Preconceived Notions

Recently I had a conversation with a classmate. She asked what she thought was a harmless question and provided what she believed to be an even more harmless opinion. Why do African - Americans attend HBCUs? She even went as far as to ask why these universities existed? In her opinion, African - Americans were fostering a racist attitude by attending these universities, establishing scholarships solely for students from our community, and maintaining memberships with organizations that boast about African - American only membership. My grandmother has a saying and it’s one that I pretty much agree with, “If you never opened your mouth, people wouldn’t know you were a fool.” While I was having this conversation with this individual that phrase kept playing over and over in my head. Then I had to really evaluate the situation and look at it from her point of view. Which only brought about frustration. It’s difficult for me to understand, why when African Americans exhibit pride in their culture we are viewed as racist. I honestly don’t believe my classmate meant any harm. I think she’s possibly trying to search for understanding and hopefully our conversations will provide what she needs.

Still, this matter goes deeper than a poorly phrased question. We see this issue daily. Whether you’re in corporate America or a presidential candidate in an election. It’s almost as if we’re forced to separate ourselves from those who appear to be too “pro black.” We have two faces, one we wear for the world to see, and the other that we show when we are with those who understand our daily struggle. Why do we have to maintain this charade. When we display pride in our culture or ethnicity we’re often compared to another group, with three letters. Yet there’s a difference between trying to create an atmosphere of appreciation and tearing down another.