To Be Black in America

I was watching an episode of Tyra today and the topic was Light Skinned/Dark Skinned women and Good and Bad Hair. It's a topic that often finds itself as a guest at our kitchen tables, beauty salons, and barbershops and living rooms. I was shocked to hear women on the show discuss the lengths they've gone to to straighten their hair and lighten their skin. One woman bleached her skin with creams and even made her children apply cream daily before school. Another went so far as to bleach her skin with liquid bleach. They attempted to justify their behavior by adding that no one understands what they go through as dark women with a difficult grade of hair. It was nothing I hadn't heard before, but i was saddened to see how they subjected their children to their insecurities. I believe that hate is a learned behavior and it concerns me that even after all this time, we haven't learned to accept our position in black America for what it is and try to advance ourselves without being less ourselves. PLEASE LEAVE YOUR COMMENTS!

Another issue discussed was the ever popular Black men dating white women. Many quickly cite "love" as the main reason in an attempt to hush all comments about black men's tendency to exclude black women when picking a mate. The truth is that there are a growing number of black men opting for mixed race or white women over blacks for a number of reasons that have nothing to do with love. I'm sick of hearing about black women's attitudes and how having a white woman helps your status as far as climbing the social ladder to success. I mean if a black man can achieve the highest position in America as President (Barack Obama) with a strong black woman on his arm (Michelle Obama) than what excuse do the rest of us have? I say stop relying on others as your ticket to success and throwing black women under the bus. Remember what unites us is stronger than what divides us. Our struggles have been very similar in America and we should begin scratching each others backs instead of cutting each others throats to get to the top. As a black woman I've seen interracial relationships and thought well if i'm not good enough for black men than who the heck am I good enough for?

I'm not against interracial relationships by any means, because I'm sure I am a product of one as many of us are. I just hate to see our youth being brought up under the misconception that they are not good enough and need to distance themselves from their culture to have a prominent stance in America.


YOUR THOUGHTS????