Acting White - Commentary

Commentary

Political observer John McWhorter has commented, "eenagers have a variety of identities open to them for trying on anti-Establishment postures. White kids can be stoners or goths. Black kids can be 'nonwhite'." He interpreted those kids as black "nerds". He stated that the acting white attitude developed as the creation of an "other" among newly integrated African-American kids.

In their aforementioned study, Karolyn Tyson and William Darity, Jr., stated that school staff and faculty who hold racist attitudes about the ability of black students use the attitude as a cover for disparities in student performance. Shelby Steele wrote in The Content of Our Character that what he identified as middle class black values are falsely viewed by the majority of blacks as "white" while they are actually colorblind. He argued that this attitude is separate from the natural reaction of young blacks in poverty.

New York University School of Law professor Kenji Yoshino wrote in his 2006 book Covering: The Hidden Assault on Our Civil Rights criticizing what he sees as social pressures to conform to mainstream white culture. He stated that this constitutes a violation of African-Americans' civil rights and that they should be able to uphold their own social distinctions. He also stated that they should be able to freely choose to identify with white culture if they wish. Anne Arnett Ferguson, Assistant Professor of Afro-American Studies and Women's Studies at Smith College, has written that white culture "ruthlessly excludes African American cultural modes as relevant and meaningful". She highlighted the insistence in schools of standard English over Black Vernacular English as an example.

Clarence Page remarked on The News Hour with Jim Lehrer in 2004:

In African American folklore, the sea crab ranks among the dumbest of creatures who also offers a valuable lesson. When you catch a bucket or a basketful, you never have to put a lid on because when one of the creatures tries to get out, the others will just pull it back in. Some of our fellow human beings aren't much smarter than that. When they see you working hard to achieve your dreams, they'll make fun of you just for trying.