Steven Hale
Jul 17, 2023

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It all goes back to Du Bois' concept of double consciousness, in a way. But I think you might include a discussion of the way that the so-called dominant culture fosters code-allegiance.

I taught at an HBCU for a few years, and one of the faculty members told the following story:

A student of his had applied for a job at IBM. Someone at personnel there contacted the teacher afterwards and asked: "Why did you let him wear a brown suit to the interview? Don't you know that everybody at IBM only wears blue suits?" That IBM executive was probably trying to do the student (and himself) a favor. But he was reinforcing the code as much as any racist from the outside might have done.

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Steven Hale
Steven Hale

Written by Steven Hale

Music: Discovering the lost and forgotten. Politics: Exposing injustice. Screenwriting: Emotional storytelling.

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