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“Low hanging fruit,” token black friend, talking like a white person
Though I came from a black family, we weren’t deeply immersed in our culture, which had pros and cons.
Examples I Failed To Recognize
Do You Still Use The Phrase Low-Hanging Fruit?
In the workplace, I heard people, specifically white people, use the phrase “low-hanging fruit.”
It never made me angry, but I always felt a bit irritated about it.
Mainly because it was one of those phrases overthrown around the workplace. You know how one person says something, and then everyone else jumps on the train and starts using the phrase, too?
Except this phrase isn’t catchy.
During an interview, a black woman educated me about the term. She also shared how she confronted a white man using the term in the workplace.
Admirable. Many people allow certain people to do and say what they want because they don’t want to rock the boat; this is also how we perpetuate the power of those in power.
Do you still use this phrase, or do you ever hear people use the phrase? If so, it might be worth bringing up in a private conversation to help mitigate the use of the term.
It’s a micro-aggressive phrase enraptured in pain, disrespect, and murder.
Am I taking it too seriously?
I could ask the same question about the white people who hung a black man for looking at them the wrong way.
I think I’m safe.
Why Was I The Only Black Person In The Group?
Looking back, I also wonder why I was frequently the only black friend of many of my white friends.
I was the token black friend.
They could all say they had one.
Did they not know how to associate with more black people (as if we’re aliens), or did they not want to associate with black people because they were definitely around them?
At the time, I didn’t see a problem being the only black person because I grew up in environments where I frequently was the only black person.
The schools I attended were all predominantly NOT black. It was never an adjustment or problem for me.
But when one of my friends in the group told me she couldn’t date black men because her parents wouldn’t allow it, but she married a Latino man, I knew something was off.
She also wasn’t known to follow her parent’s directions and rules.
Hmmmm….
You Talk Like A White Person
“You talk like a white person” is code for “You sound educated.”
I can’t get this comment my step-grandfather told me as a kid.
For some reason, it stuck with me.
I laughed it off when he said it to me, but why would I recall something like that?
And why is his comment problematic?
When a black person is educated, they shouldn’t be compared to a white person. It also shouldn’t come as a surprise if a black person is educated.
We should never be compared to white people. But to equate a skilled communicator that is black to a white person implies white is the standard.
Often black people don’t recognize when they’re racist or perpetuating stereotypes. Here are some of the phrases and questions I’ve received from black people:
You must play sports: you’re black, tall, and athletic.
Why are you dating a white or non-black person?
You can’t grow long hair as a black person.
You talk like a white person.
You must be mixed.
Do Your Colleagues Use The Phrase “Low Hanging Fruit”?
I didn’t realize this was an issue until recently
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