Last Sunday’s edition of the New York Times Magazine featured an article about nerd culture. More specifically, it was about linguist Mary Bucholtz’s theories about nerd culture, which she argues, is directly tied into race:

Though Bucholtz uses the term “hyperwhite” to describe nerd language in particular, she claims that the “symbolic resources of an extreme whiteness” can be used elsewhere. After all, “trends in music, dance, fashion, sports and language in a variety of youth subcultures are often traceable to an African-American source,” but “unlike the styles of cool European American students, in nerdiness, African-American culture and language [do] not play even a covert role.” Certainly, “hyperwhite” seems a good word for the sartorial choices of paradigmatic nerds. While a stereotypical black youth, from the zoot-suit era through the bling years, wears flashy clothes, chosen for their aesthetic value, nerdy clothing is purely practical: pocket protectors, belt sheaths for gadgets, short shorts for excessive heat, etc. Indeed, “hyperwhite” works as a description for nearly everything we intuitively associate with nerds, which is why Hollywood has long traded in jokes that try to capitalize on the emotional dissonance of nerds acting black (Eugene Levy saying, “You got me straight trippin’, boo”) and black people being nerds (the characters Urkel and Carlton in the sitcoms “Family Matters” and “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”).

Over at Journalista, Dirk wasn’t having any of it:

Of course, nerdiness is also an absence of redneck culture, Jewish culture, Hispanic culture, Native-American culture, old-money culture and any of hundreds of other kinds of culture. Likewise, — though I’m sure this is something of a stretch for cultural-studies types — one shouldn’t discount the possibility that nerd culture is pro-something, rather than anti-black culture, or that it may in fact have nothing whatsoever to do with race. And come on, statements like “a culture based on theft is a culture not worth having” are, if anything, antithetical to practical nerdishness: Just ask the Japanese. (Isn’t Quentin Tarantino’s worship of 1970s blacksploitation films part of what makes him a nerd?) Still, don’t let any of this stop you from seeing life exclusively through a simple black/white dichotomy, Ms. Bucholtz!

And neither for that matter was Geek Studies’ Jason Tocci:

I do agree that race figures somehow into nerd identity—how can you argue otherwise, after viewing the trailer for a documentary about white geeks semi-ironically appropriating hip-hop culture? I also think that it’s good that Mary Bucholtz is exploring the race angle further, as most peer reviewed literature on nerds/geeks has focused on gender to the exclusion of race. Nevertheless, I’d argue that race is not the defining aspect of nerd culture among most adult members, and it may not even be as central among kids as the NYT article implies. It’s true that “African-American students can be stigmatized by other African-American students if they’re too obviously diligent about school,” but most recent literature on this topic that I’m aware of suggests that this is the case for kids of all racial and ethnic groups.

Well, anyway, I thought it made for interesting reading.

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