Attitudes

It took a move to the South and a culture shock from hell for me to learn that I was black. Of course I'm being sarcastic. I mean, I knew I was black. I grew up in a house with loads of mirrors. I knew that I had to have my hair hot combed and the little white girls at school didn't have to. I guess I should say that it took a move to the South for me to learn how important my being black was to everyone else.

I was a military brat so I didn't grow up in one solitary place. My scenery was always changing. I was so use to change that I didn't think that a move from California to Alabama would be that much of a change. Ah, how the youth walk in ignorance. Upon arriving at Saks Middle School, I was befriended by three nice white girls. The most popular white girls in the school. I was so relieved to have allies in this strange new world that I didn't notice that I was making all the black females at the school very uncomfortable. It's a good thing for me that people in the South aren't shy.

I remember that day in gym class as clear as Dasani.

"You Tasha?" An intimidating voice came from behind me. Suddenly, I felt like I was in the Middle of one of those great American Westerns.
"Yeah." I replied, turning around.
"You want to be white?" She demanded.
This flustered me. I started stuttering. I was pissed that I was loosing my cool.
"No!" I finally thought of in a witty comeback.
"Then why do you hang out with those white girls?"
Well, because they were the first people to befriend me in this hell.
"Because…" I began.
"And why do you talk so proper?"
I wasn't really aware of the fact that I spoke any differently than anyone else that spoke English, minus that slow Southern draw.
"Well, uh." By this time, her posse of thugs were backing her up.
"Where you from anyway? Why you speak so good? You think you better than us. You think you white? You Oreo."

Needless to say I came out of this interrogation alive. I heard everything as I spent the rest of my time growing up in the South. Oreo, gray girl, punk ass. Then, one day it dawned on me that it's very fishy that I have experienced more racism at the hands of black people than at the hands of any other race. And, I'm black.

The bottom line is that I'm not going to go out of my way to befriend someone simply because they look like me. It's not a great accomplishment to be the thing that Nature intended you to be. It's possible that this is a problem that is currently facing the black community.

The only people that can ensure the survival of the African-American community are black people. How the hell are we supposed to get stronger when we keep telling our own youth to belittle themselves. Why in the hell would you want to go and put more pressure on a black kid to be "more black," when the rest of society is going to expect him to be better?

Black people should train their people to run faster, jump higher, and speak better than anyone else. Maybe that's the problem in the black community. Maybe it isn't the "white folks," but a problem from within. Maybe we are handicapping our own youth. It is possible we are responsible for the 85% of black men in prison. Perhaps, we should look within to explain all the single black mothers on welfare. Maybe they aren't better because we aren't telling them that they should be. But, what do I know about black folks?

I'm just an Oreo.

Contributed by:Natasha Larry