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Comment by prepend | Hacker News Reader

I find it funny when people assume that something that is common within their subgroup is unique to their subgroup.

I liked that this article called out spades’ role in African American culture. But the game isn’t unique to US African American culture. So it’s interesting how it’s presented as unique or special to a particular culture or subgroup.

It would be like if I grew up in Iowa and everyone played spades, and I didn’t read the Wikipedia article or research the history of spades and thought it was a unique Iowan cultural experience. Instead of a common game places across many cultures and locations.

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It doesn't have to be unique to the group to be special to the group.

Yes, that’s true. But this article presents it as if it being special to the group is unique. So the context of “this is special to my group because Xxx” to help readers understand how it’s unique.

Not in this article, but I read an account how someone’s childhood includes a tradition/habit/whatever of parents forcing their child to pick a switch to then use for beating and how it was unique to their subpopulations and region. I remembered it because I thought everyone did this and I was in a different region and subpopulations. I don’t have a chance to talk with the author, but I wonder if what they thought was unique to their family and group was actually more common.

Where do they talk about it being unique to African-American communities? Talking about something and it's place within a community is not the same as saying it's unique to a community.

“Spades is a game our ancestors created to sustain themselves, to gather, to connect, and to hold a safe space for being Black.”

This is what made me think the author assumed it was created by African Americans.

Do you feel the same way about when Americans claim baseball is the national pastime or say "As American as apple pie".

Do you feel differently? Why be oblique if you have a constructive point to make?

Non-American here, but I'd say yes on the apple pie, no on the baseball. I'm used to multiple countries sharing a 'national sport' (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_sport) so it doesn't seem like a claim about baseball being uniquely American, so much as Americans being really into baseball. Also the sport really was developed in the US and then exported, so I think they have the right to claim some kind of spiritual ownership if they want to.

edit: looks like that last point applies in the case of African-Americans and spades, too

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