« I know that it seems like myself and some of my friends have a chip on our shoulders regarding racism but you have no idea…
What it’s like not to know where your lineage began because that knowledge was stripped away from your family during bondage
The inalienable thought of the fact that those around you ancestors once owned your ancestors.
Living with the knowledge that your ancestral mothers were raped and abused by the ancestors of your friends
What it’s like to hear teachers in school say you come from monkeys
What it’s like to only be taught about Roman and Greek gods that were actually derived from Egyptian/African gods
What it’s like to only hear about Pythagoras, Archimedes, Aristotle and other geniuses that actually went to Africa to learn
What it’s like to hear North Africans aren’t the same as other Africans because they are lighter
What it’s like to grow up and never hear about African Kings and Queens
What it’s like to never hear about any of your ancestral heroes
What it’s like to never hear about Black American heroes
What it’s like to have water fountains that you can’t drink from
What it’s like to be told where you have to sit
What it’s like to be told to enter from the back door
What it’s like to be mistreated by the medical establishment only because you’re black
What it’s like to work twice as hard for half as much
What it’s like to have kids call your father BOY
What it’s like to have to step off the sidewalk to let others walk by
What it’s like to have to walk through a store with your hands in your pockets so others won’t think you’re stealing
What it’s like to have your grandfather to give you your beginning drivers brief by telling you what towns you can drive to because you’re black.
What it’s like to know that you are attending schools named in honor of people that thought you were inferior and wanted to keep you enslaved
What’s it’s like to go to parks and public venues named in honor of people that fought to keep your forefathers enslaved
What it’s like to be followed in a store because of the melanin in your skin
What it’s like to only see heroes on TV and in the movies that don’t look like you
What it’s like to hear that God is white and wants others to control you
What it’s like to hear that Jesus (born in the Middle East and lived in Africa) looks like your oppressor
What it’s like to know Santa Claus looks like and favors your oppressor (all lies)
What it’s like to have to explain to your kids what the N-word means after being called that in school
What it’s like to have to explain to your kids why other kids don’t want to play with them because their skin is darker
What it’s like to be judged by your own race because they were conditioned to believe those with lighter skin (the master’s kids) are better and smarter than those of a darker hue
What it’s like to grow up with muted dreams because others thought you weren’t as smart as they were
What it’s like to get pulled over time and time again because you were driving while black
What it’s like to have people question why you’re in charge when they don’t ask the same of your white counterparts
What it’s like to be denied a job only to be asked if you will come aboard to train the white person picked instead of you
What it’s like to get denied housing because of the color of your skin
What it’s like to feel more accepted and at home in a country that’s not your own
What it’s like to not be an ______-American and just be an American
What it’s like to have a teenage white girl question you at 50 yrs old about whether you can afford a pair of sunglasses in front of your daughter
What it’s like to have to hear you speak well for…
What it’s like to have people clutch their purses in an elevator while you’re wearing a suit.
What it’s like to know Law Enforcement Officers (LEOs) will shoot you for playing in the park…
Will shoot you for lifting a play gun in Wal-Mart in the toy gun section
Will shoot you for saying you have a gun
Will choke you for trying to break up a fight
Will shoot you for holding a mobile phone in your grandmothers’ backyard
Will shoot you for running away
What it’s like to have your own government to have rules against you getting decent housing
What it’s like to know someone can shoot your son for walking down the street with a hoodie on and get away with it
What it’s like to be considered guilty until proven innocent
What it’s like to bear the weight of a race on your shoulders every time another person of your race commits a crime
What it’s like to have your own financial institutions cheating you because of the color of your skin
I could list more but I’m sure others have more to add to this list! »
