Why Do We Have White And Black Boundary Lines?

Okay, golf was always known as a white's only sport before Tiger won the championship. It always had recognition in mainstream. However, it was not a sport that black people paid much attention to until Tiger won. It was the same with tennis before Arthur Ashe and the two sisters broke the color barrier. African Americans entered into what is deemed as whites only sports under different conditions and were not exactly welcomed into them.

Yet and still, a white person can participate in a recreational activity or music genre that is created, participated in, and traditionally only an African American thing that is not recognized by the mainstream and all of a sudden it gets recognition. And why do whites have to participate in it before it gets any type of recognition in mainstream?

Why are blacks considered American citizens but not part of mainstream? We pay taxes, we vote, some of us are in decision making positions, we own businesses, etc., but yet we're still not consided part of mainstream America.

I was reading an article where some white sorority girls won the Sprite Step-Off competition. The prize was $100,000. For years, historically, Step-Off contest have been traditionally an African American thing. In fact, for years Step-Offs were hardly noticed except by HBCU and blacks. All a sudden, some white chicks win and Step-Offs make the news and are given recognition. Nonetheless, the white chicks were good, but now, will they be giving them credit for creating Step-Offs in the future? Because that seems to be the way it usually works out.

Back some years ago, Bo Derek, decided to wear a hairstyle that black women had worn for years called "cornrows" or "French Braids". Black women had been wearing that style before Bo Derek was even born. However, when she decided to get her hair done in them, they gave that white woman the credit for creating a style that originated in Africa among African women. In other words, it was created by blacks, but a white had to wear the style for it to be recognized in mainstream. Not only that, she was given credit for creating them but she didn't.

There have been many things created by black that whites adopted in the main stream and were given the credit and recognition for starting. For instance, Blacks created Rock & Roll music long before whites even thought about it, but whites were given the credit and most will argue you down that they started it. Little Richard, Chuck Berry, and many other black musicians before them can tell you about many of their songs being ripped off by many white musicians back in the day. Before Elvis sung "You Ain't Nothing but a Hounddog," Big Momma Thorton had sung it.

There is nothing wrong with the white chicks winning in a contest that was created by and traditionally participated in by blacks only. More power to them. That is as long as they don't try to revise the history of where it originated.

Black people, whether whites want to admit it or not are very creative and unique trend setters and others do copy our styles, music, some of our hip words, etc. However, we don't always get credit for what we create or either it is played down or dismissed as mediocre that is until someone white mimics it. Blacks have broken into sports traditionally participated by whites only but they have never claimed that those sports originated with them and taken credit for them. Not saying that these white girls who won the "step-offs have done that either because they haven't.

Nevertheless, why do we have these imaginary black and white boundary lines in sports, music, and other recreational activities that black and whites tend to claim as their own? Shouldn't anything created be for the benefit of all, recognized by main stream and credit given to whom credit is due?