The House of Black Culture
In the midst of COVID-19 also known as ‘Miss Rona’, African-Americans have been subjected to the continuation of white America’s norm of terror and intimidation/brutality. . While angry white men and women, coined as “patriots”, stormed Michigan's Capitol Hill and rallied in Raleigh, NC, innocent black folks were and still are being brutalized in Brownsville, East Brooklyn by the New York Police Department. Yet, NYPD were handing out face masks to white Americans at Chelsea Piers.
The luxury afforded by white privilege allows them to live in an opaque bubble filled with blissful ignorance and one more thing, obscuring their view of the racial overtones in urban spaces. For some black people it has been easy to express blackness amongst black culture in the face of unchanging racial disadvantages, however it has been difficult for black people to call a space home.
It seems as if some black people have even become accustomed or resigned to white America’s lawless fetishization of black bodies. We see this with the incident in New York involving a black police officer unlawfully assaulting two black civilians with the help of his white colleague. The inflicted harm to black bodies does not stop at police brutality; luxury fashion houses such as ‘The House of Gucci’ and ‘The House of Prada’ have relentlessly mocked and appropriated black aesthetics birthed from black people’s rich history of resilience. Author Richard A. Rogers argues, “cultural appropriation is involved in the assimilation and exploitation of marginalized and colonized cultures and in the survival of subordinated cultures and their resistance to dominant cultures.”
In the early 20th century, black people created new representations of blackness in the form of style and presentation to eradicate false misconceptions and combat racial stereotypes constructed by white America. Despite our efforts to redefine ourselves within our communities and how we’re perceived by others, we are faced with setbacks in the distinguishing of the negative narratives by the hands of powerful white storytellers. For example, in February 2019, Gucci’s creative director Alessandro Michele, released luxury products that resembled “blackface”, a racial tactic used to dehumanize black people.
In a single stroke, he showed how out of touch the fashion industry is, the sheer lack of diversity in these upper level creative spaces and arguably the outright neglect to respect our people while having no problem stealing from us. Michele’s mockery of the dark complexion and full lips amongst African-Americans mirrored the exploitation and cultural appropriation amongst the marginalized. As European fashion houses continue to steal signifiers of blackness stemming from authentic black experiences, they fail to stand against police brutality or the inequitable funding for Historical Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).
White Americans attach negative connotations to many aspects of the black aesthetic. Du-rag’s are seen as too gangster, large hoop earrings are ratchet, and our innovative hair styles are seen as unkempt (only to end up as aesthetics for Fashion Week during the following season). In doing this, they fail to look at the totality of black culture with its rich history and innovative signifiers such as the door knocker earrings and Air Force 1’s that began as black staples but then later became mainstream. These signifers have been used to depict African-Americans to be “thugs”but now these same items that outsiders used to slander the character of African-Americans are pushed into the universe for all “communities” to embrace.
The House of Black Culture credits:
Artist: Matthew White
Creative Director: Melquan Ganzy
Black culture is black's power. Illustrated by Matthew White.
For decades, white America has blamed their lack of knowledge for their senseless acts of violence. Moveover, the white gaze fetishizes blackness, trapping black folks into tired tropes and stereotypes cooked up in white peoples’ imaginations. Through the white gaze, our blackness is seen as “cool” when listening to Chance The Rapper but for the reason that, black experience and narratives are not emulated in white - suburban neighborhoods and white institutions. White America’s institutions are often only filled with white representation and these white images dominate both their literary and visual outputs.
“Where on Earth can we express our blackness without being trapped in white imaginations? ”
Is it difficult to not admire a house that does not feel like home? For black people, in our very own neighborhoods, home, we have been subjected to white terror. In our very own churches, The House of God, we have been subjected to white terror. In our very own houses, “home home”, we have been subjected to white terror. Where on Earth can we express our blackness without being trapped in white imaginations? At our very own HBCUs, HOME, we are subjected to outside forces pushing for more student diversity. HBCUs have served as the home for education, spiritual guidance, and political resistance which has made them the hottest commodity. But in this same home, the North Carolina’s Board of Governors have instituted policies to purposely suppress our truth and overshadow the collective black spirit that permeates throughout HBCUs.
We have aspired to validate our existence by enhancing our visibility through European fashion houses. However, European fashion houses will never be held accountable for failing to acknowledge their savage tactics and exploitation of an aesthetic that is not their own. It has become repetitive for white Americans and Europeans to be excused for their lack of knowledge. For decades, black people have been stereotyped as dumb while white Americans have consciously continued to feign ignorance.
Even Stevie Wonder can see white America’s oppressive tactics to subjugate African Americans in order to remain the dominant culture. Yet, African Americans’ resilient spirit ignites black culture, which is brimming with an abundance of light that embraces prosperity and innovation. From North Carolina Central University (NCCU) and NC (North Carolina Agriculture & Technical State University) A&T’s deep-rooted rivalry in basketball to Winston Salem State University (WSSU) and St. Augustine’s competitiveness in stomp and shake, NC’s HBCU culture has contributed to the collective black spirit amongst all HBCUs. We can not strive to conquer America’s state of mind that never included us in the first place. Instead it is paramount that we build upon our own foundation. Black culture is opulent and one of a kind, and we love to see it.
