Black Culture for the Sag Harbor Boys
Throughout Sag Harbor , we see Benji at odds with his friends over his interests and beliefs. Specifically, they see Benji as sympathetic towards, and in some cases favoring. white culture over black culture, which they find to be unacceptable. Interestingly, all the boys live 9 months of their lives every year amongst white people, and yet almost everyone but Benji seems to exaggerate their dislike towards white culture. Their overblown dislike towards white culture is almost like an attempt to prove to themselves that they, like “normal” black kids, are a part of black culture. Two such instances of the boys trying to prove their loyalty towards black culture are when Martine patted Benji’s hair and when the boys were arguing over Afrika Bambaataa. Martine’s patting of Benji’s hair was not only awkward for Benji, but also raised the question of racism in Jonni Waffle. This was because even though Martine appeared to be black, there was still a debate among the boys ...