“Acting white” (1980s- ) is the idea that acting too much like white people is a bad idea. It is found particularly among Black American teenagers who use it as a put down. It takes in not just clothes and music but even speaking proper English and doing well at school!
It has been the subject of several studies since the 1980s, particularly with a view to how it affects school performance. Black students overall underperform compared to whites to a troubling degree, so maybe this is why. The latest and probably the best study on acting white was done by Harvard professor Roland G. Fryer. It came out in 2006.
In 1999 Fryer asked students what were some of the ways you can act white. Among other things they said:
- speaking Standard English
- taking Advanced Placement or honours courses
- wearing clothes from the Gap or Abercrombie & Fitch (instead of Tommy Hilfiger or FUBU)
- wearing shorts in winter
Who wears shorts in the winter?
Fryer took the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (AdHealth) of 90,000 students and looked at how one’s race, grades, popularity and the sort of school one went to all affected each other.
Past studies asked students to rate their own popularity. Fryer did not trust that. Instead he looked at how many times a student was listed as a friend by other students.
He found that acting white was mainly an issue only at certain kinds of schools: at public (government-run) schools that were less than 80% black and where most people had at least one friend from another race. At the most integrated schools, inotherwords.
For whites at these schools the better your grades the more popular you were. For Hispanics it was the complete opposite! For blacks it was in the middle: your popularity only suffered if you got top marks. No word on Asian Americans.
Here is the chart that shows that. At the left are the D students, at the right the A students. It shows how your popularity rises and falls according grades for the three races (Hispanics count as a race in this case):
For most people their popularity comes almost completely from within their own race. A drop in popularity is rarely made up by having more friends from other races.
Fryer sees three possible reasons for why acting white becomes such an issue:
- Oppositional culture: blacks teenagers, in trying to make sense of who they are as blacks, find the answer in being the opposite of whites.
- Crabs in a barrel: black society is so screwed up that it punishes those who try to succeed.
- Defence against brain drain: blacks are afraid of losing their best and brightest to white society so they punish those who seem to be moving in that direction.
Fryer says it is the last one: it is the only one that makes sense of why it seems to be an issue mainly at the most integrated schools – because there whites are a bigger threat to keeping blacks together.
See also:
- Why all the black kids sit together – based on Beverly Tatum’s book. She says it is an oppositional culture thing.
- growing up black
- Standard English and Ebonics
- Black IQ
- black reading scores
- The Wigger Fallacy
Aba,
Have you been accused of “acting white”?
Strangely enough, I’ve rarely been accused of such by blacks. At least not to my face.
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i’ve been accused of talking white by blacks.
i’ve also been told that im not really black, im white by my old best friend in ninth grade. she meant it to be endearing, though.
eh..whatever
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the funny thing is ,
I have been accused many times of acting white.LOL!
In france they call thiis a bounty.
That’s means black skin white mask.
This started at school because I wanted to do well at school.
because of my hobbies, theatre, opera, lecture group etc…
because of my behaviour, too quiet for some( which is far from true), well-mannered (which I am proud of) and talking like a white girl.LOL!
Some are even assuming before knowing me I was the kind of woman to date only white men(in case someone is wondering there is nothing wrong with that to me). but lmao!
Observation made by some black men that don’t understand why I don’t want to throw myself when I see one(black man).
It s very funny when people get to know me better they are suprised to discover I am a quiet an activist.
Still today I don’t know what acting white is as race doesn’t describe a behavior.
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I’ve been accused “acting white” by many people.
Mainly because of my tastes in music – Hip Hop, Metal, Rock, Punk, Drum & Bass, Soul (not R&B), Funk, Jazz and Roots Reggae.
My tastes in sport – Football (or as you yanks call it soccer), Extreme sports, Darts, Billiards, Tennis (especially women’s tennis), Basketball.
I also love going to see “The King and I” at the theatre.
Oh well!!!
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Story of my life….
Oppositional culture: blacks teenagers, in trying to make sense of who they are as blacks, find the answer in being the opposite of whites.
C
rabs in a barrel: black society is so screwed up that it punishes those who try to succeed.
Defence against brain drain: blacks are afraid of losing their best and brightest to white society so they punish those who seem to be moving in that direction.
Fryer says it is the last one: it is the only one that makes sense of why it seems to be an issue mainly at the most integrated schools – because there whites are a bigger threat to keeping blacks together.
V
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LOL Lynette !
People are everytime suprised to see me dating Black Men. LOL!
Like you because of my proper French some keep telling to stop acting like a snob white girl. LOL!LOL!LOL!
Some tend to forget black people are as diverse ( in term of personality and behaviour etc…) as any race.
we are all indivudual and different.
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Fryer thinks reason #3 makes the most sense for why acting white becomes such an issue. That might seem like the most logical conclusion based on analyzing the data collected. But in reality, I think reasons #1 and #2 are also very much at work. To me, reason #1 makes a lot of sense. As for reason #2, while I may dislike the wording “black society is so screwed up” for a few reasons, punishing those who try to succeed sometimes does occur unfortunately.
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Re: my first comment, it’s not to say that I support using the “acting white” accusation, I’m just responding to Fryer’s conclusions.
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Wow.
I’ll be honest and say that I only know Lynette and Nubiah via a computer. But I never EVER EVER got an “acting white/detachted from other black people” vibe from either of you at all. Actually, it was quite the opposite.
For someone to say that about either of you, they had to be super-ignorant. I doubt that other intelligent blacks would ever make that “judgement”.
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I wanted to make a few points.
1.Black people who get good grades or speak “correct” English aren’t outcast in the black community. People(Black, White, Asian…) who are considered nerds or unhip ARE universally considered outcast in America.
The term “Acting white” is what most black people associate with being a nerd. This mostly has to do with sterotypical images of nerds until Steve Urkel came along. Nerds are attacked because they are socially inapt not because they are smart. Education is highly respected in the black community. Black people react to the same offense with being called dumb just like white people. They don’t praise it.
2. Race loyalty is rewarded over education in the black community but the goal is to have both. Louis Farrakhan, Malcolm X, Tupac, Barack Obama…are examples of people who have both race loyalty and are educated. Condoleezza Rice, Tiger Woods, Colin Powell and Clarence Thomas are examples of those who are educated but haven’t shown “accepted” race loyalty.
3.”Proper” English isn’t proper. The difference between proper English and improper English is class. The upper class determines what’s “proper” and to distinguish from the “Uneducated” lower class. African American vernacular English is a languge of it’s own but is seen as ignorant by upper class soceity. Those who speak African American vernacular are far from ignorant but have not been taught was is accepted English but the upper class. The English we speak today would be considered improper and ignorant during Shakespeare’s time. Imagine the people who speak “proper” English went back in time…
They have not come back yet. (Improper)
They are not yet come back.(Proper)
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Redman, I disagree with a lot of what you said, but since I should be doing my homework I’ll just tackle number one:
Acting White isn’t about being “unhip”, it’s about AP classes, getting good grades, being friends with White people, not listening to rap, etc. (basically all of the things Abagond said). No one who’s ever accused me of “acting White” has said “You aren’t cool.” It’s always been some variation of “You talk like a White girl (whatever the hell that means)”, “You’re tryna be White in those smart people classes”, etc. For some Black people, speaking proper English or getting good grades is “unhip”, hence the name-calling.
I also disagree that some Black people don’t praise acting dumb. I went to an (almost) all-Black middle school, and I can’t tell you the number of times I heard people bragging about failing a test, not doing an assignment, etc. I’m not saying just Black people do that, but I’ve seen people “gain status” from failure.
You don’t have to believe any of my anecdotal evidence; there’s research that has scientifically examined what is “acting White” vs “acting Black. I can recommend some articles if you would like (a specific one comes to mind; I did a research project on a similar topic last Spring).
I’m not going to get into number 2, but what is “race loyalty”?
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Some tend to forget black people are as diverse ( in term of personality and behaviour etc…) as any race.
we are all indivudual and different.
Sad but true, Blacks are doing as much if not more forgetting of this reality as outsiders are.
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Who wears shorts in the winter?
ROFL oh dear hahaha um… I guess special people who are immune to low temperatures wear shorts in winter? hahahaha
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I have been told some of my musical tastes are white, like Bruce Springsteen: “That is so white”. I have never been told I was acting white, except maybe once or twice as a joke (I think).
On the other hand most of my friends are West Indian and South Asian and I think part of that is because they respect intelligence and education way more than Americans, black or white. That is how it seems. (It could just be an immigrant New York thing.)
Americans, for example, will look at a book I am reading, like Augustine’s “Letters”, make a face and say, “Why are you reading that?” How in the world do I answer a question like that, one that assumes that I should not have a general curiosity about the world? No answer I ever give satisfies them unless I can somehow say it is for work or school.
As to my English it is criticized for not being good enough. In a West Indian context good English is a function of education and class. So I am expected to have perfect English because of my education. On the other hand, my mother is clearly poor (look at her shoes) so it is surprising to hear perfect, well-spoken Standard English come from her mouth. (My parents were writers so they were poor in a bohemian sort of way, or at least that is how they thought of it.)
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Nubiah and Lynette never struck me as being anything other than black, even before I saw their pictures. On the other hand I never once thought of them as hood either. So it does not surprise me that they have been told they were acting white. (Asian Americans online, by the way, sometimes come off to me as middle-class blacks. Curious.)
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Redman:
Good points about race loyalty and proper English.
There is nothing wrong with Black American English as an English. In fact, you can argue that it is better than Standard English, but the powers that be are not behind it.
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Truth B. Told:
Right: “acting white” is a case of blacks stereotyping themselves.
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Aba,
See, I listen to all types of music (per the industry I’m part of) although Springsteen never did anything for me (wink wink- lol), I’ve never been accused of listening to “white music”. And I listen to some far-out, non-US stuff. LOL. But I can still can have a serious discourse on Rakim lyrics, so perhaps that’s why I’ve never been stereotyped as “acting white”? I don’t know.
Last year, I read a Black Enterprise article that said the vast majority of blacks in this country marry and mingle within their own ethnicity. So that means black Americans vastly marry/mingle with other black Americans. West Indians with West Indians. African immigrants with African immigrants and so on. So, I guess it makes sense that most of your friends are West Indian like you or South Asian. Do you find your South Asian friends to have the anti-black attitudes as you’ve alluded to on this blog?
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Abagond:
“Americans, for example, will look at a book I am reading, like Augustine’s “Letters”, make a face and say, “Why are you reading that?””
I wrote about this in the Covering post. Avoid discussing reading material.
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I just think people in general will look at you weirdly if you read books period.
I mean just take most of my friends (white btw.) I asked them have you read Sun Tzu’s Art of War.
The look on their faces was priceless. It was like I was speaking another language.
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Actually, that’s true, vindicator. Sad, isn’t isn’t it?
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@Jasmin
(Excuse my poor grammar)
You have to look at what’s considered “cool”. Educated or rich white people have long been stereotyped as elitist. When someone said you talked like a “white girl” this was more about their view of you as an elitist. Those who are seen as elitist are people who are considered snobs, boring, unhip and out of touch with the common people.
I believe the idea of acting dumb is basically a defense mechanism and used by all races of people wow view themselves as inferior to more successful students. You hear a lot of kids say ,”I don’t care.” The fact is education is highly valued and everyone fears being called dumb or stupid.
I remember hearing a story of a black student who was a troublemaker, sold drugs, been in fights and cursed at teachers. This was someone who wouldn’t back down from a fight but when a teacher gave him a book and told him to read in front of the class he began to slur his words and walked out the room.
I’m believe nobody “chooses” to be dumb.
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Redman,
Your “elitist” reasoning doesn’t make sense given that I hung out with more Black people than Whites when this was occurring. How was I elitist if most of my friends were other Black people? Also, the people who said I “acted White” still wanted to be friends with me, because I was pretty popular in middle school. They wanted to eat lunch with me, sit on the bus with me, etc–so if I was so snobby, why was that so?
I can sort of agree with the basic point you are making that people who accuse others of “acting White” are trying to insinuate that those people “act like they are better than others.” But how is getting an education snobby? How is doing something meaningful with your life a bad thing? No matter which way you slice it, the pathology behind slinging the “acting White” label is negative, and the people who use it are inherently making a judgment of Black people as inferior (which is ironic, since they are usually Black themselves).
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If acting white means mirroring oneself over a lot of GOP’s and frankly uneducated white people who can barely differentiate between social and communism, then I would prefer not acting White. Acting White is a misnomer precisely because America in general is anti-intellectual and does not value creative and intellectual endeavors unless there is a price tag or a way for someone to cash in and make corporate millions.
After the last debacle with Obama’s school speech, the world cannot honestly say that America is a shinning beacon of sagacity and unmitigated brilliance. Electing Bush twice and showcasing Palin shows what many White American values—candidates that are quite proud of not being smart, average and down-home and relatable to these nebulous American values. America in general falls way behind in Math and Science and needs the Brains from Asian and India to keep up with technological development, therefore how can 12% of the population be the root cause of this insidious strain of Anti-intellectual in American life and that Blacks are the only groups that eschew learning and academic development. Through the federal government of public schools 85% of Americans have a high school degree; the numbers go way down after the Associates at only 24% that actually hold a bachelors and goes down even further with Masters and First Professional Degree such as Dentistry and Medicine. Even though a degree does not guarantee a good job, education is supposed to be the surest way to acting white and success, thus shouldn’t Whites hold far more degrees not less.
Black people often get the short end of the stick because we are the most visible scapegoat of which everyone can see and critiques our congenital deficiencies as a race, but from what I can see All American white pastimes often include, sports, religion, and spending. Hardly intellectual pursuits that engender acting white, thus I think the critique of Blacks being averse to education is misguided.
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I agree completely. The irony of the phrase “acting white” is that whites themselves are anti-intellectual too, and, in my experience, more so.
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How are whites anti-intellectual? Nobody is more anti-intellectual than blacks. Whites are a diverse group. Blacks are a monolithic group.
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Igor Says:
How are whites anti-intellectual? Nobody is more anti-intellectual than blacks. Whites are a diverse group. Blacks are a monolithic group.
laromana Says,
This is a perfect illustration of the fact that RACISTS/RACISM are not RATIONAL.
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Igor:
If you want to argue the racist side then at least show some intelligence.
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White people over here are definitely anti-intellectual. They even take pride in their ignorance. Can we say: teaching Creationism in public schools? *retch*
“Who wears shorts in the winter?”
It’s true, they do. But I think it’s a New England/ Michigan thing. You can catch them wearing shorts, a sweatshirt, and Birkenstocks in the snow. I kid you not.
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I never encountered being told I acted white until I went to the South. Some blacks say I act “citified” but I think they mean the same thing.
I work in a law firm and interact heavily with clients both in phone and person. I would say a solid half of the time, when people meet me in person, they were not expecting a black woman and are shocked that I am black. I also volunteer in a legal clinic and have had white callers assume I was white and make racist comments, then laugh and say “you know what I’m talking about”. I have had black callers ask to speak to someone African American if one is available.
Getting bad grades or using improper English was unforgivable in my house growing up and I was way more scared of my parents than my friends.
@Vindicator – I agree that many people think it is weird to read almost any book, especially for me as a woman, they always assume I am reading a romance novel or something.
I’m not quite sure why acting dumb is so acceptable. Sometimes I think that for some black kids, they know they are not going to have the same opportunities and so rather than play a losing hand, they just throw the game. For others, I think it’s sheer boredom, schools now teach to the lowest common denominator, that makes for boring classes and no real challenges, so again, why bother?
And Texans wear shorts in the winter. 🙂 With flip flops or my personal favorites, knee-high boots.
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Very true about Texas. I wear shorts until October. LOL. It’s damn hot till about then.
I think acting dumb is more acceptable because it makes everyone more comfortable. Especially with young people– being “cool” and being “smart” are opposites. Besides, playing dumb doesn’t challenge anything conventional. Sad but true.
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I dont think its about speaking proper English. It’s taking on the Accent that most white teens and young adults use. example: Say “yeah” like a white girl would. Thats the Accent im talking about. now apply it to every word you speak. To talk like that takes alot of practice and it hurts the vocal cords until you get used to it. It’s sad that you have to become void to make it in American Society. I see it everyday.
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Igor, Whites are anti-intellectual. They hate to see anyone seem smarter than them. That is why no matter how good you do whites always try to shame and condemn you and in one form or another try to tell you to stay in your “Place” , Even Though we dont have one.
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Who wears shorts in the winter?
That is a good question. Do whites really do that?
On a more serious note, “acting white” idea- in the form described here- is really harmful. By choosing not to act white, especially in a way of not studying hard, is actually acting white: acting in a way whites expect you to act if you’re black. So it would be stupid for any black student to buy into this stereotype.
Plus, it’s not like whites are super intellectual themselves…
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My SO wears shorts well into the fall, but not winter (he is from upstate NY — shorts in winter is just not feasible). More interesting though, is that he wears shorts with hoodies and sandals or mocassins. I used to tease him, “So what season is it anyway?”
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Haahahaa, believe it or not, I actually know what you’re talking about! (Though I never saw it as a “white” thing… I thought it was universal). Maybe they like showing off their sexy legs. lol
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He does have long, sexy legs and he looks good in flip-flops so I guess it isn’t too bad. He says it’s for “comfort,” but to me there is nary a thing comfortable about shorts and mocassins when it’s 50 degrees outside.
I don’t know if it’s a universal thing. The only non-whites I know who do the hoodie-sweater combo are those that mainly mingle with whites.
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That should be “hoodie-shorts” (although the sweater-sandal deal I’ve also seen).
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Actually, that kind of style doesn’t sound bad at all (especially with long sexy legs).
But in any case, I can’t stop thinking about:
Ok, so maybe it IS a white thing. Interesting. Now when I think about it, it IS ridiculous.
I think guys here don’t wear shorts that often, but girls like to display bare stomach in fall or even winter.
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SINCE WHEN DOES THE WORD “WHITE” REPLACE THE WORD “PROPER?” English is like Spanish, in America we speak “broken” English and in Mexico and Central America they speak “broken” Spanish. People place to much emphasis on how people speak, just don’t judge the way a person speaks. Just because it may sound as if someone grew up in a urban setting and they speak the so called local slang doesn’t mean that they are “ghetto” or anything like that. All cultures have “slang” so why always bash African Americans when they speak theirs. I work in a doctor’s office with many African American women and they are just as articulate as anyone else, but when they talk amongst themselves they speak in a way that’s relatable. I cringe everytime when I hear someone say so and so “acts white” or “acts black”…we have more to focus on people.
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“Asians” tell me I’m more (act) asian than they do. Go figure. I’ve never gotten the white thing. hrm.
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How about being labeled something you’re not? Has anyone heard the term “coconut” before? Brown on the outside and white on the inside? I was called a coconut once simply because some fellow Asians (Filipinos) couldn’t understand why I wasn’t fluent in my mother’s language and thought it was disgraceful.
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“And as for trying to ‘explain’ your own ethnicity (if it is not one thing that can be described in one word or concept)…don’t bother because some people only want to interpret that as you trying to say you are somehow ‘close’ to being white and that justifies why you ‘act’ white…. (rolls eyes).”
*******
Apparently, (unfortunately) people who confine themselves to BOXES are given to placing everyone in rigid defining/confining packages. That’s diseased confusion/thinking! Labeling and categorizing along the dictates of “whiteness.”
No person should ever succumb to hiding their light under a bushel…
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What I don’t get is why it is such a big deal to talk proper. No matter what the reason it shouldn’t really matter. When I was younger it was not only kids but adults who claimed I was acting white. Even if I was nerdy I had quite a few friends from other ethnic groups. I am who I am and so that is something that no one could make me apologize for. So I endured being spit on by people I didn’t know or getting kicked down stairs by people who barely took time to find out who I was. I had Oreo wrappers stuffed in my locker, one of my good friend another black kid who was actually super smart got jumped with kids with baseball bats, the same kids came to school the next day and told me I was next because we had it coming. Had it coming why, because we thought we were white, I will repeat this I at no time have ever thought I was white. Had they really gotten to know me they would have found out I most definitely know I am black. I love my skin, culture, and even cultural history. I always felt who could do what my ancestors did and if I couldn’t honor them by being the best me wasn’t it a failure.
What did they endure all that crap to create me if I weren’t being the best me. I never hesitated when they said blacks couldn’t do it there I was doing it. Because, I believe still with all my heart that there isn’t anything we cannot do. Still, I fought and many times lost because ignorant people wanted to prove I was not black. It would have been far a better lesson to remember under this skin we are as diverse as the sea. I don’t let anyone define me but as a kid it was hard to be in a room of people whose complexion was like mine and feel safe. The worst time I ever had in my life is when I went to an all black school. Everyday, I had to fight but I endured because I come from people made of harder stuff. I never considered myself smart but I loved reading. I could get lost in a book world could have ended by I would have missed it protected by my imagination. Could I socialize, yes, I have tons of friends from every other ethnic group my closes weren’t even white but asian. To tell you the truth I am just glad to have gotten older and I still wouldn’t trade my skin for anything.
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Acting white. Exactly what does that mean? Does it mean being poised and articulate? Being well read? Wanting to better one’s self? Why is this considered acting white? Ignorance is not cool. Aspiring to a higher level of education and being well rounded in all areas is a wonderful thing. Traveling and learning about other people different from you is a wonderful way to get an education of the world. All youngsters need to aspire to do better, Especially our young people in urban as well as rual areas of America.
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Old people would benefit from this as well.
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@KIng of Trouble. I like your comments.Words fitly spoken.
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Is being white clothing attire? Is it about designer labels? Is about having all white friends? Listening to classical music insted of hiphop. Is it having manners?
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I hear that phrase hundred x’s a day. Old ghetto ppl say it about other older ppl who speak well without talking x-rated or using cuss words. They’ll say it about children who make the honor roll or passes a test. That’s one way how kids start repeating what they heard.
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That acting white fookishness is just what it is foolishness. When is being appropriate and having pride in one’s appearance and being well read and well rounded acting white? We AA need to tighten up,or vsome of us will stay losing and struggling.
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*foolishness*
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Actually I thought the expression started during the 40s, 50s or 60s by white people towards black people who had worked hard to get a good education, good jobs and ultimately improved lifestyles. This irked those white people who would often ask “why are you acting white”. So the expression was started by white people but somehow, as often happens, it’s made its way into black culture and there now seems to be all this infighting amongst blacks while whites are probably looking on and laughing secretely saying “we started that. he, he he”.
Perhaps people should lighten up a bit. Look at this, it amused me: http://www.worldwideinterweb.com/component/k2/item/1468-a-gallery-of-white-people-acting-extremely-white.html
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So true Cristalexi, also light skinned versus dark skinned was started by whites and I stand back in amazement as to how vicious the infighting is over that!!!
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When I was in high school, the (white Midwestern) boys would compete each year for who could wear shorts the longest into winter. It was seen as showing how tough you were, as being impervious to the cold.
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”Who wears shorts in the winter?”
Eh… ¿Russians?
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