STEREOTYPICALLY...

Last night as I watched the news I was forced to think stereotypically,
Not personally, but, because I knew that many people watching would,
Law enforcement was on the lookout for a seventeen year old black male,
Who had allegedly robbed and raped a woman with the help of two accomplices…
I cringed at the senselessness and brutality of the crime,
But I also cringed because what I knew was that the face of the alleged perpetrator was the face that many in the country automatically see or think when they hear, of the crimes committed and I knew that many innocent young, black men will feel the brunt of that crime photo…
It took me back to when I was a young girl,
It seems that everything I was taught to do was anti-stereotypical,
I was taught to speak properly,
To do as well or better than anyone,
To always carry myself well,
To not act out in public,
In essence to not act in any way that would be considered,
Stereotypically, ummm Black…
Of course no one said that,
But we knew,
One day as an adult,
I watched a young girl dance in Target,
The music was playing and she was dancing to the beat,
I smiled,
But thought,
‘Mama would have jerked me silly…’
That would not have been appropriate Negro behavior,
At least not in public,
I remember asking my mom when I was about nine,
It was the mid-sixties,
Why we were so concerned about what white people thought,
She looked at me as she was prone to do,
Seems I was always shocking my mom with my audacity,
She sighed,
And said,
Nothing…
I realized then that my usually verbose mother could not articulate to her child,
That one of the things that would shape and form us was the opinions of white folks,
Because their opinions of us would determine in many cases what schools we got into,
And whether we were hired or not,
I can remember thinking, quite innocently it turns out,
“That surely white folks can tell the difference between us, we are all different aren’t we?’
As I aged I was disabused of that notion,
As I sat in many classrooms and workplaces as the only black person,
I was constantly startled by how narrowly, superficially,
And umm, yes stereotypically we were viewed,
And by supposedly liberal, educated folks…
And I guess I was saying all that to say,
That anytime a black face is splashed anywhere for any reason,
That in 2009,
There are those people who will see that one example as being indicative of all…
Sad, but stereotypically TRUE…

BE BLESSED!

angelia