Your Average Nigga

Vershawn Ashanti Young's Your Average Nigga critically examines black masculinity and the impact of racial identity on literacy and communication.

In Your Average Nigga, Vershawn Ashanti Young explores the complexities of black masculinity through the lens of personal experience and scholarly critique. He delves into how identity performances related to racial authenticity, academic literacy, class mobility, and sexuality shape the lives of black men. By intertwining autobiography, autoethnography, and academic analysis, Young presents a nuanced examination of the challenges faced by inner-city youth in navigating their cultural identities in predominantly white academic settings.

Young critiques the concept of code-switching, which suggests that black youth should adopt a white English vernacular in educational environments while reserving their natural speech for home. He argues that this expectation perpetuates a harmful narrative that positions black linguistic practices as inferior. In Your Average Nigga, Young highlights the detrimental effects of this dichotomy on black racial identity, particularly for black males, who often find themselves caught between two worlds. The pressure to conform to white standards of communication can lead to alienation from their families and communities, while adherence to their cultural ways of speaking may hinder their acceptance in mainstream society.

Ultimately, Young asserts that the exaggerated perceptions of the divide between black and white linguistic performances reinforce essentialist views of race, rather than dismantling them. This insightful volume is a critical resource for scholars and educators in the fields of rhetoric, performance studies, and African American studies, encouraging a deeper understanding of the intersections between identity and literacy.