The Chronicles of an Oreo: Three Struggles of Growing Up In a Predominately White School
“What did you put in your hair to get your hair curly like that?” “You talk really white for someone who is black.” “How have you never watched Boyz N Da Hood?”
These are all questions that black kids are usually asked at predominantly white schools. It is something about each of these questions that makes people like myself feel unsettled. There was not a day that went by throughout my years of hopping from one school to the next, that I wasn’t asked one of these insulting questions. And I know for a fact how it can make one feel torn within themselves and make them feel that they are too black for the white people, but yet feel too white for black people. So here are three major struggles that some black kids had to go through for those people who may have gone through the same thing. Just to let you know, you are not alone.
Struggled to Like Your Natural Hair
If you’re like me, then you know the feeling of walking into school with curly hair and getting those awkward stares from other girls. You may have felt unsettled because mostly everyone else had long straight hair, and you may for a while felt that the only way you could possibly feel beautiful is if you too were put in that box. I too remember begging my mom to put that toxic creamy crack in my hair despite the burning pains that later came with it. But, with due time you will realize that some people would kill to have your curls and it might just be the people that had made fun of you before.
Being Called an Oreo
For me, when people are asked what I am like only one word comes to their mind. Oreo. If it’s not that then is, oh she is like a little white girl stuck in a black body. Even though it was never really anything with any type of bad intention, it still could make anyone who has been called that their entire life a little irritated. On the bright side of that, there are some people in the world that will just accept that about you and just learn to love it.
Being Told You Talk White
I know for as long as I have been on this earth, the number one thing that people have said about me is that I “talk white”. My question is where does it say that talking proper or not using slang has to do with talking white. A lot of people mistake talking proper and speaking intelligently is trying to talk white. 99% of the time the way that people talk is influenced by what they are surrounded by. So it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re trying to talk like a different race. It just means that’s what you grew up around
Through all my endeavors through elementary school all the way up to high school, it has brought me to one conclusion. It doesn’t really matter in the real world how black you are. What really matters is what you can bring to the table. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said that “One day my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” So at the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter if you act black or talk white. The only thing that truly matters is what you can bring to benefit you and the others around you.