A black-and-white photograph of a Black girl wearing boxing gloves and looking at the camera above text that reads, "White Patty, White Patty, You don't shine. Meet you around the corner and beat your behind."

White Patty You Don't Shine

Carrie Mae Weems (b. 1953)

Date

1987-88
Object Type

Photographs
Medium

Gelatin silver print
Dimensions

Image: 19 13/16 x 15 13/16 in.
Sheet: 19 13/16 x 15 13/16 in.
Mount: 20 3/8 x 16 1/2 in.
Edition

5/5, 2 APs
Inscriptions

Frame, verso:
upper member on printed label: CRATE 11 / White Patty / Ain't Jokin'
backing board:
c. on printed label: Carrie Mae Weems / AIN'T JOKIN (1987-88) / No. 41 / White Patty [underlined] / Silver print / 20 x 16 inches / 2409 [in graphite on same label]
c. on printed label: Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporaneo / CONSEJERIA DE CULTURA / Carrie Mae Weems. Social Studies 20/05 - 20/09 2010. Sevilla / Titulo: White Patty dont you shine (Blanca Patty no / destaca) / Fecha: 1987 -1988 / No. Re 25 / 54 [in graphite, circled] / Caja: 4 / Medidas 20 x 16 inch / Prestador: Carrie Mae Weems / [thumbnail of artwork]
l.r. on printed label: 513 West 20th Street New York, New York 10011 / Tel: 212.645.1701 Fax:212.645.8316 / JACK SHAINMAN GALLERY / Carrie M. Weems [artist signature in black ink over the following printed text] / Carrie Mae Weems / White Patty You Don't Shine, 1987-88 / gelatin silver print / 20 x 16 inches 20 x 16 inches (print) / 21 1/4 x 17 3/8 inches (framed) / Edition 5 of 5, with 2 artist proofs / Inventory #CMW09.005.5
Credit Line

Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas, Acquired with the support of John and Kathy Nugent and Nenetta and Steve Tatum
Accession Number

P2021.33
Copyright

© Carrie Mae Weems. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York

Weems’s early series Ain’t Jokin’ takes on prejudices wielded against Black Americans regarding beauty, food, culture, and success through probing and humorous combinations of image and text. White Patty You Don’t Shine addresses stereotypes of Black violence and aggression, casting viewers in the role of “White Patty” challenged by this girl and her singsong threat. How seriously should it be taken? Her words, tough expression, and provocatively raised boxing glove are clearly confrontational but are undercut by her young age and heart-emblazoned sweater. Decades before social scientists’ documentation of the “adultification” bias— that Black girls are viewed as more mature and less innocent than their White counterparts—Weems exposed this reality through this young avatar. The work draws attention to the defensive armor, figurative and literal, necessary for Black girls to navigate the world and asks the viewer to consider their own prejudices.

—Text taken from the Carter Handbook (2023)

Location: Off view

See more by Carrie Mae Weems

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