Children's Play

The Third Installment of "That White Woman is Starrin' At Us"

My triumphant return!  After a month of working to the end of school, I've turned my attention back to this blog...hope you enjoy!


For a little over a month now the kids and teens at church have been playing with a giant jump-rope.  The first time they did this, their rope was fashioned by tying the ends of two long jump-ropes together.  It was make-shift, but they couldn't have had a better time.  When I arrived, I walked up to the crowd of children and teens watching, laughing, singing and jumping when one of them told me I could join in.  "Come on Miss Amy" she said.  So I put down my purse and walked over to join the group of jumpers when suddenly it became very clear that I wasn't welcome there.  Another girl started yelling at me, "Oh, no!" she said, "Get out!"  There's obviously no room for a boring adult in the adventures of jump-roping kids.  But this encounter got me thinking...


It got me thinking about the history of children's games.  So, I looked up the history of jump-rope and found that it has been a part of many cultures from North Africa to Asia and Europe for thousands of years.  I continued on in my vast research of all that the Internet could tell me about children's sidewalk games and found my way to this article by Mona Lisa Saloy (yes, Mona Lisa) about African American Oral Traditions in Louisiana.


I was fascinated as I read about Saloy's study, which examined many different traditions, including sidewalk songs for games like jumping rope.  It concluded that many black families place great importance upon the ability to verbally defend themselves or humiliate others.  The clever use of rhyme, insult and wit is highly praised among those communities.  The average white U.S. citizen might recognize this attribute of black verbal history in "yo mama" jokes and in modern rap music.  Rap artists are often connected in our cultural imagination to gangs, drugs, and illegal sexual activity, but the rappist's talent is truly great and often esteemed in black communities.  Many rappists have an amazing ability to communicate piercing thoughts faster than I could even think them.  And they often rhyme -- just like the jump-roping songs on the playground.


As I read Saloy's article, I was forced to consider my own biases against stereotypical "black" verbal culture.  I am often off-put by what I perceive as rude, harsh, and ignorant language coming from some of the black people I know and I'm ashamed to say it wasn't until reading this article that I even considered that such language was a cultural tradition passed down from centuries of historical oppression.  It is increasingly difficult for me to figure out how best to love children who speak so differently than I do.  How do we embrace and celebrate the tremendous cultural heritage found in language, yet also communicate the semtiment that certain word or grammar usage will make one appear uneducated and less likely to get accepted as a university student or employee a high-paying job in the United States?  Is that biculturalism even possible?  For generations, immigrants have tried to change their language or accent; to American-ize it.  Even my own cousins, whose Italian father had to learn English when he married my aunt and who have grandparents who live in Naples and speak no English, hardly speak Italian.  I fear that being linguistically bicultural is almost impossible.  Either we are "black" or "white", "Jewish" or "American", "Irish" or "American" and much of that depends on how we speak.


But isn't that beautiful?!  The vast diversity of our world evident the moment a mouth is opened!  The poetry, passion, humor and love communicated by such a varity of languages is one of our world's greatest treasures. 


My paternal grandmother's family is the Wards.  When I visited Ireland in college, I found a keychain proclaiming that "Ward" means "Bard" or traveling storyteller.  While I have no documentable proof of this definition, I have chosen to believe it because it so describes my family.  My grandmother, my father and my brothers and I all love stories.  I, indeed, have chosen a vocation rooted in theatrical storytelling, specifically studying William Shakespeare -- The Bard of Avon.  If anyone can appreciate the creativity and craft behind black verbal culture, it should be me.  Perhaps that simple game of jump rope so many weeks ago will spur me on to a deeper study of language within culture and a deeper appreciation for speech that, despite my initial reactions, is no less beautiful than my own.


I'd like to end with a few words from Saloy's article, which center on the role language plays in developing cultural as well as individual identity....very interesting:

"Children's folklore, in general, fulfills certain functions; it reflects and criticizes society and transmits values. For most kids, their lore entertains them, teaches them how to manipulate words, helps to develop their group identity, and creates a bond. It also provides the opportunity to practice "handling" authority and informs them of their sexual roles.

The sidewalk-song of children's folklore performs a particularly important role in African American culture. When Black youth perform these sidewalk songs, they practice and learn to contribute to their rich African American verbal culture. By puberty if not earlier, the Black child must learn to "hold their own" for protection, that is, from verbal or physical abuse. It is a common Black custom to be able to "rap" oneself out of a street fight or "jive" your parents out of a deserved whipping. Therefore, this early verbal play becomes a vital link to what will later become "jiving," "sounding," "woofing," "the dozens," and eventually "rapping," all of which are common African American verbal-dueling traditions. The dueling dozens and rapping have been incorrectly attributed only to Black male culture. Girls also participate in these early raps and frequently with boys. Boys participate with girls to varying degrees depending on their exposure to sisters, girl cousins, and neighbors."