Loading...

Black Culture and Experience

Contemporary Issues

by Venise T. Berry (Volume editor) Anita Fleming-Rife (Volume editor) Ayo Dayo (Volume editor)
©2015 Textbook XVII, 302 Pages

Summary

Black Culture and Experience: Contemporary Issues offers a holistic look at Black culture in the twenty-first century. It is a collection of work that creates a synergy among authors and leads to a valuable resource on contemporary issues. Part One examines institutional, societal, and political issues like identity politics; the Rooney Rule; prosperity gospel; inequality in the criminal justice system; the American dream; the future of Black and Africana studies; and President Obama’s double consciousness. Part Two investigates social, cultural, and community issues such as the Affordable Care Act; Black women and obesity; Black men’s experience in marriage and relationships; sexual decision making; interracial relationships; and cultural racism. Part Three explores media, pop culture, and technology issues including the rise of urban fiction; hip hop and feminism; race in Super Bowl commercials; the construction of Black Diasporic identities; Whiteness in Black-oriented films; Black masculinity in Django Unchained; and the power of Black Twitter. This anthology contains work from leading scholars, authors, and other specialists who have been brought together to highlight key issues in black culture and experience today. The goal is to help readers understand where we are and where we still need to go, what is working and what we still need to work on, what is right and what is still wrong.

Table Of Contents

  • Cover
  • Title
  • Copyright
  • About the author
  • About the book
  • This eBook can be cited
  • Table of Contents
  • Acknowledgments
  • Introduction: From Slavery to the Presidency
  • Part 1: Institutional, Societal, and Political Issues
  • Chapter One: Black Racial Identity: Promoting Academic Achievement and Excellence, Resisting Stereotypes, and the Myth of Acting White
  • Chapter Two: The NFL’s Rooney Rule: A Theoretical Analysis of Its Societal Influence
  • Chapter Three: In God’s Favor: Prosperity Gospel in the 21st Century
  • Chapter Four: Race and Racism: Inequalities in the Criminal Justice System
  • Chapter Five: Attaining Wealth: The African American Struggle for the “American Dream”
  • Chapter Six: Learning from History: Contemporary Issues in Black and Africana Studies
  • Chapter Seven: To Form a More Perfect Union: Frames of Double Consciousness in Presidential Candidate Barack Obama’s Race Speech
  • Part 2: Social, Cultural, and Community Issues
  • Chapter Eight: Pain, Chronic Disease, and the ACA: Implications for Better Healthcare in the Black Community
  • Chapter Nine: Big, Black, and Beautiful Women: Health at Every Size Offers a New Paradigm
  • Chapter Ten: Birds of a Feather? Black Men’s Experiences and Behavior in Marriage and Romantic Relationships
  • Chapter Eleven: Fifty Shades of Brown: Understanding the Social, Sensual, and Sexual Lives of Black American Women
  • Chapter Twelve: Interracial Relationships: Attitudes among Heterosexual College-Educated African American Women
  • Chapter Thirteen: Cultural Racism and Violence in African American Communities
  • Part 3: Media, Pop Culture, and Technology Issues
  • Chapter Fourteen: The Rise of Urban Fiction
  • Chapter Fifteen: An Affair to Remember: Hip Hop and the Feminist Perspective
  • Chapter Sixteen: (Un)Comfortable Contact? Viewing Race and Interaction in 25 Years of Super Bowl Commercials through the Lens of Social Distance
  • Chapter Seventeen: The Construction of Black Diasporic Identities in News Discourse on Immigration in the U.S. Black Press
  • Chapter Eighteen: Now You See Me: The Visibility of Whiteness in Black Context Films
  • Chapter Nineteen: Black Masculinity and Representation in Popular Culture: A Case Study of Quentin Tarantino’s Film Django Unchained
  • Chapter Twenty: Bridging the Digital Divide: The Case of Black Twitter as a 21st-Century Platform for Cultural Expression
  • About the Contributors
  • Series index

← viii | ix →

 

Acknowledgments


Venise T. Berry

I thank God for his continued love, guidance, and miraculous blessings.

I thank my co-editors for their knowledge and assistance.

I thank the contributors for sharing their research and wisdom.

I thank Dr. Rochelle Brock for believing in my project and accepting it into her Black Studies and Critical Thinking Book Series at Peter Lang.

Finally, I thank my family and friends for the valuable love and guidance I can always count on.

Anita Fleming-Rife

I am grateful to God who, without fail, gives me what I need.

I am grateful to my children, Donnyta Rife-Alexander, Donald and Charles Rife, and my grandchildren, Courtney, Charles, Christian, and Trey, for always believing in me. It drives me to keep trying to meet your expectations.

As my grandson Christian would say when he was given an unexpected gift, “For me? This is for me?” That’s what I consider this opportunity to work with you, Dr. Venise Berry, a gift. What an honor it has been to work with you on what you have so fittingly referred to as our “labor of love.”

ayo dayo

I want to thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, as well as my family and friends for their unyielding love and support. ← ix | x →

← x | xi →

 

Introduction: From Slavery to the Presidency

VENISE T. BERRY


From slavery to the presidency—adapting that popular Virginia Slims ad from the 1970s—We’ve come a long way baby! When Barack Obama became the first African American president of the United States on November 5, 2008, in many ways it was a milestone that marked an important turning point in American history. Some believed that it meant America had moved into a post-racial society (Schorr, 2008; Lum, 2009; Steele, 2008). Others argued that we were still in the middle of a crucial struggle for justice and equality, and a Black president simply widened the gap between us and them (C. Jones, 2015; Butler, 2013; Squires, 2014).

Unfortunately, it is impossible to claim true success as a culture based on individual achievement. There is no denying that African Americans have a lot to be proud of in the 21st century: prominent celebrities and athletes live million dollar lifestyles (Pomerantz, 2014; Rhoden, 2007); the number of Black politicians is increasing (Swarns, 2008); glass ceilings are being broken by Black vice presidents and CEOs in top White companies such as McDonald’s, FedEx, and General Mills (Kirkwood, 2013); and successful Black businesses are expanding into areas like public relations, banking, private equity, and information technology (Hazelwood, 2014).

At the same time, Black men, today, are six times as likely as White men to be incarcerated in federal, state, and local jails (Gao, 2014); Black college students are graduating at a rate of 42% as compared to White college students at 62% (“Black Student College Graduation Rates Remain Low,” 2015); Black students in fourth ← xi | xii → grade reading and eighth grade math are two and a half times more likely than their White counterparts to lack the basic skills they need in those areas (Education Trust, 2014); according to Al Sharpton, stop and frisk and stand your ground laws have taken us back to the same battles Dr. King fought (Stand Your Ground, Stop and Frisk,” 2013); the Black unemployment rate is consistently twice that of Whites across the country (Desilver, 2013); Black on Black crime is increasing at unprecedented rates (Harrell, 2007); negative racial stereotypes are still prominent in the media (Adams-Bass, Stevenson, and Kotzin, 2014); and, the political backpedaling concerning voting rights (Sais, 2014) and a woman’s right to control her own body (S. Jones, 2013) is ongoing.

Social change advocate Andrew Grant Thomas (2008) suggests that the problem is that too many Americans see the world in black and white.

The post-racialism claim builds on the reductive either-or dualism to which most Americans subscribe on race matters. So, for example, either President Bush’s tepid response to Hurricane Katrina revealed him to be a “racist,” or his selection of several nonwhites to prominent cabinet posts prove that he is “not a racist.” No matter how often someone like Tiger Woods, or Obama himself, stresses his diverse racial heritage, he is almost always identified as African American: in the United States, a person is either black or not-black. Either people of color face insuperable obstacles to prosperity or none at all. Either the President-Elect’s unprecedented achievement affirms what the Wall Street Journal calls the “myth of racism” or it is completely anomalous. When it comes to race, we are often blind to the shades of gray. (2008)

This anthology addresses those “shades of gray.” While African Americans can point to wonderful success individually and in a few cultural arenas, it is the shades of gray that we must continue to improve. Each chapter addresses specific issues related to African American culture. The goal is to help readers understand where we are and where we still need to go, what is working and what we still need to work on, what’s right and what is still wrong.

The bottom line: in the 21st century we can’t afford to focus on just black and white and ignore the shades of gray. The shades of gray offer specific narratives that are tied to ideological beliefs about race, culture, poverty, gender, and difference. Broad assumptions too often take over and the simple definition becomes the easy way out. Specific narratives are accepted while others disappear within societal discourse, which means certain images and messages remain problematic. In other words, an African American family in the White House doesn’t mean the end. Instead, it marks a new beginning. It is here that we need to start over by questioning, educating, and transforming society into Dr. King’s dream, a place where the “promises of Democracy” are made real (King, 1963).

Part 1 of this anthology explores institutional, societal, and political issues. Tabbye M. Chavous, Seanna Leath, and Bridget L. Richardson in the first chapter, ← xii | xiii → Black Racial Identity: Promoting Academic Achievement and Excellence, Resisting Stereotypes, and the Myth of Acting White,” discuss crucial issues related to education and Black youth. They argue that strong racial connectedness and racial pride can lead to a positive identity and that positive identity can build Black students’ motivation and encourage achievement in educational environments.

John A. Fortunato and Jerome D. Williams explain in chapter 2, “The NFL’s Rooney Rule: A Theoretical Analysis of its Societal Influence,” how important it is to create opportunities for African American coaches at the professional-sports level. They analyze the impact that the Rooney Rule has had on White preferential treatment in sports hiring.

In chapter 3, “In God’s Favor: Prosperity Theology in the 21st Century,” Kayla Renée Wheeler explores the positive side of primetime religion. Wheeler argues that not all popular preachers are focused on materialism and individualism; some are also involved in significant community-building efforts. She demonstrates how two specific preachers, Creflo Dollar and T. D. Jakes, uplift their communities and the diaspora, making prosperity gospel a source of hope and empowerment.

Stephana Colbert, in chapter 4, covers important concerns in “Race and Racism: Inequities in the Criminal Justice System.” She helps us understand the depth of the African American experience when it comes to issues of racial profiling, sentencing disparities, stand your ground laws, community policing, and Black on Black crime. She also takes a close look at the Black Lives Matter phenomenon as it has evolved.

LaToya T. Brackett investigates the relationship between African Americans and the American dream. In chapter 5, Attaining Wealth: The African American Struggle for the “American Dream”, she discusses the current racial disparities between Blacks and Whites concerning the accumulation of wealth. Her analysis covers such problems as discrimination in employment, lending practices, educational achievement, and equal pay.

Chapter 6, by De Anna Reese and Malik Simba, is “Learning from History: Contemporary Issues in Black and Africana Studies.” Reese and Simba offer a valuable perspective as we consider the future of Black and Africana Studies in higher education. They suggest that the reach of this academic field of study over more than fifty years has enabled many diverse students to appreciate and respect the African American experience and may have also aided in the election of the first African American president.

In “To Form a More Perfect Union: Frames of Double Consciousness in Presidential Candidate Barack Obama’s Race Speech”, chapter 7, Anita Fleming-Rife examines the dynamics of identity. Fleming-Rife’s goal is to explore the nuances of the speech based on W. E. B. Du Bois’ construct of double consciousness. She ← xiii | xiv → suggests this speech was an important answer to America’s race problem from the first Black man running for the highest office in the United States.

Part 2 covers social, cultural & community issues. In chapter 8, Staja Q Booker and Tamara A. Baker take on the Affordable Care Act. “Pain, Chronic Disease, and the ACA: Implications for Better Healthcare in the Black Community,” involves a discussion of pain disparities and inequities at all levels of care in the Black community. Booker and Baker explain how the Affordable Care Act might change the situation through pain care legislation, insuring the previously uninsured, public/private initiatives, and Medicare expansion.

E-K. Daufin argues in chapter 9 that the definition of obesity in our society today is problematic. Her chapter, “Big, Black, and Beautiful Women: Health at Every Size Offers a New Paradigm,” explains how the “war on obesity” has negatively impacted the Black community, specifically African American women. She offers a debate on the effectiveness of diets and exercise with weight loss as the goal and advocates instead for the more comprehensive health at every size project.

“Birds of a Feather? Black Men’s Experiences and Behavior in Marriage and Romantic Relationships,” by Armon R. Perry, Derrick R. Brooms, and Siobhan E. Smith, gives us a bird’s eye view of Black men’s relationships. Chapter 10 explores the attitudes that Black men form concerning relationships and how those attitudes are sometimes influenced by their peers. These authors focus on how the beliefs and behaviors of Black men can change when it comes to the support from peers as they consider marital status.

In chapter 11, “Fifty Shades of Brown: Understanding the Social, Sensual, and Sexual Lives of African American Women,” Asher Pimpleton and Nikita Murry provide insight on the sexual decision-making process of African American women, particularly as it is influenced by a woman’s self-efficacy and her eternalized locus of control.

Danielle M. Wallace and Sonja Peterson-Lewis, in chapter 12, explore the strong preference that Black women have for Black partners. “Interracial Relationships: Attitudes among Heterosexual College-Educated African American Women” studies various elements such as stage in life, age, past experience, and perceptions of Black men to reveal Black women’s receptiveness to interracial liaisons.

William Oliver takes a close look at Black on Black crime and other misunderstandings in African American culture. Chapter 13, “Cultural Racism and Violence in African American Communities,” explores the social and psychological implications of cultural racism in American institutions like education, mass media, and religion. Oliver argues that the glorification of European characteristics and achievement adversely impacts violent crime and victimization in African American communities.

Part 3 examines media, pop culture and technology issues. Kristina Graaff and Vanessa Irvin, in chapter 14 titled “The Rise of Urban Fiction,” explain the growth ← xiv | xv → of this genre as it relates to the naturalist movement, the Harlem renaissance, and the Black Power Literary Arts phenomenon. They also show how urban fiction has produced positive outcomes including business opportunities, increased reading for youth, and self-rehabilitation among inmates in prison.

In chapter 15, “An Affair to Remember: Hip Hop and the Feminist Perspective,” Donnetrice C. Allison offers a realistic take on today’s changing Hip Hop culture. Allison describes her problem with Hip Hop—a music she once loved— after the birth of her daughter. Looking through the lens of feminist and womanist philosophies, she mourns the negative changes and questions the music’s potential control over young Black girls and boys.

Ernest L. Wiggins and Kenneth Campbell surveyed twenty-five years of images and messages in Super Bowl commercials. Their findings in chapter 16, “(Un)Comfortable Contact? Viewing Race and Interaction in 25 Years of Super Bowl Commercials through the Lens of Social Distance,” suggest that Blacks and Whites exist in separate worlds in many of these ads, and they have limited cross-cultural exchanges or interactions.

Ilia Rodríguez clarifies in chapter 17 the need for African American newspapers to balance the voices of immigrants. Her chapter, “The Construction of Black Diasporic Identities in News Discourse on Immigration in the U.S. Black Press,” investigates the way immigrants and American minorities are pitted against each other in African American newspapers and shows how the antagonism and marginalization, ultimately, can impact immigration matters.

Omotayo O. Banjo presents an interesting notion in chapter 18 about the inclusion of White characters in predominantly Black films. In “Now You See Me: The Visibility of Whiteness in Black Context Films,” Banjo explains why the social construction of whiteness in Black-oriented films is tied to controversies surrounding the dominant culture. She suggests that the stereotypes of Whites in Black films, such as the authority figure, the savior, and the wannabe, are just as problematic and stigmatizing as Black stereotypes.

“Black Masculinity and Representation in Popular Culture: A Case Study of Quentin Tarantino’s Film Django Unchained” looks at a popular 21st-century film character based on the real-life character of Bass Reeves. Tammie Jenkins, in chapter 19, demonstrates how the fictionalized character of Django is rooted in cultural aesthetics. She examines the oral texts and patterns of behavior that are attributed to Black masculinity and representation in the film.

Finally, chapter 20, written by George L. Daniels, Theadoris Morris, and Ellisa Bray, offers an interesting look at the cultural significance found in the development of Black Twitter. Since Twitter is considered a viable means of cultural conversation, “Bridging the Digital Divide: The Case of Black Twitter as a 21st-Century Platform for Cultural Expression” demonstrates how social media are fast becoming a societal collective for the Black community. ← xv | xvi →

As this anthology documents, it is the shades of gray that African Americans must concern themselves with in the 21st century. For example, in a June 2013 Atlantic/Aspen Institute Values Survey, when participants were asked who is the most divisive figure in America, President Obama held the top spot at 33%; yet in that same survey participants were also asked who is the most unifying figure today, and President Obama came out on top again with 21%. It is in the shades of gray where the 44th president of the United States, the first African American leader of America, represents both a negative and a positive image in our society.

We’ve come a long way, but we still have a long way to go!

REFERENCES

Adams-Bass, V., Stevenson, H., & Kotzin, D. S. (2014, April 25). Measuring the meaning of Black Media stereotypes and their relationship to the racial identity, Black history knowledge and racial socialization of African American youth. Journal of Black Studies, 5(5), 367–395.

Black student college graduation rates remain low, but modest progress beings to show. (2015, February 27). Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. Retrieved from http://www.jbhe.com/features/50_blackstudent_gradrates.html

Butler, A. (2013, September 13). Post-racial? No: With a Black president all issues are racialized. MSNBC. Retrieved from http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/post-racial

Cohn, B. (2013, June 28). The divided states of America, in 25 charts. The Atlantic. Retrieved from States-of-america-in-25-charts/277303 http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/06/the-divided-states-of-america-in-25-charts/277303/

Desilver, D. (2013, August 21). Black unemployment rate is consistently twice that of Whites. Fact Tank. Pew Research Center. http://www.pewresearch.org/facttank/2013/08/21/through-good-times-and-bad-black-unemployment-is-consistently-double-that-of-whites/

Education Trust. (2014, June). The State of Education for African American Students, Washington, DC. http://edtrust.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/TheStateofEducationforAfricanAmericanStudents_EdTrust_June2014.pdf

Gao, G. (2014, July 18). Chart of the week: The Black-White gap in incarceration rates. Fact Tank. Pew Research Center. Retrieved from http://www.pewresearch.org/facttank/2014/07/18/chart-of-the-week-the-black-white-gap-in-incarceration-rates/

Harrell, E. (2007, August). Black victims of violent crime. U.S. Department of Justice Statistics Special Report, Office of Justice Programs, NCJ 214258, Washington, DC.

Hazelwood, J. (2014, July 2). BE 100s: Nations most successful Black-owned businesses. Black Enterprise. Retrieved from http://www.blackenterprise.com/small-business/be-100s-nations-most-successful-black-owned-businesses/

Details

Pages
XVII, 302
Year
2015
ISBN (PDF)
9781453916384
ISBN (ePUB)
9781454195146
ISBN (MOBI)
9781454195139
ISBN (Hardcover)
9781433126475
ISBN (Softcover)
9781433126468
DOI
10.3726/978-1-4539-1638-4
Language
English
Publication date
2015 (October)
Keywords
Contemporary film studies Identity Gospel African American Struggle Super Bowl
Published
New York, Bern, Berlin, Bruxelles, Frankfurt am Main, Oxford, Wien, 2015. 322 pp., num. ill.

Biographical notes

Venise T. Berry (Volume editor) Anita Fleming-Rife (Volume editor) Ayo Dayo (Volume editor)

Venise T. Berry is Associate Professor of African American Studies and Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Iowa in Iowa City. She is published widely in academic and creative circles with numerous articles and books in the areas of media, African Americans, and popular culture. To learn more visit: www.veniseberry.com. Anita Fleming-Rife, PhD, a retired Professor, is a diversity consultant. She taught at the University of Northern Colorado (UNC), Penn State, Clark Atlanta University, and others before returning to her alma mater, UNC, in 2008, as the inaugural Special Assistant to the President for Equity and Diversity. Her research in international communications, minority representations in the media, framing analysis of public policy, and politics has been published in academic journals. Ayo Dayo has worked in the Prince William Public Library System in Prince William, Virginia, for more than twenty-five years. She is currently the manager of cataloguing, interlibrary loan, and physical processing services. Her master of library science degree is from the University of Texas at Austin and she has a master of arts from the University of Iowa.

Previous

Title: Black Culture and Experience
book preview page numper 1
book preview page numper 2
book preview page numper 3
book preview page numper 4
book preview page numper 5
book preview page numper 6
book preview page numper 7
book preview page numper 8
book preview page numper 9
book preview page numper 10
book preview page numper 11
book preview page numper 12
book preview page numper 13
book preview page numper 14
book preview page numper 15
book preview page numper 16
book preview page numper 17
book preview page numper 18
book preview page numper 19
book preview page numper 20
book preview page numper 21
book preview page numper 22
book preview page numper 23
book preview page numper 24
book preview page numper 25
book preview page numper 26
book preview page numper 27
book preview page numper 28
book preview page numper 29
book preview page numper 30
book preview page numper 31
book preview page numper 32
book preview page numper 33
book preview page numper 34
book preview page numper 35
book preview page numper 36
book preview page numper 37
book preview page numper 38
book preview page numper 39
book preview page numper 40
323 pages