The Counterculturalism of the Hallway Hangers Considered through Wise's Theory of Whiteness

Judging from MacLeod’s framing of it, the Hallway Hangers’ deep-seated racism perfectly exemplifies the success of the “divide and conquer” strategy of white elites that Tim Wise discusses in the lecture we viewed last class. The boys’ racism is certainly not the only social factor that is trapping them in the lower class, but just like the poor white New Orleanians Wise talks about, it only serves to isolate them from a possible means of upward mobility.

 Unlike Wise’s subjects, however, the Hallway Hangers do not seem to always identify their own goals and feelings with those of wealthier whites, such as most of the teachers at Lincoln High School. MacLeod notes that despite the Hallway Hangers’ “support [of] some politically conservative values and leaders”, their opposition to other mainstream American mores has caused them to develop a worldview that centers on the low aspirations that they as a group share (123). I think that this view is countercultural not only in its rejection of ideal American individualism but also in its partial abandonment of a lower class identity predicated upon race. This is corroborated by the (admittedly grudging) inclusion of biracial Chris and black Boo-Boo by the other Hallway Hangers.

                Furthermore, much of the white Hallway Hangers’ racism seems to stem from their feelings of being unfairly disadvantaged compared to local African-Americans and Latinos. Instead of holding them accountable for all of their problems, though, as Wise’s poor white New Orleanians do to their black neighbors, the Hallway Hangers interpret the minority favoritism they perceive in Lincoln High and the city job market as one of several reasons why they should not play by the culturally-embedded ‘rules’ of the white elite.