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But I didn’t know where to find it
An untitled work from Devin Allen’s “A Beautiful Ghetto” series at the Studio Museum in Harlem.Most people are familiar with the term “ghetto.” Still, I decided to look up the word ghetto for shits and giggles and found this definition:
Source – Dictionary.comYou Sound Like A White Person
My step-grandfather told me I sounded like a white person on the phone. Though this took place when I was a child, it stuck with me for some reason.
I wondered why he said it and what was a black person “supposed” to sound like.
Are all white people super intelligent, and what we should aim to imitate?
Are black people supposed to sound ignorant because we’re historically less educated than other groups of people? I mean, the slave masters did try to purposely keep slaves away from bo so that so they could remain uneducated.
But I wondered if what my step-grandfather told me (that I sounded like a white person) was a compliment, and was it bad to sound like a black person over the phone?
Show Me Your Ghetto Side
What made a white man comfortable asking me to show him my ghetto side, and what made him believe I had a ghetto side?
I can deduce from his statement that he assumes “all” black people have a “ghetto side” which is unfortunate.
But many others are right there with him.
You can have a degree from Harvard as a black person, but I guarantee people still believe that person has a raw “ghetto” or “black side” waiting to be unleashed if the right buttons are pushed.
When this question was asked, l responded, I’m unsure what you’re referring to, and the odd thing is this person, though white, came from more “ghetto” circumstances than myself. They even presented themselves in such a way.
Stereotypes are hard to delete and easy to perpetuate.
For the longest time, I was scared to wear my “ghetto” hairstyles to work, such as Bantu knots. In reality, it’s a protective style that looks different from euro-centric norms.
Just like my step-grandfather assumed that sounding like a white person was the standard and best way to sound, I assimilated by assuming that my natural hair wasn’t okay since it didn’t match eurocentric standards.
Examples of Stereotypical Ghetto
Certain groups of black people communicate a certain way that helps them better relate to each other, but it doesn’t make them ghetto.
Talking loud or laughing loud in public also doesn’t make a person ghetto.
Wearing bright colors or driving bright-colored cars doesn’t make a person ghetto.
Wearing a less euro-centric hairstyle, such as braids, locks, or twists outs, is not ghetto. It’s simply different from standard white hairstyles.
Getting angry in public doesn’t make a person ghetto; it simply means they’re choosing to reveal emotions that most people also feel but don’t reveal in public. Furthermore, they may have yet to successfully learn how to regulate their emotions in public settings.
Arriving at an event late does not make a person ghetto.
Twerking or dancing in specific ways doesn’t make a person ghetto.
Wearing specific clothing types does not make a person ghetto.
I think what’s most important to note is that ghetto literally means poor economic or less educated groups, but just because this is someone’s predicament does not make them less than others.
I can’t show my ghetto side because I don’t know what that is, and I shouldn’t be expected to know or reveal some expected side of myself just because I’m black.
Not all Asians are as smart as Albert Einstein.
Not all Indians are cheap.
Not all Nigerians scam people.
Not all black women are angry.
Not all black people are dangerous.
Not all Native Americans are gamblers and addicts.
All of these stereotypes could fit any person from any demographic.
We need fewer stereotypes and more educated people.
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