American Allegory: Lindy Hop and the Racial Imagination

280 Pages·2013·1.1 MB·English

by  Black Hawk Hancock

AMERICAN ALLEGORY

AMERICAN ALLEGORY
Lindy Hop and the Racial Imagination
BLACK HAWK HANCOCK
The University of Chicago Press Chicago and London
Black Hawk Hancock is assistant professor of
sociology at DePaul University. He is coauthor of
Changing Theories: New Directions in Sociology.
The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637
The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London
© 2013 by The University of Chicago
All rights reserved. Published 2013.
Printed in the United States of America
22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 1 2 3 4 5
isbn- 13: 978- 0- 226- 04307- 4 (cloth)
isbn- 13: 978- 0- 226- 04310- 4 (paper)
isbn- 13: 978- 0- 226- 04324- 1 (e- book)
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Hancock, Black Hawk, 1971–
American allegory : Lindy hop and the racial
imagination / Black Hawk Hancock.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 978- 0- 226- 04307- 4 (cloth: alk. paper) —
isbn 978- 0- 226- 04310- 4 (pbk.: alk. paper) —
isbn 978- 0- 226- 04324- 1 (ebk.) 1. African
Americans—Illinois—Chicago—Social conditions—
20th century. 2. Chicago (Il.)—Race relations—
History—20th century. 3. Blacks—Race identity—
Illinois—Chicago—History—20th century.
4. Whites—Race identity—Illinois—Chicago—
History—20th century. 5. Lindy (Dance)—Illinois—
Chicago—History—20th century. I. Title.
e185.86.h285 2013
305.896'073077311—dc23
2012044800
o This paper meets the requirements of ansi / n iso
z39.48- 1992 (Permanence of Paper).
For Nana and Ghee with all my love and gratitude.
(Elizabeth “Be(cid:2) y” Warren and Evere(cid:2) “Ebb” Warren)
A . . . major problem, and one that is indispensable to the central-
ization and direction of power, is that of learning the meaning
of myths and symbols which abound among the Negro masses.
For without this knowledge, Leadership, no ma(cid:11) er how correct
its program, will fail. Much in Negro life remains a mystery;
perhaps the zoot suit conceals profound political meaning; per-
haps the symmetrical frenzy of the Lindy- hop conceals clues to
great potential powers, if only leaders could solve this riddle.
Ralph Ellison
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
Prologue: This Strange Dance 1
Lead In: The Cost of Insight 5
Introduction: The Lindy Hop Revival 9
1 Finding the Pocket 37
2 Caught in the Act of Appropriation 74
3 Put a Li(cid:11) le Color on That! 119
4 Steppin’ Out of Whiteness 161
Lead Out: Learning How to Make Life Swing 195
Conclusion: Toward New Territory 204
Notes 227 References 243 Index 261

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Originally, writing a book on the Lindy Hop was not my intent. Even a(cid:12) er
a year of dance education, I never considered the Lindy Hop as a possible
topic of intellectual inquiry. In fact, in one of my earliest dance classes, my
fi rst dance instructor suggested that I write about the Lindy Hop. I laughed
off his remark and never gave it a second thought. As a result, my initial re-
fl ections on the Lindy Hop were not instrumentally motivated for research
purposes, but instead were an outcome of my passion for the fascinating
new world in which I found myself. It has been said that if one intellectual-
izes one’s passion, then the passion withers away. If it were not for all the
wonderful dancers, musicians, and other people I met during my time
dancing that might have been the case. Instead, their friendship and cama-
raderie fueled my desire and propelled me into worlds I could never have
imagined.
While the pursuit of the Lindy Hop took me from off the coast of Los
Angeles to the outposts of Sweden, a word about my home, Chicago, is nec-
essary. While generations of dancers have come up a(cid:12) er us and carry on
the dance, to be part of that rising tide of the Lindy Hop revival, to help
institutionalize it here, makes all the years of working through this project
worthwhile. To the bar owners who let us dance in their aisles, to the clubs
that would let us clear tables to extend their dance fl oors, the Lindy Hop
resonated deeply with the already rich dance and music traditions of Chi-
cago. While many have moved on from the dance, and several of the best
dance venues have shu(cid:11) ered or now bear diff erent names, a more fertile
soil could not have been asked for to nurture this dance and watch it bloom.
In order to make an a(cid:11) empt at acknowledging all those who came into
my life over the years, it is necessary to retrace some of the major steps of
the seemingly circuitous route that American Allegory took on the way to its