How the White Teenager’s Rebellion and Culture differs from the Black Youth’s.

What do Marlon Brando, James Dean and Henry Winkler all have in common? Well, besides the fact that they are all from the 50’s, they have all portrayed characters that epitomized the American teenager’s rebellion. At one point in time, teens in the United States drew inspiration from these actors to figuratively say “Screw You Mom and Dad.” These men undoubtedly changed the youth culture in America. Further along in time, we watched “hippie” teen’s rebel against their conformists’ parents in the 60’s and “Grunge head”, Nirvana-listeners sneak out of the house to go do illicit narcotics in the 90’s. One must admit that there is something quite perplexing about this sweet American air, that makes teens disobey their parents. While the American teenage rebellion is a natural part of maturity and is an accepted cultural “norm”, there is a lesser acknowledged insurgence.
The Black Youth’s Rebellion is criminalized, mocked and appropriated, all at once. Though the rebellion of White-American teenagers may spark reminiscence and nostalgia in White-American Adults, the rebellion of Black teens is viewed as inappropriate and destructive. In the 80’s and 90’s, films like “Juice”,”Boyz n the Hood”, and “Menace II Society” vividly depicted the coming of age of Black youths in urban neighborhoods. These movies told stories that were familiar to youth like myself, and were shocking to people that weren’t. Despite that most of the lifestyles that were portrayed, were not to be glamorized, they were still pictures that undeniably captured the essence of life in urban communities. These images told the unspoken truth of what it is like for African American youth in the city. Tupac Shakur became the “Fonzie” of the “Hood”. The depictions of Blac...

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... youth’s culture, it still shines brightly and shows its effect on popular culture. Miley Cyrus is still twerking and making a fool of herself on stage. Justin Bieber is still trying to portray himself as a “thug” or “bad boy”, an image we all know, he doesn’t have. White pop artists still use gritty streets in urban neighborhoods as the backdrop to their music videos.
Society must accept the rebellion of the black teen contributes to the image of an American teen has a whole. The carelessness and complacent nature of the American teen is epitomized in urban youth’s culture. Keeping this in mind, society cannot embrace the teenager’s image, without first acknowledging all of those whom contribute to it. The Black and White teens’ rebellions should be viewed as contrasting elements, but two foundations that are different structure, but contribute to a greater ideal.