After reading the description to one of The Game's episodes, it prompted me to write this piece. I'm cool with being stereotyped, typecast, pigeonholed or whatever you choose to call it. Your idea of who I am or what my race is about doesn't stop me from doing what I have to do to make life move for me; so believe what you want.
However, I'm disgusted with stereotyping an entire genre of people due to a certain lifestyle of an individual group. Black people are not one-dimensional beings and this is promulgated by White America too often and even more so these days. You [White America] are constantly trying to put us into a classification and create laws, rules or definitions around the extremes of a group. Stereotyping without taking the time to know an individual is ignorant and as backwards in thought as a redneck sleeping with his own sister. Where they do that at?
This isn't only a Black and white issue. We all do it, in some degree or another. We see strippers and think they're all porn stars, we see cops and think they're all corrupt, we look at rappers and think they all glorify negativity...but where does it come from? I blame the media, more so than the individual. I blame the Oprahs, the Tyras, the O'Reillys, the Bushes and the newsrooms. They've consistently promoted the negative stereotypes of the inner-cities, creating a disdain towards individuals who are raised their or may somehow affiliate with it. All Black women are not somebody's baby momma and Black men aren't all about the bling bling and the hood. Many of us are educated, many of use have careers, many of us have families, many of us know how to love...many of us live beyond the stereotypes set by society!
However, there's also the reverse. We look at college bound or college educated individuals with admiration and praise. Saying such things to our own sons and daughters like, "why can't you be more like him?" or "he's such a good young man/woman!". Little did you know, that young man put himself through college by selling dime bags to his classmates and e-pills at the school parties and that young lady with that nursing or law degree used to hustle sex for text books and meal vouchers. So yeah, why can't I be more like him or her? They were enterprising, I wish I thought of that. You never know what people's lives are like, so stop looking at an individual with disgust because you don't approve of what they do and stop comparing one person to another because you believe that other person's life is better. You don't know their story, so stop with the judgments and stereotypes...because if we look close enough, we can typecast you too!!!
However, I'm disgusted with stereotyping an entire genre of people due to a certain lifestyle of an individual group. Black people are not one-dimensional beings and this is promulgated by White America too often and even more so these days. You [White America] are constantly trying to put us into a classification and create laws, rules or definitions around the extremes of a group. Stereotyping without taking the time to know an individual is ignorant and as backwards in thought as a redneck sleeping with his own sister. Where they do that at?
This isn't only a Black and white issue. We all do it, in some degree or another. We see strippers and think they're all porn stars, we see cops and think they're all corrupt, we look at rappers and think they all glorify negativity...but where does it come from? I blame the media, more so than the individual. I blame the Oprahs, the Tyras, the O'Reillys, the Bushes and the newsrooms. They've consistently promoted the negative stereotypes of the inner-cities, creating a disdain towards individuals who are raised their or may somehow affiliate with it. All Black women are not somebody's baby momma and Black men aren't all about the bling bling and the hood. Many of us are educated, many of use have careers, many of us have families, many of us know how to love...many of us live beyond the stereotypes set by society!
However, there's also the reverse. We look at college bound or college educated individuals with admiration and praise. Saying such things to our own sons and daughters like, "why can't you be more like him?" or "he's such a good young man/woman!". Little did you know, that young man put himself through college by selling dime bags to his classmates and e-pills at the school parties and that young lady with that nursing or law degree used to hustle sex for text books and meal vouchers. So yeah, why can't I be more like him or her? They were enterprising, I wish I thought of that. You never know what people's lives are like, so stop looking at an individual with disgust because you don't approve of what they do and stop comparing one person to another because you believe that other person's life is better. You don't know their story, so stop with the judgments and stereotypes...because if we look close enough, we can typecast you too!!!
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