Thread: White people acting black

DISCLAIMER PLEASE READ:
I’m tired of speaking in a politically correct manner, especially when I come into this extended discussion threads where if I don’t watch my every word I’ll get slammed by people for being “ignorant” or a racist or whatever the fuck. I think we’re all adults here, and we know how the world works, stereotypes exist and all that shit, so let’s not pretend they don’t. For the record, I’m the farthest thing from a racist, regardless of how the following might come off to some of you. I’m all for equality, which is why this shit pisses me right the fuck off. (By the way, if I say things like “all black people…” just know that I’m speaking in general terms, that should go without saying.)
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I don’t want to discuss why white kids want to be as cool as the “black urban youth” kids, that’s not what this is about. I’m wondering why white kids (or any race, really) are looked down upon, or ridiculed for “acting black.”

Most of the ridiculing is done by black people obviously, so the question then has to be asked: why are blacks so prideful over their influence, and so adamant about claiming ownership over all the things that black people made popular? Obviously there’s been some tension between blacks and whites (we can thank slavery and Jim Crow for that). Back when racism was still very prevalent in the US, black musicians weren’t very popular. Then Elvis comes along and steals rock and roll from them and becomes famous. Now that’s a legitimate case of whites stealing something from the blacks and making money enormous off of it.

But it’s the year 2011, we have plenty of popular black musicians in the pop world now. So why the fuck do we have to keep hearing white people “stealing” from blacks? Look at Justin Timberlake getting shit for dancing “like he’s black”, whereas the black Usher dances in the same style and doesn’t get shit for it, even though he’s stealing his style from the same guy Justin is: Michael Jackson. And since Michael Jackson is black, he inadvertently claimed that whole style of dance exclusively for blacks. (mini tangent about MJ: Why is it that so many black people regard him as a black icon? Why not just an icon? I mean, Michael paved the way for a lot of black artists, true, but his overall scope is so much bigger that that. His popularity was global, he was a full on music legend for every race and nationality and ethnicity. So narrowing that down to specifically being a black icon is actually a disservice to him, and goes against what he stood for. Just another example of blacks trying to claim ownership of something popular, as if they had anything to do with it. Having black pride is nonsensical and counterproductive, being black is not an accomplishment, it’s a genetic accident. So by definition, no, you can’t be proud of it, you ignorant fucking knobs.)

There's such a double standard too, white kids can't listen rap without being labeled wankstas, whereas black kids are given a free pass to listen rap without being called wankstas, even if they're more sheltered than the white kids listening to rap (which brings up another issue: do you really need to have experience with slingin' crack and rollin' up on people to enjoy the lyrical genius of Biggie Smalls?)

Even when I look at country music, something that is very “white”, dig a little deeper and you’ll find that blacks are also claiming to have invented that style of music. Whether that’s actually true, I don’t know, but it’s irrelevant. My point is, just shut the fuck up who invented what, it doesn’t matter. When did it become a competition? I like to think of music as collaboration. Every artist is influenced by those before him/her, and why should it matter what color skin they have? And this applies to fashion and slang and everything else. Why can’t we all just influence each other and be happy about it. Fuck racial pride, we’re all just human beings; there’s no need for this pretentious sense of entitlement.

Again, none of this was meant to slam black people; I could have picked on white people instead just as easily. I just thought this was a more relevant topic, considering how it seems being called out for “acting black” is more popular now than ever.

Sorry it ended up turning into more of a rant than an actual issue for debate. I'd like to hear your opinions on this though.