Acculturation In Feel The Noise And 8 Mile

The rest of the chapter talks about the similarity of minstrel images in 1990s hip-hop, as evidenced by the defining characteristics of greed, violence, hyper sexuality and pathos in “gangsta rap” (a sub-genre of hip-hop further defined in chapter two). Ogbar balances this landscape with challenges to what he calls “neo-minstrelsy” from both inside and outside the hip-hop community, including discussions of the Spike Lee movie, Bamboozled, underground conscious hip-hop groups such as The Roots and Little Brother, and the activist “Stop Coonin’ Movement”, to name a few. Throughout the book, Ogbar explains how rappers strive for authenticity by “keepin’ it real”. And that is defined by how they rap, walk, talk, and make their

There are two different dimensions of our identities: ethnicity and race. Ethnicity refers to one’s belonging to a specific cultural, or racial group that makes up culture, race language, and/or place of origin. For example, one can be African-American but have different ethnicities, one African-American and the other African-Caribbean decent. Race is a social construct that can be changed over time. Historically, referring to its specific characteristics one possesses based on: ethnicity, religion, or language; today's its classified solely based upon the color of one’s skin. Nevertheless, ethnic and racial identities are important and instill a sense of belonging and identifying with that specific group through attitude, behaviors. Moreover,

The film starts with a black screen before Eminem’s white face appears. Jimmy lives on the opposite side of 8 Mile Road, which separates him from the urban blacks, and makes him a privileged suburban white. His mission in this movie to cross that literal and psychological border (8 Mile Road) and become accepted as a rapper despite his skin color. It is argued that Rabbit’s character is a tourist who ventures into black culture, and on the way, masters their art and dominates their industry (Jennings 2008). Therefore, Eminem, and the director Curtis Hutton, white people writing about an African-American dominated industry, have now commodified the culture (Jennings 2008). This translates to Eminem’s career and his success in the industry. But Eminem’s success is ultimately due to his ability to encompass the characteristics of black culture while maintaining his position as a white male: “affiliations with black masculinity provide cultural acceptance and authenticity, which fuel his entry into hip-hop culture. White masculinity provides mobility, ambivalence from white audiences, and commercial success” (Dawkins 465). Therefore by “walking” the spaces between black and white masculinity and never committing to one, he masters the industry. Somehow he uses both racial characterizations as privileges (Dawkins 464-465).

Through learning, families values, community relationships, and the willingness to achieve. Culture can be easily seen - the behavior of people – is the smallest part of culture. The greatest part, internal culture is inside people’s heads. It is our way of thinking and perceiving. Most importantly, it includes the values and beliefs unconsciously learned while growing up. The collision of two cultures as people come together causes us to become more aware of the differences and similarities between cultural values. By understanding the internal culture and significant values, we have a system to analyze and interpret behavior. People from around the globe bring their cultures here to American and institute them into society. Although, the United States is a culturally diverse society, there is a dominant culture and others give up their culture (depending upon where they may live) so they can fit into mainstream society. My family as other African American families changed their ways to fit into society hoping to become socially accepted because of not being members of the dominant culture. As with most societal trends, family values in all cultures are in constant motion; the list of American family values is always evolving. African

“Culture is fluid. Culture is smoke. You breathe it. You eat it. You cant help but hearing it… I am in favor of assimilation. I am not in favor of assimilation. I recognize assimilation” (Rodriguez 143). All in all, I am accepting of the labels society may put on me, for now. I'm growing up in a community that values peoples differences and accepts that we are all American in our own way. Being racially identified is not important to me, I don’t believe it makes me, or anybody else, who there are today.

Everyone is raised within a culture with a set of customs and morals handed down by those generations before them. Most individual’s view and experience identity in different ways. During history, different ethnic groups have struggled with finding their place within society. In the mid-nineteen hundreds, African Americans faced a great deal of political and social discrimination based on the tone of their skin. After the Civil Rights Movement, many African Americans no longer wanted to be identified by their African American lifestyle, so they began to practice African culture by taking on African hairdos, African-influenced clothing, and adopting African names. By turning away from their roots, many African Americans embraced a culture that was not inherited, thus putting behind the unique and significant characteristics

Henry is a model American teenager—and the prototypical consumer at which the hip-hop industry is squarely aimed, which has his parents sitting up in their seats. The music that was once the purview of black America has gone white and gone commercial all at once. A sea of white faces now rises up to greet rap groups as they perform, many of the teenagers like Henry, a NASCAR fanatic and self-described redneck (468)

The pivotal scene that will be thoroughly represented and analyzed is from the movie 8 Mile, directed by Curtis Hanson, and released in 2002. 8 Mile is a semiautobiographical film based on the life story of the iconic rapper Marshal Mathers, or better known by his stage name Eminem, and how he began his journey into the hip-hop industry. In this film, Eminem plays himself, as the main character named Jimmy Smith Jr.; however, throughout the course of the movie, he is referred to as Rabbit more than anything else. Rabbit lives in a very rough part of Detroit known as 8 Mile, in a mobile home with his single alcoholic of a mother. Their financial situation is dire and Rabbit decides he needs to find a different occupation. Rabbit works at a factory to barely make ends meet; however, the amount he makes is abysmal compared to what he needs. Rabbit has a passion for music, specifically rap. However, this is a challenge because at the time the rap genre was predominantly occupied by African-Americans. Despite this, Rabbit continues on in his pursuit of making a name for himself in the rap industry. He enters rap battle competitions in hopes of getting noticed. He runs into a group of local amateur rappers known as “Leadaz of tha Free World”. The leader of this group is named Papa Doc and he is portrayed to be Rabbits greatest adversary. Rabbit and Papa Doc both make it to the final round of the rap battle competition and that’s when the pivotal scene

In the essay “‘blaxican’ and other reminded Americans” Richard Rodrigues states that “I am Chinese, and that is because I live in a Chinese city”. This evidence reveals that in America there are many kinds of cultures you don't need to be considered either black or white.

While he does everything he can to overcome this barrier, he makes his rapping about how he is white. Having a white character as the main protagonist changes the message of the movies greatly. Rather than the hip hop movie being about a simple rapper trying to make his way out of the projects, in 8 Mile the protagonist has to prove to the audiences that he has the credibility to be a rapper since he is white. B-Rabbit appropriates black culture by stating that in order to be a rapper he has to fit in with the black poverty, rather than typical white middle class families. “His final rap acknowledges everything that could disqualify him, but he wins the rap battle by first admitting these aspects and then critiquing his opponent. He implies Papa Doc is disqualified as having a legitimate voice despite being Black. The reasons? Papa Doc comes from a stable home and has attended a private school. He dismisses Papa Doc, excluding blackness as significant. He instead asserts his own poverty and class position, resetting the standards to dismiss race. B-Rabbit situates himself as a more authentic practitioner of hip hop, not simply because of his skill, but because also of his poverty and other concerns” (Sanchez 49).

My phenotype defines my race and ancestry as Black due to “physical appearance and constitution, including skeletal structure, height, hair texture, eye color, and skin tone” (Matthew and Emirbayer 2009, 337). My ethnicity is that of African American in difference to Blacks from the Caribbean Islands of Blacks that have emigrated from Africa. Matthew and Emirbayer says that Black culture exist as two distinct cultures defined by two classes—the middle class and the poor or “the underclass” and “instead of the Black community, we think in terms of sub communities” (349). I believe that could be further expand by geography, as my culture includes aspects of the economically deprived South, the ghettos of Los Angeles aa well as the White, middleclass suburb of Irvine. It is indeed complicated.

Essentially, every culture has a specific basis, native language, religion and custom that reflects its history, values and beliefs. These conceptual constructs represents the total reality of life within the community of which is commonly known as “Culture”. Culture is not only a race, but is a way of life. In the United States, there are many different races that integrate with the American race and culture. However, these individuals often times may have difficulties adjusting, adapting or maintaining their heritage. How well they acculturate and adapt to the process can have an impact on how well the individual is able to integrate or engage to one or another culture.

Today the mainstream voice is frequently the reflection of the principles of what I would like to call a “cultural dappler”. A cultural dappler has virtually no conception of what the term truly means or the implications behind its usage. Consequently, they like the term out of ignorance or despise it out of misunderstanding. They believe that America is a multiculturalist’s society because of the increasing amount of people of color in the advertising, music, and television industries. They also see the growing willingness of people to dapple in the traditions of other cultural groups trying their food, clothing and exploring their various belief systems. However, this is not multiculturalism: it is cultural consumerism on its most superficial level.

Richard Rodriguez’s essay “Blaxicans and Other Reinvented Americans” emphasizes on the idea that culture is what creates a person's identity, rather than a person's race. Rodriguez states, “I wear an indian face; I answer to a Spanish surname as well as this California first name, Richard” (88). In other words, Rodriguez is trying to give an example on how race should not identify another. Rodriguez is explaining that he does not identify as one specific race because there is many different parts of who he is. It is hard to identify someone when they do not even know what to go by because they may have many different cultures or races. It is very stereotypical to identify one by the way they look rather than what they grew up as or how that

The subject of race, within the field of sociology, can often be viewed as both a fluid concept and a cultural experience. Contrary to popular belief, race is not biological, but is a socially constructed category of people that share the same biological traits. Race can often change over time and is formed primarily by our personal views and the views of others. These can range from ethnicity to self-presentation and feelings of place within society. One example of the fluidity of race can be seen based upon the classification of the White or Caucasian race. In today’s culture, this race has been drastically increased to include a vast array of “white” individuals.