I don't know how many vegans you know, but whenever I think of vegans, I think of a blonde white hippie walking around barefoot talking about being "in touch" with Mother Earth.

Now this is obviously a stereotype considering I am a vegan and pretty much the exact opposite of that description.

However, if that's what I think, I can only imagine what other people think when they're offering me chicken and I say no. Is there even a good enough excuse to say no to chicken?

Anyway, here's how it feels to be Black and vegan in America.

I get a lot of stank faces.

By stank face, I mean a "what the [insert whatever word you want here]" face. This stank face is almost always given to me by Black people. Yes, I have met plenty of Black vegetarians: by plenty, I mean ten. And I've only met about five Black vegans--two of which are my parental units (for a few years), one of which is my roommate (no longer a vegan), and the other two I'm just adding in for good measure. But no matter who I'm talking to, if they're Black, nine times out of 10, I get a stank face.

"So what do you eat?"

Now, I feel like practically all vegans get this response, and I always want to respond in the most sarcastic way possible. I do try keep the sarcastic comments to a minimum, but I have to have fun sometimes. Here's some examples of what I've said to people and they've actually believed me.

"Oh just grass and leaves."

"Typically just lettuce. I try to add beans every now and then. Raw ones though."

"Nothing, really! I don't really eat anything."

"Vegetables. Rabbit food. You know, the usual."

"You know what? I don't even know!"

"What do I eat? Oh, it's complicated."

I'm sure you'd respond the same way if people asked you this every other time you tell people that you're vegan.

"You're not really Black."

This is a response I received a lot when I first became vegetarian in the 8th grade. Practically all of my friends said this when we were in the lunch line getting food and I only picked sides to eat for lunch. It actually became a running joke among the acquaintances that I was forced to hang out with in middle and high school. I already "talked white" and now I didn't even eat chicken. I mean people get bullied in middle and high school, but this was just annoying. What I eat shouldn't have an impact on the color of my skin and it doesn't. I still receive racist comments from people who don't even know I'm vegan, so for people to even suggest that I'm not "fully Black" because of what I eat is just, well, the worst thing that I could hear when I was having a typical bad day in high school.

These are just the most common responses that I get being both Black and vegan. I eat my vegetables, beans, rice and pasta, and I'm surviving. I actually love being Black and vegan because on a good day, I get the best responses. There aren't as many Black vegans as there are white vegans, so it's not unusual for people to get surprised.

For those vegans out there: do you get as many weird responses as I get? Is it just because I'm Black? Any Hispanic vegans out there get weird responses?

No? It's just me? Alright.