Listen people: you may not know this, but I want to make something clear. I am black. This is no curse that I deal with, and I do not wish to be anything other than what I am. I know it sounds silly but seriously, I don’t believe that many truly understand this concept.
Enter well-meaning MSNBC host Chris Matthews who said the following about President Obama and his State of the Union Address: “He is post-racial, by all appearances. I forgot he was black tonight for an hour.”
Blackness is not some disease that black people are longing to get rid of or “transcend.” Has anyone ever asked you to transcend your “whiteness” (or whatever race you are)? If everyone transcended their race, what would we be then? All the same?
That sounds to be thoroughly un-exciting world to live in.
If you were born in New York, for example or any other place, would you want to “transcend” your “New Yorkerness”? Just like the place of your birth, race is a part of who you are, but it does not define your actions or destiny. Race doesn’t determine where I can and cannot go in life. I am not condemned to suffer a second-class life anymore than Upper Eastsiders are damned to an existence of road rage and fancy dinners.
I do not wish to transcend my race because I’m proud of it. I don’t want anyone to be colorblind when it comes to me. I’m black. Recognize it and move on. What we should turn a blind eye to however is prejudice.
When I got here I did not think my race to be an issue until one day, another well meaning friend (who happened to be white) said to me “You know you’re really nice. When I first met you I thought you were going to beat me up!”
I asked her why. “I thought you were going to say, ‘I’m black you’re not!’ But then I met you and thought you were really nice.”
As much as that was meant to be a compliment I don’t believe I need to explain why that statement was deeply offensive. Why isn’t niceness associated with blackness or any other race for that matter?
Like the comment from Matthews, the problem was that preconceived notions of black people that were the rooted in their comments. They already constructed an idea of how black people are supposed to act. When those notions were proven wrong, they liken black people to themselves.
Just because I didn’t “get ghetto” on her doesn’t mean I’m a black person who’s like white people. Instead, I’m one of many black people who act politely when greeting others; I don’t have blind rage for white people. Not beating people up or running the country is not a “white trait.” One does not need to transcend their race or ethnicity to be “civil.” The sooner people understand this the better off we will all be.
If you are white, black, Asian or any other minority group, be proud and move on. I don’t ask anyone to be color or culture blind that would rid the world of its diversity and wonder. Get to know everyone. My color is only one component that makes me Nicole.
Nicole Robinson can be reached at nrobinson@ut.edu.