you cover your true self to fit in with mainstream America, downplaying the ways that make you different. Gays call it acting straight, blacks call it acting white. But most Americans do it to some degree because few are perfectly mainstream.
Covering comes out most clearly with gays, blacks and women, particularly at work. Women, for example, will downplay their duties as mothers, gays do not bring up their love lives, blacks speak Standard English, etc.
Kenji Yoshino, a law professor at NYU, wrote a book about it, “Covering: The Hidden Assault on Our Civil Rights” (2006). In it he argues that the law is applied to give everyone equal rights – but only if they play down who they are. Like the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy for gays in the military. Or black women not being allowed to wear dreadlocks at work.
Yoshino grew up between Japan and America, between gay and straight, not knowing who he truly was – all the while covering, putting forth a false self that was suitably mainstream. But then he noticed that it was not just him – everyone was doing it to some degree.
As an example of racial covering he uses Eric Liu, author of “The Accidental Asian”. Liu listed the ways he felt he was acting white:
- I listen to National Public Radio.
- I wear khaki Dockers.
- I own brown suede bucks.
- I eat gourmet greens.
- I have few close friends “of color.”
- I married a white woman.
- I am a child of the suburbs.
- I furnish my condo à la Crate & Barrel.
- I vacation in charming bed-and-breakfasts.
- I have never once been the victim of blatant discrimination.
- I am a member of several exclusive institutions.
- I have been in the inner sanctums of political power.
- I have been there as something other than an attendant.
- I have the ambition to return.
- I am a producer of the culture.
- I expect my voice to be heard.
- I speak flawless, unaccented English.
- I subscribe to Foreign Affairs.
- I do not mind when editorialists write in the first person plural.
- I do not mind how white television casts are.
- I am not too ethnic.
- I am wary of minority militants.
- I consider myself neither in exile nor in opposition.
- I am considered a “credit to my race.”
The list is not completely truthful: Liu has been called a “chink”, for example. But that he even thought to make such a list is telling.
Yoshino says that Liu covered in all of the four ways:
- appearance (“I wear khaki Dockers,” “I own brown suede bucks”);
- affiliation (“I listen to National Public Radio,” “I furnish my condo à la Crate & Barrel,” “I speak flawless, unaccented English”);
- activism (“ I do not mind how white television casts are,” “I am not too ethnic,” “I am wary of minority militants”); and
- association (“I have few friends ‘of color,’” “I married a white woman”).
See also:
This is off-topic but have you ever written about racism in graduate schools?
Macon D of stuffwhitepeopledo recently stated “whenever white people congregate these days, high concentrations of racial homogeneity are just pure coincidence.” …
I am a graduate student at a major biological “research institution” in New York City. You wouldn’t know this is a graduate/research program if you stumbled on campus. This exclusive, highly maintained campus feels more like Sandals resort with all of the young upper-middle class white or white male/asian female couples roaming around hand-in-hand during the evenings. Groups of white or white-and-asian students roam with tennis rackets on their way to the on-campus court. Or they congregate in packs at the on-campus student lounge with a personal bartender. Or the white and asian students have parties in the hotel-like student lounge of the dorms.
Most of the groups of people you see dotted around campus are all-white or white-and-asian. The campus is mostly white with a substantial number of asians but has a serious dearth of black or latino students–and I almost never see the other black students.
You wouldn’t believe the amounts of implicit racism I’ve experienced here. Twice while coming on campus I’ve been stopped in a hostile and condescending manner by newly-hired guards who, having seen my ID, told me that I am ‘ok’ since I was a groundskeepers or a day worker for the animal facility whose staff is mostly black and latino.
Coming to my dorm, almost every six months someone gives me a hostile look in the foyer as if I’m some intruder. When I attend lectures, I meet the same hostility until I ask a serious academic question of the lecturer.
When someone new comes to my lab, they’ll automatically either intentionally ignore me or attempt to condescend to me. Scientific sales reps will intentionally ignore me and proceed to the white guys who are also just students. Believe it or not, this one white girl who rotated in the lab would speak to me in a passive-aggressive/patronizing manner. And almost everyone in the lab, despite my being there for years and attempting to form working relationships with them, never come to me casually or attempt to have conversations (work or otherwise) with me unless I initiate the conversation and never at the casual or intelligent level they have with each other.
I noticed the other two black guys, who are accomodationists (and overrepresented with respect to the real dearth of black students on campus), also attempt to have conversations with the white people in the lab but they are always the ones to initiate the conversation.
After five years of being here, the only thing I’ve learned is that white and asian people are the only people competent enough to be scientists.
A maintenance staff guy wrote an article in the student rag praising the university’s president in light of the great hall of European philosophers like Kant and Hume and the great European scientific tradition. Additionally, the sense of ownership and privilege among other students is just incredible.
I’m beginning to think that biomedical science is almost a white supremist enterprise by default. Science is supposed to be a collaborative endeavor with a free collegial exchange of information and support, but when people are constantly patronizing or condescending to you, such is a psychological assault informing you that you are inconsequential, “tolerated” or unwelcomed. I read a report somewhere that around half of black graduate science students drop out of their programs. If they meet the same kinds of hostility or implied white supremacy I meet, small wonder.
I’ve especially felt a sort of patronizing attitude right off the bat from many of the white female students on campus. White women, with the help of affirmative action, have made great gains in both scientific student bodies and faculty, but you would still be wont to find black faculty and only a little more lucky in locating black students in scientific graduate programs across the country. That aside, most of my interactions with white females on campus has been unnecessarily hostile and patronizing.
There are two other black male students who happen to be in my lab; they’re very sycophantic towards the white male students, which surprised me. They’re always kissing up, laughing nervously, you know that trying to court your attention laugh, around these other white males who are just graduate students like them. They prick up their minds and attempt to engage the se white guys with crisp, intelligent conversation. They’ll go to the white guys equally whenever they have a problem as if they are the fount of knowledge, (I’ve never seen them approach any of the white girls or the Indian guy when they have problems, but they will approach them for prick-up-your-mind ‘casual’ conversation, more than they give me [or each other]). When explicitly in the company of the white guys (which never seems to be together with each other), they intentionally ignore me or will attempt to condescend to me. It’s irritating to watch white guys no better than the average black guy get their egos stroked day after day by white girls and sycophantic blacks while they also slap themselves on the back. It’s not like they’re especially brilliant or that this science is just so difficult that only superiorly intelligent white supremists like James Watson can do it.
I don’t even want to get into the student listserve conversation I had to observe in the wake of James Watson’s comments back in 2007. Some of them practically endorsed the man with statements like “science is about objective data, not political correctness” or “what does giving a writing prize for his autobiography have to do with him making statements that any old man would make”?
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Well, everybody does it so I don’t know if it’s really that important. But it is interesting.
Covering is a hot topic on gifted forums: a.k.a. how to pretend you’re intelligent but not TOO smart. Some people are totally against it but most of us make an effort to “pass” as normal. Intelligence is only acceptable to a certain level (about 120-130 IQ) and anything above that (gifted range) is considered undesirable.
So you:
1. throw in random slang words (I use “like”, “okay”, and “you know” frequently). lower your vocabulary a few notches (using “good” instead of “wonderful”, “nice” instead of “fabulous”, “pretty” instead of “exquisit”, etc. — it’s even better to use “good” improperly)
2. if you’re a woman, toss your hair and giggle occasionally
3. bring up subjects in conversation that you know little about, like professional baseball or whatever new movie is out that your never going to watch
4. if someone asks what you do professionally say something vague like “I work in a lab.” or “I develop software.” NEVER EVER say “I’m an experimental physicist specializing in X-ray crystalography. Right now I’m writing software to analyze protein folding.”. Other people will talk about their work ad nauseum but don’t mention yours if you can help it.
5. never get too excited speaking on a topic (passion can hint at intelligence)
6. never mention reading material — EVER
7. stick to mundane topics like your powerwalking schedule, difficulties getting mildow out of your bathroom grout, potty training your toddler, etc.
8. avoid using logic to debate something your discussion partner has said.
9. smile a lot
There are whole strategies.
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LeSmartOne. I’ve gotten that when I was in high school and supposed gifted summer program in which the Whites, the few East Indians and Asians were simply atrocious. At least you didn’t give up. I did and I regret not persevering and emphatically believing that I was indeed stupid and not fit to compete in the same manner with Whites and Asians, during that onslaught of condescension and intellectual racism.
I am always amazed that Whites and Asians are shocked that I am intelligent and I will often be grilled as to how I know my information, but I never get that from blacks. If anything they are pleased and complimentary.
It has taken me years to finally believe that I am not a lip dribbling moron with a brain impulse of an amoeba and that I actually have coherent thoughts and flashes of brilliance. because of those negative beliefs and thoughts I have never tried hard enough or attempted anything hard due tot he criticism I received from White and Asian students and teachers.
I believe that is at the heart of why a lot of Blacks may hide their true intellectual abilities—because of the constant disbelief of non-Blacks who cannot conceive that Blacks can be just as intelligent, capable, and at times brilliant then they are. So they may cover and not try at all.
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LaSmartOne,
It really angers me that you are experiencing ANTI-BLACK/MINORITY RACISM at a graduate school that you have EVERY RIGHT to attend, learn, and succeed at, without being made to feel like a PARIAH. It’s OFFENSIVE/OUTRAGEOUS that you’ve been forced to endure this mistreatment.
It would be great if you could contact a member of the media who could do an undercover expose of the rampant ANTI-BLACK/MINORITY RACISM at your graduate school and generate some negative publicity against them for the purpose of bringing about meaningful reform. It would also be useful to contact a civil rights legal group and forward the comments you’ve noted above to them to see if they can challenge this school’s RACIST treatment of Blacks/Minorities.
Nearly 10 years into the 21st century, NO SCHOOL should be allowed to promote ANTI-BLACK/MINORITY RACISM and get away with it.
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lasmartone’s comment, reminds me as to why i just prefer to be misanthropic and talk to no one…i have gotten to the point in my life where i absolutely despise every single person on earth and want nothing to do with anyone anymore. i trust no one, and pretty much hate everybody…my college is pretty segregated itself, i think almost all college campuses are (yet they claim they are “diverse”. i dont really fit anywhere with anyone.
as for the blog post,
i guess one could say i “act white”…but my mom raised me in the white world, so i dont intentionally do things that are mainstream just to fit in (cause i seriously do not fit in), i just happen to like things that are also mainstream.
since i am young, i have like most people my age, hidden what i like in fear of what people thought…i have kinda in the last year or so, just started liking what i like.
the things i like dont really fit in with neither whites or blacks honestly…
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AlwaysRight101 and Black&German:
I do those things too. When I am with my friends I can be myself, but at work or at a party I tend to downplay myself because I have learned the hard way the price of drawing that kind of attention to myself.
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LaSmartOne & Mayhue:
Excellent comments, both. Thank you – even if they were off topic (though not completely).
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LaSmartOne, I’m sorry that you are having such negative experiences. I hope that it will all be worth it once you are into your career.
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Co sign all of these comments. Especially LeSmartOne and B&G. Hate to say it but it came burdensome being intelligent and black. People are always looking to discredit you or looking for you to fail hard.
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I thought it was called assimilation.
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This also reminds me of the book called “Shifting”
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This is an interesting thread post. It is similar to the book “Shifting” which is from a black women’s perspective. The book “Cover” seems to be from an Asian perspective. All this shifting and covering and assimilating to be acceptable is quite exhausting. It would be nice if we didn’t give a flip about what people thought and would just be our true selves. But as James Weldon Johnson says in his poem, we wear the mask.
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Being young,gifted and black and talented in an environment with white priviledge and it sounds like a smattering of white supremacy thrown in. Black people still have to work harder to be on the same level as their white and Asian peers. Black people have to work ten times harder to be accepted in the white world of academia. I hope LesmartOne persevered.
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