Im not usually one to talk about my personal life on social media but there is something that has been weighing very heavily on my heart and I would really like to share with all of you. The issue is race.. Im going to be very clear that race is definitely an issue. Growing up in a white community, being educated in a white school, and being raised by bi-racial parents has really opened my eyes to the ignorance and hate in this country. Ive always felt like being black defined me and its never a good thing when a person is defined by something that is out of their control. Im going to share some things Ive seen and heard while being on this earth surrounded by white people the twenty years that Ive been here. A few of my white girlfriends have told me that their parents were/would be mad, disappointed, or worried if they ever brought a black man home with them. I have a brother and cousins and it breaks my heart to think that my family members wouldnt be accepted by someone just because their skin is darker. Also from my white friends Ive been told that their families didnt really like black people. Again Im black, I have family and this statement is extremely offensive and ignorant. Multiple times when I was with white friends in the dark, at a bonfire or something like that, they jokingly would tell me to smile so we can see you. That is one of the most ignorant and offensive things I have ever heard, its not funny, and its extremely racist. I have heard the n word spoken by many of my white friends and acquaintances and it blows my mind that anyone would think this word is okay to use. I dont use the word, I understand a lot of my black peers do because they want to change the meaning and like own the word that has literally hundreds of years of negative connotations associated with it. If you are a white person you do not use this word. Ever. Ive seen so many posts on social media of innocent white boys who have been shot by the police with angry statuses talking about how these innocent white boys were not recognized or talked about in the news and I have to say it is a tragedy, its a terrible thing that innocent people are being shot and killed, but with the black boys its different, simply because they are black. There is history behind black people being murdered and slain, my people were lynched, enslaved, treated as second class citizens, still are treated like a second class people. Thats why the murdered innocent black child is on the news. Not only because he was innocent, but because he was black and because of what it means to be black in this country. When I was little, kids at my school would make fun of be because my hair was thick, curly, huge, and my skin was brown. I used to sit in the bathtub and scrub my skin and try to make the brown go away. I would cry at night because I just wanted to be like everyone else. In high school I straightened my hair, like a lot of black women, to make myself blend in more with my white peers. Its rough and Ive been quiet too long. Racism and racial issues are very much alive, 1 in 3 black people will be incarcerated at some point in their lives compared to 1 in 17 white people. I know its not because black people are the lesser of the two races. If this post offends you I would ask that you open your eyes a little, do some research, ask questions, and educate yourself. Change cant happen unless people are willing to talk and think maturely about things.
Posted on: Tue, 14 Oct 2014 02:55:23 +0000
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