Race and Invisible Cloak of “Black”

My second publication this week is on The Feminist Wire. Please follow the link below this excerpt to read more:

So was I a Nigger based upon observation and what the media fed me?

Hell No! I still blush when I think back to this particular day in my herstory. I sold out my siblings that day. I had no idea what America had in store for this visibly dark brown-skinned immigrant woman. Mostly surrounded with Anglo Americans and the few international students who comported themselves in a way that was as far away from any stereotypes as possible, I was seen as an “Oreo” for most of my college years. I could “talk proper” and “articulate so well.” And by year three I got compliments for having no accent: “no one would be able to tell you weren’t from here!” I was ecstatic. I even let them touch my hair. After all, they were “just curious.” And I relished in the fact that I “wasn’t like them” because being the kind of Black I was made me acceptable. I was the “safe” African/Black woman.

Race and Invisible Cloak of “Black”