The conception of deception.
Part I: The Intro
I obtained a lot of feedback on my last post regarding what it means to be black in current America and I savored every response! Everything tied into what I want to discuss in the next few posts : the modern conception of deception.
Where did the ideals of black inferiority originate?
It's 2019, and of course there's no segregation or Jim Crow laws, but somewhere in the air still lingers the idea of black subjection. It's not as apparent as before, but it's there. We're just blind to it.
What does this mean?
- de·ceive : "to mislead by a false appearance or statement"
Today, it's called a stereotype. “Black people are on Welfare, Section 8, and need food stamps”. “Most black children don't know who their fathers are”. “Black neighborhoods are ghetto and subpar”. The list goes on.
Stereotypes are viewed as judgements that we apply to an entire group of people. Almost every judgment of the black culture reciprocates this oversimplified judgement that seems to always degrade our blackness in every aspect of the culture. I question this.
Stereotypes are ways that man can systematically, not obviously, keep African Americans in the shadows of shoddiness. I feel as if society uses stereotypical judgments to define our culture. It's something that we as a people hear so much that we can only face to be true. On so many circumstances are we halted at a barrier because of narrow judgement that we call “stereotypes”.
"Who knew that the color of your skin could narrow the minds of an entire nation in terms of worth? It shouldn't. But in America, it does. "
- Armani Hamilton
