For as long as I have remembered, I have stuck out like a sore thumb amongst my friends in the environment that I was placed in. Although growing up in suburban Georgia has given me many opportunities excel, there are some things that I have been told and asked as a young African American woman that have both made me laugh and realize that, even though our society has improved in regards to differences, we still have a ways to go.
1. Can I touch your hair?
Yes, I have curly hair. Yes, it is real. No, I am not an animal, so please do not pet me like I am one. I have always laughed when people ask me this, mainly because it's rare that anyone actually asks before they touch it.
2. Are you just black?
No one in the world is 100 percent anything. I could most definitely go through an entire list of all of the ethnic groups I belong to, but it would not matter. My skin is still dark, and I am still discriminated against, regardless of what and who I am.
3. You're an "oreo"!
Human beings are not comparable to cookies. A group of people should never be expected to act a certain way because of their race. Just because I am an African American does not mean that I am expected to speak a certain way, dress a certain way, or act a certain way. Everyone is an individual, and stereotypes should never define anyone.
4. Police brutality is not real.
Stereotypes plague the minds of human beings. We sort ourselves into groups and identify with people that are just like us, it's human nature. However, we identify certain groups as more dangerous than others, a potential threat to our safety because of the way the media and our culture paints them to be. Whether intentional or not, most of our society believes that African Americans and other people of color are dangerous, that all Muslims are terrorists, that Latin Americans are illegal immigrants, the list goes on and on. When placed in a position where you are constantly dealing with dangerous people and the pressure of seeking justice, judgment can become clouded, and some people can revert back to those common generalizations. I can assure you that police brutality is real, that people of color are killed because our society has painted them to be evil monsters when they are in fact not. Racism and bigotry do play a part in how we treat people who are different in America, and the only way to eliminate this concept is to accept that the problem exists and needs to be solved because pure denial solves nothing.
