I’m sorry, I thought it was 2008.

On the heels of the New Yorker Cover debacle, we have video of John McLaughlin defending Jesse
Jackson’s recent “slip up” by calling Obama an “oreo.” I haven’t heard
this term in a very long time, and am surprised that McLaughlin was
even able to pull it out of the hat. As if we (Black folks) didn’t have
enough to deal with already (education, prison rates, the economy), we
are thrown back into the debate of who is and who is not “Black.”

It
is extremely problematic to label someone who is intelligent,
articulate and a genius “white on the inside,” because it completely
devalues the genius of Black people. The idea that those of us who have
pursued higher education, can navigate Standard American English, and
who don’t fit neatly into to stereotypical archetypes are somehow not
really Black is absurd and has damaging consequences.

A recent study found that “acting black” affects the number of black students in gifted programs.

Most
of the students were familiar with the terms "acting white" and "acting
black." They described "acting white" as speaking properly, being smart
or too smart, doing well in school, taking advanced courses, being
stuck up, and not acting your race. Terms they used to describe "acting
black" were having a "don't care" attitude, being laid back, being dumb
or uneducated and pretending not to be smart.

"Tragically, only
one student (surveyed) indicated acting black was positive. Instead,
the gifted black students… believe that acting black means lacking in
intelligence, placing a low priority on academics, speaking poorly,
behaving poorly, and dressing in ill-fitting clothes," they wrote. "The
gifted black students clearly hold negative stereotypes about blacks,
namely their attitudes, behaviors and intelligence."

Sixty-six
percent of the students surveyed reported knowing someone who had been
teased or ridiculed for doing well in school, while 42 percent reported
being teased for this reason themselves.

The authors found
discrepancies between students' attitudes and their behaviors—students
expressed belief that school is important and a key to success, but may
not behave that way in the classroom (entire article).

Growing
up, I distinctly remember kids around the way saying I talked white or
that I was stuck up because I attended a private school and brought
home good grades. I was embarrassed that my parents, especially my
father, would brag about my academic achievements to others. Growing
up, I didn’t feel better than anyone else, I felt like me. I quickly
learned that being smart wasn’t tantamount to being cool, and had it
not been for the guidance of my parents, I may have not worked as hard,
just so I’d fit in. Today, I see many of my students’ struggle with the
same issues. The smart ones are sometimes ashamed of their educational
prowess because it ostracizes them from their peers, and the ones that
need a little more help are slow to access it because they don’t want
to seem nerdy or white. It’s frustrating but comments like McLaughlin’s
only steep the fire.

I am troubled by the perception that
being Black means being aloof, uneducated, and lazy. Our history speaks
otherwise. We come from a long line of revolutionaries, people who
worked hard in spite of all they faced, and pure geniuses (Baldwin?
DuBois? Brotha Malcolm?). It is painful to know that our children think
that, by virtue of their racial make-up, they are inferior and must
somehow continue to perpetuate stereotypes to be accepted by their
peers.

Although I was not completely enamored with Obama at the
outset of the campaign, I am ecstatic that he serves as yet another
reminder of the genius of Black people. When I am in my classroom, I
can point to him and say, see, that is what acting black, or being
yourself, will get you: success.