Who is teaching children self hate? We can agree on many things like miseducation, colonialism, self ignorance, etc… yes that is true. Mom and dad is to blame too. Moms aught to be ashamed of themselves relaxing their daughters hair sending the young girl the message that her god given texture is not beautiful enough. If that child did not ask you to modify their hair texture and color but you take it upon yourself to modify the texture of their god given-nature provided hair, you are their first introduction to self hate. Look at this joker from Nigeria, skin bleach, blue contacts and blonde weave. Who is she fooling? You cant deny this self hate. But when some people only practice part of this, they cannot see their own self hating patterns. It is up to us to break our own patterns. Stop saying mixed people look exotic until you travel the world and see the vast beauty of Africa and her variety. Stop telling mixed children that they are cute because they are mixed. Stop masking your childrens features, saying you are just being fashionable. No little girl should have a perm. If they decide to practice self hate when they can make that decision for themselves, then that is their choice, but dont perm a childs head that did not ask for it. A quick story to send the message home. I brought my mother to meet a woman who I physically admired so much. She was a black woman from Africa and I swore she looked like a doll I had in my collection. Her skin was sandy dark brown that sort of glowed and her features were strong, long neck, big high cheek bones. She reminded me of the cartoon version of the X-man Storm. I wanted my mother to see this absolutely striking work of art that this woman was. One day, I introduced them. The woman then looked at me as if she understood something a little better. Ah. No wonder you are so beautiful, you not fully black. I asked what she meant. She further stated that mixed people are more attractive. My heart sunk a bit. She saw my mother who does not particularly look African. She insulted my African genes, disrespecting herself and me in the process. She insulted the part of me that was her and gave the credit of beauty to the part that was not her, worshipping non-black genes which are not hers. Stop telling people that they have good hair because they are mixed. That is another form of self hate. What message does that send to black and mixed children? To distance themselves from their blackness. Can you imagine a black woman who is absolutely stunning, telling another black woman that being not fully black is better. Attacking their own genes. Cant you see yet? Self hate can take many forms. Break the cycle. No one is going to do it for us. Stop using that lame excuse, Sometimes you just like what you like. How about read a book, take a science class, learn your history. How about appreciate your own skin, hair, eyes and legacy.
Posted on: Wed, 29 Jan 2014 17:29:20 +0000