Uppity
I find myself on a consistent basis
comparing my current life experiences as a black male to those of my ancestors
during the antebellum and civil rights time periods. After only a week in class,
I’ve realized just how far we have come since 1619 when that very first slave
arrived on what is now U.S. soil. I’ve also realized just how fortunate I am to
have been born in 1993 apposed to in 1693. However, despite the plethora of
differences we undoubtedly have, there is one similarity that we both share.
During a lecture a specific word hit me like a Mac truck when we were
discussing slave autonomy in the 19th century, UPPITY. The idea that
slaves wanted their children to attend school and have a better chance at life
made these individuals UPPITY in the eyes of white people!
It is vital that
this point is stressed and understood. The fact that these lifelong laborers
didn’t want their children to literally spend their life in a cotton field, on
ship docks, on sugar plantations, or slaving over a hot stove for a white
family, gave these black people the title of uppity. The entire idea of
autonomy meant that blacks were gaining the ability to say no to having their
children grow up illiterate or have their wives picking cotton while eight
months pregnant. The general consensus by the majority was that black folks
trying to “act” like white folks made them uppity. That brings up the question
what classifies a black person in today’s society as uppity? The “majority”
would argue that the playing field in current day society is level to all races
meaning that a black acting like whites is no longer uppity.
I believe a large
number of young highly educated blacks find themselves between a rock and a
hard place when confronted with the identity crisis of whether or not they are
seen by their peers as “uppity”. There is a growing number of black youths that
grow up in “good” homes where both parents are around, where education is
stressed and not ignored, where college is not an option but a requirement, and
where a family gathering at the dinner table takes precedence over the new
episode of Americas Next Top Jersey Shore Whore. There is still a very large
group of stagnant aimless youths in both inner and outer city areas that may
classify educated black youths as sellouts or “white”. Why? Because we speak
proper English and not Ebonics? Because our parents made sacrifices to put us
in school environments that we not only survive but thrive? Or is it because we
realize that being classified as “uppity” by our peers is a small price to pay
on the road to success? Maybe it’s just me, but just like the blacks of the 19th
century, pioneering as uppity seems to have put me right where I need to be.
Justin, I agree, I think the notion of thinking Black people are uppity for wanting an education or wanting to be paid for their work is completely ludicrous. It is interesting that this notion of “uppity” has been transformed through the ages. As you said in your post, some Black youth in society still would argue that those Blacks who are educated and speak in proper English are inferior to themselves. What is important to note is that education and proper English seem to still be classified as white privilege. Although this is not truly case nowadays, blacks who "succumb" to a certain way of learning and speaking can be construed as weak. Its almost as if these "stagnant aimless youths in both inner and outer city areas" believe that getting a formalized education is the white way. In this light, the youth you talk about have trouble seeing that its not simply the white way. Historically, like we have learned in class, Black schools before integration, were said to have the same quality of education as the white schools. Teachers and students had a desire to learn history, math, science and English. It was not about how Whites were acting but it was their desire that drove them to learn. Consequently, this transformed "uppity" stereotype that plays out today, is actually based on no historical fact.
ReplyDeleteI too agree that identifying a group as “uppity” for wanting to achieve greatness is ridiculous. Why does it happen then? Irrationality. At some point, a small group of people coined the term and suddenly it became popularized because the concept fit into what many whites wanted to hear about blacks in that day. The (lack of) rationale behind “uppity” is irrelevant in the end, because the classification molds in with other sentiments of blacks being inferior, which is a more comfortable worldview for some whites. Purely social thinking dictates that racism is simply wrong; therefore, such whites have to grasp at straws to find reasons to place blacks below themselves.
ReplyDeleteIt also goes back to another theme we discussed in class: motivation. As horrible as it is to admit, most of the frankly absurd labels bestowed on African Americans stem from a basic desire to simply place others “below.” Whites had several motivations for wishing to prevent the rise of blacks in the community. Pretending like striving to do better was a shameful quality in blacks made some whites more confident in their own superiority. The sad fact is that some people are motivated to mistreat others in order to make them “less than.”
I think that this labeling may continue to a certain extent today because people will always have self-esteem issues and a certain amount of people will always be irrational when it is self-beneficial.
The origination of the term “uppity” and its counterparts do not surprise me at all. The main theme of the Jim Crow era was to stop African Americans from being able to grow in society. They had a ceiling above their heads that they could never overcome. Terms like uppity had to exist so that the many white Americans who believed in their superiority could further degrade African Americans. They had to be able to say that there was something wrong with blacks who believed they were good enough to learn, work, and live amongst whites equally. What amazes me about today’s use of synonyms to uppity is the population that uses them. Today, you never hear a white person criticizing a black person for being educated. You do however hear subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) disapprovals from other black people. How on earth did this reversal occur? A term once used to impede on a black person’s ability to excel in society is now being used by African Americans themselves? Some argue that when they use terms like this they mean only to draw attention to an “uppity” black person’s denial of their heritage and of “black culture”. However, in no time in history has it been a part of black culture to reject education and lack ambitions (and as we’re always pointing out in class, we cannot label all black people as having the same culture).
ReplyDeleteWhite slave owners believed that blacks that had a desire for education were wrong. They believed that this desire for education was not in the slaves “natural state.” This, in combination with slave owners thinking of blacks as lazy, confuses me. I understand that the slave owners feared that with education, slaves would gain the desire and knowledge to do more in life than be someone’s slave. However, how can they call slaves lazy if they are taking the initiative to do more than they are supposed to? Minus the factor of fear, shouldn’t a slaves desire for education be considered a good thing instead of “uppity?”
ReplyDeleteWhen the discussion of blacks in America being viewed aas “uppity” because they were striving for more in life, I thought to myself “that is the story of my life.” The first time I was called uppity, I was in third grade. Whenever we were done with our work, my teacher would give us free time to do whatever we wanted. Some children would eat their snacks, some would play with toys, and some would take a nap. I, however, choose to do what I loved to do – read. Because I liked to read, I was called names like “uppity”,”orea” (black on the outside but white on the inside), and “white girl.” These names followed me throughout middle and high school because I did things like listen to classical or country music instead of rap. It got worse when I decided to go to Rhodes College instead of Xavier University. Everyone knows Rhodes is a predominately white institution and Xavier is a historically black college but I did not let those factors affect my decision. I choose the school that was best for me. Upon making my final college decision, three of my teachers sat down with me and explained to me that I am black. As if I was not aware! They explained to me that black students should go to HBCUs not PWIs like Rhodes and that not going to one was a slap in my ancestors’ faces. One even went as far to tell me that my college decision did not surprise her because I always was the stuck-up black girl in her class and a white school is where I belonged.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis is a a poem from a young poet name Kai Davis who deals with being classified as "uppity" from both black and whites. Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGdYAK2sLjA
ReplyDeleteI agree with the idea that it should be considered absurd for black people to be considered “uppity” if they make an attempt to receive a formal education, or even a paycheck for services rendered. My first reaction to reading this article was something along the lines of, “Well, this doesn’t happen anymore,”, but according to Asia’s comment this is not the case, which took me by surprise. After reading this, I began to think about times in my life where I might have witnessed something like this, but overlooked it. Before too long I’d realized that it was actually all around me. Growing up in Springdale, Arkansas I had relatively few interactions with African Americans, but the few that I did were often accused of act “white”. Allow me to explain, my hometown is very rural and it seems that the African Americans of my area were products of their rural (redneck) environment. As a result of this they would act like white rednecks, and would often be called out on it. While, this kind of strays away from the classic idea of uppity as far as the previously mentioned desire to get an education, et cetera, I just thought that the idea of black people being called out for not acting like their “race” was interesting. Obviously, I initially felt that this article was fairly pointless, because I thought that an African American being called “uppity” was a thing of the past, this seems not to be the case.
ReplyDelete