This is my third post in this series.
Again it took me a good part of the day to write. Hopefully, it adds another layer to the story.
Series:
Black Woman/ What I Never Told You
Topic: Discounted
Doesn’t matter if you have a degree or not, when you are Black and walk into a room, you are discounted. People are too impatient to experience the quality of your character, they rather go with their assumptions and judge you by the color of your skin.
Before you can say hello, you have already been assessed: your hair, clothing, tone of voice, choice of words. People think they know you because of what they’ve seen in history books, movies, bias advertising, social media and random Instagram videos.
They don’t know anything, but they think they know you without really talking to you. Like Christopher Columbus did when he “discovered” a people and culture that already existed.
Data is good, but you still need to know how to read it and analyze it. And here’s the most important part to critical thinking, asking critical questions.
In Detroit approximately 48% of African American adults can’t read – that’s data , that’s fact. People’s lives are discounted simply because they can’t read.
48%, but WHY?
Until that 400 year old layer is pulled off, discussed and understood, the “why” will never be answered.
What are the possible reasons?
It’s definitely not intellect or creativity because science has confirmed that all paths lead back to Africa.
Maybe those 400 year old systems designed to crush hopes and dreams are still working its way through another generations. We won’t know the reason until we want to know the answer.
Discounting me because of fear makes it easier to not see me as a person, easier justify fear, even murder should I be at the right place at the wrong time walking home, jogging, driving a car, even sleeping in my own bed.
Inspirational messages, www.purpose8institute.com