I was on the Subway earlier and much to my dismay, a loud interacial ( I was simply bothered by how loud their conversation was, you love who you love in my book. Black male, White female) couple decided to sit next to me. Okay, cool, I thought nothing of it and continued to go over a menu that I had to memorize. But homeboy was loud, very loud, and the the manner in which he spoke struck me as, well, unusual. I have been told since I was younger that I speak like a "White boy"; whatever, I've always dismissed such statements as sheer ignorance, never seriously paid them any mind. However, as the train truculently maneuvered through the vast network of subterranean darkness, we here in New York like to call the MTA, I became aware of something: That Nigga talks white. Lol!
But what does that mean? You might ask. It means that dude sounded like he was from the OC, not the county in California, but the show. It was ridiculous to hear; there were countless:Dude I sooooo feel you right nows; and, that was sooooooo dopes. Never mind that he was talking to his girlfriend. Smh( that means: Scratching my head. Lol).
It's 2012 right? The President of The United States of America is Black-excuse me, African, and White American, but for all intents and purposes, Black. Meaning we've come a long way right, in terms of race relations and how we perceive one another in this country? I wish that were true, I really do, but it isn't. Were it in fact true, then, I along with a few other Brooklyn bound Black passengers on that C train, would not have felt the need to acknowledge each other in solidaritous contempt of a fellow Hue-man, a person of color.
We live in a eurocentric society, and, for the most part, many of us (Black people) identify with this ethos. However, is there such a thing as over-identifying with a culture which is not in essence yours? Yes I am an American, that is my nationality, and most of my ideas have been developed and shaped in this nation; yet I intrinsically relate more so to the African ethos because that is who I am: A person of African descent, who happens to have been born in America.
Back to the dude on the subway. Is it possible that homeboy grew up in a place that had such a profound effect on him as to completely distance him from the soul with which we speak? Are you following me? There is a certain rhythem in black speech, even among the more formally educated members of our ethnic group, there is an underlying percussive song which plays in our hearts, and is released through the manner in which we utilize language. To me this is evdience of our connection to Africa. When is it then, that the song becomes lost? I really don't know, but what I am aware of, is that as Black people in this country, and throughout the world for that matter, we need to always remember who we are, and from whence we came.
Just a thought.
