What Is Ours Is Not Yours
0.3/5.1 whole. Bought for a price from the motherland, a value has been assigned to blacks since our ancestors were taken from Africa on a one-way trip. Throughout the course of American history, white people have always undervalued the worth of black people. In WWI, the army used the Harlem Hellfighters (369th Regiment) as fodder so that white soldiers would not have to face so heavy an attack. We were viewed as expendable. Even killing a black person was not considered a crime at the turn of the 20th century. In fact, lynchings sometimes served as town functions; families brought their kids out to view the public spectacle. Simply put, these values stem from the root of white supremacy. And although our votes count as much as those of white people now and lynching is illegal, it still feels as though we are worth less than they are today. But why is that? Is it because the KKK and Nazis are considered to be “fine people” in the eyes of Donald Trump? Has Donald Trump’s rise to power normalized these racist elements of American society? These situational factors, among others, contribute every day to the war on the black body in America. American society desires to claim a culture that has never belonged to it.
It always confuses me when I hear people say that racism is over or that racism is dead. I always think, “How do you not recognize that you would face a lighter sentence for committing the same crime as me? Do you not see the glances I get from police? If you died, they might use one of your senior pictures as your name flashes across the five-o’clock news. Me? If I had a mug shot, it would flash across every television screen within the broadcasting area without a second thought.” This ability to ignore racism is an inherent form of privilege and it ignores the struggles that plague black bodies all around the world every day. To fully comprehend this war on black bodies and the struggles that come in fighting in this war, one has to be black.
[pullquote]People want to adopt these beautiful features that come with being black.[/pullquote]
The more frequent examples are displayed in the treatment of black women and their hair. It seems like we hear a story every year about a black girl and her choice of hairstyle being denied from a prom or homecoming dance because it doesn’t conform to the standards set in a school’s dress code. As a society, America has come together and forged this belief that if hair isn’t straight, it isn’t beautiful. If it isn’t blonde or brunette, then there is still more to be desired. Traditional beauty standards are coded language, saying that being white is the epitome of attractiveness.
[pullquote]What makes black women beautiful is not deemed socially acceptable until her white counterpart ‘tries it out.'[/pullquote]
I am not saying it is wrong to be white. It is wrong, though, to fail to recognize the history that has said that black is not beautiful, only because it is black. Society has always put black women on a lower rung when compared to other races; however, it feels as though people want to adopt these beautiful features that come with being black. This is more commonly known as appropriation (e.g. Kim Kardashian getting her hair done in cornrows). Our society must stop using a double standard against black women. Characteristics that make black women beautiful are not deemed socially acceptable until her white counterpart “tries it out.” It is only cool once another race does it, as if they are stepping outside of their own comfort zone. For blacks, we cannot just try out these “beauty trends.” This is just you taking advantage of something that we cannot simply wash out or take off.
[pullquote]Our society has deemed it acceptable to get as close to blackness as possible, without experiencing its struggles.[/pullquote]
Whether it is weave, Botox injections, or spray tanning, it seems as though our society has deemed it acceptable to get as close to blackness as possible, without experiencing its struggles. It is as though people are comfortable appropriating the culture, but they do not want to appropriate the pain. People that are intent on taking our physical features are not the ones who march with us, call their representatives on our behalf, or educate others about the struggle of being black in America. (But they will say the n-word without shame as part of one of their favorite Kendrick songs. That’s a topic for another article.) As much as some Americans would like to say that these characteristics of our society are novel with Donald Trump in office, that would be inaccurate. These values have been around since Europeans descended on Africa. But this time, we are not in chains.
Kirk Brown ‘20 studies in the College of Arts & Sciences. He can be reached at kirk.brown@wustl.edu.