I really enjoyed this piece, and you might also like reborn_spirit who wrote this week about the blind community in a similar vein.
I grew up in Florida, in an area with perhaps more overt racial prejudice than average. Now I'm in a relationship with a UK citizen of Jamaican descent, and most of his "black" heritage isn't anything like the "black" heritage I grew up with...and assumed to be the universal experience. So it's nice to be educated, and I hope I keep learning.
Thank you, when I seen the topic this immediatly came to my mind, I wasn't sure I could wirte about it, but it is something I felt I needed to say and I am glad if I helped educaute even a little bit.
"For me, being black is understanding my heritage well enough to speak intelligently about it, knowing where we’ve come from as a people, what we’ve been through as a people, and what we’ve achieved as a people. And for that, I am very proud." - a big nod to that! yes I can totally relate to what you are saying here..:)
Ultimately no one should be ashamed of their ethnicity! But, as we know, racism, prejudice and the hatred that accompanies them have not gone away. You can't even turn on the news without some NBA owner spouting off!
There's still so much learning that has to be done, just about this one issue, that should have been settled in the 19th century, or at least the 20th.
I would not only have not guessed that you were black, I also (*koff*) had assumed you were female. Because of the username and that awesome default icon.
I'm glad to see you address this topic from your perspective, because I think yours is one that needs to be heard more often. You are a person first, and how that person is expressed (geek, braniac, compassionate, male, educated, Cajun-aware, etc.) should very much be up to you. It IS you.
Other people's expectations should not be your problem, though I hate to see a black person asking if you're ashamed to be black just (I assume) because you're not embodying stereotypes. I worry more that those people might assume that stereotypes are who THEY should be.
Love the awesome conclusion to this very well-written piece.
The reason I use the minion Icons is a sotry unto itself, thank you for reading my piece. I never thought of it as they assume they should fit those stereo types. I will have to think more on that.
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I really enjoyed this piece, and you might also like reborn_spirit who wrote this week about the blind community in a similar vein.
I grew up in Florida, in an area with perhaps more overt racial prejudice than average. Now I'm in a relationship with a UK citizen of Jamaican descent, and most of his "black" heritage isn't anything like the "black" heritage I grew up with...and assumed to be the universal experience. So it's nice to be educated, and I hope I keep learning.
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There's still so much learning that has to be done, just about this one issue, that should have been settled in the 19th century, or at least the 20th.
Great take on the prompt!
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I'm glad to see you address this topic from your perspective, because I think yours is one that needs to be heard more often. You are a person first, and how that person is expressed (geek, braniac, compassionate, male, educated, Cajun-aware, etc.) should very much be up to you. It IS you.
Other people's expectations should not be your problem, though I hate to see a black person asking if you're ashamed to be black just (I assume) because you're not embodying stereotypes. I worry more that those people might assume that stereotypes are who THEY should be.
Love the awesome conclusion to this very well-written piece.
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Oh good... I wasn't the only one! *blush*
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