Jump to Main ContentJump to Primary Navigation

Why We Need To Stop Labelling Some Black People As White

“You’re so white!”

I’m sure I’m not the only person that’s heard this. The snarky comment mumbled under the breath of the Nigerian aunty, the startled statement that escapes the lips of your white classmate. A lot of us have heard those three identity bending words, words that I used to just brush off, but have now got me thinking what exactly does it mean to be black?

The way I behave has always been deemed as white. The way I speak, the food I eat, my mannerisms and my interests. A friend of mine in high school once exclaimed that I was out of touch with my culture and people, because she was talking about basketball and I couldn’t follow what she was saying. There seems to be certain archetypes connected to the black identity - we’re supposed to know all the words to Kendrick’s new album, know how to dance, be able to run fast, talk in ebonics and act a certain way, such that when one of us doesn’t fit this mould, it unravels both black and non-black people.

The white and black community react differently to people who do not act stereotypically black. White people see it as something positive; sure it confuses them, but it also makes them feel like they can relax. Tucker Bryant in his spoken word poem “Oreo” states that when a white person says: “you’re so white,” it's seen as a compliment, they “expect you to wear their words as a medal” because they don’t see you as something that makes them uncomfortable. This is dangerous because it suggests that the white identity is the only identity that is allowed to be versatile, if individuals from other races try to break from the stereotypes that have been set in place by a white society, then they are seen as white, just because they are not adhering to a certain mould.