Well there is nothing in terms of news that I’ve seen out there, or at least of interest to me. But I did notice something the other day. Why is it that people assume that I like basketball? I mean Black African Americans, Whites, Hispanics... it happens all the time. I know this one place that is close to my home. They have several televisions and often there is one or 2 at the least that will have a sporting event on. Now the other sets may have on almost anything else, occasionally golf, or rarely a soccer match. If in this case one of the events is a basketball game, even if my back it turned towards it, I will get asked a variety of questions about the game or the sport.
When I mention that I don’t like basketball, the person asking tends to get this bewildered sad look on their face. Some, a bold few I suppose, follow up by asking why I don’t like the game. When I mention that it reminds me of tennis with 12 people for each team, and that the last 5 minutes or less are where any interest ever appears for me, they seem stupefied. It’s almost as if I struck them. And several have taken me to task for not liking the game.
Some ask what I do like. Other say ‘Well you like baseball then.’ No I like the Giants in American Football and soccer, in particular Germany and Brazil. It is amazing how few Americans know anything about soccer. And few ever have watched a game. I mention the World Cup and I get stares like I’m stupid. The above mentioned bar, I asked if they would show the games of the cup. First they had to ask what I was talking about and then shrugged. After asking another 3x I have decided to look for another bar where the games will be shown. [Anyone in the Binghamton area that knows where they will be played, do get in touch]
But I digress. Why do people assume that since I am Black African American (actually mixed with Puerto Rican but few notice that when looking at me) I must LOVE basketball. Is there some rule that no one ever told me about. Was that a class I missed growing up in the Bronx? I have many friends that do love the game, I have just as many that could care less.
But it’s the same response when people presume about my musical tastes (mostly classical and alternative rock) or the movies I like (sci-fi). Say you like anime and people act as if their heads were spun around. Talk about how relaxing Vivaldi can be, or how Wagner’s Battlecry of the Valkyrie can get you pumped up and people act as if you have the plague.
Often I’ve been criticized for my tastes. Once I even had a Korean stockbroker I worked with, tell me that I wasn’t really Black; that he was more black and silky smooth to boot. That was because I didn’t enjoy some rap song he was listening to in the office as I was closing a deal. Now I think that 38 years of life is enough to know what I like. Not what advertisers are trying to sell me, not what some corporation wants to overcharge me for (like a pair of sneakers for $150, that can’t survive 6 months of use). And if I have come to enjoy some things that aren’t average, so what.
I don’t see white guys getting bugged why they don’t all like bass fishing or Metallica. I don’t see Asians upset if they don’t know the Art of War, or how to play GO (an ancient strategy game that makes chess look like tic-tac-toe, a great game I wish more people knew how to play so I could get some practice). Matter of fact I have seen both groups, and others, get highly offended by stereotyping them in such a manner. Yet I am the one who has been looked down upon, by other Black African Americans as well as others, because I do not conform to some television commercial/music video staple of blackness.
Sit back a moment and think about this. Especially if you happen to be Black African American, or Hispanic or whatever. What are the cultural stereotypes out there for you? How many of them are commercially promoted (IE. Name brand sneakers or name brand 5x extra large baggy jeans, etc.)? How many of those stereotypes fit you and why do they? Is it because you are just following the crowd and doing what is expected? And how have you judged others in this same scenario? Have you ever walked up to a Black man/woman and expected to hear them listening to rap, or watching BET/basketball, or speaking that ‘shizzle’ crap [God save me from eubonics]? Why not walk up and ask them if they like watermelon and fried chicken. It’s the same thought, whether you say it or Nike or Snoop Dogg does.
This is what I think, what do you think?
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