"Acting Black"

While listening to conversations in my 4th period class, (not eavesdropping, just being attentive) I overheard someone talking about the pop culture sensation that is Miley Cyrus.

"She acts so black," one of my classmates said.

Being an African-American girl, this both offended and confused me. What does Miley do that makes her behavior black? Smoke? Twerk? Curse? Listen to rap music? Is that all it takes to be a part of the black community? Is that what it means to be black?

I think the comment bothered me mainly because I know black women, and they are so much more than twerking, smoking, and cussing. Miley Cyrus can be described as reckless, outrageous, raunchy, and maybe even "fun" (if that's your definition of fun) but she is definitely not black. And she is aware of this.

Miley apparently knows, as well as I do, that your skin color does not determine your personality or habits. Your environment, your experiences, your hobbies, interests, passions shape who you are. Your race does not.

It always bothers me when people associate certain behaviors with certain races. Asians get good grades. White people speak properly. Arabs are terrorists. But the truth is: I have Asian friends that rip out the pages of books. White friends that only use slang. Arab friends who are the peacekeepers. But because of how they look, society immediately sticks them in this box that is extremely hard to break out of. The majority of these racial stereotypes are completely inaccurate. (I defy a few myself: I have no rhythm. I'll pass on the fried chicken. I'm not very loud at all. I've never had a weave.)

Stereotypes hold us back. They place a glass ceiling over our heads and set standards and limits for us they we don't even realize are there. I say this knowing that stereotypes won't go anywhere soon, but also hoping that we begin to give people a chance to show us who they are before we categorize them.