Sometimes I have to wonder how other groups deal with different situations. One case in point is something that happened recently to me while I was out on Saturday night. I had the chance to speak with a young black guy. The conversation was centered around the fact that I was dressed in a suit instead of a pair of $150 sneakers, a printed T-shirt, gold chains, and gold teeth. For some reason, since I wasn't wearing those clothes I had to be rich, born to middle-class parents, who had to be doctors or lawyers, a fan of Paris Hilton or Christina Aguilera, and had no idea of what a crackhead was. Basically, this gentleman, I use the term loosely, wanted me to know that I wasn't black by his definition. I'm sure his intention was to insult me.
I can never be insulted, because I am being me. There is no shame in being successful or enjoying dressing well. Success, or the lack of it, can never be seen from the clothes a person wears or any other outward appearance. And as I've said before, the fact I am black has nothing to do and does not change with the whims of a person regardless of color or race.
But my question is, do other races and ethnic groups encounter the same degree and type of ignorance that I described above. I have never heard of any white person being told that they were anything other than white because of the clothes they wear. Even those that choose to wear hip-hop clothing that I consider black culture on sale, are perceived as exactly what they are - White. Asians are Asian, Hispanics and Latinos are exactly that, but in America you can be black, and not be Black. A great example of this has to be Senator Barak Obama. For some he is not black enough, for others he is far too Black to be president. How this exists never ceases to annoy me.
On Saturday, I wasn't upset about what was being said about me. Rather, I was upset with why it was said. There is so much invested in being Black under the exact conditions and style dictated by segments of society that anything counter to that is seen as a attack. The Black guy wasn't trying to insult me. He was trying to justify his own lifestyle. The fact that I or anyone could be different was completely alien.
How sad and depressing things are today, when the Black community cannot accept individuals that have a style and mannerism separate of what can be found in a television commercial or magazine.
This is what I think, what do you think?
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