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 whether or not Martine was black. Although the debate was over whether or not Martine was black, NP’s reaction in particular was a glimpse at what the boys feel about black culture and identity. NP, who thinks that Martine is white, says that if a “white man patted [him] on the head like a pickaninny, [he]’d kick his ass.” He also goes on to say the incident was racially motivated (94). NP’s views the situation as a direct attack on black people coming from a white oppressor, which is very much influenced by the ongoing struggles of African Americans against racism. But NP has been raised in a relatively wealthy and well off environment, and likely has not experienced much racism, or at least not enough to cause him to have such a severe distrust of white people. NP’s actions suggest that he is attempting to show himself as being a defender of black culture by standing up to what he views as racism. But the racism he sees is just Martine patting Benji on the head, which can be seen as a sign of fatherly affection. In fact, Nick interpreted the incident as Martine saying “good job, brotherman,” though he makes sure to mention that Martine is black(94). This shows that while all the boys argue over the nature of the incident, they do seem to agree that the incident would be bad if Martine was black. While it does make sense since there has obviously been a difficult history between black and white Americans, Martine himself was a nice guy to all of the kids, and yet they still feel that they would trust him much less if he were white. Obviously it makes sense that they’d bond closer with a black man, and yet their overblown aversion towards a white Martine patting Benji’s head shows how they feel they should react to these sorts of things. It’s hard to tell whether or not the more “normal” black kids the Sag Harbor boys would react the same way they do, but it’s clear that the Sag Harbor boys feel that they are acting how they think the “normal” black kids would.     

Benji and Marcus’s argument over Afrika Bambaataa was an instance of Benji seemingly siding with the white people, at least in the eyes of Marcus. We see Benji noting that Afrika Bambaataa took a part of Trans-Europe Express, which angers Marcus. Marcus finds the notion that the music was stolen to be an insult to the band. Ben, looking back from the future, notes that at the time stealing your music was like “stealing your soul”(61). Marcus ultimately insults Benji by saying that he forgot he liked “white music,” alongside the customary insults of the boys(62). To Marcus, Benji’s claim represented an attack on black identity, as he was suggesting that parts of it were taken from white people. Marcus doesn’t say this, but it’s implied that he thinks this way and feels an obligation to defend his culture. Benji doesn’t want to offend black culture, and unlike his friends he appreciates both cultures and incorporates both into his own life. But his friends like Marcus believe that they must only follow black culture, which is another sign of them trying to fit into black culture. But Clive points out that he had played Tears for Fears, a song by a white band, the prior night and that Marcus had enjoyed it, which brings the question of whether the boys act the way they do because they want to connect to their culture or if they try to do what’s “cool” (which is what Clive does). Nonetheless, most of the Sag Harbor boys try to excessively hate on what is not black culture in an attempt to prove to themselves that they are a part of black culture.