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Just Because I’m Black Doesn’t Mean…

Monday Mar 16, 2009 – By Sky Obercam

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All too many people make the mistake of assuming that we are limited in scope from our lifestyles to our personal interests. Despite popular belief, Black women epitomize multiplicity in a vast array of forms, which continually defy long held stereotypes. Here’s a look of some of the many factors that blow some of those archaic labels right out of the water.

Just because we’re Black doesn’t mean:

We can’t enjoy music that plays on non-Black radio stations.
Issues of animal rights or environmental preservation aren’t of paramount interest to us.
We don’t watch shows like Curb Your Enthusiasm or Arrested Development and the Colbert Report.
We can’t be outdoorsy types.
One should assume that we are unwed with children.
We don’t engage in extreme or winter weather sports.
We don’t love cats.
Don’t embrace religions other than Islam or Christianity.
Independent films are off limits.
That we don’t find men from other nationalities sexy.
That we’re not interested in traveling to far away places like Fiji, Vietnam, or Bali.
We are angry, or aggressive, or loose cannons.
We can’t have rare or arbitrary tastes in fashion, art or music.
That we are obligated to adore Beyonce.
We aren’t vegetarians or vegans.
We don’t have an interest in the fields of technology, science or engineering.

Clutchettes and gentleman please free to add on to the list!

Soul Touch says:

March 23, 2009 at 5:54 pm

“That I revere, not respect, not appreciate, but REVERE Michelle Obama…she’s cool, but she’s not new to me!”

Well said.

↑ Reply

mishal moore says:

March 24, 2009 at 11:13 pm

….i go to church.
….i eat fried chicken.
….my idol can’t be Julie Andrews
….i listen to or even know much about hip hop
….the majority of my friends have to be black

gawd…i could go on…..

March 24, 2009 at 11:21 pm

…i can’t say awesome or dude.
…that i enjoy movies with an ALL black cast (cuz the majority of them suck)
…that I believe in everything Obama (he’s still a politician)
…i eat grits

Camille says:

March 24, 2009 at 11:29 pm

Just because I’m Black doesn’t mean….

I don’t watch Joan Crawford and Myrna Loy on Turner Classic Movies
I eat fried chicken
I don’t understand what tanning means or how it happens
I don’t enjoy Will Ferrell, Napolean Dynamite or Office Space
I had to go to an HBCU (It was my choice to be there)
I am afraid to leave home and travel
I don’t enjoy GREAT 80s pop
and just because I am black doesn’t mean I am NOT just like you!

Childfree Sexpot says:

March 24, 2009 at 11:49 pm

Just because I’m Black doesn’t mean…

I’m homophobic or against gay marriage (I love every gay person I’ve ever encountered)

I can’t be a feminist

I can’t love tofu

I identify with hip hop culture

I have multiple children by various men

I don’t love animals and respect them by choosing not to eat their flesh

I don’t have an amazing, ever present father who has been in my life the whole 28 years I’ve been living it

Alex says:

March 25, 2009 at 5:58 am

Does not mean we didn’t earn scholarships, but were handed to us because of Affirmative Action

Can’t adopt or be foster parents (and to children outside our own race)

That we don’t use cloth diapers.

That we can’t enjoy Daft Punk and detest 50 cent

That we didn’t take 3 years of Latin and 1 year of French in high school

That we would not be interested in joining the Peace Corps

That my best friend can’t be Hispanic

That we date outside our race because there are no good Black men

That we don’t watch C-SPAN.

That we watch reality t.v shows, period

That we can dance

Speak slang constantly

Don’t know our fathers’

Wish we had straight hair

That we are not paranoid about the New World Order

That I can’t have family members that make over $250,000, that are not in the entertaining business.

That we call each other ni%&^*s , bitches ,and ho’s on a regular base.

That we want hand outs and welfare (we are not multinational corporations :)

Dels says:

March 25, 2009 at 11:26 am

The saddest part is that we stereotype and judge one another.

Just because I’m black doesn’t mean:

…I can’t enjoy sports other than basketball and football. I played tennis, was good at it, and thoroughly enjoyed it…

…I can only appreciate rap, r&b and hip hop… I played Violin and that was one of the most entertaining and enriching things I could ever have experienced. And I plan on learning to play my FAVORITE instrument soon… CELLO! (To me it sounds as if the finest velvet or silk was made into music…)

boo says:

March 25, 2009 at 2:54 pm

just because i’m black that doesn’t mean that the African american diet is Chicken and biscuts.

Mohamed says:

April 11, 2009 at 4:55 am

because I am black does not mean
- that I am a drug addict
- that police are always looking for me
- that I hate white

OsamaObama says:

April 30, 2009 at 6:36 pm

Just because I’m black doesn’t mean that Obama is my messiah.

bre says:

June 14, 2009 at 11:15 pm

just because i’m black, doesn’t mean i wear weave all the time. or do a ghetto girl pose. or follow lil wayne. or have dreds.

Mika Abdul says:

June 18, 2009 at 6:57 pm

Just because I am black doesn’t mean:
-I will purchase a new Gucci bag before I pay bills
-I am fluent in ebonics
-I don’t watch Friends, Grey’s Anatomy or King of Queens
-My favorite television channel is BET
-My ancestors were slaves and/or native americans & I’m waiting for
reparations
-I don’t take in foster children for a check

Jst1BlckMn says:

June 19, 2009 at 4:13 am

…doesn’t mean I need to take up my rightful place as the only person who can bring into existance and therefore strengthen the 360 degrees of the Afrikan experience: the political, economic, family and community structures, sources and mediums of mass/group communication, marital, Afrikan love, parental, structured Afrikan childhood experience, cultural, spiritual, Afrikan holistic health, continental.

EnsomCityEmpress says:

June 20, 2009 at 1:14 pm

Thank the heavens someone said, im tired of being in boxes and categories that people put me in because of my nationality and race. I am Jamaican and i DONT like Bob Marley sue me!