Anonymous >> #221953
Posted on 2016-03-10 16:35:20 Score: 1 (vote Up)   (Report as spam)
As a white kid, Uhura in star trek reruns plus black girls at my elementary school (in a predominatly white school) set my expectations for what a black girl/woman should be growing up.

Smart, confident, calm, well-spoken, and a team player.

I was the white kid that played with all the black girls at my school, I guess because I secretly had a crush on Uhura. All the black girls at my school were like here.. they were smart, confident, well-spoken, etc.

Then I transitioned to a rougher middle school... the kids there were of all races, and a lot of them hated school and didn't want to learn. So, they fell back on racism to try to feel important. The black girls were ghetto, snippy, fighting with everyone .. but, so were the hispanics, whites, etc.

It was then I realized you can't judge someone by their skin tone. You judge them by their actions and merit. Throughout my life I've stuck with that standard. I have work colleagues of all racial background. The things we have in common: we don't brag about our inherited attributes (ie: we don't think we're special just because we were born into a certain race), we bust our butts to show value to others (be a team player, solve and prevent problems, help each other out), and we care about a person's merit.

Folks think Star Trek is a sci fi show, but it was really "social studies 101" getting snuck to younger viewers without them realizing it.

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