The Different Implications of Head-Patting

After Benji's job well done creating waffle cones, Martine pats Benji on the head twice to acknowledge his accomplishment. While intentions may have been good, this head pat is met with discomfort, uncertainty, and surprise, and for good reason. Personally, I found this scene to be very interesting because Benji describes how the action can be taken differently based on whether Martine is a black or white man. However, Martine's race is ambiguous so the boys cannot necessarily figure out the true implications of this head-patting incident. I don't necessarily think Martine meant anything bad by this action but I totally understand why Benji and the other boys were offended. Whether Martine is black or white, the head patting incident can be taken as condescending and uncomfortable but Martine's race can escalate the degree to which it is so.

 

Should Martine be black, the head patting incident can still be considered disrespectful or belittling but instead of being seen as a racial microaggression, it is like an act of fellowship/brotherhood. Nick even says, "Martine is black...He was just saying, 'Good job, brotherman'" (94). I think this displays how race can create a community or closeness amongst those of the same race because people experience similar feelings/histories of culture, traditions, ways of speaking, discrimination, and more that people from other races cannot necessarily understand. In this way, people of the same race have this shared experience that sometimes brings a feeling of camaraderie, even if you are not necessarily close with or know that person. So while the head pat is clearly not a common tradition/action, should Martine be black, it can be seen as an action of fellowship and community. However, I still think that the action of head patting is disrespectful and condescending because while it may be a congratulatory action, it emphasizes a sort of power dynamic or hierarchy difference where the person patting the head is above the person being patted. In my own experience, when people try to pat my head, it's pointing out how short I am or trying to push a "little kid" identity onto me which feels disrespectful and belittling so I totally understand why Benji was upset in this moment regardless of whether Martine was black or white. He's a teenager being treated with an action that is typically used with small children and especially since we see that there's pressure to appear tough or masculine amongst his friends, being put down as a young child can be very off-putting. 

Should Martine be white, the meaning of the head patting incident totally shifts because of its racial implications. Firstly, there's just the issue/history of white people wanting to touch black or ethnic hair because it's different or "foreign" from their own hair. While some may see hair touching as harmless interest, in reality, it points out a difference between black and white people, separating them from what is seen as "normal". I do want to note that I think it's important to celebrate differences because this is part of what makes humanity so interesting and beautiful but in this case, instead of celebrating a difference, hair/head touching often points out black hair as not another "normal" but rather something alien, foreign, and weird. This further accentuates white people as the standard for what is seen as normal, beautiful, and accepted which is obviously problematic. Additionally, I think the action of hair touching/head patting is even somewhat dehumanizing because it's almost like the person you are observing/patting the hair of is a zoo animal there for your interest. Benji even says, "He will pet his property and pet is the correct verb, for these are animals before him", pointing out the power dynamic and the idea of an owner and a pet (95). It's seen as especially problematic and racist if Martine is white because the action is not one of camaraderie but instead one of further establishing white superiority and emphasizing that he is above Benji. 

Again, I don't think Martine necessarily meant anything negative by this action. Really it just seemed like a careless mistake/action without a second thought. However, I totally understand why Benji and the other boys were upset in either instance.