European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 27, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Ethnic mixing looks a sense of racial Unity by 1 californian Erik Simon 28, sports a mop of two toned dreadlocks that Are mostly peroxide yellow. By Lena Williams new York times a Woung americans seem to be looking More alike these Days. And that a not All. Young people of different ethnic backgrounds Are acting and sounding a lot alike too. White males Are wearing dreadlocks fade haircuts and african medallions Black men and women Are going Blond and sporting Metallica to shirts. There Are Black Valley girls and White Home girls. Large lips Are the latest Hollywood look so some White women Are fattening theirs up with Silicon injections. Meanwhile some Black women Are painstakingly making up their lips to achieve a thinner More typically caucasian lip line. Michael Bolton a White pop musician with a soul inflected blues based vocal style beat out Black challengers for new York music awards prestigious soul music title. And the hip Street vernacular of Black youths has become so mainstream that even Madison Avenue executives Are using it in television commercials. A i Call it the darkening of White America Quot said Charles w. Thomas a professor of Urban studies and planning at the University of California at san Diego who is writing a Book on the Black White crossover phenomenon. Quot what we Are seeing is White people being totally engulfed in Black lifestyle and behavioural patterns. It started with the music. Now you see it in fashion religion and  at the same time Thomas and other experts in Black culture noted that More Blacks Are adopting White styles and social patterns than at any time since the Early 1960s. They say Many Blacks May not realize that in imitating Whites who in Many ways Are imitating Black culture they in essence Are reclaiming their own culture. Thomas said a a we Are seeing the Black Middle class doing what e. Franklin Frazier the Black sociologist accused them of doing in the 1950s poor imitations of Whites without understanding that they Are reclaiming what is already  Alana Valencia a 15-year-old Black High school student who lives in Washington is critical of the trend. A we Call them the a wannabees a a she said. Quot the Black kids who a Wanna be White and the White kids who a Wanna be  the trend which started in the mid-1980s, is predominant among Young people which has led to speculation that it is a fad. Some however believe the phenomenon is an expansion of a cultural Exchange that dates to the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and 30s, when Whites flocked to Harlem nightclubs and dance Halls regarding Black life As exotic. But the degree to which Blacks and Whites have immersed themselves into each others culture and lifestyles at a time when Many cities seem to be More racially divided and reports of race based hate crimes Are on the Rise has even some of the experts scratching their Heads. Quot i be been puzzled by this a said Todd Gitlin a professor of sociology at the University of California at Berkeley. Quot its kind of like one color fits All. I Don t quite get it although it s not unprecedented. Whites no matter what their racial feelings have tried to look Darker for some time. This new phenomenon is in that  Alvin Poussaint associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard University said Black styles have crossed Over but that there is More going on than meets the Eye. Quot the stigma has been removed from features that were negroid and thus considered inferior like thick lips Quot he said. Quot we re seeing a freeing up of style just like there was a freeing up of sexuality in the 1970s.&Quot the trend is not exclusively american. Around the world a Universal Standard of Beauty is emerging projecting a multiracial mix. Indeed its difficult to Tell the race or nationality of models on some Magazine covers. Quot they re like a Little bit of this and a Little bit of that Quot said Audrey Smaltz founder of Audrey Smaltz and the ground Crew a fashion support services concern in new York City. Quot they re these Beautiful Caramel coloured children who can be accepted by Blacks Whites Browns and  a growing number of Black celebrities Are flaunting new looks and attitudes. There s Michael Jackson who despite denials appears lighter in complexion and thinner in nose and Mouth the new Golden locks of Shari Belafonte the occasionally Green or Blue eyes of Oprah Winfrey Courtesy of Contact lenses. Meanwhile the managers of the White pop music group new kids on the Block acknowledge it is a clone of the Black group new edition. Vernetta Lynch a 20-year-old Washington College student who is Black said she once dyed her dark Brown hair Blond but Quot just to see How it looked not because i was trying to be  Quot it is unbelievable Quot she added. Quot the White girls Are All wearing these imitation Gold door Knocker earrings have these Short Sassy haircuts and talking like to Home girl and the Black girls Are acting like wow Golly gee a in their Little Sperry Doc siders. We re All mixed  although some Blacks View the imitation of their lifestyle As a form of flattery others say it is cultural theft. A i think some Blacks May feel a Little vindication that the things that were rejected in the past Whites Are trying to adopt Quot said Poussaint who is Black. Quot it is in a sense flattering. What bothers Blacks most though is that they Arentt Given attribution for their contributions and there is a feeling that it will be usurped by Whites and Blacks won t get any economic gain from their own styles or  Erik Simon a 28-year-old White californian who has a mop of two toned dreadlocks that Are mostly peroxide yellow said of his looks Quot some people Are offended usually older Black women Don t like it. But others think it s neat. Quot in be never had anyone say a Why can t you just be White but you can Tell just in the Way they say things or look at you that they  Simon said he started growing his locks about a year ago by not washing his hair for six months and vigorously rubbing his head every morning to snarl the strands. He said he decided to Wear his hair in the rastafarian style to Shock people More than anything else. Quot its not like we re stealing it from them Quot said Simon who works in a Long Beach pet store. Quot its the new Punk. In the other direction you can see Black Guys shaving their Heads which is a Ripoff of the English Punk Rock style too. There always is that sort of trading Between Radical Blacks and