Scenario #1:
At work the older competitive gymnasts like to listen to music while they are conditioning and/or running. One of the coaches [who will remain nameless for multiple reasons] has an iphone with pandora on it. [Sidenote: this coach barely ever speaks to me. we are rarely even cordial enough to say hello to each other. not because we do not like each other, but simply bc thats just how it is...anyway...]. On multiple occasions she has spoken to me and asked "hey, we wanna listen to rap. what's a rapper that does not cuss much?" --- SERIOUSLY?!?! of the about 10 to 15 people you passed across the gym to get to me...you had to walk ALLL the way just to see me. the first thing that popped into my head was "it's because i'm black." If you knew anything about me you would know that i actually do NOT listen to rap that often. probably a good 75% of the rap songs i know are the same ones you know off the radio. i have a very broad selection of music that i love [adele, wiz khalifa, snow patrol, secondhand serenade, justin nozuka, lil wayne, bob marley, lauryn hill, india arie, drake, the script...need i go on to prove my point?]. It irritates me that just by the color of my skin people assume they know my entire personality, but in actuality all of their assumptions are FAR from the truth and they know NOTHING about me. ugh.
^^that right there was the first encounter I had ever so BLATANTLY had with racial profiling^^.
Scenario #2:
If you know me or have ever heard me speak you would know that i do not talk like a stereotypical southern black person. I pronounce my words and speak with proper english [for the most part]. i LOATHE the "word" worsum [and fyi: the word is pronounced and spelled WORRISOME], i hate when people say fixing and finna, i hate when people say tombout [talking about], and i could go on forever. [Sidenote: DO NOT MISUNDERSTAND WHAT I AM SAYING...I DO NOT AT ALL HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THE WAY ANYONE TALKS!]. However, i accept that this is how they were brought up and that is what they were taught to say. yes, i may joke with my friends sometimes and i often correct them, but it's never meant harmfully. That leads me to the point...why does everyone have a problem with the way I talk? Well, not necessarily a problem. But why is everyone so SHOCKED when I open my mouth. Black people constantly ask me "why do you talk so white? why do you act so white?" Will someone please tell me how you ACT WHITE?!?! i always thought white was a color and a race. how do you ACT like an ENTIRE race or ACT like a freaking color. that's STUPID. this is in fact reversed racial profiling. those whom i'm supposed to call "my people" judge me because i do not talk like them, dress like them, walk like them, or act like them.
^^my whole life has consisted of "she's not really black...", but last time i checked...I WAS.^^
point of this entire blog:
STOP STEREOTYPINGGGGGG!!!
i can guarantee you that any stereotype label you put on me there is a at least 95% chance that i will disprove that stereotype, and i know many more that would also disprove your judgmental assumptions. i am FAR FROM NORMAL, and judging me by my cover is a vital mistake. my cover is exactly what it sounds like...a COVER. it's not me. it COVERS me.
the end <3
Wow! You're like the only person I've met recently that knows the word "worsum"! I thought I was losing my mind for a moment. I don't think it's a sterotypical "black" thing...I think it's a southern thing used by black, white, "hillbilly", country folk. It's just a dialect type of thing. "He sho is worsum." I wouldn't use the word at a company meeting or anywhere that folks don't speak like that, but it's "cute" in a way. Something we shouldn't use all the time, but something that shouldn't become extinct. It's on it's way though, because there aren't many who even know what I'm saying if I tell them how folks spoke in the south. LOL I tell them "worrisome", and even that word only rings a bell with older or more educated adults.
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