I am not but to you I am

A Story by Percy

This is actually an essay I wrote for English 99 just wanted to share it

Percilla Lawson
Jessica Patapoff
English 099
18 July 2018
I am not, But to you I am…
“You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them”- Maya Angelou.
The act of stereotyping is defined by Google as “a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or an idea of a particular type of person or thing.” All it takes is just one event to define what people think about us for the rest of our lives.. It is as if when we are born we are society’s cattle, we are branded and or have some sort of sticker placed onto us just because the color of our skin. When someone tries breaking the stereotype we are looked down upon. The media plays a major part in stereotyping a particular group of people. All races are victims of this including darkest half, the black race. The harmful and applied stereotypes to black people are, we are always angry or “ghetto”, are uneducated, and black men are unable take care of their children.
Everyone now conceives this idea of a black woman as this Rasputia or Cookie even a dare I say Medea. We have all seen what I am talking about, the one black female friend that we all have that is loud, sassy and doesn’t take any crap from anyone. The first sighting of this is from a popular show from the 1940s called Amos & Andy, which was essentially just making a mockery of the black race. This loud character we see is Sapphire, who is wife to Kingfish (a black scammer). This gave off the idea that black people as a whole are just funny. Everyday media performs a crucial part in this racial stereotype by only showing the bad in the black race as a whole such as, Real Housewives Of Atlanta, Bad Girls Club, Looney Tunes (Merrie Melodies), and Friday. This is not necessarily the case however, anyone can be considered loud and ghetto. My most dramatic thing I have seen on T.V. from a white woman is Momma June farting on “Here comes Honey Boo Boo.” My best friend, who is white, claps her hands when she is angry and says “girl” every five seconds. Throughout history black women have been shown as overdramatic when in reality it’s not us, it’s the media.
Speaking of the media portraying the black race, have you ever noticed that you do not see an educated black character in movies, tv, or even on the facebook article your mother sent you? The answer was more than likely no due to blacks being reduced to the young man that has dropped out of school to pursue a rap career or thinks they will get their money right due to them being poverty-stricken. This stereotype could not be any less than an unfortunate reality. According to The Media Narrative, black men in 2018 between the ages or 18-24 have a “33.9 percent of attending some form of higher education, compared with 41 percent of the entire population within this age group.”
This is not necessarily a good thing, however, is a step up, “an increase from 1988, when only 18.5 percent of black males were enrolled in some form of postsecondary education." This leads not only black men but also women to poverty-stricken lives to where someone will think that just because they do not have a college education they must become a domestic worker, expose their bodies, stealing, and have an involvement in drug dealing/distribution. Yes, there are some positive examples of successful blacks without an education however in the John Hoberman book, Darwin's Athletes: how sports have damaged Black America and preserved the myth of race, he writes that the fame of being a black athlete kind of just throws the academic achievements of our race down the drain. This truly makes me a little nervous because we’re reduced to being a Lebron James, or the woman who drives the bus 29A. This is disgusting because we are meant for so much more than just twerking in some Iggy Azalea music video just because we do not have an education and the only way to make any income is through exposing our bodies to a society that has some sort of race fetish. This must change now.
I am Hispanic from my mother’s side and African American from my dad. I have a few cousins younger than I am from both sides and it’s been a while since I have seen some of them however I recently have. The prevalent stereotype is that Hispanics are a well put together family in my case we only see each other if we’re fortunate enough once a year. Fortunately this was at a family reunion for my dad’s family, the only side. This is the side truly feel close to because I will not be asked, “whose kid are you” or “did you marry into the family?” My cousin’s age group on that side varies from 1-14, and I know that society will put a sticker on them to label them as the token black friend, the first one to twerk at a party, or the sassy one you better not be in contact with. For the female young ones, they age from 4-8 and three show traits of sass yet the others are just calm and peaceful. For the boys however their ages range from 1-14 and the three youngest are such gentlemen however, I know they will soon become a statistic due to them already showing traits for a typical black man soon they will drop out of high school, distribute drugs on the street, steal, lying dead somewhere, or with a child they can not take care of out of wedlock.
It’s terrifying to think of any of these stereotypes pass onto the upcoming generation. This is not to be blamed entirely on the media, however, when I was little I would listen to these adults conversations and I would hear stories of their broken relationships and the talks about the good old days “in the hood.”One of the biggest ones I would hear was always about how their men were bad and that they could never do anything right. I heard all these horrible things, that they were abusive, alcoholics, heavily into weed and smoking, and had left their wives behind to take care of the children by themselves. I never understood until I got older because my father and both his brothers were there for all of their kids their entire life, however, I had discovered something throughout my young examinations. Love dies in a marriage, and life is filled with surprises. My dad, the grandest man in my life, had a family before ours but the love had died there. He tried going on with his relationship with his daughters however throughout the years the love had died due to distance and life. My mother also had a family before us with a black man and he is not in the picture due to life coming too quickly, she was 19 and left alone with no one, just her and her child. I am not saying that only black men are able to leave the families they have created, however, this is the joke that is said when one of your friends is unaccounted for. This is heartbreaking however not true.
Some examples of this harmful stereotype being broken is Will Smith’s character in the Pursuit of Happiness after the mother left due to life and he is forced to take care of his son and take shelter within a train station restroom. Popular basketball player Steph Curry had an infamous interview with his daughter sitting on his lap during a press conference revealing nothing but love. In the popular short-lived t.v. show created by Bill Cosby Little Bill, Big Bill is teaching his young son to become responsible and teach that is fine to make a mistake without harming Little Bill in the process. After Al Sharpton's daughter was called a “nappy headed hoe” he was quick to refute the backlash of an ignorant person’s comment. My own father, gave me piggyback rides when tired, showed up to each performance I have had and got so ecstatic during my high school graduation he busted out into a dance. These are just a few examples breaking the stereotype of black men being unable to take care of their children, however, unfortunately, this is not enough to change this stereotype. It’s as if when our melanin levels start to develop we have a sticker out on us and if we do not obey the sticker we are looked down upon like an old piece of meat you need to throw out.
Throughout my life, I have witnessed the over exaggeration of my race. I used to think it was just a normal everyday thing however as I got older I realized that whenever someone will ask me what my favorite food is they will think chicken and will be shocked when I say otherwise. I will be the first one who is asked to shake her body inappropriately first at every party I go to. When someone says something, stupid people will look at me to be the first person to make a funny response. In the year 2024, I will be the first and only person in my family to have gone through college to receive my Master’s degree and I will not have dropped out of college. Throughout all of this, my dad will still be there every step of the way until God decides to take him. Cultural stereotyping is dangerous for those who have yet to come we must break this cycle starting with ourselves. I am not Madea, I am not Rasputia, I am not Cookie, I will not expose my body to make money, I will help my domestic brothers and sisters. I am a black woman and will not let your stereotypes define me or the others yet to come.