How To Be Black

How To Be Black is a personal story illustrating what it means to be black in a reality largely determined by the white culture.

For a white person who can’t imagine being black, it may seem that the blackness of the skin is enough of a bonding factor. A lot of people don’t realize that within what they call the “black culture,” divisions are also present.

In his childhood, Thurston often found it hard to feel a sense of belonging to groups. At school, he stood out around his white peers. His African name, Baratunde, didn’t help.

A lot of white teachers would mispronounce it, calling him everything from Barry Tune to “Bartender.” This was as embarrassing for the teacher, as it was for the author himself. His name could virtually never go unnoticed.

But the issues connected to carrying around this originally Nigerian, uncommon name, weren’t limited to white people mispronouncing it. In fact, Thurston realized that the native Nigerians sometimes had more trouble accepting it than white people.

As an example, he once had to endure a difficult phone call with his Nigerian friend’s dad, who though it was outrageous that an African American could be named Baratunde. He gave Thurston a tirade and lectured him on the meaning of his name – even though Thurston knew it.

His friend’s dad simply treated him from a position of superiority – exactly what white people are often accused of when it comes to their ways of “dealing with blacks.” The difference was that, in this case, Thurston seemed to not have been “black enough.”

When he went to school, Thurston initially struggled to make friends. There were only a handful of other black kids around – and even the visual impression this created felt, at the very least, awkward. As him and the few other Afro-american children naturally gravitated towards each other, white kids saw this as something like and “exclusive club” for blacks only. It was hard for them to understand that, as a minority, black kids often clung to each other by default. But that wasn’t always the case. One day at school, Thurston’s friend introduced him to the concept of “Oreo.” He explained that an “Oreo” was a someone black on the outside, but white inside. This meant a black person who, by hanging out with the white kids, were making themselves feel better. Such barriers often made it difficult for black and white kids to become friends. But, as Thurston illustrates with ample examples, it was never impossible. He argues that cross-racial friendships are actually a very valuable way to transform society as a whole. When black and white people hang out together and trust…