At 35, I’m still black! Why I say this? I’ve been questioned more about how black I am my whole life more than Kamala Harris, who’s about 25% black. I’m not even of mixed race. I’m not even that light skinned. I’m tan! However, that’s besides the point.
What I do, how I talk, what I eat doesn’t dictate how black I am and how (not) black I am. I wouldn’t tell someone that they aren’t black either. However, facts are facts and so is DNA too. That’s what I go by.
For the longest time, people have tried to dictate how black I am based off what I eat and don’t eat. Here’s the thing, I NEVER liked bitter or salty tasting foods ever since that time my dad made me beef and I poured a whole bunch of salt on top. I was about 5.
I know, I know. You’re going to say:
“It’s not salt, it’s seasoning”
Seasonings and spices all have some sort of “salt content in it unless it’s a plant.
I can actually list a lot of foods I really just don’t enjoy eating.
- Collard greens
- Chitterlings
- Anything pork (except bacon)
- Beef
- Peas of any kind including black eye peas (it literally makes me gag)
- All the “slave-like” meats: pig feet, intestines, turkey tails, etc.
Even with that, these aren’t considered “slave-like” foods. Let’s do a little documented history.
If you really read about being a black-American (especially during slavery). Slaves ate scraps of meat but most ate greens, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, rice, okra, peas, depending on the plantation they were at.
Black slaves in general actually didn’t get the luxury to have even that like most slaves. They had anything made from cornmeal, greens (because it was grown) and molasses (as a sweetener). In the West African plantations, rice, peanuts, yams, dried beans were staples for the slaves.
So before you say “you aren’t black because you don’t eat slave food”, that’s historically wrong.
Let’s talk about speaking. I never could speak slang. That was something I just didn’t like and my dad thought it was disrespectful honestly. It comes naturally to so many people but for me, it’s like broken English that I still don’t understand to well. I think different languages and dialect is fascinating to me and black people have so many that it’s hard to keep up.
But to to tell someone they’re aren’t black because they don’t speak enough “hood” or slang, or pronounce the ending of all your words out of habit, or told you speak “white” is just plain wrong.
When it came to my hair, I really didn’t like my hair. I was told I wasn’t black enough because I didn’t get my hair braided all the time and I was told my hair was ugly. I never got relaxers because my hair would have fallen out. That does cost money by the way but my hair was nappy like everyone else. I just didn’t know that having 4C hair was so criticized in the black community until it became considered “trendy”
There’s so much willfull ignorance around what is considered being black and I was never black enough for the black people but I will still be seen as a N**** from the racists outside no mater what because I am black.
Leave a Reply