Exposes the new generation of whiteness thriving at the expense and borrowed ingenuity of black people—and explores how this intensifies racial inequality.
American culture loves blackness. From music and fashion to activism and language, black culture constantly achieves worldwide influence. Yet, when it comes to who is allowed to thrive from black hipness, the pioneers are usually left behind as black aesthetics are converted into mainstream success—and white profit.
Weaving together narrative, scholarship, and critique, Lauren Michele Jackson reveals why cultural appropriation—something that’s become embedded in our daily lives—deserves serious attention. It is a blueprint for taking wealth and power, and ultimately exacerbates the economic, political, and social inequity that persists in America. She unravels the racial contradictions lurking behind American culture as we know it—from shapeshifting celebrities and memes gone viral to brazen poets, loveable potheads, and faulty political leaders.
An audacious debut, White Negroes brilliantly summons a re-interrogation of Norman Mailer’s infamous 1957 essay of a similar name. It also introduces a bold new voice in Jackson. Piercing, curious, and bursting with pop cultural touchstones, White Negroes is a dispatch in awe of black creativity everywhere and an urgent call for our thoughtful consumption.
“Jackson is uncompromising in her bold language, palpable in her outrage; she keeps her razor-sharp analysis in an accessible but academic register.”
—Publishers Weekly
“A revelatory, well-argued work of cultural criticism.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“A thoughtful addition to social science and African American studies collections.”
—Library Journal
“Incisive and richly detailed. A vital text—one that offers new ways of seeing, hearing, and consuming.”
—Hanif Abdurraqib, author of They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us
“White Negroes is a mature meditation for debates that have, at times, wallowed in their own intellectual infancy. The collection is witty, wry, and welcome. In the vein of Imani Perry and Zoé Samudzi, this book is an excellent addition to critical thinking about culture and contemporary racial orders”
—Tressie McMillan Cottom, author of Thick and Lower Ed
“Lauren Jackson takes a topic you’ve heard debated ad nauseam on social media and breathes much-needed new life into it. White Negroes is engaging and laced with wit and intelligence.”
—Ira Madison III, writer and podcast host
“Miraculously, Lauren Michele Jackson is able to write about cultural appropriation in a way that doesn’t make you want to drink a glass of sand. She brings incredible nuance and a sharp critical voice to a discussion that has sorely lacked both—yet somehow emerges with a text that is as accessible as it is theoretically relevant. Jackson avoids platitudes and easy answers, has a keen eye for history and popular culture, and, moreover, she is funny.”
—Eve L. Ewing, author of Electric Arches and Ghosts in the Schoolyard
“With language laced with critical clarity, tempered outrage, radical snark, and researched detail, Lauren Michele Jackson’s White Negroes . . . eruditely connects the dots between such disparate phenomena of the modern racial age as Eminem, Christina Aguilera, Kim Kardashian, Rachel Dolezal, the fashion and cosmetic industries, the Whitney Biennial, and the appropriation of ‘Bye Felisha.’ In so doing, Jackson makes us wiser and even more disturbed about how much stolen Black imaging and ideations matter to the cultural, political, and economic maintenance of the nation’s anti-Black status quo.”
—Greg Tate, author of Flyboy in the Buttermilk and editor of Everything but the Burden: What White People Are Taking from Black Culture
INTRODUCTION
Appropriation and American Mythmaking
PART I: SOUND AND BODY
CHAPTER 1
The Pop Star: Swinging and Singing
CHAPTER 2
The Cover Girl: Blackness, Groundbreaking
PART II: ART AND LANGUAGE
CHAPTER 3
The Artist: A Dead Boy Made Art
CHAPTER 4
The Hipster: The New White Negro
PART III: TECHNOLOGY
CHAPTER 5
The Meme: Kermit the Frog Meets Nina Simone
CHAPTER 6
The Viral Star: Opposite from Stardom
PART IV: ECONOMY AND POLITICS
CHAPTER 7
The Chef: America’s Whiteface Mammy
CHAPTER 8
The Entrepreneur: A Bit Free
CHAPTER 9
The Activist: The Time for Anger
CONCLUSION
Business as Usual
Acknowledgments
Notes
- “Did You Catch the Meta Nod of Sintara Golden’s Current Read in American Fiction?,” The Mary Sue, book featured in piece
- “The Art World’s Race Problem: Black Aesthetics Detached from Black Humanity,” Beacon Broadside, excerpt
- “The Kardashians Changed the Way We See Beauty — for Better or for Worse,” Allure, author and book quoted in piece
- “The Racial Politics of Kamala Harris’s Performance Style,” The New Yorker, original piece
- “The United States of Dolly Parton,” The New Yorker, author’s profile piece on Dolly Parton
- “12 Great Books That Are Out In Paperback This Month,” Buzzfeed News, included in reading roundup
- “What Is an Anti-Racist Reading List For?” Vulture, essay
- “The Limitations Of An Anti-Racist Reading List,” Pop Culture Happy Hour/NPR, interview
- “Cultural appropriation is bad, but we wouldn’t have hip hop without it,” Document Journal, feature
- “Four New Reads to Celebrate Black History Month,” The Campus (CCNY blog), included in Black History Month reading roundup
- “Your Favorite Meme? Chances Are It Was Influenced By Black Culture,” BETA/WPR (Madison, WI NPR), interview
- “‘Nora From Queens’ Is, And Is Not, Awkwafina,” Pop Culture Happy Hour/NPR, mentioned in article on Akwafina
- “Dan Hooper, Lauren Michele Jackson,” PBS/The Interview Show (Chicago), interview
- “The Hypocrisy of Big Business’ Relationship to Cannabis,” Literary Hub, excerpt
- “Whiteness in Crisis: From Thomas Jefferson to Pop Culture,” In the Thick, podcast interview
- “Lauren Michele Jackson Explores the Inherent Blackness of Meme Culture,” New York Magazine/The Intelligencer, Q&A
- “The driving force behind cultural appropriation? Capitalism,” Vox, Q&A
- “Books of 2019: 11 notable Chicago reads,” Chicago Tribune, listed in notable Chicago reads roundup
- “Our 25 Can’t-Miss Books of 2019,” The Undefeated, listed in reading recommendations roundup
- “The 2019 Reader Gift Guide,” Chicago Reader, inluded in gift guide reading roundup
- “68 Books For Every Person On Your Holiday List,” BuzzFeed, listed in holiday reading roundup
- “Dr. Lauren Michele Jackson Author White Negroes,” Shade, podcast interview
- “The Hipster,” Public Books, excpert
- “Tuesday New Release Day: Starring Davis, Jackson, Comensal, Pinckney, and More,” The Millions, included in release day announcement
- “Lauren Michele Jackson Wants to Change How We Talk About Appropriation,” The Nation, Q&A
- “November 2019 Reads for the Rest of Us,” Ms., included in November reading roundup
- “5 books to read in November,” AV Club, listed in November reading roundup
- “Twenty-One Books to Read After Becoming,” The Atlantic, featured in Ibram X. Kendi’s reading roundup
- “Lauren Michele Jackson On ‘White Negroes,’” NPR/Weekend Edition (Sunday), interview
- “How Kim Kardashian West Came to Represent America,” Slate, adapted excerpt
- “The Real Problem With Paula Deen,” Eater, excerpt
- “The Undeniable Blackness of Vine (RIP),” WIRED, excerpt
- “The Devil Wears Cornrows,” Bitch Media, excerpt
- “Trending Trauma,” The Paris Review, excerpt
- “12 New Books You’ll Want to Bring Outside This Fall,” Paperback Paris, listed on Fall reading roundup
- “Giveaway Alert!” Instagram/@never_withouta_book, giveaway link and write-up
- “6 Stunning Debut Books by Women to Read This Fall,” Book Riot, listed in Fall Reads by Women Writers reading roundup
- “When We Talk About Cultural Appropriation, We Should Be Talking About Power,” In These Times, excerpt
- “#ColorlinesReads: Fall Into These Books This Autumn,” Colorlines, book included in fall reading roundup
- “WIRED’s 13 Must-Read Books for Fall,” WIRED, book included in fall reading roundup
- “Quietly Curious: PW Talks with Lauren Michele Jackson,” Publishers Weekly, Q&A
- “33 Books You’ve Got To Read This Autumn,” BuzzFeed, included in fall reading roundup
- “In highly anticipated ‘White Negroes,’ Lauren Michele Jackson offers nuanced critique of cultural appropriation,” Chicago Tribune, interview and book write-up
- “Lit Hub’s Fall 2019 Nonfiction Preview: Social Science,” Literary Hub, included in social science reading roundup
- “Most Anticipated: The Great Second-Half 2019 Book Preview,” The Millions, included reading roundup
- “What Cornrows Mean,” GQ, author quoted and book mentioned in piece about cornrows
- “From Blackface To Blackfishing,” NPR/Code Switch, interview