Edited by Azizi Powell
Latest revision: May 24, 2021
This pancocojams post presents some historical and cultural information and commentary about the use of the name "Becky" as a referent for White women.
This post also presents some cultural information and commentary about the phrase "Becky with the good hair". In particular, this post documents the use of "Becky with the good hair" in a May 16, 2021 Instagram written by African American former NBA professional basketball player Kwame Brown as a putdown of another former NBA player Matt Barnes who is light skinned.
The content of this post is presented for linguistic and socio-cultural purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.
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Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/02/good-hair-bad-hair-black-attitudes.html for a 2013 pancocojams post entitled "Good Hair & Bad Hair (Black Attitudes About Our Hair)".
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BACKGROUND: WHAT THE NAME "BECKY" MEANS IN AFRICAN AMERICAN CULTURE
"Miss Ann" is a much older African American referent for White women that carried (and still carries) negative connotations of White women who are stiff, prudish, and respectable [in the opinion of White people].
The use of "Becky" as a referent for White women in general and/or as a referent for a sub-category of White women was popularized in the 1992 by Hip Hop artist Sir Mix A Lot's hit record "Baby Got Back". The first words in that song are voiced by a young White woman who stands with her silent White friend Becky staring at a Black woman in the distance. Using Valley Girl lingo and pronunciation, the unnamed White women criticizes that Black woman's big butt.
Oh, my, god. Becky, look at her butt.
It is so big. [scoff]
She looks like one of those rap guys' girlfriends.
But, you know, who understands those rap guys? [scoff]
They only talk to her, because, she looks like a total prostitute, 'kay?
I mean, her butt, is just so big.
I can't believe it's just so round, it's like, out there, I mean— gross. Look!
She's just so... black!"
Source: [for the full lyrics] http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/sirmixalot/babygotback.html
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The woman speaking in that introduction used "Valley Girl" pronunciation for those words.
Here's information about "Valley Girls" from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valley_girl
"A Valley girl is a socioeconomic, linguistic,
and youth subcultural stereotype and stock character originating during the
1980s: any materialistic upper-middle-class young woman, associated with unique
vocal and California dialect features, from the Los Angeles commuter
communities of the San Fernando Valley.[1] The term in later years became more
broadly applied to any female in the United States who embodied ditziness"...
In 2016 Beyonce popularized the phrase "Becky with the good hair" in her song "Lemonade". That referent has come to mean either a White woman, or a Black woman who is mixed (has one birth parent who is Black and one who is non-Black), or a light skinned Black woman, or a woman who is not Black and is also not White (for instance a Latina or a woman from India.) Presumably, all of these women would have so-called "good hair", meaning hair whose texture (curl pattern) is the same as or similar to the curl patterns of White people.
Here's information about the meaning of the term "good hair" as it unfortunately was used in the past and is still used by many African Americans:
Excerpt #1
From http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=good+hair
"good hair
A popular* term in the African-American community, used to describe an black person's hair that closely resembles the hair of a typical white person (i.e. soft, managable, long, as opposed to "nappy" or "bad" hair). The closer your hair is to a white person's, the "better" your hair is. See: "bad hair".
Note: Most people who use this term would never admit the inferiority complex from which it came.
Ignorant Aunt Zykeshia: "Lord-Jeezus! Girl, you gots dat good hair! It long, curly and booootiful!"
-by Little Lauren May 17, 2005
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*I think that "widely used" fits better than the word "popular".
**
Excerpt #2
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_hair#:~:text=%22Good%20hair%22%20is%20a%20phrase,contrast%20to%20Afro%2Dtextured%20hair.
" "Good hair" is a phrase used in some black
communities to describe the perceived prestige of straight or loosely curled
hair, especially when genetically influenced by non-African ancestry, in
contrast to Afro-textured hair. "Good Hair" is also used to refer to
hair that is strong, thick and soft to the touch.
[...]
Although
many hair stylists or beauticians would define "good hair" to mean
"healthy hair", the phrase is rarely used in this manner in informal
African-American circles. Instead it is used metaphorically to characterize
beauty and acceptance. These standards vary for African-American men and women."...
Regardless of Beyonce's implied meaning/s of "Becky with the good hair", it appears to me that the most widely used online meaning of "Becky" after Beyonce's 2016 "Lemonade" song is "a White woman".
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2019/03/the-clean-meaning-of-name-becky-in.html for more information about the African American cultural use of the name "Becky" as a referent for White women (or certain White women) prior to Beyonce's "Lemonade" song.
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INFORMATION ABOUT FORMER NBA PLAYER KWAME BROWN'S USE OF THE SAYING "BECKY WITH THE GOOD HAIR" AS A PUTDOWN FOR A LIGHT SKINNED BLACK MALE
From https://brobible.com/sports/article/kwame-brown-stephen-jackson-matt-barnes-gilbert-arenas/
"Former Laker Kwame Brown Rips Stephen Jackson, Matt Barnes,
And Gilbert Arenas To Shreds In Profane Rant" by Joge Alonso, May 17, 2021
[Pancocojams Editor's Note: Warning: This article and Instagram includes profanity. Those
examples of profanity aren't included in this ncluded in this pancocojams post.]
"Kwame Brown has a bone to pick* with Stephen Jackson, Matt
Barnes and Gilbert Arenas.
Earlier this week, Arenas was a guest on Showtime’s “All the
Smoke” hosted by Jackson and Barnes. In the interview, Arenas talked about
Brown, who he played with during his early years with the Wizards.
[...]
....Becky with the good hair, go to counseling...
Becky with the good hair you better shut you’re m---f----** mouth, cause I don’t like the way you started this sh-t** and that better be the last time you mention my name Becky."...
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*Here's information about the meaning of the colloquial American phrase "having a bone to pick":
**These words are fully spelled out in this instagram.
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PANCOCOJAMS NOTES ABOUT THIS USE OF "BECKY WITH THE GOOD HAIR" [Revised May 23, 2021]
Kwame Brown's use of the female name "Becky" as a referent for a man is disrespectful in and of itself because males usually don't like to be referred to as females.
In African American culture "Becky" has become an informal, insulting general referent for White woman. That meaning as a racial connotation to Kwame Brown's use of "Becky with the good hair", particularly seen the Matt Barnes, the man he referred to, is a light skinned Black man who has hair that many Black people consider/ed "good hair" (since light skinned Black people are often of mixed racial ancestry [Black and non-Black] and often have hair whose hair texture is similar to the hair textures that most White people have).
That said, some brown skinned African Americans and other brown skinned people of Black African descent may also have so-called "good hair" (meaning "hair like White people". They may have these types of hair textures because of their non-Black (i.e. "mixed") racial ancestry via one of their parents, or one or both of their grand parents, or earlier grandparents.
I happened upon an article about Kwame Brown's May 16, 2021 Instagram post that is the focus of this post because Kwame Brown's name was in the top ten twitter accounts that were trending in the United States on May 17, 2021 (as of 12 PM). I'm not including a link to that twitter account because pancocojams is a family friendly blog and the content of that twitter account includes a lot of profanity. In addition, that twitter account also includes a number of tweets that have what is commonly known as the "n word" as well as other words that may be objectionable for children. It also appears to me that many of the commenters in that twitter account considered what Kwame Brown said as something "humorous" and commendable. For instance, there were comments about "shots fired" by Kwame Brown (meaning insults sent by Kwame Brown to those other men) and comments about Kwame getting bodies (meaning he "verbally" shot those people with his insults).
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Kwame Brown's use of "Becky" as a referent for a Black person isn't the first time that I found that name being used as a referent for a light skinned Black person. Here's a comment exchange from
Here's an excerpt from a Daily Kos article entitled "Love's Racialized Failure in "Lemonade" By PurposelyPolemical, 2016/04/26" http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/04/26/1520391/-Love-s-Racialized-Failure-in-Lemonade
...In Lemonade Beyonce not only calls out Jay-Z’s cheating, she frames that cheating as being about race when she sings, “Better call Becky with the good hair.” The term “Becky” in African American lingua franca marks whiteness; and good hair suggests someone who is mixed or not quite black. In this way, Jay’s betrayal is not just a betrayal of the heart, it’s a betrayal of her as a black woman. It’s very clear from Lemonade that the “character” of Jay Z is cheating largely because he is interested in a lighter woman with straighter her, a less black woman. This is a vital part of understanding the symbolic logic of this masterwork....
Here's a comment exchange from that daily kos.com article:
terrypinder Apr 26 · 07:55:35 PM
"Why does everyone assume Becky is white?
**
PurposelyPolemical terrypinder Apr 26 · 07:57:42 PM
"I watch Empire...but I’m at a loss. Who is the black Becky on there? Remind? lol"
**
terrypinder PurposelyPolemical Apr 26 · 08:13:34 PM
"Gabourey Sidibe’s character :)"
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Pancocojams editor's note:
terrypinder is obviously joking with that comment as Gabourey Sidibe is a dark skinned Black actress.
The character on the television series Empire who might be considered a Black Becky is "Anika", portrayed by (light skinned) African American actress Grace Gealey.
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