Navigating Spaces That Are Exclusively "White For No Reason"

Tik Toker @Accidentalastroboy discusses the power of de-gentrying your mind in an attempt to navigate spaces that are exclusively "white for no reason." Within the video titled 'Gentrification of our mind,' Accidentalastroboy provides examples of "white for no reason" spaces within television. That 70s Show, The Big Bang Theory, and Lord of the Rings were examples of shows utilized for strategic segregation and escapism. Escapism from Black, Brown, and Indigenous people. The Tiktoker, states "my money is my vote in capitalism," which informs what they consciously choose to engage with and support. One can argue against the necessity of Black-centered media, however unlike "white for no reason" spaces, due to exclusion, there was a necessity to create content that centered black life and experiences due to an identifiable deficit. 

What do you do when you do not see yourself in the media that you consume? 

Gilmore Girls serves as a prime example of racial exclusion and a show being "white for no reason." I can count on one hand the number of POC within that show, and less than three fingers are recurring characters. I attempted to watch solely for the mother-daughter relationship, but the white utopian feel made it nearly impossible, and almost painful to watch. Over the summer, I also watched One Tree Hill for the first time and identified that almost immediately the black male characters are solely there to push Lucas' narrative forward. A from rags to riches trope. The Black characters in many white-centered shows are only there to push the narrative forward or serve as props. There is an absence of depth, which sparks the question, what do you do when you do not see yourself in the media that you consume? 

Like a child, it is time to place yourself at the center of everything and finally serve as the area of focus. Degentrify your mind! 

How To De-gentrify Your Life and Place Yourself At The Center:

Step one: Audit the media and literature that you consume within your life. 

Access the content that you interact with often. How does the content make you feel? What do you enjoy? What do you dislike? What improvement would you make, if any? How diverse is the content? Do you feel underrepresented? Do you see yourself or aspects of yourself in the media that you are consuming? Is the media a realistic representation of any identities that you hold? What themes do you identify? If there are people of color present, what roles are they in? Who is the writer, producer, etc? Are the distributors of the content and creators of certain characters within the media informed about nuances and cultural practices? 

After accessing and engaging in a comprehensive life audit, ask yourself am I at the center? If the answer is no, are you okay with that response? 

Step two: Strategically seek out what you're missing and enjoy. Don't settle for what executives think people of your race, gender, etc value 

I strategically avoid media that glorifies drug dealing, extreme violence and brutality, hyper-sexuality, and anything that exploits black trauma and engages in the degradation of the black body. The Wonder Years, The Upshaws, and The Ms.Pat Show are a few modern shows that I have watched that are black-centered that are not rooted in black trauma, exploitation, and abuse. When attempting to degentrify your viewership, be mindful of the content that you consume related to your identity. 

Constantly ask yourself, what is true? Are the beliefs that I hold informed by me or are they rooted in anti-blackness, racism, prejudice, bias, exclusion, etc? When I am searching for content for me, I follow the criteria of seeking something that's informational, family-friendly, thought-provoking, funny, intentional, and well-executed. 

We can use the show Good Times as a great example to display the decolonization and degentrification of your viewing experience. 

Colonized/Gentrified view of Good Times: I don't want to watch a show about poor Black People. I am not poor and I can't relate to that. White people think that all black people are poor and Good Times plays into that stereotype. 

Decolonized/De-gentrified view of Good Times: I enjoy watching family-oriented shows and Good Times is a great example of a strong family unit, an active and involved father, and a loving and engaged community. Despite their financial circumstances, the Evans family displays a level of integrity and love that is admirable. In many ways, I can see myself in certain characters and storylines. 

You hold the power and in small ways you can influence your reality. 

List of my favorite shows to watch that are authentically Black/Carribean centered: 

• Girlfriends 
• The Bernie Mac Show 
• My Wife and Kids 
• All of Us 
• One on One 
• Half and Half 
• Eve 
• Living Single 
• In the House 
• The Parent 'Hood 
• Good Times 
• The Parkers 
• Moesha 
• Sister Sister 
• That's So Raven 
• A Different World 
• Fresh Prince of Bel Air 
• Hangin with Mr.Cooper 
• Sanford and Son 
• The Jeffersons 
• Amen 
• Desmond's 
• The Ms.Pat Show 
• The Upshaws
• The Wonder Years (2021) 
• Martin 
• The Jamie Foxx Show 
• The Wayan's Brothers 
• Everybody Hates Chris 
• Family Matters 
• Pose 
• 227

Is engaging in centering yourself as a BiPOC within your reality necessary?

Not only is centering yourself necessary, but it's a vital means of survival. We are taught to navigate the world in a manner that is the complete opposite. We are taught to make space and to shrink ourselves. To love oneself is an act of rebellion. 

“One of the best guides to how to be self-loving is to give ourselves the love we are often dreaming about receiving from others. There was a time when I felt lousy about my over-forty body, saw myself as too fat, too this, or too that. Yet I fantasized about finding a lover who would give me the gift of being loved as I am. It is silly, isn't it, that I would dream of someone else offering to me the acceptance and affirmation I was withholding from myself. This was a moment when the maxim "You can never love anybody if you are unable to love yourself" made clear sense. And I add, "Do not expect to receive the love from someone else you do not give yourself.”
― Bell Hooks, All About Love: New Visions

This blog post primarily focused on racial identity, but consume content that highlights the diverse aspects of yourself. This is in no way instructing you to stop watching shows that center whiteness. I love to watch The Nanny, Young Sheldon, Gossip Girl, The Golden Girls and countless other shows that lack diversity. However, I prioritize and constantly rewatch shows where I am at the center. Watch shows that show appreciation for different body types, languages, hues, hair textures, and much more. Actively consume content where you see yourself and others, opposed to content that makes you feel othered. People of Color are people and deserve to feel seen in the content that they consume. Centering yourself does not stop at media spaces, but books, movies, music, podcasts, food, and so forth. What are you consuming holistically and how can you make it you centered? 

Add these identity and cultural vocabulary words to your word bank:  

Acculturation: cultural modification of an individual, group, or people by adapting to or borrowing traits from another culture.

Enculturation: the process by which an individual learns the traditional content of a culture and assimilates its practices and values

Assimilation: the process of becoming similar to something