Black Baptists policed cultural difference from white middle-class norms as retrogressive

Evidence

Although black Baptist male and female leaders proudly used the term “distinctive,” to denote their “distinctive literature” and “distinctive Baptist work,” they did not use the term to applaud black cultural patterns that were distinctively different from white patterns. “Distinctive” as used by black Baptists signified control of their own institutions. Cultural patterns that deviated from those of white middle-class Americans were viewed as retrogressive. — Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Righteous Discontent, 918

Categorization

• DEFINE: Key to grasping the coined concept: ‘distinctive’ meant institutional autonomy, not cultural divergence — boundary of respectability politics made explicit.
• DEEPTHINKING: The loaded ambiguity of ‘distinctive’ — self-determination on institutional terms while renouncing cultural difference — captures the double-edged core of respectability politics.
• XREF: connects to: Denied inclusion within white institutions deepened black Baptist separatism — Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Righteous Discontent: The Women’s…, 247; Black Baptist leadership believed respectable conduct could disarm white prejudice — Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Righteous Discontent: The Women’s…, 1617; Black Baptists formed a racially bounded imagined community claiming sovereign autonomy from white control — Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Righteous Discontent: The Women’s…, 1076 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Black Baptist leadership believed respectable conduct could disarm white prejudice #complicates (0.82) — Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Righteous Discontent, 1617
• Denied inclusion within white institutions deepened black Baptist separatism #expands (0.78) — Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Righteous Discontent, 247
• Black Baptists formed a racially bounded imagined community claiming sovereign autonomy from white control #qualifies (0.75) — Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Righteous Discontent, 1076