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Black Enough: Who Gets To Say Who is "actually" Black and Why it Matters

"You talk white." one of my fellow classmates said in disgust, prompting others around to snicker and giggle. I was in the 2nd grade, it was just after lunch and we hand made it to the concrete covered field our elementary school dared to call a play yard. I had never in my 8 short years only planet earth given much thought to how I spoke, until that day.

Honestly, I was always commended on my speech, from church leaders, my teachers, most of all from my own parents who were the guiding reason I spoke the way I did, all of whom were Black people. It wasn't until middle school that I was even exposed to White culture and White people.

I didn't know all of the ins and outs of that statement, or how ridiculous it was to assign ethnicity to a certain way of speaking, or that it could have been my classmates own insecurities that prompted the comment. All I knew, at 8 years old was how it made me feel; like an outsider, like I didn't belong, like I wasn't Black enough.

This type of commentary would continue through my whole life starting with that moment. My speech, from my inflection to my pronunciation, my skin tone, how I dressed, the music I liked, that I liked to read, that I smile a lot, all were attacked, not by those outside of my ethnic makeup, but from those within. In fact, I probably experienced more colorism and exclusion from my own people in those formative years than I experienced racism (that came later).

What I grew to learn was that these conversations were happening, not just to me, but to the majority of other Black people I would encounter. Most Black people, at one point or another, would have their "Blackness" questioned. It's so prolific, we even now have a game about it called Black Card Revoked (not a plug but the game is quite fun yall.)

What makes someone Black? And who really gets to decide?
Is it those with straight hair or weaves or naturals or locs? Do they have slicked edges or naps?
What skin tone do they have to have, and are light skinned people just tossed out for good measure?
What food do they have to like? Are they the keepers of the sweet potato pie recipe or the loved potato salad bearers? Are they the savory or sweet grits folk (if they like grits at all)? Do they twerk or do they salsa?
Is English their first language or maybe they speak French, Swahili, Patois, or one of the American dialects?
Are they Christian, Muslim, Jewish, or Atheist?
Are they urban, rural, suburban, island, desert, mountain people? Where do they (or their parents and ancestors) have to be born for them to qualify as Black people?

Recently, the conversation of who is Black enough has arisen in the public sphere. It started with this tweet:
For those unfamiliar with the term, DOS is short for Descendent of Slaves. This Twitter user even continued her tirade against these women, saying:

My question is this: WHY IS THIS EVEN A THING? Do DOS Blacks have an exclusivity on the market of Blackness? Are we the only ones with the rights to be called Black, omitting those from the Carribean (who most likely are also DOS) and those from the continent? Is Blackness only defined by a heritage of slavery, oppression, violation, and pain?

What an asinine rant. What bothers me more is that so many people agree with it.

Look, I understand, those of us who are Descendants of Slaves are a different expression of Blackness from those born on the Continent or the Carribean. But at the end of the day, we are all Black people.


Of course, both women addressed the foolishness. While Amanda Seales tweeted;



Luvvie Ajayi wrote;
"Some people believe that those of us who aren’t borne from a legacy of slavery have no place in the conversation because we aren’t directly tied to that particular type of struggle. So is Blackness earned through some sort of pain? Do I need to suffer in a specific way before laying claim to it? 
If you were always middle class or upper, are you less Black?
If you are light-skinned and haven’t had issues related to dark-skinned discrimination, are you less Black? 
If you’re an Afro-Latina, who was born in Puerto Rico, are you less Black? 
If you do not have ancestors who were ever enslaved, are you less Black? 
We often say that Black is not a monolith but then we question Blackness that doesn’t look like ours. We wonder if the person who grew up differently than us really loves Black people. Everyone isn’t Omarosa or Stacey Dash just because they have been privileged."
The point is that none of these asinine points matter. Not one of them. Especially in the current climate and times we live in where it does not matter what experience of Blackness you have, you can still be a victim of racism, white supremacy, and unjustified police brutality, and not one of those experiences will you be asked "Are you from the Continent, the Carribean, or the US?"

Blackness is not a monolith, it spans a wide and vibrant breadth of color and culture and creativity. There is no one way to be Black. No one has exclusive rights to claim ownership over Black.

Just like I was told in various ways and in various arenas that I was not "Black enough" despite being a DOS, being born here, and raised here. And while this conversation is worth having on the many expressions of Blackness, is it really worth attacking one another, like this, on soial media, right now, in this time where it feels like "open season" on Black people in general?

Quite frankly, I appreciate the vocies that are speaking up for Black people, whether they be Luvvie Ajayi, Amanda Seales, Maxine Waters, Kamala Harris, Bernice King, Symone Sanders, Angela Rye or any other sister bringing her own voice to the fight., and ultimately themselves on the line.

Maybe, instead of trying to quantify and qualify who is able to speak for Black people, the Black people involved should take their own voices and themselves on the line for a greater and more beneficial fight for Black people world wide.


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