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Sure a few black nerds on the east coast wore them in the 90s, the type of dudes that become 40 year old virgins.
It did not become cool for young blacks to wear Vans or Chucks or even skateboard over till after that song "Vans" came out and there were all these images of young blacks in California dressed like white kids on the east coast skating.
Now everywhere I go I see black kids dressed like the white kids over here dressed 10 years ago. Ppl used to laugh at me for wearing vans in the hood and make "you know hes white cause of whats on his feet" jokes, now everyone has a pair. Black youths just 4 years ago used to make fun of white kids who wore skinny jeans. Now most of those same black kids have a pair. I even see black kids skateboarding which was pretty much a white only thing over here till a couple years ago.
The point I'm making is west coast blacks are different than blacks from other regions because the way they dress to the way they talk to even the activities they participate in are things that everywhere else in the nation is considered very white, or very Mexican. The more ghetto the west coast black is the more stereotypically Mexican he will talk or act. Eazy-E was a good example. Alot of Mexicans from LA relate with an love him an see him as there own, but others hate him because they feel he stole there culture and made it cool for blacks not from LA to emulate cholos.
In the 80s and 90s the LA black image in the media was an emulation of cholos and how there culture had been sense the 1950s. Mexicans were wearing dickies an chucks an riding lowriders on daytons in the 50s.
In the 00s the LA black image in the media is an emulation of alternative suburban white culture. Skinny jeans were being rocked by whiteboys in the 90s, Vans have been big sense the 70s, and skateboarding has always been a white sport. Black youths outside of California were never seen in big numbers doing any of these things till around '08.
That's probably why they set so many trends for blacks from other regions to follow, because they are different.
You're right about the Vans, but not the Chucks. Like I said, wearing Chucks has been an on-and-off again trend in the black community for generations. They wore them in the 70s during the Cornbread days, in the 80s when New Edition was big, and in the early 00s they were wearing those down south in the hoods with throwback jerseys and Girbaud. None of this had anything to do with emulating suburban trends. Some kids that wear them are trying to copy the skateboarder look, but not everyone who wears Chucks is.
I dont know about that. If anything Pharrel and Lupe were the first Mainstream rappers on that skateboarding tip. I've seen black kids skateboarding before 08. Philadelphia is another city where skateboarding is a part of the "urban culture". Alot of black skaters hail from the Philly metro.
But yeah I do remeber when it was "not cool" to be a black kid skating or rollerblading. And its was even worse to wear skinny jeans.
Alot of hip hop fashion thats considered hot right now is basically what white suburban kids were wearing serveral years ago
mas23
Yeah, but they were loners or nerds back before '08. Now go to any downtown in America and you will probably see groups of black kids who are skateboarding in vans and wearing skinny jeans and those guys are not loners or nerds, they have cliques and hot girlfriends.
I believe it's a trend that for black youths first gained popularity on the west coast than spread. As far as whites, they were never the in crowd or part of a trend but I remember seeing white skaters in the mid 90s in groups dressed almost identical except the clothes were not as bright.
You're right about the Vans, but not the Chucks. Like I said, wearing Chucks has been an on-and-off again trend in the black community for generations. They wore them in the 70s during the Cornbread days, in the 80s when New Edition was big, and in the early 00s they were wearing those down south in the hoods with throwback jerseys and Girbaud. None of this had anything to do with emulating suburban trends. Some kids that wear them are trying to copy the skateboarder look, but not everyone who wears Chucks is.
That's my point. Whites across the nation and blacks in California were wearing what is now hot in the black community everywhere in the early 00's.
I can't even tell you the first time I saw a typical "dude" wearing skinny jeans and chucks or vans because ive been seeing white skaters dressed like that sense the early 90s when I was a little kid.
In the early 00s if you were black and wearing vans or chucks you were viewed as a lame. If you skateboarded, well forget about having friends that are the same race as you. That's why most black skateboarders who are not from Cali who came up in the 90s are from the suburbs and when you see them with there clique there the only black person.
Black skateboarders who are not from Cali but are from the hood are just now starting to come up an be in skate magazines because kids in the hood across the nation have embraced the sport because of the trends I am speaking about.
I don't view it as blacks copying whites or whatever. I view it more as assimilation, not saying that blacks don't have a rich culture here or are losing it. They do and they are not losing it. I just think that black youth across the nation are starting to be more individualistic. It's no longer cool in the black community to like all the same things as every other black person.
It's refreshing I meet black people who are mostly younger than me now who don't only watch Def Comedy Jam, who don't only listen to hip hop, and who don't dress like thugs, or assume a comedian, sport, or music genre sucks just cause white people dominate it When I went to school almost all the black men were carbon copies of each other and whoever was an individual was ostracized and had to try to fit in with the few white kids.
Last edited by Observation; 04-03-2011 at 02:58 PM..
I dont know about that. If anything Pharrel and Lupe were the first Mainstream rappers on that skateboarding tip. I've seen black kids skateboarding before 08. Philadelphia is another city where skateboarding is a part of the "urban culture". Alot of black skaters hail from the Philly metro.
But yeah I do remeber when it was "not cool" to be a black kid skating or rollerblading. And its was even worse to wear skinny jeans.
Alot of hip hop fashion thats considered hot right now is basically what white suburban kids were wearing serveral years ago
mas23
Interesting. When skateboarding was big in the 90's, I remember getting bullied by some skateboarders. All of them were White kids. I was the Black kid trying to fit into the skateboarding culture. I only remember one Black kid who did any kind of skateboarding. Other than that, no one else. And in the 90's, I noticed alot of bad elements to this subculture. I was actually shot with a paintball gun by on of the "skaters" who lived in my neighborhood.
Nowadays, I am seeing kids of all ethnicities skateboarding.
That's my point. Whites across the nation and blacks in California were wearing what is now hot in the black community everywhere in the early 00's.
I can't even tell you the first time I saw a typical "dude" wearing skinny jeans and chucks or vans because ive been seeing white skaters dressed like that sense the early 90s when I was a little kid.
In the early 00s if you were black and wearing vans or chucks you were viewed as a lame. If you skateboarded, well forget about having friends that are the same race as you. That's why most black skateboarders who are not from Cali who came up in the 90s are from the suburbs and when you see them with there clique there the only black person.
Black skateboarders who are not from Cali but are from the hood are just now starting to come up an be in skate magazines because kids in the hood across the nation have embraced the sport because of the trends I am speaking about.
I don't view it as blacks copying whites or whatever. I view it more as assimilation, not saying that blacks don't have a rich culture here or are losing it. They do and they are not losing it. I just think that black youth across the nation are starting to be more individualistic. It's no longer cool in the black community to like all the same things as every other black person.
It's refreshing I meet black people who are mostly younger than me now who don't only watch Def Comedy Jam, who don't only listen to hip hop, and who don't dress like thugs, or assume a comedian, sport, or music genre sucks just cause white people dominate it When I went to school almost all the black men were carbon copies of each other and whoever was an individual was ostracized and had to try to fit in with the few white kids.
We're obviously talking about two different trends because most blacks wearing Chucks in the early 00s was neither lame or in anyway associated with the burbs or skateboarding. It was just a shoe fad that came and went like the Filas, Saucony, New Balance, etc.
That's my point. Whites across the nation and blacks in California were wearing what is now hot in the black community everywhere in the early 00's.
I can't even tell you the first time I saw a typical "dude" wearing skinny jeans and chucks or vans because ive been seeing white skaters dressed like that sense the early 90s when I was a little kid.
In the early 00s if you were black and wearing vans or chucks you were viewed as a lame. If you skateboarded, well forget about having friends that are the same race as you. That's why most black skateboarders who are not from Cali who came up in the 90s are from the suburbs and when you see them with there clique there the only black person.
Black skateboarders who are not from Cali but are from the hood are just now starting to come up an be in skate magazines because kids in the hood across the nation have embraced the sport because of the trends I am speaking about.
I don't view it as blacks copying whites or whatever. I view it more as assimilation, not saying that blacks don't have a rich culture here or are losing it. They do and they are not losing it. I just think that black youth across the nation are starting to be more individualistic. It's no longer cool in the black community to like all the same things as every other black person.
It's refreshing I meet black people who are mostly younger than me now who don't only watch Def Comedy Jam, who don't only listen to hip hop, and who don't dress like thugs, or assume a comedian, sport, or music genre sucks just cause white people dominate it When I went to school almost all the black men were carbon copies of each other and whoever was an individual was ostracized and had to try to fit in with the few white kids.
Kind of interesting. I am an African-American born in the mid-1980s. I turn 25 at the end of this month. My roots are kind of all over the place. I was born in the South, but I have lived in the West as well. I am living in the South now. I lived in the Seattle area. For some reason, I had my own vibe. Only by birth(and some family heritage) do I have "southern" roots. My accent sounds Midwestern(someone thought I was Canadian). My vibe is has been described as West Coast. I remember when baggy pants were the style. I was wearing "straights", as in pants that weren't baggy. Some kids were wondering why I would wear such pants. What's odd about it is now I see more people wearing skinny jeans. I was wearing "tight" pants before they were popular.
I had to learn how to be more individualistic myself when it came to my style. I am kind of "preppy". I just needed something more "me". I am not into hip-hop that much. I am more old-school than anything, mainly with R&B, the stuff from the 70's and 80's.
We're obviously talking about two different trends because most blacks wearing Chucks in the early 00s was neither lame or in anyway associated with the burbs or skateboarding. It was just a shoe fad that came and went like the Filas, Saucony, New Balance, etc.
Yeah; my mom use to wear chucks in high school when she played basketball and that was about in the 70s. She always comments on how young people dressing today is similar to what she wore in her younger years.
I'd say growing up in Texas; it was rare to see black skateboarders, but black skateboarders weren't considered lame. I don't remember that at least.
Yeah; my mom use to wear chucks in high school when she played basketball and that was about in the 70s. She always comments on how young people dressing today is similar to what she wore in her younger years.
I'd say growing up in Texas; it was rare to see black skateboarders, but black skateboarders weren't considered lame. I don't remember that at least.
Exactly. Observation seems to be talking about blacks from more mixed urban areas.
No, actually I do not. I could write a chapter here, but it would be a waste of time, so I'll be quick. Do you not remember how they were still complaining 6 months later, but did they lift a finger to do anything for themselves? No. Their yards were still trashed, etc. Our church sheltered several that had to flee New Orleans and unless I didn't hear it, I would never have believed the way they talked and expected "things on a silver platter."
I was amazed at the culture of the Japanese people. Not once did I hear screaming, view looting, hear about men raping children and women, etc.
P.S. No one can starve in three or four days.
I'm aware of that. I'm also aware that Japanese are taught, as a culture to be passive and accept authority at all costs. Americans are not. That's not a good example. Had Katrina hit a white neighborhood there would have been looting as well.
Really, you should just stay with the dogs. You belong with them, not other humans.
Well, I'm not from the south; I just live here. I actually like my dogs a lot better than many people, but I'm speaking of whites when I say that.
I don't kennel my dogs, so there is not such a need as you suggest I be doing. If you don't like dogs, so be it.
I don't have anything against any ethnic group. If they act poorly and bizarre, I just stay away from them. All I'm saying is the blacks I've come across in the south are not calm and laid back. They're usually squawking about some ill-treatment they're getting from law enforcement, they're foul mouthed, scream at their children, et al.
You live in Texas. Blacks in Texas DO very often get treated disrespeftfully by law enforcement. Those aren't "squawks" those are legitimate problems.
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