The first time I was called an "Oreo," I went home and cried to my mom for hours. According to Urban Dictionary, an "Oreo" is a slang term given to members of the African-American community who do not act like the stereotypical "black" person--- this includes speaking in proper English, listening to music other than hip-hop,etc. The term is branded "Oreo" since the accused are supposedly "black on the outside and white on the inside."
Growing up, I had never been called anything like that. From the time I was two years old up until eighth grade, I went to a predominantly Caucasian private school and there, we never made fun of each other's differences; we actually embraced them. When I made the decision to go to a public school in 9th grade, this was the first time I experienced bullying because of my skin color and personality. I had never been called so many names because I spoke and acted differently than my peers. I got called Oreo, "white Kandace" (there was another person who's name was Kandace but she was "black") bougie, and my all-time favorite panda. It had gotten so bad that I wanted to transfer back to the private school life because at least there I would not get ridiculed every single day of my school life.
To cope, I began treating the name-calling as a joke-- it will not hurt so bad if I'm laughing with them, right. Wrong! I began to be the favorite "black girl" among my non-black peers because I did not go around using profane language or acting "hood-like," whatever that means. Immediately after my classmates found out I played golf for the school team, the bullying went up a new level. There were comments like: "Kandace isn't black enough because she plays golf," Kandace isn't black because she went to a private school where golf is played." or " Kandace dresses like a white girl, so we are not going to consider as an African- American." They say sticks and stones break bones but words will never hurt; but these words made me question my identity every day. I tried to figure out ways to prove my "blackness" every day. By the end of senior year, I was ready to get away from the closed-minded thinking of my peers.
To this day, I am still called an "Oreo", but I do not let people get away with the jokes now. We are in society where most people think African-Americans are supposed to act and think a certain way--- and most of these ways are negative. I want to be the voice that says that it is totally OK to be different. So what if you like to wear a giant shirt and Nike shorts and buy pumpkin spice lattes while wearing a Patagonia jacket. So what if you listen to stereotypical Caucasian music such as "Nirvana" or "Britney Spears". So what if you don't enjoy any of those things at all. We are all human beings and there are bigger issues going on in this country than putting labels on someone because they talk or act differently.
I am not an Oreo, but I do enjoy eating than from time to time.
