Book Review: 'White Negroes' by Lauren Michele Jackson – Unpacking Cultural Appropriation
BY LAUREN MICHELE JACKSON
White Negroes by Lauren Michele Jackson is a searing critique of cultural appropriation and its deeply ingrained connection to capitalism, power, and identity in contemporary society. Jackson delves into the complexities of how whiteness fetishizes blackness, turning it into a commodity, a trend, or a status symbol, while simultaneously disregarding the very real histories and struggles that black people endure. Through this lens, Jackson dissects the commodification of black culture in everything from music and art to fashion and food, offering an incisive look at the ways in which cultural appropriation has evolved and mutated in a post-slavery world.
At the heart of White Negroes is a deep examination of how blackness is both revered and appropriated by white people. Jackson argues that, throughout history, white culture has repeatedly sought to "make blackness its own," distorting and commodifying black identity for personal gain, all while minimizing the very real racial and social issues that black individuals continue to face. From Miley Cyrus and Christina Aguilera adopting aspects of black womanhood as rites of passage to their own celebrity status, Jackson explores how the adoption of black culture has often served as a shortcut to freedom, autonomy, and maturity for white individuals—ironically, while blackness itself has been historically bound up in systems of oppression.
Jackson’s work is not only a scholarly analysis, but also a sharp cultural critique that highlights the contradictions at the core of American society. While celebrities like Cyrus and Aguilera are able to embody blackness without consequence, black people are still subject to racial violence, discrimination, and economic marginalization. Through her dissection of how appropriation manifests in popular culture, Jackson forces readers to confront the uncomfortable truth about how black culture is both consumed and rejected, depending on its convenience to the dominant culture.
One of the most compelling aspects of White Negroes is Jackson’s exploration of how slavery has morphed and mutated in the modern era. Drawing a deep connection to Jordan Peele’s Get Out, Jackson suggests that while the physical chains of slavery may have been removed, the ideological and psychological chains remain as strong as ever. Slavery, as Jackson illustrates, has evolved from a blatant, physical system of domination into something far more insidious: a cultural and economic system that exploits blackness for profit, while maintaining racial inequalities under the guise of "progress" or "cultural exchange."
In this book, Jackson emerges as a modern-day virologist, tracking the evolution of slavery and the way it infects contemporary culture. She examines the virus-like nature of cultural appropriation, showing how it spreads across industries and cultures, mutating into new forms that are often harder to identify but no less harmful.
Cultural appropriation, as Jackson argues, is not just an act of copying—it is a systematic strategy for the extraction of wealth and power from marginalized communities, leaving those communities unrecognized and uncompensated for their intellectual and cultural contributions. This is where the book’s critical edge lies: Jackson exposes how appropriation is not simply a form of admiration or homage, but a way to perpetuate economic and social inequalities that disproportionately affect people of color.
The central message of White Negroes is a fierce denunciation of how cultural appropriation continues to harm black people and perpetuate oppressive systems. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in understanding the deeper cultural implications of appropriation, and how it continues to perpetuate power imbalances that disproportionately affect marginalized communities.
In Jackson’s own words: "Everybody wants the insurgence of blackness with the wealth of whiteness," and White Negroes provides an essential and disturbing lens through which to understand this ongoing dynamic.