Blackness

The section I read in Revelations seemed to focus on the word “Black” or “Blackness” and how it is defined and what the mass perception of it is. From my readings and personal experience, to do something “Black” or “Blackness” is not always the most positive thing. To do something black is most commonly viewed as a positive notion when referring to physical ability, sexual ability, and entertainment ability. The example that William Raspberry gave in “The Handicap of Definition” is that if a basketball fan said that the Boston Celtics Larry Bird played basketball like a black man, Bird would more than likely accept it as a compliment. On the opposite end, if one were to tell a white reporter that he writes like a black man, he would more than likely sign up for diction lessons. It is not the fact that the connotations that come along with “Blackness” are negative; it is just that it is too narrow of a definition. Blackness is more than physical ability, sexual prowess and rhythm. Why it is that blackness is placed in a small box with narrow definitions and connotations, when whiteness is given a much more important, meaning. With whiteness comes a sense of responsibility and importance. For example, if a black boy were to have great study habits, he might be made fun of by other black kids by accusing him of being white. If a black kid used correct English, he would be called white. If a black kid played with educational games such as scrabble as opposed to video games, he could be called white. All things that seem beneficial to the human race can be seen as white, or Chinese, or Jewish but things that are unimportant and only holds entertainment value are actions of “Blackness” The color white and black display similar meanings. In “The English Language is My Enemy” Ossie Davis looked in Roget’s Thesaurus of the English Language and revealed that the word “Whiteness” had 134 synonyms. Out of those 134, 44 were favorable. They included words such as purity, cleanness, immaculateness, bright etc. Only 10 definitions out of 134 appeared to have negative implications, “Gloss over, whitewash, gray, wan, pale etc.” When Ossie Davis looked up the word “Blackness” he discovered that there were 120 synonyms and 60 of them were distinctly unfavorable, none of them were even mildly positive. Amongst synonyms included were “Blot, blotch, smut, smudge, sully, evil, wicked etc.” Ossie Davis suggested that “Any teacher good or bad, white or black, Jew or Gentile, who uses the English Language as a medium of communication is forced willy-nilly to teach the Negro child 60 ways to despise himself and the white child 60 ways to aid and abet in the crime. This can be a contributing factor as to why “Blackness” isn’t perceived in great light, why it is downplayed. We don’t think about the definition much, but even subconsciously blackness is not seen as a positive thing.