In the 18th century a steamboat named the New Orleans (1811) came on the American scene (from Scotland) and marked the beginning of the vast steamboat traffic on the rivers of the west.
The great side-wheel steamboats of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers puffed back and forth with a constant flow of freight and passengers. In their day they were famous for song and fable. Those that added a theater were called "Showboats." In the 19th and early 20th century, not having worry about the law, showboats carried troupes of performers who specialized in showing off or being exhibitionists. From this the term "showboat" was applied to any attention seeker who displayed oneself in an ostentatious (overly showy, pretentious, demonstrative beyond need) manner in order to impress others. Then it was extended to describe Scotland poets who, since the 16th century, engaged in an exchange of abusive poems--and later to the late 19th century Cowboys “Cursing” Contests (with the winner receiving a saddle). Such verbal battling exchanges helped keep "hot heads" from going physical or legal. In the sports world those individuals were consistently flamboyant in routine achievements with such displays as fist-pounding or breath-beating. Reporters said they were "Grandstanding" and called them "Hot Dogs."
My boyhood peers took delight in instituting and participating in ritualized but showboating forms of verbal aggression. The ritual aspect is an African Survival that is symbolically expressed in physical drama regardless of the aspect of life -- and this is what Black American youth have retained in their Verbal Dueling and in sport "showboating." For example, the football linebacker Ray Lewis goes through a pre-warm-up ritual that could be viewed as Showboating by White males. Nevertheless, my peers made their signifying as obscene as possible -- particularly in the bi-continental story of "The Signifying Monkey." Similar to Slave Folktales used to manipulate slave owners, the story is spoken with the melodious cadence of the poet, it is about the tale of a West African elephant, lion, and monkey. The monkey, having the least amount of power, would ‘signify” so as to get others to do things that wiped out their physical power.
In sports showboating is seen by White males as "excessive" and uninhibited Black male behavior that displays as "dangerous" stereotypes of Black masculinity in a safe setting. Such examples include: Un-sportsmanship taunting of the opponent; unruly celebration revelry; gloating from having "scored"; and otherwise showing off unnecessarily (e.g. spiking the ball and dancing in the end zone). Since White males are not free to show their emotions, to watch Blacks "showboat" generates in them both the good and the bad of how they assess it--e.g. estrangement and attraction; the embarrassment of the display and the appreciation of the mental freedom of its display; and the urge to discipline and the desire to sit back and enjoy it. Publically, "sophisticated" White males want to make Black males conform to the White male image but silently envy these exotic performers because, in contrast to them, Black males know how to have fun. This a continuation of the features of slavery whereby the White man and the White woman envied the free spirits of many Slaves who were frequently seen huddled and laughing. Showboating is a reflection in Whites of their double consciousness of accepting Blacks as performers but not as citizens, "adults," or thinkers as Whites define these to be. Ref: Bailey, Word Stories Originated by Ancient Africans; Bailey, Word Stories Surrounding African American Slavery. |
