Edited by Azizi Powell
Latest Revision: May 10, 2022
May 9, 2022- Title change: Original title "Did Black people REALLY Invent Double Dutch"
This pancocojams series presents a compilation of online comments that refer to race and recreational Double Dutch* in the United States. These selected comments are from various YouTube discussion threads and from a few other internet discussion threads websites.
* Although the comments in this pancocojams post refer to recreational Double Dutch (also called "street Double Dutch", most of them were retrieved from discussion threads for YouTube videos about formal competitions that are held in the sport of Double Dutch.
The content of this post is presented for historical and socio-cultural purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.
-snip-
This post is part of an ongoing pancocojams series on Double Dutch.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2022/05/my-response-to-question-is-double-dutch.html for the pancocojams post entitled "My Response To The Question "Is Double Dutch REALLY A Black Girl Thing?".
Also, click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2022/05/some-memories-of-double-dutch-in-united.html for the closely related pancocojams post entitled "Some Memories Of Playing Double Dutch In The United States (with information about the commenter's city, state, and/or year they remember Double Dutching)".
And click the tag that is found at the bottom of this post for more pancocojams posts in this series.
****
SELECTED COMMENTS ABOUT RACE IN DISCUSSION THREADS ABOUT STREET DOUBLE DUTCH IN THE UNITED STATES
The discussion threads that are quoted in this post are given in no particular order. Numbers are added for referencing purposes only.
Disclaimer: This isn't meant to be a comprehensive compilation of all the comments that I've come across in YouTube discussion threads or elsewhere online about race in recreational Double Dutchin the United States.
Discussion thread #1
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7I0c4OfX6JU "Tamera
Shows Off Her Double Dutch Skills" published by The Real Daytime, Sep 29,
2014
2014
1. Fatima camara
"I remember in elementary school all the white girls had the
sigap rob and the black girls would be double dutching lool well just say I was with the white girls
are I only turned the rob lol Go Tem"
-snip-
My guess is that "sigap rob" is a misspelling of "single rope"
Other misspellings or typos are "rob" for rope and "Tem" for "Team"
**
2. MrThekidisback
"Girls don't even double dutch anyone, I remember in the
hood girls use to always do that."
**
Reply
3. C_And 47
"The hood? Please."
**
Reply
4. "MrThekidisback
"@C_And 47 Oh my fault, I forgot white people can't understand simple slang. "NEIGHBORHOOD" Are you happy now?"
**
Reply
5. C_And 47
" @MrThekidisback That wasn't my question. Nice try. I lived in a nice neighborhood & we did too. Don't try to stereotype. Its the underlying cause of racism"
**
Reply
6. MrThekidisback
" @C_And 47 What? Can you read. Where did I write that people don't in nice neighborhoods didn't. Please show me where I wrote that. And stereotyping doesn't cause racism, stupid people do."
**
7. DanceMomsLover#1#1
" @MrThekidisback Yes they do! There is actually a show about it on Lifetime and yes It is good"
-snip-
Jump! is the title of a 2015 reality television series about a competitive (sports) Double Dutch team of young girls from New Jersey . That series wasn't renewed after its first season. Click https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5049286/ for more information about that series.
**
Reply
8. MrThekidisback
"@DanceMomsLover#1#1 Nah I know there are girls who do but you don't see it as much anymore."
**
Reply
9. AllstateIts Inyourhands, 2015
"+C_And 47 But you calling people racist with statements like
that"
**
Reply
10. Chyna Green, 2017
"Maaan. When I would visit my papa at the projects, me and my cousins stayed double dutching. I felt good about it, it was fun as hell"
-snip-
"Projects" is a colloquial term for low income, government adminstered housing developments.
**
Reply
11. Big Booty Judy, 2017
"MrThekidisback. Those were da gd ol days."
**
Reply
12. Brynna Capri, 2017
"MrThekidisback JUMP IN WAS MY MOVIE"
-snip-
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jump_In!
"Jump In! is a 2007 Disney Channel Original Movie, which premiered
on January 12, 2007. It was released on Disney Channel UK on April 27, 2007.
The film, starring Corbin Bleu and Keke Palmer, revolves around a young boxer,
Izzy Daniels (Bleu), who trains to follow in his father's footsteps by winning
the Golden Glove. When his friend, Mary (Palmer), asks him to substitute for a
team member in a Double Dutch tournament, Izzy discovers his new love for the
sport. At the same time, he discovers true love in Mary and he deals with the
conflict between him and his father about boxing.[1] Filming took place from
June–July 2006 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada."
-snip-
Jump In! is a movie about the Double Dutch competitive sport and not about recreational Double Dutch.
**
Reply
13. stripmakah215610, 2017
"+C_And 47 smh"
Reply
14.
"LOL. Don't feed the pigeons honey. We all know what you meant. :)
**
Reply
15. SOLAR, 2018
"So true I don't see sisters jumping rope or hulapoping no more either"
**
Reply
16. Roger Blewett, 2018
"That's what I was thinking.. I used to love seeing girls in the hood playing double Dutch (hopscotch)"
**
Reply
17. Vee Davis, 2018
"Yes I'm from da hood and we use double Dutch to the Beverly Hill Billies song ..comma listen to A story bout a man name Jed❤❤❤"
**
Reply
18. Aalpha Splatt, 2018
"In the UK too. It's a shame that girls don't do things like
this anymore."
**
Reply
19. Laila Campbell, 2018
"C_And 47 neighborHOOD obviously hood is short/slang for neighborhood...? Sorry but you got so offended you missed the whole meaning of that comment 🤦🏾♀️"
**
Reply
20. Charlet Pedley, 2018
"@MrThekidisback I don't think that's what the person ment and how do you know that he/she is white. Can you tell if I'm black or white?"
**
Reply
21. Charlet Pedley, 2018
"@MrThekidisback the hood is usually a reference to bad neighborhoods that's why dem seh dt"
**
Reply
22. thana mesny, 2019
"@C_And 47 the underlying cause of racism is and was HYWTE People and slavery."
**
Reply
23. Nonya Bidness, 2019
"@Charlet Pedley not always ..I'm from Clayton and we call it the hood ..I always thought it meant your neighborhood and I'm Blk ..blue Blk as a matter of fact .."
**
Reply
24. What you were thinking, 2019
"Ikr"
**
Reply
25. Danielle Johnson, 2019
"That’s all we did in the hood jump rope I can’t do half the stuff I use to do now.....that’s how we stayed skinny then u braid yo rope"
**
Reply
26. Joyce Cunningham,2019
"We still do, sad something else that other races are
claiming."
**
Reply
27.Modestly Crowned, 2019
"I just said to myself, "If the wanna see some double dutchin they need to go to the hood". 😂"
**
Reply
28. Shakeem Diggz
"First time ever seeing white girls do this."
**
Reply
29. MegensBay, 2019
"I miss double Dutch . I’m a sista but didn’t grow up in the hood. We’d do this all day and have competitions. I miss this."
**
Reply
30. Camille98tt, 2019
"MrThekidisback should’ve said neighborhood"
**
Reply
31. Terri Quinn, 2019
"I jump double Dutch and I grew up on Base. How’s that hood?"
**
Reply
32. Terri Quinn, 2019
"Laila Campbell The hood has now taken a whole new meaning. Back in the day, hood was short for neighborhood no matter what type or how good but now you say someone moved to the hood, they usually mean the ghetto."
**
Reply
33. Terri Quinn, 2019
"Nonya Bidness Blacker the berry 😊"
**
Reply
34. K. Evans, 2019
" @C_And 47 Double dutch originated in many poorer urban centers and spread from there. I don't see anything wrong with acknowledging that. And I live in a very nice area as well. Hell, lobster was originally a dish eaten by poor fishermen. It doesn't mean you can't talk about it. It is what it is. 🤷🏾♀️
**
Reply
35. SH BT, 2019
"MrThekidisback yes summer time me and all my friends would be getting it, had some of the hood boys doing it too.. this just bought back so many childhood memories 😍😍"
**
Reply
36. Bow Wow, 2019
"Ohh I miss the sistas doing that!
Things were simple then!😅"
**
Reply
37. Kela B, 2020
" @C_And 47 You’re stereotyping yourself and have the audacity to claim the other person was?"
**
Reply
38. Katrina B, 2020
"@Danielle Johnson before school, during recess, after school, summer vacations... And I loved all the jump rope songs. I haven't seen girls do this in decades, but when we moved to the suburbs and then I moved down south, maybe I just missed seeing them play?
**
Reply
39.BeautyQueen 79, 2020
"I wasn’t from the hood and my sisters and neighbors did it all the time."
**
2015
40. QM Taylor
"Black chicks used to love double dutchin'. It would always be somebody sayin',
"Girl, let me jump in!" ;)"
****
2016
41. Ouinton Edwards
"easy if you from the hood"
****
2017
"
-snip-
One episode of The Real television series' featured a Double Dutch team of three White women to represent that activity. Segments of that episode are shown in the video whose link is given above and the video whose link is given for discussion thread #2 in this pancocojams post. A lot of commenters in this first video's discussion threads were very critical of The Real's decision to have that team represent Double Dutch. I've included a number of those comments in this compilation, but there are additional comments like these in that discussion thread.
**
43. Madam Sierra Golden
"Serious question. We did they start playing double Dutch ?"
****
2018
"They stole this Double Dutch thing from black girls in the hood...We have BEEN doing this ever since the late 70's...FOH...This is NOTHING NEW...As soon as some white people do something they STOLE from us, it's "trendy"... FOH
Reply
"Try the fifties and beyond black girls having been doing double Dutch as I learned from my mom & auntie who grew up in the 50’s on the low end in Chicago 😃😏!!!!"
Reply
46.
"Yeah females in the hood been doing this for forever and now
they just now noticed"
**
47. jin ju
"Yes!!! Every Hood girl could play if you couldn't jump u
swing & if u double handed & can't swing you would stay on the side
line in cheer!..They need to bring those competitions back you'll see how fast
wh ppl can't do it lol!"
-snip-
"wh ppl" = "White people"
48.
"Hate to be the one to say this but white girls double dutch too i know me and my friends did we had so much fun back then..."
****
2019
49. Divine Creators Cody
"Me and my white friends in upstate New York could never
double dutch lol"
**
50. Duece & DaMarcus Momm, 2019
"The hood double dutch had all the tricks."
51. Tiffany Harrell, 2019
"Double Dutch was real in the hood"
**
52. Russell Maxwell
"WOW they have took double dutch from us to huh and with the
braids😳🙄😔😔SMFMFH"
-snip-
This comment refers to the White women who were featured in that television episode of The Real. Those women wore their hair in long corn rows, a hair style that is most often associated with Black females.
**
53. Krimez of Kolor
"Really wish they had black girls double dutching here . we
did this in our apartments in the hood , or at school at the after school
program . Man memories 😭"
**
Reply
54. tebogo mokobane, 2020
"Why muse it be about race"
**
Reply
55. Krimez of Kolor, 2020
"@tebogo mokobane bc it’s our culture"
**
56. The Elvira Collection
"White girls double Dutch
could’ve brought black girls in especially because it’s our sport tf"
**
57. Tiffany Herron
"Well they did have a double Dutch
episode on the sister sister show but jumping rope isn't a black girl thing.
Look at the girls who are turning."
-snip-
The Real co-host Tamera Mowry starred in the television series Sister Sister* There were a number of comments in this discussion thread about the Sister Sister episode when Tamera returned to the low income neighborhood where she lived before meeting her twin Tia. The girls jumped Double Dutch after being challenged by Clemmy, a girl who had bullied Tamera for years.
*From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sister,_Sister_(TV_series)
**
58. Sea Pea
"@Tiffany Herron The girls who are turning appropriated it."...
**
59. LucidBodyLabs
"We blk women invented this. But they get national
attention. Got it!"
**
Reply
60. Pretty Lola
"But you see the difference in the way white girls turn and black girls we turned with rhythm and jumped with rhythm"
**
61. Novah Turner
"BOY! WHAT HAVE THEY NOT STOLEN FROM THE INNOVATIVE LITTLE BLACK GIRL! SMH!"
**
62. Black Girl Magic
"Black women created double dutch. Im jus sayin"
**
63. Davonne Parsons McBride
"I'm frm Harlem never knew white girls jumped double
Dutch! Tf"
**
64. *•MIRACULOUS*•WIZARD•* QUEEN•*
"Cultural Appropriation at its finest."
**
65. brooklynforever1990
"You know this one skill I never mastered🤦my
black card should be revoked"
-snip-
A person having "a Black card" is a colloquial way of saying that that person is a member of the Black race.
**
66. Bratty Roman
"Awww Jeannie Asian ppl don’t double Dutch!!! Lmao jk that was so adorable"
-snip-
Jeannie is one of the co-hosts on The Real television series.
2020
67.
"I think most kids in america double dutched during recess or at home during the 80s, at least i know my entire neighborhood did and it was mostly asian kids, latinos, and blacks...so a multicultural melting pot. A very nice neighborhood...oh nice memories"
**
Reply
68. Jazlyn Jaz, 2020
"Lmao y’all always bring race into everything"
**
Reply
69. Jayda Kay, 2020
"What did race have to do with anything? 😂
****
2021
70.
"Black girls invented Double Dutch Tricks...DC IN THE
HOUSE!!!
-snip-
"DC" = Washington DC.
"___ " in the house is a way of saying that a person from a city, state, or organization etc is here.
****
Discussion thread #2
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6FqfU13fN8&t=2s These Triplets Are Double Dutch Champs!, published by The Real Daytime,Sep 29, 2014
1. Mirecal Henderson, 2015
"They just copied Jump
in!🙄🙄"
**
2. Lily Poppy, 2015
"back in my elementry days in the ghetto every girl was
outside with her group in fron of there house playing this game."
-snip-
Unlike the discussion that is excerpted in discussion thread #1, there are no comments about the use of the word "ghetto".
3.
"why the hell is this the same routine from jump in bruh 😂😂
omg"
**
4. Brighton Heights Java N Cream House, 2017
"They stole those moves from Black Girls... Please get Real
Double Dutch Champions..."
****
Discussion thread #3
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5eMHAFmPQ4 Black Magic - Those Magnificent Double Dutch Girls, publishe by David Hoffman (no publishing date given)
1. OneBlueFroggy, 2019
"We were doing double-dutch back in the late 50's, before these girls invented it, and we had no black neighborhoods in our city. This was a fun doc to watch though and the girls did a great job and had fun too. Thank you Mr. Hoffman ✌"
*️*
2. OliviaNewtronBomb, 2019
"In 1971 I was living in Compton California . during the time of the Double Dutch craze.
I remember girls fighting over the game.
This brought back memories of Compton and how I survived being the only white girl in an all black school.
It wasn't easy!!!"
**
3. Joseph Mccall, 2020
"Old school black culture love the video"
***
Discussion thread #4
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYIFsKfYSs4&t=45s Sights and Sounds from the Double Dutch Summer Classic | The
New Yorker, The
New Yorker August 3, 2017
Pamela Judith Rwanyarare, 2020
"Now this is what I call black culture. 🖤💖💖💖💖"
****
Discussion thread #5
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wI46rsQR83k Double Dutch Championships published by Theitemdotcom, Jun 17, 2011
The 38th Annual Double Dutch World Championships were held in Sumter, SC June 17-18.[2011?]
"Growing up in Brooklyn, NY in the late 1940s I clearly remember watching with awe and amazement, young black girls doing incredible double dutch rope skipping in the street. In those days of de-facto segregation, the white neighborhood and black neighborhood were divided by one street. These were the days before play dates and scripted after school activities. We were regularly sent out to the street to play where we spent many unsupervised hours. We would often stand on the street that was the dividing line and watch the (mostly) girls our age (7 to about 13 years old) doing their amazing double dutch routines with the greatest of ease. No one on the white side of the dividing line ever attempted this sport. We wouldn't even have known how to begin."
**
Reply
2. ive oak, 2018
"Texas white girls double dutch.. Lol."
**
3. Tackles, 2021
"I don't know why but doubledutch just came into my head. I remember back in the 1950s seeing the mostly black girls do this. Sometimes there were White girls joining in but most of the time it was extremely talented black girls and I really enjoyed watching them. I did try a couple times to no avail. LOL"
**
4. Destiny 100, 2021
"Wait, what? White people didn't used to double dutch? This is news to me"
**
5. MyBadCats, 2021
"I remember doing this (white girl here) back in 1969 early 70s and singing Kamalamea Beast Day and other soul music while we jumped during school recess. A bunch of Catholic school girls practicing cultural misappropriation! Became the foundation of my love for soul, funk, blues and African music."
****
Discussion Thread #6
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fK9hK82r-AM Frankie Smith - Double Dutch Bus (Official Music Video) UnidiscMusic, May 17, 2011
1. Melissa Ann Nevin, 2020
"Ho Philly's in the House! This was my jawn when growing up in Philadelphia. Still got the 45 and yes, ALL of us, white, black, brown & all colors in between played Double Dutch! I might be 50 years old but I still know how to turn the ropes & know how to jump!"
-snip-
"Jawn" is an all purpose noun that originated in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Philly). That word has the same vernacular meaning as a "joint" (which originated in New York City?). In the context of that comment, "jawn" refers to the record "Double Dutch Bus" which the commenter indicates was her "favorite record".
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
No comments:
Post a Comment