L.A. Race Story? (Part 1)

Is Los Angeles this dire?

From Frederick Smith's Down for Whatever:

"No matter what people say, race matters in L.A. In the ethnic hierarchy of gay L.A., black and African American often finishes last. That's unless you're one of the following: 1) light enough to pass for being mixed with something other than black, even if you're just pretending to be biracial, which raises the value of your romantic stock dramatically, since being one hundred percent black is a liability and being mixed de-emphasizes blackness; 2) thuggish enough to pass for a gang banger pr a rapper to fulfill someone's colored boy/bling bling fetish and stereotypes of black men; 3) muscular enough to pass for a professional athlete, hopefully a basketball player, because everyone wants the long legs and torso pressed against their bodies; 4) mainstreamed or assimilated enough to blend in with the majority white crowds of West Hollywood, laugh, smile, and buffoon yourself and your people for their entertainment, and spout off well-rehearsed lines such as 'People are people and I don't see color,' when they really do, or 'I grew up around white people and I don't feel comfortable in all-black settings,' when they really grew up in South Central, South Bronx, or Southside Chicago and know the only white people they grew up with were an occasional teacher, mailman, or their mother's supervisor who gave them hand-me-down clothes before the new school year."

Well, isn't that just idyllic? I guess by that criteria I'm screwed if I live in Los Angeles. I may be light enough to pass for a different ethncity, but I like my family too much to say they aren't what they are. I'm too bad of an actor to be a thug, since I feel extremely uncomfortable wearing baggy pants low enough to show my underwear. Muscular? The bodybuilding has more to do with wanting to exorcise the demons of my overweight past, and there is no way I'd get into the competitive side of it with a history of anorexia. Mainstreamed and assimilated? That's a tough one. I did actually grow up around mostly white people. It is what it is, and for its many faults, I liked growing up in Ozaukee County. However, considering that my mother's job involved crunching numbers in order to prove fair hiring practices, I learned early on that you can't quite cross off colour. I wouldn't say that I feel uncomfortable in a majority African-American environment. It just feels different, not uncomfortable, but different than what I'm used to. I'd compare it to say an Italian-American going to Italy: "we're very similar, but we're also different as well."

(Some disclosure: I lived in Los Angeles for 4 months in 2000, while working at two internships, and taking classes as part of program organised by my college. During that entire period, I would describe my off-time as merely trying to catch my breath, so I have no real idea as to what it's like to really "live" there.)

In Part Two, other parts of the hierarchy as described in Down for Whatever.