Recorded live at AS220 on October 22nd 2008

1957 - Dissent magazine publishes Norman Mailer's "The White Negro: Superficial Reflections on the Hipster"

What's Black? What's White? What's Italian? What's Jewish? Are race and ethnicity a dance anyone can learn?

This essay by Norman Mailer recorded a wave of young white people in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s who liked jazz and swing music so much that they adopted Black culture as their own. It was first published in the Fall 1957 issue of Dissent, and was later reprinted in Advertisements for Myself in 1959. Mailer's so-called "white negroes" were White American male bohemians who enshrouded themselves in Black clothing styles, language, and music while distancing themselves from White society. This movement influenced the hipsters of the 1940s, the beats of the 1950s, the mods of the 1960s, and the wigger of later decades. What is the connection between race music and dance -- including contemporary hip-hop culture -- to the music and dance of the White mainstream? We will discuss the way marginalized cultures often become models for those alienated from the culture at large and how Black culture has been stereotyped and altered in the service of others.

PANELISTS:

Joe Beats is a sampled based producer and performer from Rhode Island. His production credits are listed under many like aliases: Joey Beats, The Joe Beats Experiment, The Joe Beats Conspiracy, The Joe Beats Trio, Joey "Nose" Beats, Joe Beats & Blak, Non-Prophets, and others.

John Gennari is an Associate Professor of English & Director, ALANA U.S. Ethnic Studies Program, University of Vermont. ALANA is an interdisciplinary program focused on the study of cultures, values, historical and contemporary issues relating to African Americans, Latinos/as, Asian Americans and Native Americans. Gennari's work focuses on race and ethnic studies in literary and cultural studies.

Greg Tate is an essayist, cultural critic, and longtime Village Voice journalist. Author of Everything But The Burden, Tate's work artfully explores reaction to and implications of White appropriation of African-American culture.