|
INTERESTING TOPIC! I think I would like to try out every different race (AND different culture) to see what it is like, at least for a little while. But the race that I would like to try out the most is Black. I would like to see what its like, to see how employers (or potential employers) treat me, if cab drivers would stop so fast for me, how shop keepers treat me, how Black men treat me, White men, Black women, White women, etc.
I'm sure I have a very different perspective on this topic than a lot of people because I grew up in the DC/PG County MD area, which has a very large Black population. Once my family moved from DC to Maryland, I was ALWAYS in the minority. It was always "Oh you're cool, for a WHITE girl" "She can dress for a white girl" "She can dance for a white girl" "She's white on the outside but black on the inside." When I was in middle school, I ALWAYS thought it would be easier to be Black because the only racism I ever saw was against White people. Of course, that idea is LONG gone now that I am a member of the real world, but in my middle school world BLACK PEOPLE were the majority, the dominant culture who set styles, trends, the way to speak, the way to act, etc. and I didn't know anything other than that.
A couple people have talked about being judged by your own race, having to conform and having Black people judge how "Black" you are. Believe it or not, that exists in other races as well, and you may not think it exists for White people, but it definitely does. People have LONG questioned me about every aspect of my life--my choice in music, clothes, friends, boyfriends, the way I dance, the way I act, my choice in SORORITY--evvvverything. What ALWAYS annoyed me was that if I was Black, many of these things would not be questioned (or if I looked like a typical Latina I wouldn't be questioned), but because I'm "White," people look, stare, do double takes, and/or ask the DUMBEST questions. Anyone who knows me knows that I am what I am (as my mother likes to say I dance to the beat of my own drummer) and I never try to be anything that I am not, but unfortunately many people from my own race cannot grasp the concept of being an individual and therefore love to judge people (i.e. ME) who they know nothing about.
|