For as long as I can remember I've been a black person, and I don't expect it to change anytime before I die. When some people hear the term black guy they think of a rapper; when others hear the the term they think of maybe their black friend/s. Very rarely is the black guy thought of a business man, or a family man ( or at least to my understanding it very rarely is). They funny thing is any black guy can be any of the aforementioned people.
Throughout my adolescence I have been many different black guys. I was the very hip hop, du rag and white tee wearing guy; I was the token black guy hanging out with the white guys just trying to blend in, and now, no longer an adolescent, I am the black businessman. However, throughout my adolescence, and up to today my Blackness is constantly being defined by those around me.
For those of you who don't know me, I play football and have for most of my life. Well, as with any sport, the longer you play the more characters you encounter from different places and different backgrounds. Rich guys, poor guys, crazy guys, loud flamboyant guys etc. After a while, the black guys you encounter tend to be from very similar backgrounds and are basically similar people (lower middle class, flamboyant, weed smoking, Jordan wearing, slang talking guys). With that being said, the longer you play the more you are expected to fit into this class of Blackness. You aren't just expected to fit into this class by the other races and cultures you encounter but also by the other black people you encounter and this is where it gets awkward for me.
Since college I have been ridiculed for not fitting the Blackness mold that my black teammates have set for me. I don't smoke weed, I speak proper english, and I don't use slang most of the time. I have been told by my black teammates that I'm not really black or that I'm the whitest black guy ever. Both of these statements to me are comical.
There is no such thing as Blackness, there is no such thing as sounding white. The way you sound, the way you dress, the intelligence with which you speak only reflects your upbringing. There is only urban and suburban, educated and uneducated, southern drawl or none, well spoken or not. Is it shameful that black people expect other black people to act a certain way? Do white people expect other white people to behave a certain way? What about hispanics?
What people fail to realize is that while the color of your skin has a lot to do with who you are and what you become, it is not the end all be all in defining what you are or what you lifes outcome is. I find it extremely ironic that civil rights was about looking past the a persons exterior to understand what makes the person who they are inside; and the people who are the beneficiaries of this movement still pre-judge by what they have determined is Blackness. Laughable
