Posted on 05/05/2005 4:47:23 AM PDT by Tolik
Black identity has become a hot item in the movies, on television, and in the schools and colleges. But few people are aware of how much of what passes as black identity today, including "black English," has its roots in the history of those whites who were called "rednecks" and "crackers" centuries ago in Britain, before they ever crossed the Atlantic and settled in the South.
Saying "acrost" for "across" or "ax" for "ask" are today considered to be part of black English. But this way of talking was common centuries ago in those regions of Britain from which white Southerners came. They brought with them more than their own dialect. They brought a whole way of life that made antebellum white Southerners very different from white Northerners.
Violence was far more common in the South -- and in those parts of Britain from which Southerners came. So was illegitimacy, lively music and dance, and a style of religious oratory marked by strident rhetoric, unbridled emotions, and flamboyant imagery. All of this would become part of the cultural legacy of blacks, who lived for centuries in the midst of the redneck culture of the South.
That culture was as notable for what it did not have as for what it had. It did not emphasize education, for example, or intellectual interests in general.
Illiteracy was far more common among whites in the antebellum South than among whites in the North, and of course the blacks held in bondage in the South were virtually all illiterate. On into the early 20th century, Southern whites scored lower on mental tests than whites in other parts of the country, as blacks continued to do.
Many aspects of Southern life that some observers have attributed to race or racism, or to slavery, were common to Southern blacks and whites alike -- and were common in those parts of Britain from which Southern whites came, where there were no slaves and where most people had never seen anyone black.
Most Southern blacks and whites moved away from that redneck culture over the generations, as its consequences proved to be counterproductive or even disastrous. But it survives today among the poorest and least educated ghetto blacks.
This is a much bigger story than can fit into a newspaper column, which is why I wrote my latest book, "Black Rednecks and White Liberals."
White liberals come into this story because, since the 1960s, they have been aiding and abetting a counterproductive ghetto lifestyle that is essentially a remnant of the redneck culture which handicapped Southern whites and blacks alike for generations.
Many among the intelligentsia portray the black redneck culture today as the only "authentic" black culture and even glamorize it. They denounce any criticism of the ghetto lifestyle or any attempt to change it.
Teachers are not supposed to correct black youngsters who speak "black English" and no one is supposed to be judgmental about the whole lifestyle of black rednecks. In that culture, belligerence is considered being manly and crudity is considered cool, while being civilized is regarded as "acting white."
These are devastating, self-imposed handicaps that prevent many young ghetto blacks from getting a decent education or an opportunity to rise to higher levels.
Multiculturalism today celebrates all cultures but it is the poor who ultimately pay the price of that celebration in stunted development, missed opportunities and blighted lives.
No one today would dare to do what Northern missionaries did after the Civil War, set up schools for newly freed black children in the South with the explicit purpose of removing them from the redneck culture that was holding back both races there.
A wholly disproportionate number of future black leaders and pioneers in many fields came out of the relatively few and small enclaves of Northern culture deliberately planted in the post-Civil War South. What they did worked and what the multiculturalists are doing today repeatedly fails.
But results are no longer the test. The test is whether what you say makes you feel good as someone who is a "friend" of blacks. But friends like that can do more damage than enemies.
FWIW.
And, I believe the The History Channel had something on the English recruiting "thugs" to takeover parts of the
rural South during the revolution.
Lighten up. BTW, my mother was from Valdosta, GA, my father from Boerne, TX, and I was hatched in Jackson, MS.
Maybe, but it was funny!
I am a flyover country redneck and proud of it.
LOL!
I've been to Trinidad, and I was struck by that same similarity that you mentioned. It was a bit muddied, as I was there with a church group, and we were interfacing with hindus primarily, and some muslims, so my cultural perceptions were more framed within the paradigm of God, but I did notice it nonetheless.
Most every black Trini knows black pudding and callaloo, all creole cooking that people think comes from blacks and indians but is really Scotch-Irish food tweaked with caribe seasonings. I'm happy about people doing mission work there :-)
I use the term "trash". There are white trash and black trash cultures. They are both characterized by high crime, absent fathers...and loud TVs blaring 24/7.
I'm glad to hear that. I think that Jackson and his goons dont want this type of information to get out to the black population because their career(s) would be over. I know that there are plenty of blacks who exhibit well-adjusted behavior. I was just focusing on those who continue to dwell on the "blacks as victims" rhetoric.
Bump for later purchase of book.
The problem is that the freak show, aka the MSM, only focus on things that advance their agenda. Of course, I'm not minimizing the terrible problems in the black population. A quick look at the statistics shows that the average black person is six times more likely to be murdered than other groups (and 90+% of those murders are black-on-black violence).
This whole concept of cultural exchange and persistence is fascinating.
Violence, "pirate English" ("I be"), emotional Fundamentalist religion (nothing wrong with that, btw!), dysfunctional families, and whacked out Birch Society-type conspiracy theories ("Jewish doctors invented AIDS!") are all considered "revolutionary" and "leftist" among Blacks while being labelled the exact opposite among poor whites.
Blacks and poor Southern whites are two people divided by a single culture.
I used to have a lot of respect for Thomas Sowell, in fact I have some of his books. This article sounds like he is just another Yankee that hates anything Southern and blames
Southerners for all the woes of blacks. Doesen't sound like much of a conservative to me any more!
I forgot to mention the flip-side of the same coin: partisans of white Southern culture who will condemn Mr. Sowell because they exalt and defend among Sothern whites what they condemn in Blacks--liberals in reverse!
Very funny coming on the heels of post# 34.
Translation: "It's okay for Southern whites [which I am, btw] to behave like ghetto Blacks because that is their quaint culture; but Blacks who behave like rednecks are leftist enemies of all that is good and pure in the world."
Somebody sounds like a liberal here, but it ain't Mr. Sowell.
It's funny you say that, I live in Dorchester, MA which is what many people consider "South Boston" even though it is a seperate part of the city.
Dorchester is probably one of the most Irish neighborhoods in the country - though it is pretty diverse, pretty much every white person here identifies themself as Irish (even if they aren't).
Currently, there are thousands of Irish immigrants in this part of the city, most of them are illegals who plan on staying only a few years. Most of them are poorly or moderately educated farm boys from tiny towns in Dingle, Kerry or Donegal.
Anyway, there is definitely a subtle backlash against the Irish Guys in my neighborhood. They are all nice guys, for the most part, but they do carry on like 16 year olds when a good number of them are over 30.
I've heard them referred to as Green N****rs by people who would never use that word to insult a black person, and who have parents or grandparents who come from the old sod themselves.
It exemplifies how there is a lot more than race behind people's prejudices.
Thanks for more info.
Fascinating!
Mr. Sowell is absolutely right! I have an old engraving from 1840 that shows an English peasant girl talking to a man on horseback. The caption at the bottom of the print is "Who Axed You?".
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