Hip The History John Leland Analysis

The Concept of Hip in Relation to Feedback Loop of White Imitation

In Hip: The History, John Leland, explores the concept of hip and how it relates to racism. When Leland is discussing the idea of “hip” he is referring to what modern day Americans would consider the latest lingo, fashion, music and technology. However, Leland brings to light that America’s notion of “hip” is actually rooted in white people looting and modifying black culture to make it their own. As American historian, “Robert Farris Thompson says ‘American popular culture is a euphemism for black American culture…” (Leland 59). Although there are many different ways “feedback loops of white imitation” play a role in American history, I will be focusing on three different

The southern accent is a variation of “Black English,” however, it was not used out of survival, but out of whites adopting black culture. Leland argues that what we call a southern accent was the “inflection that generations of African Americans imposed on southern whites’ formal British diction” (Leland 23). Slaves developed “Black English” out of survival, but it ultimately became a vehicle for white youth to become hip. Leland believes that, “Black English” was the basis of slang, and now people considered slang as linguistically “hip” (Leland 23). This transition from “Black English,” to “hip talk,” occurred when whites started to adopt black culture. This language evolution and “feedback loop of white imitation” is still pervasive and prevalent in our society, as illustrated in the fact that young teenagers create their own versions of slang words to seem a part of a collective whole and to be considered hip (Leland 69). They enjoy the idea of feeling wanted or exclusive. However, the history of such evolution of language is lost on modern day teenagers; they do not know that slang was adapted as a means of survival for American slaves. More significantly, when kids create their own lingo, they are ignorant to the fact this type of language is rooted in “Black English,” which slaves used to survive in a white

Blackface minstrel shows began in the 1820s to 1830s and were thought to be “America’s first popular culture” (Leland 20). Blackface performances gave whites the opportunity to create and act out black stereotypes for white entertainment. When performing blackface, it was common for white men put burnt cork on their face and act out racist stereotypes, which included sexual potencies, racial mockery, and more (Leland 28). White actors earned money off of “‘trying on’ being black” (Leland 30). Fredrick Douglas states that minstrel shows are “the filthy scum of white society, who have stolen from us a complexion denied to them by nature, in which to make money, and pander to the corrupt taste of their white fellow citizens” (Leland 30). Leland viewed blackface minstrel shows as white men commodifying black bodies, as entertainment for the white patrons. Blackface minstrel shows are a prime example of cultural appropriation: of whites imitating what they think is black culture. It also demonstrates how a “feedback loop of white imitation,” cannot only be a commodification, but also can be flagrantly inaccurate and a means to demonstrate a white narrative of