Being a young black girl can be a challenge especially in a predominantly ALL white school. I didn't have many black classmates that I can confide to about the social issues that went on throughout the day. I couldn't really tell any of my teachers on the things that were said and done because they wouldn't understand and I had to realize that they will never understand the challenges that a young black kid goes through. I've been called blacky, orangutan, a n*gger and all of the above! The crazy thing is that not ONCE did I cry or run to my parents explaining the horrible things that were said at school every day. It's not in my blood to cry a river to my parents about being harassed and racially discriminated against because; I've always had thick skin and I was able to handle certain situations myself. I always observed on people's actions and body language and I observed all the kids that I was surrounded by through out the years that said negative, horrific things about African Americans like myself. It was interesting to witness them saying all these things about black people but what they fail to realize is that; they were never better. They came from broken families, surrounded themselves with white counterparts that would agree with them, and also more importantly they were all close minded. A lot of the white kids that absolutely loved being around me enjoyed saying "oh I have black friends" or "oh I have a black cousin that lives in California; that doesn't make me racist right?". I swear hearing all the excuses was just hilarious because they would think that I was bothered but; I wasn't. I had white friends in school don't get me wrong but I would always catch them slipping on things that should not be said or discussed. In third grade my English teacher rearranged our seating and this white boy didn't want to sit in between two black girls which was me and my only friend that I could confide to. It was crazy that he blurted out "I DONT WANT TO SIT IN-BETWEEN THESE TWO BLACK GIRLS" my English teacher gripped him up and dragged him to the office. She was white. She was probably the only white teacher that took action within the situation in all my years of being in that kind of school system. In ninth grade my physical science teacher said something crazy that caught my one white friends attention. We were passing around this hole puncher around the class to organize our papers and the hole puncher got to me. So of course I was taking my time and all of a sudden my teacher asked where the hole puncher was and I was like I have it. Guess what he said next? He said "oh I see you and your people always stealing and hogging things. Hurry up" me and my friend were like what??? Your people? Stealing? He tried to clean it up and say oh I was kidding! He's lucky I never told my mom about that because he would've been fired in a heart beat. I've been criticized since I was out the womb and I have been fully aware that we still have a long way to go. I finally got away from being in predominantly white schools in my senior year of high school; crazy right. You guys have no idea how happy I was! I was finally at peace. I didn't care if I didn't have many friends during my senior year; I just wanted to be around people that had the same skin tone and be around people that wouldn't question me on why I change my hair so much or why hair is so coarse. I could finally breathe again. I lost many white associates because I would constantly snap and put them in there place and say "are you kidding me?". At one point I was fed up with hearing negative things and I started calling people out. So to all the young black girls or minorities at school right now; you are not alone. The school system and parents need to well educate their children to not be so ignorant because people remember things and faces. Don't cry; speak up. I know it's going to get worse in adulthood but, we are all strong and we can endure many things. It's in our blood to have thick skin and trust me our skin is way thicker than our pale counterparts. We were all given this beautiful dark tone for a reason and the unknown knows that we have the ability to handle everything that comes our way. Having a dark complexion should never be set back it should always be rewarded as a comeback to all our ancestors that wasn't able to live off their desired dreams that we are trying to achieve today. To all my black beauties; kings, queens, princes and princesses, let's make our ancestors proud.
Xoxo
PSA: this isn't even half of what I went through. I might do a video about it because young girls need to understand that you are not alone! To all the people that expressed nasty remarks to me; thank you for showing your true colors. I see through you all now. I know I'll be sleeping well at night knowing I don't have a bit of hate towards people that did nothing to me.
