I have a classmate, sad misguided soul, that said one class "I feel intimidated talking to white people". And when I asked in amazement, "What did you say?" She continued, "Yea, man white people...." and some other non-sense I blocked out because I refused to believe this child was actually talking these rot .
What in the entire (insert bad word here) does that mess mean??
So, you're telling me a young woman currently obtaining a college education (not first year I might add) and you state that you are intimidated speaking to someone, not because of their level of education....not because of understanding of a topic....but you are intimidated because of a person's color.
Help me understand Father!!
Where it is broken help them fix it.
Be a fence and be a wall...cause I really couldn't understand it at all.
In that one statement she captured part of the problem with our people. We can not realize our power. We do not see that we all are powerful, especially if we stop allowing doubt and the standards of others to dictate to us what we should be and how to go about doing things.
I believe that perhaps some black people may sometimes feel as she described intimidated by white people because that is the discourse white people have created for us. But it is UNTRUE. It is a LIE. We are not inferior. College or no college we are NOT inferior. Our color does not automatically tie us down to failure. Color does not dictate your greatness. Stand tall and speak to whoever with confidence because they are no better than you.
I'm sure I'll be back to expand on these thoughts.
Think about this until I'm back...If humans would learn to stop racing against each other we can all rise to unprecedented heights.
Go be great people.
#blackoutbahamas
A lot of us have been taught to feel inferior. I feel her pain as a former student of a predominantly white school, where it's almost your place to shuck and jive and speak a certain way, and act a certain way around people of a lighter hue. She was telling the truth based on what she has been taught - and the worst part is that we continue to teach ourselves this.
ReplyDeleteYea...I guess I didn't look at it that way because take these history based literature classes that debunk all the rhetoric that claims people of colour/minorities or less than. Luckily I didn't drag her - I just want us to feel empowered. Thank you for your thoughts!
DeleteBecause we're taking these*
DeleteIn a lot of instances, I feel that the black community, especially in the Caribbean, is largely responsible for perpetuating these beliefs. Having lived abroad and coming back home I feel much more accepted abroad. We do not appreciate our own physical attributes such as hair texture, skin tones etc. If we do speak properly...it's associated with speaking white or acting white. Then as is the case with the #supportthepuff movement we are told only certain things (that actually go against what makes sense for us a a people) are acceptable, presentable and neat whereas in many places the same people we are trying to imitate and impress are far more accepting.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your response. The black community may be continuing to perpetuate those beliefs based on the teaching we provide our children. Look at the books our children are given to read with little to know representation of anything that resembles them. Then if we discuss language our Bahamian children are scolded for using their native tongue, which is Bahamian Creole English because the school system is still under the impression that our language is inferior when it isn't. There's soooooooooo much I can go on about but that's some of my thoughts. Thanks again for responding - I appreciate it.
Delete