unbothered which only made things worse because that ’ s when she began to feel comfortable , turning her slick comments up a notch as the weeks went by .
In the matter of a semester , I went from building what I thought was a friendship that MLK would be proud of to becoming a human exhibit and being made a mockery of . From comments on my “ typical ” black features , to ignorant stereotypical ideologies displayed in the media , to even having the audacity to question my “ blackness .” She crossed the line , but I still kept the peace and stayed silent only because I didn ’ t want to live up to the “ angry black woman ” stereotype and show out . Not to mention I had previously been sent out of class for “ causing a disruption ” when in reality I only addressed the racist comments from another classmate so instead of going off like I really wanted to do , I ended up isolating myself from her and the situation as a whole ; but of course life didn ’ t want me to be great .
A few weeks later we ended up being paired for a group project which made ignoring her existence quite a difficult task . During a heated conversation , completely irrelevant to the assignment , one thing led to another and the next thing I heard was “ my uncle is in the KKK , I ’ ll send him to your house .” I don ’ t really remember what happened next but I know it was not of the Lord . She got the ugliest , most educated , yet semi ratchet READ ( before anyone even knew what a read was ) she has ever received in her life . Enough was enough . And that day ... I had time .
I say all of this to say , don ’ t ever let anyone silence you , especially when you know something is wrong and just downright ignorant . Here I was letting someone not only disrespect me , but disrespect my race and my culture all because society has a way of making black people seem like we ’ re making a big deal out of what they consider minuscule ( i . e slavery , oppression , the daily struggles of being black in America and pretty much everything else that doesn ’ t affect their everyday life ). I really wish I was the person I am today back then because none of the tolerance would have occurred . But then again , maybe it was situations like this that made me who I am today : black , proud , and unapologetic .
So if you take anything from this article , it ’ s not about “ catching fades ,” or being violent , or fighting ignorance with ignorance but instead it ’ s about me reclaiming my silence by doing now what I didn ’ t do then which is taking a stand for me and my people despite how they feel . We ’ ve come to a time in society where silence is just as detrimental as the injustice that is taking place no matter the offense . So speak out and be heard !