Defining Ourselves

kingtutss <kingtutss@aol.com> wrote:

An excerpt from my 1999 Graduate School Thesis (Southern Illinois University)

Nevertheless, Black people's own system of communication allows Black people in America to define themselves in their own lingo-communicative system in lieu of being defined by the dominant co-culture or defining themselves in the lingo-communicative system of the dominant co-culture (Baldwin, 1979; Smitherman, 1997b). Flavius Josephus, ancient Hebrew historian, said, "To name something is to qualify it for reality" (Lawrence, 1998, p. 92), and if the dominant Euro-American co-culture names the non-dominant African-American co-culture, the names given are reflective of how Euro-American perceives Black America, and thus, in part, contributes to defining the nature of the intercultural and interpersonal relationship between the two; the names are reflective of how the Euro-American co-culture wants the Africa-American co-culture to perceive itself (Woodson, 1933).
Hence, since the experiences of Black people were/are muted by the white dominant co-culture, African-Americans were/are forced to name and define themselves as to develop their own space in language (Orbe, 1998; Sullivan 1993).For example, white people in America have historically referred to Black people as `negroes,' `slaves,' `coons,' and/or `niggers,' which were/are derogatory and self-esteem depleting terms. These terms are reflective of how African-Americans are perceived and treated by white America, and how white America wants Africans-Americans to perceive themselves (Mellon, 1988; Woodson, 1933). "When you control a man's (person's) thinking, you do not have to worry about his (/her) actions" (Woodson, 1933, p. xiii). If African-Americans believe they are just `negroes,' `niggers,' or `coons,' then their behavior will fulfill that subjugated role
(Woodson, 1933).

Henry Dumas put it best when he said, "…they failed to ask my name, and called me negro" (Lawrence, 1998, p. 80). This statement eludes to the possibility that a Black person's social existence in America is predetermined at birth. Moreover, if from birth one is socio-linguistically delineated to a `less-than' existence, it can metamorphosize into a self-fulfilling prophecy, thus inhibiting a people from productively contributing to the rise out of their oppressive state (Woodson, 1933).