Ever heard the term, “acting white,” “speaking white,” “oreo” (white on the inside, black on the outside). Well, I have several times. Growing up, I was always known as the “smart one,” “teacher’s pet” or “goodie two shoes” and teased for it. Even in college, one of my friends implied that I was not black because I did not act accordingly to the stereotypes of black people (speak a lot of slang, loud, have an attitude, roll my eyes, swirl my neck,etc.) The funny thing is that while they were trying to insult me, they were actually insulting themselves. Basically they were implying as a whole, black people are stupid and in order to be smart one cannot be black. Across the world, the ongoing stereotype is that black people are not synonymous with intelligence. We have been portrayed as buffoons and idiots and eventually some of us have internalized this thinking.

My parents have always taught me the importance of education. At first, I did not understand why, but now I do. As I entered my second year of college, I have realized that education has broaden my horizons. It helps me to make better judgments because I can observe various perspectives on life. No one can use my race against me by saying that “you’re black, so that automatically means that you are not smart.” I can immediately prove them wrong. Too many times, people put us in this bubble of “black” and have this tunnel vision when it comes to who we are. We sometimes think that if we do what other races do, it makes us exactly like them; the truth is we will never be like them, we are uniquely us. I love our culture, but that is not all we are; a bigger world lies out there. I am a well-rounded person because I can do both; I can love who I am as a black person, from the way we look naturally to our own culture, and I can appreciate and learn about others, too.

To Be Continued…