Can't Cover My Skin

This past week we read excerpts from Kenji Yoshino’s Covering: The Hidden Assault on Our Civil Rights. The main theme of the excerpts we read dealt with the concepts of covering and passing. Yoshino draws from author Erving Goffman. In his book Stigma, Erving Goffman provides instances of covering: “Persons who are ready to admit possession of a stigma….may nonetheless make a great effort to keep the stigma from looming large.” Passing on the other hand is trying to detract from something that everyone already knows like when President Roosevelt sat behind a desk to detract from the fact that he was in a wheelchair. These somewhat complicated ideologies can be demonstrated through my experiences as an African American male. Specifically I will focus on the concept of covering.

I was born and raised in a wealthy area. I attended a predominantly white private school most of my life. My parents are both lawyers and have pushed me to be successful. I was always told that to be successful, one must always be presentable (meaning no baggy jeans or extra large clothes), speak eloquently (my mother used demand that I only speak “King’s English”), and work hard in school. Throughout my life, I have tried my best to do all of those things.

 Often as a child, white children would ask me things like, “Why don’t you look like X?” or “Why don’t you talk like Y,” or  “Your name is so white! Why didn’t your parents name you Jamal?” 

and most infamously “You don’t act black.” Due to my intelligence, I was disassociated with my blackness. In a way, through these questions I was accused of covering. People believed that because I acted contrary to how they thought I should act, that I was in fact suppressing my true self, or acting in a way which was meant to hide my true nature.  Was I in fact subliminally covering to fit in? Perhaps, I wasn’t letting my “inner blackness” rise to the surface. NO, NO, NO!

For the life of me, I don’t understand why people associate color with intelligence. Our President is black! Obviously being president requires some sort of intelligence. But even relating to this, you often hear people say “Oh, President Obama, doesn’t count, he’s mixed” as if it they really can’t stomach the thought of an intelligent black man running the world. 

            Interestingly enough, I am somewhat Afrocentric. I know the history of African Americans, and I embrace African American culture. However, I don’t walk around town in axiomatic black power garb. Is it incumbent upon me to outwardly represent my culture everywhere I go? If I don’t necessarily represent my culture everywhere I go, unless questioned, am I considered covering? I found Nabila’s earlier post very interesting, especially the video of De La Cruz. I found it interesting that he denied being Mexican and added the fact that his dad served in the navy, thereby attempting to look more American.  I’d argue that even though De La Cruz is American, by denying being Mexican, which is a part of his identity, that he is actively covering. The questions I pose to my classmates are as follows: Have you ever covered? Do feel pressure to cover? Do you represent your heritage everywhere you go? If so, why or why not?