Identity: How Black Are You?

(The following post was written for a friend's web publication in January 2009, but it was never published. Hopefully you will find it to still be a relevant issue.)

Are you Black Enough?

In the face of the election of the first black president, there have been several questions about the definition of black and whether he is black enough. In a presentation by Frontline regarding Barack Obama, elder black community leaders did not feel that President Obama—then a state Senator Obama had paid his dues. They felt he was not a deserving candidate for Congress in comparison to a former Black Panther who was rooted in the community.

So what does one mean by the term “black?” I use black and African American interchangeably in this post. Does it refer to the color of one’s skin or the group with which one affiliates or is it the color of the people from which one descended? Education, form of dress, political affiliations, and other ways of life are often evaluated to determine one’s level of blackness. In an attempt to address these questions, William Cross, a scholar in psychology offers a continuum of identity by which African Americans see themselves in his book, Shades of Black (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1991).

Cross links race and identity by offering a continuum of “blackness” according to levels of race salience. Race salience is not related to skin complexion, but the level one affiliates with a particular group. The more race salience one has, the more one identifies racially and culturally with the black community. The less one has, the less one identifies with the community. So a nationalist would have the greatest amount of race salience and someone who assimilates into the dominant culture has the lowest level. A nationalist might fight for an independent homeland for blacks or identifies with the entire African Diaspora in the U.S., Caribbean, Europe, Latin America, Canada... That person may wear a form of dress that is Afro-centric and not linked to white society. The Black Power Movement is associated with nationalists. We often see the Angela Davis afro as a symbol of Afro-centrism. Malcolm X is also a symbol of nationalism.

In contrast, the assimilator might believe that he is only black in terms of complexion or race, but does not identify with the community as a whole. He might not associate with anyone within his community. His politics often seems counter to the black mainstream. Terms such as Oreo or Uncle Tom might be bestowed upon this person. Although a fictional character, Sgt. Waters from A Soldier’s Story is one that I ask students to analyze. However, Justice Clarence Thomas is frequently associated with this identity.

Those individuals in the middle of the continuum are often bi-racial or maintain a multicultural outlook. Individuals who are bi-racial in this context have one parent who is black and the other non-black. A person with this identity might identify strongly with both parents, not denying either such as Tiger Woods. Others in the middle identify with multiple groups, but there is no doubt that black as their dominant identity. Their identity may or may not be related to parentage, but maybe just an outlook on life. El Hajj Malik Shabazz, who is usually associated with nationalism, embraced all Muslims even those who were not black, after going to Mecca for Hajj.

In summary, according to Cross, the concept of race is very complex. There are levels or degrees to which one affiliates with race. Those with mid to low levels of race salience are often viewed as “not black” or not black enough by those with higher levels of race salience, but he believes that they are not completely denying their race, but the level to which they affiliate may differ than their nationalist counterparts.

But, is skin color the only thing that links people together? When I was growing up, we always claimed Teena Marie who is white because she had soul. However, we wanted to disassociate ourselves from Clarence Thomas because his views did not represent the African American mainstream. So what links people together outside of race?