I was raised this way...

While watching "The Tyra Banks Show," wait, don't freak out yet. :) She's actually pretty good sometimes. So, I was watching today and she loves doing these "social experiments." The one she did today took people of various ethnic backgrounds and placed them in a room where they were shown photos or footage. After viewing the item, opinions were given.

There was a white guy who was, and probably still is, incredibly racist. Not sheet-wearing racist, but about a step or two away from that. A woman there was also this way, preferring to say she was "afraid of black people." After viewing a video of a black woman with three children, they both presumed the black woman was on welfare, had three different dads for the children, etc.

Tyra, I was glad to see, spoke up to say there was nothing in that photo that said this woman was on welfare, etc. She was wearing business clothing, had diamonds in her ears, the children were all well dressed and she was nicely manicured...by that, she looked professional. Similar footage of a white woman did not get the same response from these two...their reasoning for only seeing color and a negative stereotype was "that's how I was raised..."

I just thought, what a lame excuse. That lame excuse is what led another woman (a black woman) to eventually break down and cry. She explained that she has a college degree, professional job, has several desirable qualities, yet, men see black skin and write her off. Through all those tears, she said black men want white women, Asian men won't consider her, white men don't want a black woman and the list goes on.

Despite the fact that it appeared she was having a personal pity party, she is right. Many times men of any race -assume- because I am a black woman, I fit the negative stereotype. That is beyond annoying because that attitude deprives a black woman of even the opportunity to shine. No race of people are perfect and no race of people are all bad. It does discourage me that such a negative stereotype is attached to black women in this country. I guess this is why people who write me and say, "I thought you were white..." Don't continue the conversation once they know I am not.