CULTURE

CULTURE

Culture is such a strange phenomenon.  Strange in the sense it’s powerful, ubiquitous, and there’s a universal consensus that it exists, but it isn’t the easiest thing to describe or characterize in layman terms.  Broadly speaking, it simply refers to a way of life for a group of people.  Not surprisingly, we see this phenomenon manifesting based on nationality (ie. The US vs. Mexico), regional geographies (West Coast vs. East Coast), racial groups (Black vs. White vs. Asian vs. Hispanic, etc.), ethnic groups (Sunni Muslims vs. Shia Muslims), and more.

As I mentioned before, we’ll likely disagree on the specifics, but I think we all agree that (1) it exists and (2) it influences day to day life.

Because culture is distinctly social in nature (ie. you can’t separate culture from people; it doesn’t operate like the law of gravity, for instance, which DOES operate independent of people), it’s associated with different social categories.  For instance, gender is a social category, so let’s take the example of men and women.  These are 2 different social categories with somewhat differing cultures.  A woman being interested in football is very different than a man being interested in ballet.  A woman being interested in basketball is really different than a man being interested in yoga.  Why?  The cultural norms for these 2 groups differ quite a bit, with men usually being more harshly scrutinized by other men (sometimes women, too) for being interested in ‘woman’ things.  The opposite is true to a lesser extent.

Culture.  *Shrugs*.

I don’t make the rules.  I’m just describing an observation.

While the example I used may be poorly received in a social climate that’s more gender egalitarian, I think I’ve made my point: culture differs by groups or ‘social categories’.

This doesn’t have anything to do with value judgements; different doesn’t necessarily mean better or worse, although it may in some situations.

Different strictly means just that: different.

Although America is quite diverse today (ie. White people, and black people, and Asian people, and Hispanic people, and LGBTQ people, and Muslim people, and Christian people, and Atheists people, and immigrants, and refugees, etc.), sociohistorically, we know where America’s come from.  Indeed, America was built by slaves for white people, specifically older, white men.  This, in part, creates an interesting juxtaposition, specifically between white culture and black culture.

Maybe I’ll spend some time talking about why that’s an interesting juxtaposition.  Some history may help.

During the colonial era of history, European missionaries sailed across the Atlantic to Africa, where they, among other things, shared the wonder of European culture with the men and women who awaited them there.  The missionaries and explorers went on to describe the African natives, their lifestyle, and their culture as barbaric.  Admittedly, there were certainly differences in development, education, infrastructure, and the like, but beyond that, it’s probably extremely difficult to argue that one culture is superior to another.  Nevertheless, this is part of the story of European exploration in Africa (elsewhere, too).

One of the reasons, that moment of history is important is because it followed African people.  From the shores of Africa, to the plantations of Birmingham, to the prolific social commentary of W. E. B. Du Bois, to the burgeoning pride engendered by the Harlem Renaissance.  Black culture just wasn’t viewed as something valuable, positive, or good.  Certainly, socioeconomic disparities were part of this.  For 80% of American history, up until the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Black people were explicitly excluded from the American dream.  With that came a social climate where black culture was associated with poor, illiterate people and white culture, at a minimum, was better associated with social mobility and success (the American dream).  I think in 2020, we’re in a much better place, but we still have a long, long way to go.

But that brings us to our topic.

Because of the stratification of society, even today, black culture just tends not to be associated with achievement or success (the exceptions, perhaps, would be music, sports, and entertainment).  To be fair, I think the black community is facing a number of challenges, and, honestly, we’ve missed the mark in resolving a lot of issues.  But, believe it or not, this post isn’t about discussing who’s responsible for what.  I’m actually more interested in what’s expected of those who achieve success, particularly in domains where Black people have been historically underrepresented.

Speaking as someone who’s had this conversation with many Black and African American professionals (Doctors, lawyers, consultants, engineers, grad students, and many more), I think there’s a strong temptation to suppress or censor our blackness.  From hair and cosmetics, to code switching (changing the way you talk), to interests and values, right down to the name you go by, there can be a felt, or real, pressure and expectation to distance yourself from a (Black) culture that many tend not to associate with success and achievement.  In some cases, you may also be expected to embrace White culture as well, even if it’s reasonably foreign to you.

I think an example will help.

There was a popular research study done in 2016 on ‘resume whitening’.  It’s exactly what it sounds like.  Based off someone’s resume, sometimes it’s easy to determine whether or not they’re White (ie. Most people in the Chinese Student Association are probably Chinese).  Apparently students are aware of this, too, and some (not all) choose to “whiten” their resume depending on where they’re applying to.  For instance, you may abbreviate Chinese Student Association as CSA, to draw less attention to the fact it’s for Chinese students, or you may go by your middle name, Stephanie, instead of your first name, Shinequa, to reduce the likelihood of discrimination based on the fact you’re Black (or not White).

Not surprisingly, the study found that based off of cultural expressions on someone’s resume (ie. the name they go by, student organizations they’re a part of, etc.), it may affect how people are received in professional settings.  In the extreme, we’re (a lot) less interested in hiring them, promoting them, etc.  So, there’s this interesting paradox that seems to exist in America where we love the idea of diversity but we also want people that are culturally similar to us (the equivalent of me having a bunch of non-black friends that are all really into black culture).  Admittedly, I, too, find myself falling prey to this.

Culture is powerful.

While the whole resume whitening thing is presumably of great importance for nonwhite groups in America, this is particularly important for Black people given their culture has, historically, been associated with mostly negative things.

I think, in some ways, it can create a paradox to many outside of the Black community when you have Black men and women that are successful but are still very much culturally Black… because to be successful usually means full assimilation to White culture.  But I think that’s what’s most interesting about all this.

There’s this term that’s been getting kicked around in the Black community for awhile, particularly as of late.

Do it for the culture.

Why are we here today?  We’re here for the CULTURE, of course.  I’ll admit, the meaning of that phrase has probably changed a lot since going mainstream in 2017, with the Migos album CULTURE, but at least at the heart of it, I think it means using your influence for the betterment of an entire group.  I’m sure you could see why that might have appeal in Hip Hop, sports, etc.  In my case though, I think who I am and where I am gives me such a unique opportunity to do something for the culture.

I’m 27.  The child of immigrants.  The last of 5 kids.  My parents came here to pursue a better life for their family.  I’m studying at one of the most esteemed institutions for higher education in the country (if not the world), and I’m on my way to earning the highest degree offered to any student, in any field of study.  I count myself tremendously blessed, but I also think my story is part of the American experience.  But perhaps more specifically, I think, in some ways, this represents the future of the culture (you like that play on words?)… or at least what I’d hope for it to be.

The United States has plenty of Black rappers, singers, entertainers, and artists of various types.  America has plenty of Black football and basketball players.  Yes, White people already know we’re good at that.  We’ve actually been really good at it for the past several decades.

You know what we don’t have plenty of?

Black doctors, and lawyers, and engineers, and scientists, and researchers, and Professors, and entrepreneurs, and property owners, and the like.  I don’t produce that list for the sake of being vain or status oriented or anything alone those lines… I promise.  I’m being serious; Black culture isn’t really associated with any of those things (perhaps entrepreneurship, if you count side hustles).  Perhaps equally important, for Black persons who aspire to be, or are in these occupations, I think there’s an expectation to leave your culture at home and ‘Whiten’ up (much like the resume whitening example).  This is problematic though, because what that does is it perpetuates existing associations… associations between achievement and some types of cultures (White?) but not others (Black?).

Particularly, as I think about doing it for the culture, 2 things come to mind.

Number 1: Experiences and Values

Experiences and values are exactly what they sound like.  I’ll start with experiences though.  I really like the #BlackMenTravel.  While I don’t use the hashtag, I understand why it exists.  I get it.  You grow up in a family that didn’t travel, and you have modest means and resources.  I can’t imagine why you would, randomly, decide to book a flight to a country where you don’t know anyone and spend money to sleep in someone else’s bed, when you have a perfectly good bed at home.  And food in the fridge.

It’s just not part of the culture.

That having been said though, culture is fluid, and it changes.  As social mobility and median income for Black people increases, it’s certainly possible people DO travel more… travel is a TREMENDOUS cultural experience, and I would say a positive one, too (although I may be biased).  But maybe you’re a black man doing your first international trip, so you use that hashtag, so we make travel a more regular occurrence.

I see my contribution to the culture in a very similar way.

I want you to know that I’m a Nigerian American PhD student.  I might, legit, be the only Black PhD student that you know, but that’s exactly why I’m telling you.  We need to have a more diverse set of experiences as part of the Black culture, because all of us can’t be rappers or ball players.  Some of us are going to have to go to a university or trade school, get a job, and make the magic happen that way.

So, more diverse experiences.

My point on values is pretty similar.  Although I don’t use the #BlackExcellence, I really enjoy that hashtag as well.  I remember I was at a law school graduation in 2018, for a well-known private school down south, and I was amazed by how many Black women there were (cute, too, but that’s a different conversation).  And they weren’t attending as friends or staff members.  They were the graduates.  In fact, I believe the president of the graduating class was a proud (beautiful) Jamaican American woman.  Although society may like to lead me to believe otherwise, there are Black men and women doing exceptional things, in almost every domain and occupation.  And when we see that, we need to value it, whether it be with the Black excellence hashtag or something else entirely.  Again, we can’t all be rappers and ball players.  We need to make sure our values reflect that.

Yeah, I’m a Nigerian American PhD student.  Yes, my goal is to be a Professor.  Sure, I identify with Black culture, but perhaps equally importantly, I’m not leaving that at home when I show up at school or work.  Similarly, I don’t take my “Dr.” hat off when I’m at a gathering of mostly black people.

I think that would be a shame and a great disservice, for everyone involved, myself included.

I’m a part of the culture.

Number 2: Stay Black

Let me be clear, at the risk of having my views misrepresented.

I don’t think being black means having a particular political affiliation. 

I don’t think being black means having a particular taste in music. 

I don’t think being black means maintaining a particular circle of friends. 

Indeed, I vividly remember being harshly scrutinized growing up, because I wasn’t ‘black’ enough.  I didn’t talk like the other kids, and as a Nigerian American, there were a lot of aspects of Black and American culture I just wasn’t familiar with (that’s even true today).  Rather, Stay Black is an important part of doing it for the culture because there’s already so much pressure in the world to be something that you’re not… whether it be as you try and date people or pressure to please your parents or whatever, people face pressure every day to be something that they’re not.  The last thing I want for myself, or anyone else, really, is to go into work, or church, or school and ‘whiten’ up.

That’s what stay Black means, at least in this context… it means be yourself, whatever that may mean for you.  For me, I know who I am.

I’m 27.  I’m single.  I don’t have any kids.  I’m young, Black, and educated.  I just feel like I’m in a place in my life where I ain’t trying to pretend for nobody.  I’m a WHOLE GROWN MAN.

Don’t like it?  Have a seat.  Take several.

Aside from just generally being more comfortable when you’re not pretending to be something you’re not, I also think most of the domains I listed earlier, including my own domain of being a PhD student, have Black men and women substantially underrepresented.  Me pretending to be something that I’m not will likely perpetuate the notion that (Black) people have to fit a mold in order to produce noteworthy achievement.  In essence, that means success only looks a particular kind of way, and Black people may not have the capacity to achieve or be successful without fundamentally changing things about their identity.

I’m sure you can imagine why that has the potential to be problematic.

Admittedly, it is risky for me to periodically say or do things that may draw attention to my Black culture, but honestly, I think I’m okay with that.

I think it takes a lot of courage to be yourself.  So, I think I’ll be courageous and stay Black.

Finally, it’s worth noting that much of this commentary isn’t applicable to just Black people.  We could do similar commentaries for any non-dominant social group, particularly at work (ie. women, LGBT employees, Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans, etc.).  Importantly, we could also do a similar commentary for non-work settings, like men speaking out about their mental health challenges and going against the stereotype of being self reliant, unemotional, and/or ‘man enough’.

That’s certainly something risky that has the opportunity to benefit the greater good.  So, there are lots of opportunity to do it for the culture, and many of those opportunities don’t have anything to do with race, although we can all acknowledge that race can be a strong influencer of culture.

I think this post was rich though, albeit I feel a bit unsatisfied with it.  I didn’t really dig into the specifics of Black culture, nor did I talk about the culture of being a 1^st generation Nigerian American, which comes with its own distinct cultural flavor (pun intended), which I allude to in another post.  For now though, I’ll call it a day.  Feel free to weigh in.

As always, just some random thoughts.

Nnamdi