“…to get material to turn into shekels. More, to gaze on these great and near great while they gaze on the Negroes.”
One of the best things about Nella Larsen’s Passing is that so many of its concepts are still applicable today. The above quote is from the scene where Irene explains to Clare why white people attend the N.W.L. dance. In this post, I will be talking about the way white people are attracted to black culture today.
Black culture (such as black music and fashion) has been a point of attraction for white people since the time of the novel. Rich white Hugh Wentworth types have attended black dances in the 1920s. Black music has shaped the sound of the radio from r&b to Motown to hip hop. White teenagers today use slang and clothing inspired by gangsters thanks to the prominence of rap music.
As within the novel, this fascination with black culture does not extend to black people themselves. White performers such as Elvis Presley and the Beatles become massively popular through mimicking black artists – artists who have not received a fraction of their success. Brands sell street style clothing mostly consumed by well-do white young people from middle and upper class backgrounds. White teenagers listen to rap music and begin to use the N word liberally.
In social media, black communities who felt marginalised by mainstream Eurocentric beauty standards found a place to express themselves. However, this has opened a new market for white influencers.
Social media influencers, usually white and female, began to adopt a black aesthetic with the help of tanning, hair and makeup products and plastic surgery.
These young white women are capitalising off an aesthetic that black women are marginalised for. Blackness becomes a commodity to them used to make profit from endorsements – while real black women are shunned for the same aesthetic in those platforms.
White people in these cases cherry pick aspects of the black identity that are glamorised and use them as a costume. At the end of the day, this costume can be put on and taken off. They can advert back to their whiteness when beneficial such as in a professional setting where black people might feel a drawback because of their race.
Further Readings:
BLACK LIKE WHO? WHITE TEENS FIND HIP-HOP COOL
The connection you made between the novel and contemporary events is brilliant. I think you pointed out a significant aspect in the novel, one that we did not discuss in details during class. I also agree with your claim about how black culture has become a site of attraction or admiration, which is clearly evident in the novel (with both Hughes and Clare herself).
The debate over cultural appropriation vs cultural appreciation is an active one. The dynamics you present here, including profiting off of the cultural productions of another community, commodifying another culture, and using culture as costume are forms of cultural appropriation.
Cultural appreciation, on the other hand, aims to honor, collaborate, and credit, and, I would argue, is an important and necessary aspect of modern life and a way to fight against appropriation.
A few years ago, the Metropolitan Museum of Art (the MET) in NYC hosted an exhibition titled, “China: Through the Looking Glass.” The show aimed to explore “the impact of Chinese aesthetics on Western fashion and how China has fueled the fashionable imagination for centuries.” The show opened with a grand fashion show, and there was a ton of concern about cultural appropriation, the potential for caricature, and the danger of “exoticism.” Is it a good look for models and famous, wealthy (mainly non-Asian) people to be wearing Chinese fashions? Would a bunch of costumed geishas be walking the red carpet?
But reviews noted how the show was done right — “drawing clear inspiration from Chinese culture without trying to own it or appropriate it,” according to this review (“not an orientalist mess”) by Maxine Builder on Bustle. (Rihanna’s gown was a big hit!) Builder’s review offers more on the line between appropriation and appreciation.
Given the professor’s comment on this post, I wanted to pose a question (or claim): could it be said that, while Hughes’ attitude towards the black community counts as “culture appropriation,” while Clare’s attitude exemplifies “culture appreciation” ?