Now I know how to pray for you ! Just kiddn’

Thanks for making that clarification. I thought that was what you meant, but I did not want to assume. Yes, I definetely agree with you on your point. Not only have I seen this in my own childhood, but in the many young people that I have worked with in the past–both male and female.

In the end, it’s problematic to see the inner city struggle as a prerequisite for being “black” or even “masculine/hip” (dependent upon how you look at it). Bottom line, there is a class system within the black community whether people want to accept it or not. But it’s ironic how value is placed on one class over another. In a sense, both the black bourgeois and the inner city want each other’s value to gain acceptance.

I thoroughly enjoy reading your posts. I often don’t agree, but enjoy the read. Thanks!

Thanks for your comment!!

I don’t think that it’s necessarily “blackness” that is in question within your theory. I think it is more an idea of “masculinity.” It is truer when you say, “Simply put, if you were raised in suburbia, you are soft.” This is especially true as I was recently on the HBCU campuses of Morehouse College, Xavier University of Louisiana, and Clark Atlanta University last week and noticed the trend of Hip Hop or ‘Hood couture. While some college students are and can be from the inner city, I seriously doubt that ALL of the ones I glanced at with their XXXL white tees, Tims, faux gold/platinum regalia, and Hip Hop dialect were from Cabrini Greens or Bankhead Courts. ‘Hood is considered masculine and masculinity is considered hip in our culture. I honestly do not believe that an inner city black youth would deny a suburbanite black youth’s ‘blackness’ per se, but I am sure that toughness, realness, or “Wanksta” (see 50 Cent and Ja Rule battle) status would come into play. And all of that is rooted in the skewed identity of black male masculinity.

And I don’t believe that the young NC girl was trying to be more black by changing her Southern dialect to a more Northern one. That’s a rural vs. urban argument. As a 27-year-old Southerner, I know that it has always been considered better to be ‘citified’ than ‘country’. To be ‘country’ has always been erroneously perceived as being unsophisticated.

So when did Brooklyn become frighteningly ‘inner city’ anyway? Fort Greene? Park Slope? I love those neighborhoods!