... the other Black experience
"Because, sweety, we're Black...."
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Yank on -
Wow, this is some depressing shit right here. I wonder why no one ever talks about this on a wider national forum?
Any smug academic racist who's full of convoluted genetic theories to explain lower black academic performance, or liberals who blame it all on crime, poverty and not enough gov't spending, needs to read this.
Kudos to all yall for breaking the mold.
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Permalink Reply by Brikachu on -
yeah...I can't date such and such because there family will never accept me
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Permalink Reply by Syzhorra Shand on
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You can do anything you want to do, Its all about just being like " This makes me happy and I'm gonna do it" Just don't follow the stereotypes you know.
Before I did the big chop....I was scared as hell that people would talk about me ...that'd I'd be some ugly little black girl with nappy hair (I don't do anything but wash my hair...everyday) and then I owned it as this is me and this is a part of me . So far I've heard some negative comments but they've rolled off my shoulders.
@ Menk more of those genectic studies prove that blacks are more academically inclined towards science , math, the arts, and what not than whites if they were to be given the same opportunities. I can't stand people who base a person off of standardized tests and not real world anyway. If you consider how very small the black population is and how far we as a people have reached its mind blowing. even "thugs" are extremely intelligent people they just don't talk the way most people want them to . Not to toot my own horn but I literally passed all of my public schooling while asleep. All Honors courses completely bullshited but passed because I passed those tests. I have to wonder how many people went through the same thing but just had a bad attitude and then "ruined" there academic life...There are soo many factors its ridiculous
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Permalink Reply by Tinisha Brugnone on -
I don't feel that my ethnicity has any limitations. I do feel that our social and economic status can make things more challenging. I feel empowered when I am in a room of others and I stand out like a sore thumb. I know my history although I learn more and more everyday, but that which I know is so full of resilience I could never feel like my color is a hinderance. I feel sorry for anyone who would tell another person they cannot do something because of the color of their skin.
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Permalink Reply by Peter B. on -
Yes!!!! I felt like I was told to not be into a lot of thing because i was black! And it was bullshit! A few of those thing involve:
listening to heavy metal
skateboarding
being in a rock band
listening to rock in general
not listening to hip hop
not talking in slang
wearing skater clothes
People really should keep an open mind.
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Permalink Reply by Felicia on -
I was never told I couldn't be a vegetarian because I was black, I was told that I shouldn't deny my instincts as a being on the top of the food chain....
conspicuious green said:being a vegetarian once upon a time seemed to have a few people confused i have no idea why. But you're black?? is one of the dumbest things i've had said to me, if your not a stereotype your a confused coconut.
I remember when there was "no such thing" as gay black people
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Permalink Reply by Arissa Nirvana on -
my mom tells me this every chance she gets
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Permalink Reply by sarenabrown26 on -
Because you are Black you shouldn't be intelligent, you shouldn't listen to Rock N Roll (even though it originated with Black Americans) and the ridiculous list goes on and on. Not only from ignorant White people, but ignorant Black people as well. For the last 6 months I've been doing none stop research on Black Americans contributions to society and African contributions globally. I don't listen to the lies; I'm going to start posting the things I have discovered on this site.
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Permalink Reply by Attica Blue on -
Heh heh, yeah, I remember stuff like that--although the shower one is new to me. (Yikes!) When I was a kid growing up in the '70s/'80s I loved playing street hockey, but my dad tended to discourage me from taking it further (i.e. ice hockey) by saying things like, "There's no black people in hockey." But unlike the sense I'm getting from some other posters here, it wasn't so as to dumb myself down. My dad took a different route altogether; he insisted that there were already too many blacks doing nothing but sports and that we needed to focus on education and the other professions that come out of that. So he was half right, I guess.
Of course, now if you look at the NHL, things are changing rapidly. I always figured it would happen but even at my young I sort of had the sense that the time was not yet--but it would be.
But you want to know what is really remarkable about all of these experiences? It's how so many white people have zero idea of how these psychological influences--these historical ripples of racism--are responsible for the behaviors they and we see in our community today.
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Permalink Reply by Jordana LeSesne on -
Whenever anyone has told me I couldn't do something due to some perceived limitation on their part, I have dug in my heels and worked twice as hard at it.
Is that not the essence of the punk mindset? F'the world and what it thinks and get on with it?
Their dismissal can be a GREAT motivator.
As to your question as to why some of "our people" may say this it is because many of them are the epitome of conforming to whatever image of them the media is all too willing to sell them.
Instead of the bottom-up mentality which brought about our liberation today many of "our people" are all too willing to accept a top-down description of what it means to be black, RATHER THAN defining and describing what it means on their own terms.
It is a sad state of affairs really. Much of the image they are sold and readily accept is a negative one involving rampant consumerism, limited creativity, blind faith in a limited version of spirituality and stereotypes which serve only to marginalize and ultimately criminalize us.
I'll have none of that, thank you.
We are only our worst enemy if we allow ourselves to be. Move forward and never be limited.
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Permalink Reply by Lightning Pill on -
I guess having the benefits of living in Massachusetts for so long has given me the benefit of having no one but those outside commenting on me doing something not black. The only time I've been through that was back when hard rock and nu-metal was growing big. I was in middle school, and had a Taproot AIM Icon (anyone remember those?), and someone I didn't know thought I was posing as a rock lover, because I was black. That seemed to be the only thing I remember.
All other stuff is someone else commenting on their color, which didn't irritate me any less. My girlfriend's sister once told her to stop acting like a white girl, her mother once commented to the sister that she was acting like a white girl (a lot of closet ignorance in the family about color actions, I noticed), and while watching Plan B's "Playing With Fire" video (or was it "Ill Manors"?), someone commented on whether he knows he is a white guy.
So, I was mostly lucky to have the luxury of going to hip-hop, punk and rock shows with zero comments about my color, even from my own family and friends.
Everyone else is truly on their own about commenting on their color.
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Permalink Reply by Elisa Grove on -
First, let me introduce myself as a new member of the site and say hello to everyone.
Now to the discussion question,
I've myself in this situation so many times, it no longer bothers me. I have lived all over the USA, from Michigan to Mississippi. In my own home as a child, I was taught to love music of any kind then was told that some music was too "white". I was grounded when I told my mother I wanted to research and find out what religion I believed in. I was always made fun of for the choices I made in music and style with my cousins. The outside world was much more cruel to me. When I was in the suburbs, I was too black to be there but found my niche with a select group of friends who accepted me as I was. I was called every slur you could think of, even by the black kids, who called me a "burnt cracker". When I moved to the south to an all black community, I got even worse treatment. By then, I was going through my "emo/goth" phase: skinny jeans, black band tees, nails. You guys and dolls get it. They weren't to fond of me but I was determined to not fall under pressure. I was beaten up by 6 girls and my hair was cut. I was told by one teacher that if I quit all that weird shit, I would be picked for more things. I was picked on everyday. It got worse and worse.
I don't believe in limiting yourself due to what a stereotype says you should be. I've learned over time that I can only be me. And F**k them if they can't accept me, because I do.
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