"That year my grey world became a black and white world..."

Through the the eyes of: Brittney
(Written by Brittney)

1. When Did You First Realize You Were Black?

I am a military dependent and I started school in Midwest City, Oklahoma at a private Catholic school. I was the only Black in my class but I never noticed that no one had my complexion or my hair texture. I was just Brittney the girl whose mom drove the cool van. No one treated me differently. At Saint Phillip Neri we were a family and I had no idea there was such a thing as race. My dad received new orders and we were moving back to Clarksville, Tenn. I began the 3rd grade in public school and at Kenwood Elementary I realized that I was Black. I started to notice how people of the same race cliqued together on the playground and at lunch. Then the Black girls would get frustrated with me and ask me “Why are you hanging with the white kids?” I even was asked repeatedly if I was biracial because of the length of my hair. At my private school we all played together and at my new public school there seemed to be rules and an apparent difference in how races interacted with one another. That year my grey world became a black and white world and it opened my eyes to many issues that would encounter, as I grew older.

2. How Black Are You?

If referring to the shade, I’m in the middle of the color spectrum. When it comes to culture, I could not rate it. Growing up in Tennessee, I was told many times that I was not Black. I was an academic success, winning multiple awards at banquets and ceremonies and I always made the honor roll. I spoke as proper as I could use the correct use of words. One day a group of Black girls asked me, “Why do you speak like that?” “Why do you act like that?” I asked them what did they mean and they proceeded to explain that Black people do not speak the way that I did and that Black people did not make the honor roll. I was so confused because I was looking at girls who looked like me but they refused to claim me as their own. I knew that they were wrong in their perspective of me. The “oreo” perspective that I look black but act white. I despise that term and dislike when Blacks refer to themselves as such. There is nothing White or Black about your personality. You are being you and I am being me. Black kids continued to ask me those same questions up until I graduated from that school system. One day I told some of them that I was Blacker than they would ever be because I refuse to be a stereotype and I am exceeding expectations. I was uplifting our race while they were bringing it down. It was a constant battle between them and I. I had longed for them to celebrate my achievement instead of knocking it down. I wanted no more than to be understood and to be accepted by them without having to demerit myself. However, I did find a group of Black friends who had the same experience as me and we are still friends to this day. We were exceptional students with the same middle class status and it was a breath of fresh air for me to have some people who dealt with the same issues.

I am happy that I had this struggle with my standing in the Black world as a teen because it helped me to want to find other people like me with the same experience. I knew that at Howard University I would find what I was looking for. I walked the grounds that Zora Neale Hurston walked and I sat in classrooms where Elaine Locke taught. I would be able to study with students like me and have an academic challenge to succeed. I would also find my purpose as a young Black woman and how I could use my knowledge to educate others. At Howard I learned that I could be a CEO or an activist. I finally seen Black faces with extraordinary talents and status. I learned at my alma mater that we might have the same ancestry, but we are different. We come from different countries with different cultures and different experiences. No one person is Blacker than the other. No matter the socioeconomic status we all have a story and we can all learn from one another to help make a better experience for people of color everywhere.

3. Have You Ever Wanted to Not Be Black?

No, I love the skin that I’m in and I love my ancestry. I would not change how God made me.

4. Can You Swim?

No, but if you threw me in the pool, I would survive.

5. How’s That Post-racial Thing Working Out for Ya?

No such thing as a post-racial society. Whoever thinks so has been sheltered or is naïve. Race will never go away. Race will always be a problem. I think the racial problems now stem from stereotypes that make the ignorant think that everyone is the same. A lack of knowledge has led to innocent Black men getting pulled over by police and either questioned, assaulted or killed. A lack of knowledge has led to Blacks being the most unemployed race in the U.S. It is definitely why you do not see many Black faces in the Media/Communications industry. I am having a hard time gaining an entry in the field and its not because I’m not smart and not experienced. It’s because of the culture and the politics that run that industry. As Blacks we also live with our own societal stereotypes and a lack of knowledge is why our Black men are raised to be athletes and not doctors or schoolteachers. It is also why some of us are raised to take the short cuts in life and cheat the system instead of ever learning how to work hard, do the right thing and be patient.

7. Has Social Media Affected How People Understand What It Means To Be Black?

If anything I think it has harmed us. Blacks make up a large number for user of Twitter and Facebook. Especially in using mobile apps for those social networks. We are the ones creating the trending topics on Twitter and if you haven’t noticed many of them are based off of black stereotypes. Then we participate and bring each other down. We underestimate our cultural influence on this world. If we were using it to push out positive messages it create a different perspective for how others view us. It was clear from the BYU viral video that circulated this month that other races are ignorant to many Black legends that have helped shape America. They were also ignorant to other aspects of our culture. All other people seem to view us as hip-hop Ebonics using pants sagging group of people. I wrote a blog post about how Blacks use social media. Please check it out.

8. How Does Race Affect Your Faith In The United States?

United States is a growing blend of people. The melting pot as they say. We have come a long way from slavery and from Jim Crow. Doors have open for us and we are rising above it all. I think Hispanics will experience many injustices as they grow in population. I believe Generation Y will be fair and tolerant. I have faith that the United States will grow out of its be better than it is now. In years to come people will no longer be able to ignore diversity. No one will be in a bubble and not know how the various races of people have help shape this country. It is up to my generation to share knowledge with the upcoming generation. It is up to us to make sure that they are cultured and experience the unique and diverse set of people who make up this country.