To be Black in America is to know heartache. To witness and live through hatred of your being because of your skin color, or name, or even your hair texture. To be considered less than good enough. To have had your identity stripped from you, and then when you look to others that look like you but are from a different country, to be told that you are not xyz so you can’t participate- you can’t understand the culture. To be Black anywhere is to want a sense of belonging, to fight harder and still receive less than, to be proud of you are, and to be trying to regain a sense of self-acclimation.
There are many Caribbean and African people that believe that they are inherently different from Black Americans. New-aged Caribbean and African people understand these believed differences that have been passed down through generations, but happily, many of their world-views have changed. There is a stereotype that Jamaicans are hardworking, have at least 2 to 3 jobs, and care a lot about family. One could also mention the importance placed on money, which isn’t necessarily a negative stereotype but it can be a harmful one. Many children outside of the United States are taught they are diligent and “fought and worked hard to get what they want” as if Black Americans didn’t work hard for what they had or wanted, as if Black American children aren’t taught the same, and if you want to be brutally honest, it is a bit harder for children who are born in America because many of them know the implications of “you have to work twice as hard to be considered half as good” in this country. That is because of the effects that white supremacy had, and still has, on this nation.
There are many forms of racism that have been affecting black people since we have entered this country, and contrary to popular belief, while it may seem overt racism ended with the end of Jim Crow and segregation, it didn’t. Even so, the most harmful form of racism is the subtle kind, with the addition of institutional racism. Now to come back from that brief tangent, it may seem like Black Americans do not have “work ethic”-that they are lazy and uneducated. This is exactly how the proverbial they want it. Even to this day, Black Americans have been portrayed in this way which is viewed by them and other people and cultures all over the globe, and they reinforce it by repeatedly showcasing those very few of us that have fallen prey to the circumstances that they put into fruition. Basically, Black Americans have been portrayed as lazy ever since we stopped working for free….as slaves. When they look at us, they don’t see: Jamaican, Guyanese, Ghanaian, Ethiopian, or Grenadian. They see they the blackness of our skin, the kinks in our hair, the broadness of our noses, the fullness of our lips, and if they hear us speak, they might pick up on a sprinkle of accent, but we are still viewed as Black, and to many this a threat.
We are all presented with the same “opportunities”, but on a more personal level, we all have different experiences and roadblocks that prevent us from obtaining access to those opportunities, some of us more than others. Just about every form has that race section and the choice is Black/African American, (many people opt to select “other” if there is no Black option), no matter if you are from Ghana, Jamaica, Guyana, Mali, etc, here on these grounds of the United States, you will be considered black (whether you want to believe this or not). So to say “I’m not Black, I’m (insert descendants of Africa here) is redundant. So while you may not be African American, you are Black, your family just got let off the slave ship a little sooner.
The Gawdess Project
Black Yoni Society 