rewound.jpg
Rewound
Fool Daze
 

I hadn't thought about School Daze until recently, when a producer from Don Imus's radio show brought up this dance number from the 1988 film in reference to the NCAA Women's Championship game between Tennessee and Rutgers. Apparently, Rutgers was fighting for the jiggaboo side, because, as Don Imus put it, "they are some nappy-headed hoes." Now, both of their careers are over and a national discourse has begun about the appropriateness of his comments and his producer's (and hip hop lyrics). Why is discourse necessary, exactly? The words were not only inappropriate, they were racist and sexist. End of story.

For me, this song and dance number is classic because of the dance skills of Whitley Gilbert and Gina Waters Payne, but also because the good or bad hair/dark or you're fair issue is one that I grew up with and pretty much every black person I know has grown up with. A white man can't even pretend to understand what these words truly mean, nor is it acceptable for him to use a black movie directed by Spike Lee to add heft or validity to his uninformed remarks. This story is quickly fading into obscurity, but I'm obviously still a little perturbed, particularly since the focus has been so brilliantly shifted to hip hop. So, my "wannabes" and "jiggaboos", watch this clip and pour out a little liquor for Don Imus's career — that's something nappy-headed people do, right?

Comments (2)

No. 1 · melzgoodness

I appreciate this post, because it is so true. I had a class recently where I was talking about the struggle of beauty consciousness for black women to my class. Being mostly white they had no idea of what I was trying to say…

Posted: May 2, 2007 at 10:42 am
No. 2 · Eliza

You talk about Whitley Gilbert a lot.

Posted: May 2, 2007 at 10:10 pm
Leave a Comment

It's easier to leave comments when you register for an account. It's quick.

Already have an account? Then log in!

Scroll Posts
Minority Report « Next Prev » Parting Shots
 


Stereohyped Team

Editor
Lauren Williams

Editor-at-Large
Cord Jefferson

Editorial Director
David Hauslaib

Managing Editor
Andrew Belonsky

Publisher
Jossip Initiatives

Our Network

Jossip The gossip's gossip sheet

Mollygood Splaying celebrities from A- to D-list

Queerty Free of an agenda. Except that gay one

Advertise

Snag our ad info

Roll Blogs

Afrobella
All Hip Hop
The Assimilated Negro
The B Life
Black Agenda Report
Black Male Appreciation
Black Prof
Black Voices
Bossip
Cake & Ice Cream
Clips and Kisses
Clutch Magazine
Concrete Loop
Crunk & Disorderly
Essence
EUR Web
The Fashion Bomb
Giant
Greasy Guide
Hip Candy
HipHopDX
Hip & Pop
Juicy News
King
Miss Info
Mollygood
My Urban Report
Nah Right
Necole Bitchie
Nova Slim
Panache Report
Racialicious
The Rap Up
Rhymes With Snitch
Sandra Rose
Shake Your Beauty
Straight Outta NYC
SOHH
TMZ
Vibe
Wendy Williams
XXL
Young, Black, Fabulous

RSS

 
Copyright 2008 Jossip Initiatives LLC