Help me Diversity Statement?
Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2015 9:03 am
I wasn't planning on writing one, but everyone who I've spoken to has encouraged me to do so. Couldn't hurt right? Well this is what I have so far? Critique, and tips please!
I am a token. The token to what you may ask? I am the token black girl, even though to me as humans we are all one and the same. We all come in to this world the same way, and we all leave the same way. We’re all born with ten fingers, ten toes, and a beating heart. Yet, you’re telling me that what differentiates you from me is color? The color of my skin, the texture of my hair is what defines me. Not my feats, not my successes, nor my past, but by the color of my skin. By these traits and characteristics you know me, right? Wrong!!! But you still see me as the token, the token of the white community, but the abnormality of the black community. I’m abnormal because I’m different. I am different than the stereotypes that constantly ring through your ears. Yes, I know that Bianca means white in Italian, no it isn’t ironic. No, I don’t play basketball. No I do not love fried chicken. Well I do, but not because I’m black, it’s just because it happens to be good.
Growing up I wasn’t exposed to “typical” Black American culture. I grew up on oxtails, reggae music, and Jamaican patties. My parent’s grew up in Jamaica, a country whose population has various ethnicities including those of African descent. As a result, they were able to grasp the concept that most of my friends were Caucasian, and that sometimes I liked to listen to country music, or to go camping. I sometimes wonder if everyone believes that I am atypical: my parents, my Caucasian friends, my African-American peers. Practically everyone at some point viewed my activities as rebellious, a hatred for my culture and identity, but it was merely ignorance. The same ignorance that faces most of the world is basically what I lived. Just as many other citizens, I didn’t want to learn. I didn't want to be stereotyped so I remained the token.
“Out of many, one people”, the Jamaican motto, is more than just a phrase. It’s my life. In America even though we are surrounded by people from all walks of life, we are still one people. The color of our skin, our socio-economic backgrounds, our lifestyle choices, are the things that make us identify as different, and in many cases stereotype people based upon these often incidental factors. I used to ignore black culture, however, the more I tried, and the older I became the more I was forced to grapple with the challenge of facing the ignorance and became obligated to explore the parts of my own culture that has such an impact on how I am viewed by others.
455 words
I am a token. The token to what you may ask? I am the token black girl, even though to me as humans we are all one and the same. We all come in to this world the same way, and we all leave the same way. We’re all born with ten fingers, ten toes, and a beating heart. Yet, you’re telling me that what differentiates you from me is color? The color of my skin, the texture of my hair is what defines me. Not my feats, not my successes, nor my past, but by the color of my skin. By these traits and characteristics you know me, right? Wrong!!! But you still see me as the token, the token of the white community, but the abnormality of the black community. I’m abnormal because I’m different. I am different than the stereotypes that constantly ring through your ears. Yes, I know that Bianca means white in Italian, no it isn’t ironic. No, I don’t play basketball. No I do not love fried chicken. Well I do, but not because I’m black, it’s just because it happens to be good.
Growing up I wasn’t exposed to “typical” Black American culture. I grew up on oxtails, reggae music, and Jamaican patties. My parent’s grew up in Jamaica, a country whose population has various ethnicities including those of African descent. As a result, they were able to grasp the concept that most of my friends were Caucasian, and that sometimes I liked to listen to country music, or to go camping. I sometimes wonder if everyone believes that I am atypical: my parents, my Caucasian friends, my African-American peers. Practically everyone at some point viewed my activities as rebellious, a hatred for my culture and identity, but it was merely ignorance. The same ignorance that faces most of the world is basically what I lived. Just as many other citizens, I didn’t want to learn. I didn't want to be stereotyped so I remained the token.
“Out of many, one people”, the Jamaican motto, is more than just a phrase. It’s my life. In America even though we are surrounded by people from all walks of life, we are still one people. The color of our skin, our socio-economic backgrounds, our lifestyle choices, are the things that make us identify as different, and in many cases stereotype people based upon these often incidental factors. I used to ignore black culture, however, the more I tried, and the older I became the more I was forced to grapple with the challenge of facing the ignorance and became obligated to explore the parts of my own culture that has such an impact on how I am viewed by others.
455 words