Essay Example on Love & Theft: A Positive Interaction Between Whites & Blacks

Love and theft, as paradoxical they appear, can be used together to mean something positive as it was exemplified by the white Americans and the black Americans. The interaction and relationship between the blacks and the whites can be considered as a relationship that rested on the premises of love and theft as each of the parties stole what they loved from the other and this influenced their culture to a great extent. The whites stole from the blacks and so did the blacks steal from the whites. However, one steals only that which he or she loves and the whites and blacks stole valuable cultures from each other. The blacks stole cultures that they considered good to them and in the same manner, the whites stole cultures and customs from the blacks that they considered beneficial to them. All this stealing was done in love as someone will only steal what is beneficial to them. The relationship between the African Americans and White Americans was so intertwined that "without African Americans, there would be no popular American culture" (Stanley, Lecture).

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One of the major aspects of love and theft was seen when groups stole a culture from another and practiced it as if it were their own. One of these is the minstrel show which the whites stole from the blacks. Minstrel show was a form of a comic entertainment that was performed by the whites who had the faces painted black. Additionally, its material caricatured the singing as well as the dancing of the slaves. "Black minstrel involves not only stereotypes and caricatures, but comic traditions, linguistics, low humor, verbal dexterity, improvisation and numerous figures that is crucial to undertaking the art form" (Taylor & Austen, p. 6). Since this was an originally black Americans culture, the whites loved it and adopted it as their own. However, to ensure that its originality was not lost, they painted themselves black to appear like the black people. It was a performance that the whites loved a lot and they had to steal it from the blacks. This is a proper indication of love and theft that existed between the whites Americans and the black Americans. "Black male minstrels seem to fall rather loosely into three central types, which were seen in the white minstrel shows as well." (Taylor & Austen, p. 9) The minstrel tradition had a great influence and Taylor and Austen states that "The black minstrel tradition is a hell of a drug." (p. 29)

The historians talk about "the Africans becoming Europeanized" and this is a thing that was evident as the African Americans interacted with the white Americans (Stanley, Lecture). This means that the African Americans copied cultures that they found pleasing from the Americans. The principle of being Europeanized meant that Africans behaved like the Americans and engaged in activities that were considered a preserve for the Americans despite the fact that they had a different skin color and were not Americans themselves. They stole those cultures and ideas that they loved enveloping the concept of "love and theft." As stated earlier, this was a two headed monster and the white Americans too had something that they loved from the Africans and they stole it. This is what was referred to by the historians as "European stealing the blues" (Stanley, Lecture). In this regard, the white Americans love some African forms and stole them. Therefore, the relationship between the white and African Americans was a mutual one where each of them benefited from the other in different means.

Religion was an object that found itself at the center of the interactions. The white Americans stole some concepts of praise from the slaves. In states like Alabama, such features are boldly evident. As stated, when it comes to our minds that people don't steal what they don't value or need, they take what they desire. From the point of view, the slave region is a great challenge, especially when it looks at the way religion is practiced in the country. When one visits a fundamentalist church which is allocated in Alabama one is going to notice they are dancing and utilizing different forms that they stole from slave societies. This means that they were pleased with the style of worship of the slaves and they copied that. In some cases, the whites would copy something and exaggerate them. While some imitations were not very pleasing, the "African Americans were able to distinguish themselves from their pale imitators by bringing humanity to the caricatures" (Taylor & Austen, p. 16).

Their intermingling with the blacks influenced the culture of the Americans, and they shared their languages, they taught each other how to sing different songs, how to dance various styles, dressing differently, different ways of praising God, they talk each other the ways of eating. They learned different things from each other, and their relationship was described as "a monster with two heads, one side of the head is love, and the other head is theft" (Stanley, Lecture). For the Africans, the relationship was out of love and the desire to steal and so was it for the Americans. Each of them would steal from the other what they loved most and this contributed greatly to the changing of the culture of both the Africans and Americans.

In some cases the copying of each other's culture brought to the fore a blend of both African and white American cultures producing a culture that could not be termed as plainly African or plainly American. This was evident in contexts such as the naming of the children among others. This is better expressed by "The Lore Cycle or a loop, which has to do with this relationship, and the interchange, and the interplay, and the copying, and the back copying, and the uncopying, and the return on both sides, which centuries later, give us Elvis, give us Eminem, give us Tommy Hilfiger" (Stanley, Lecture).

Conclusion

By and large, theft and love was a prominent experience in the interaction between the African Americans and the white Americans. By stealing, each part stole what it loved and considered worthy from the other. While the word theft may sound negative, it has been used in this case to show that both parties would steal what they loved. This act was practiced by both parties and at the end of the day, there is no party that could accuse the other of stealing its customs and behaviors as the would be accusing party had also stolen something.. The blacks and the whites were in a relationship where they taught different things to each other, the ways of their singing, dancing, eating, worshipping, and dressing. The two parties were in a relationship that can best be concluded as a mutually inclusive relationship where no party could do without the other.

Works Cited

Taylor, Yuval, and Jake Austen. Darkest America: Black Minstrelsy from Slavery to Hip-Hop. New York: W.W. Norton, 2012. Internet Resource.