As a “Black American” woman I am constantly stereotyped. I am told that the most unsafe place for an African American child is in my womb. My odds of being a single parent are high and I do not speak proper English; instead I speak African American vernacular. I work in Corporate American and people instantly assume I come from the ghetto and I use a lot of neck movement outside of work; it really doesn’t matter how professional I look or how well-spoken I am. This is the stereo type for all blacks in America and it’s still apparent that racism exists even in 2012.
It’s hard to talk about this topic because of the recent event that has taken place in Florida where a young innocent productive black man; excuse me black boy was killed because he fit the stereotype of a “criminal” which is being black and wearing a hoodie sweat shirt. The young man name was Trayvon Martin a college student was killed by a local watchman for no reason. Trayvon went to the store one night and a neighborhood watch person stereo typed him as a criminal because he was black with a hoodie. The person shot and killed Trayvon. The watch person wasn’t charged even though evidence suggests that he didn’t have probable cause. I found this story disturbing because my two year old son’s wardrobe consists of jeans and hoodies. I guess I’m subconsciously teaching him how to be a victim of today’s stereo type of a criminal. I was actually on twitter a read a tweet from Geraldo Rivera that said” Trayvon killed by a jerk w a gun but black & Latino parents have to drill into kids heads: a hoodie is like a sign: shoot or stop & frisk me” I was outraged by this tweet. Now our kids could no longer wear hoodies or certain clothing because that gives others the right to violate our rights?
This takes me back to 1982 or 83 neighborhood we lived was very racist. My oldest brother who was probably 10 or 11 years old at the time and I (I was about 5,6 years old) were walking from school and the we saw some Caucasian boy and when I say boys I’ll say they were about 18, 19 years old were across the street. They screamed NIGGER and my brother screamed RUN. I ran as fast as I could. The caught my brother and I ran to get my parents. My brother could have been beaten to death but I thank god he wasn’t.
I say all of this to say stop stereotyping. Get to know someone then make your judgment.
Thank you for posting something so personal and that is difficult for you to disgust. Racism is so ugly and I hope the human race can move away from this soon. I am astonished that anyone can live in fear of another person or have a hate for them even though they do not know them. I am Caucasian, and I have come across young people of different races who have shown hate for me even though they don't know me. I wish they could understand that I don't speak for how minorities have been treated poorly, I would never want to hurt another human being like that, especially just because the color of their skin. What happened to that young boy is so devastating. I can't imagine something like that happening to my son.
ReplyDeleteRacism is an ugly thing. I wish humans didn't see each other with only surface vision. You and you son have every right in the world to live as you like - along with everyone else. The amount of injustice in the world is really heartbreaking - but there's hope for a better world in future generations, too - if we raise them the right way!
ReplyDeleteThank you both for commenting on this blog. It’s always refreshing to see that many of us feel the same regardless of our race.
ReplyDelete@Kenz What happened to Trayvon was tragic. It scared me because I do have a son.
@Suzi I strongly believe that there is hope for our children as well.
Have a wonderful weekend!!!