Just because two people look alike doesn’t mean they have
to think or act alike. This idea is under constant attack in our
society on a daily basis. Racial identity and the notion of racial
authenticity has become a cage in which people of various ethnic
groups are placed.
The treatment of black conservatives such as Clarence Thomas is
a vivid illustration of this problem. The now-defunct black
magazine, Emerge, parodied Thomas as a lawn jockey and a personal
assistant to Justice Antonin Scalia. A board member of a
historically black library in Savannah, Georgia, compared Thomas to
Benedict Arnold. Ebony magazine refused to even name him in its
annual list of the 100 most influential blacks.
Thomas’s conservatism on most issues is not different than
that of several other members of the Court today, and I would
strongly dissent from Thomas on most issues. However, Thomas has
been subjected to harsh attacks from blacks, mainly because he is
seen as opposing “black interests.”
But the idea that there is a monolithic interest or viewpoint of
each ethnic group is regressive and harmful. It limits people,
confining them to what the majority of their ethnic group believes
is appropriate, rather than to what they find personally appealing.
This is an assault on individual identity and stops people from
pursuing their personal goals for fear of vilification by their
ethnic communities.
The self-limiting ideas resulting from racial pigeonholing are
being carried out on a national scale. Black students are
performing much worse than their white and Asian American
counterparts in most academic measures.
One important reason for this, cited by John McWhorter, a black
professor at UC Berkeley, is successful black students are derided
by their black peers. McWhorter details how such students are
accused of “acting white” and “selling
out.” He states that this phenomenon creates a
disincentive for success among many blacks.
This idea makes an inherently racist assumption that all blacks
are not supposed to be educationally successful. It uses this
assumption to deter talented students. In a different time, white
racists used these notions to justify racial segregation. Today,
they are used by some blacks to criticize academic success, and
that is truly harmful.
These dynamics extend to cultural issues as well. The
controversy over rapper Eminem is an example of this idea. As
Eminem has become more successful as a rapper, an obscure rapper
named Benzino and the hip-hop magazine The Source have attacked
him. They accuse him of attempting to usurp black culture and
succeeding at the expense of black artists.
This accusation assumes that the prodigious white rapper has no
place in hip-hop music because of his skin color. When the
potential and creativity of rap music is impaired because talented
voices are silenced by racial concerns, it is harmful to the art
form. Also, there is the assumption that certain creative avenues
are off-limits, due to race. Such attitudes limit everyone in this
society to a narrow set of ideals and interests, thus hindering the
progress of all people.
UCLA is also place where there are pressures for racial
conformity. Clear examples of this are the massive response to
topics about interracial dating on the UCLA forums and the frequent
accusations that those who date interracially are “racially
inauthentic.”
My own personal experience also confirms racial conformity at
UCLA. Many non-white friends have told me that surfing or other
water sports are “white” pastimes. Also,
I’ve often heard whites accused of trying to act
“black” because they listen to rap music or drive SUVs
with chrome rims. What these attitudes neglect to notice is people
must attempt to develop individual identities, not conform to
overgeneralizations of group identity.
Racial tribalism and authenticity is a trap for people of any
ethnicity, and we should all strive to avoid and eliminate this
destructive trend. Every student at this school should take the
challenge of doing what satisfies and seems reasonable to him or
her ““ in the realm of political views, personal activities
and general preferences. And if you happen to meet an Indian guy
who likes American SUVs, Greek philosophy, Jose Cuervo Tequila, and
“California-style” trips to the beach, know that the
author of this column bears a striking resemblance to him.
Bhaskar is a second-year political science student. Email him at
sbhaskar@media.ucla.edu.