There’s a story from the Associated Press today concerning something I feel as though I’ve been fighting my entire life. It’s titled Black Men Quietly Combating Stereotypes, and it basically talks about how some black men try to live life in a certain way to help break what’s seen as traditional stereotyping of what black men are perceived to be.
I know this feeling well. For 4 1/2 years as a kid I lived in northern Maine, a military kid, and as long as I was on the airbase, I could live life just how I wanted to. However, I got myself into what I’ll call “kid groups”, where adults would take us on trips to other areas of the state to do, well, whatever. I was usually the only black kid in the bunch, which wouldn’t normally be such a big deal, but back in the early 70’s in northern Maine, it was. We’d roll into certain towns where people had never seen a black person for themselves, and word would spread like wildfire. I was cognizant of this, so I always made sure to be on my best behavior so that no one could go back home saying “wow, just like on TV”.
Anyway, I’ve posted the story, this time and in the future, as a pdf, since I’m realizing that news links fade away fairly quickly.
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