Appropriating Blackness: Performance and the Politics of Authenticity

383 Pages·2003·2.01 MB·English

by  E. Patrick Johnson

APPROPRIATING BLACKNESS
Performance
and the Politics
of Authenticity
E. Patrick Johnson
APPROPRIATING BLACKNESS

E. Patrick Johnson
APPROPRIATING BLACKNESS
Performance and the Politics of Authenticity
DukeUniversityPress DurhamandLondon
2003
©2003DukeUniversityPress
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction
‘‘Blackness’’andAuthenticity:
What’sPerformanceGottoDowithIt? 1
1 ThePotIsBrewing:MarlonRiggs’sBlackIs...
BlackAin’t 17
2 ManifestFaggotry:QueeringMasculinityin
AfricanAmericanCulture 48
3 MotherKnowsBest:BlacknessandTransgressive
DomesticSpace 76
4 ‘‘NevahHaduhCrossWord’’:MammyandtheTrope
ofBlackWomanhood 104
5 SoundsofBlacknessDownUnder:TheCaféof
theGateofSalvation 160
6 Performanceand/asPedagogy:PerformingBlackness
intheClassroom 219
AppendixA MaryRhyne’sNarrative 257
AppendixB InterviewwithMrs.Smith 311
Notes 315
Bibliography 345
Index 361

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
OnJuly20,1996,myhometownofHickory,N.C.,celebrated‘‘Dr.E.
Patrick Johnson Day.’’ I was given this honor because, to the town’s
knowledge,IamthefirstAfricanAmericanborninHickorytoearn
a Ph.D.The celebration was initiated by a number of black leaders,
namely city councilwoman and family friend Z. Ann Hoyle, who
wantedtosendamessagenotonlytothewhitesofthissmalltown
in the foothills of western North Carolina, but also to the younger
blackchildreninthecommunityaspiringtomakesomethingoftheir
lives.Thetworunningthemesofthatday,bothofwhichwereprinted
ontheprogramandthecake,were‘‘FromZerotoHero’’and‘‘They
SaidItCouldn’tBeDone.’’WhileIwasalittleperplexedbytheformer
(I’veneverthoughtofmyselfaseverbeinga‘‘zero’’!),thelatterspoke
tothisblackcommunity’sindictmentoftheinstitutionalizedracism
thatformanyyearskepttheeducationalsysteminHickoryseparate
andunequal.HeldintheneighborhoodwhereIgrewupandinthe
gymnasiumoftheoldblackhighschool—RidgeviewHigh—thecere-
mony,whileformeandinmyhonor,ultimatelywasnotaboutme,for
thiscommunityhadcometogethertocommemorateitsfortitude,its
undyingdeterminationtopersevereinthemidstofadversity.Indeed,
theblackfolkof Ridgeviewwerethumbingtheirnosesatthem—the
whitefolkofHickory—thatsaid‘‘itcouldn’tbedone.’’Thatis,produce
childrenwhowouldmakenotonlytheblackcommunityofHickory
proud,butallofitscitizens.Thisbook,therefore,isinnosmallpart
indebtedtothefolksofRidgeviewwhoknewnotonlythatitcouldbe
done,butalsothatitwouldbedone.