Roxanne Gay: Respectability Summary Essay

Author Roxanne Gay opens her essay, The Politics of Respectability by addressing the historic but also current expectations placed on black people. More specifically, these expectations act as social restrictions faced by Black people. Gay continues by listing the such expectations that Black people are burden to comply with: not being “too ratchet nor too bougie”(354). She concludes her opening by suggesting “black people are being held to a particularly unreasonable standard”(354). Roxanne Gay takes a turn when she begins to address the perpetrators who often place the burden on black people. She calls them “prominent figures” More importantly, they are known black figures in the community. Gay names Bill Cosby and Don Lemon as the individuals who contribute to the burden placed on black people to comply with expectations and ‘assimilate’ to whiteness.

We know Cosby as being a famous black actor who shifted the stereotypical narrative of a black family in America with The Cosby Show. Although, Gay mentions his significance for quite the opposite purpose. She summarizes Cosby’s position on social restrictions faced by black people as, “if we act right, we will finally be good enough for white people to love”(355). Gay parallels Cosby’s ideas with another black “prominent” figure: Don Lemon. The “suggestions” made by Lemon were ‘Black people should stop using the N-word, black people should respect their communities by not littering, and black people should have fewer kids’(355). In mentioning these two black figures of the black community, Gay posits the idea that black people can and are trafficking in whiteness and do so in hopes of achieving success. But as she sympathizes, she quickly debunks the method behind the madness of respectability politics. She concludes, These prominent leaders leave no ‘blueprint’ for others to follow, despite achieving success, racism with catch up, even Oprah experiences racism, and that as one, we need to demand systemic change (356-357).

In Roxanne Gay’s essay, ‘The Politics of Respectability’, she critiques systemic racism as well as individuals that fail to realize their part in upholding the very system that burdens them. In doing so, she is very purposeful in the way she articulates her main ideas. Since Gay knows her audience (black people, white people, and feminists) she writes in such a way that will effectively persuade and inform them of her main ideas. One moment in the essay where Gay specifically uses rhetorical style is when she is establish her credibility with the audience. When she says, “Cosby, Lemon, and others who espouse similar ideas are, I would like to believe, coming from a good place ...mostly grounded in common sense”(355). By making this statement, Gay is showing her audience that she is not afraid to be open minded and has considered the arguments of Lemon and Cosby, but believes they “traffic in Respectability politics” which “overlooks institutional racism”(355). This statement allows the readers to think through the arguments with her and lead them to feel as if she was fair in her interpretation.

Another example of Roxanne Gay using rhetorical strategies in this essay is when she simply asks the question, “How do we protect young black children?”. On a technical level, the use of specific words such as protect, signal something is dangerous and the audience needs to be aware of that danger. The use of the word black makes the question specific. The use of children creates empathy. The question in general forces the audience to think while also making a subtle statement. This question effectively evokes an immediate emotional feeling from her audience, leading them into being easily persuaded by the idea she seeking to get her audience to understand.