Things You Had to Deal W/ As The Only Black Kid

Ok, this was HILARIOUS and I HAD to post and share this.

27 Things You Had To Deal With as the Only Black Kid in Your Class....

http://www.buzzfeed.com/hnigatu/27-things-you-had-to-deal-with-as-the-only-black-kid-in-your

Is there anything missing? Are there anythings that people of other backgrounds experience that are so mind-blowingly ignorant it's funny?

Replies

whierd

My mom sent me to the African American Academy here in WA for summer school.
That's actually the name. I'm not being a jerk.

I got called snow flake/snow white/cream puff, kicked down the stairs, beat up, and people would say things like "Thanks for enslaving my ancestors!" as I walked through the halls.

I've never told anyone this because I was too embarrassed ._.

Wow. That is just effing horrible.

Yessss, I agree. I went to the principal and asked if I was allowed to stick up for myself at all and she basically said "no...this is what you got yourself into..."
:I

To be fair, I was going to be bullied anyway, so...

I was one of 5 white kids in my school system, and yeah, it sucked. I had it easier than you did since I was a jock, but my experience was similar. It was pretty much constantly being on defense.

peachfigs

:laugh: What movie is this?

wolverine66

:laugh: What movie is this?

Zach and Miri make a porno

DandelionCupcakes

My mom sent me to the African American Academy here in WA for summer school.
That's actually the name. I'm not being a jerk.

I got called snow flake/snow white/cream puff, kicked down the stairs, beat up, and people would say things like "Thanks for enslaving my ancestors!" as I walked through the halls.

I've never told anyone this because I was too embarrassed ._.

Wow. That is just effing horrible.

Yessss, I agree. I went to the principal and asked if I was allowed to stick up for myself at all and she basically said "no...this is what you got yourself into..."
:I

To be fair, I was going to be bullied anyway, so...

That was a crappy excuse from the principal for tolerating that kind of behavior. I am curious though. Why were you sent there, and why do you think you were going to be bullied anyway?

My mom thought it'd be a good learning experience. She was not wrong o__o
I meant that the school I was at before I was bullied anyway.
Also, I -knew- that by dying my hair purple and piercing my eyebrow I would get unwanted attention. I was fully prepared to receive **** for that.

NO ONE asks to be bullied. Don't think that way doll.

I like you :'3

TheChocolatePrincess

My 9th and 10th grades of high school we relocated to Wausau, WI. I was the only black kid in a school of over 2,500 students (there were two interracial and a handfull of Hmongs, and the occassional black foster child would come in for a few weeks until they got sent back to their family in Milwaukee).

Anywho, the biggest stereotype that I got from it was that I was automatically going to be cool: everyone assumed I could sing, they assumed I could kick *kitten*, they assumed, I could dance...etc.

And it wasn't that I couldn't do all of those things, but it was the air of assumption that I found most bothersome.

The teachers assumed I wasn't very smart and that I might be some kind of delinquent. When they realized how smart I was and that I wasn't one of the many rotating foster kids from the big city, they were taken aback.

People assumed I had grown up in "da hood".,.My mom was in corporate finance and moving up the VP latter (this was just one of the many stops on that journey)...Anywho, I had only visited the "hood" to see my cousins...i never actually lived there. I had grown up in a rather nice neighborhood in the middle of surburbia...

I can't say that my experience was bad. I made friends, I went to slumber parties, I joined clubs, and was in the school play...However, I do remember the assumptions that were made about me the first couple of months that I was there and that was the first time I ever encountered white people who had never been around black people before (the Hampton Roads area is much more culturally diverse)...

Anywho, you can't be overly sensitive about these things...Sometimes it's better to laugh than to cry. I am happy that I had that experience because it taught be tolerance and patience.

I am also happy that I didn't spend all four years there as I think that my social development could have become stunted in a town that small.

Just my personal experience...Carry on...

wolverine66

i'm left handed and learned to use scissors with my right hand because the lefty scissors with the green handle was garbage.

does that count?

i couldn't open the link from work.

fishgutzy

My kids are half white half Puerto Rican.
Some kids called my son "beaner." But it was only after they got to know him and it was entirely joking. He just laughed and said "dude I'm Puerto Rican, not Mexican.:bigsmile:
At 6'4" and a 2nd degree black belt he hasn't had to worry about idiot saying anything deliberately provocative.

As a mixed couple we have never encountered any racism or threats. Though a couple times, going into a restaurant the hostess asked if we were together. :bigsmile:

neandermagnon

My mom sent me to the African American Academy here in WA for summer school.
That's actually the name. I'm not being a jerk.

I got called snow flake/snow white/cream puff, kicked down the stairs, beat up, and people would say things like "Thanks for enslaving my ancestors!" as I walked through the halls.

I've never told anyone this because I was too embarrassed ._.

My husband lived in Jamaica for 2 years as a child and he was the only white kid in his class there, and he was really badly bullied for it.

I was bullied for many years in primary school, though not for anything to do with ethnicity. They just didn't like me for reasons I don't even know to this day. Probably no reason at all.

NutellaAddict

Usually everyone guesses wrong where I was born.

TeachTheGirl

I was the 'token white kid' in my group of friends.

I grew up in a very ethnically diverse school, and upon moving to the US, it's amazing how much racism is out here! My best friends were all different nationalities! Sikhs and Muslims dined together (and shared family recipes, much to my appeal) and my black friends would braid my incredibly fine white-girl hair. I don't know how they could sit for so long for such intricate designs. My head hurt so badly after they were done!

It both delighted me and upset me when it came to History class and my friends 'of color' got to go to separate rooms to learn about their ancestry and the white kids got to learn about German history or somesuch. I would have loved to know where I came from, even though my history probably wasn't as difficult as theirs.

TheWiseCat

Well I'm white, but in my small town growing up there was only 1 black family. The girl was in my grade 5 class. 2 things she had to deal with were 1)everyone wanted to date her cuz she was different and 2)my gym teacher would never argue with her because he didn't want to look racist. My gym teacher was later fired for kicking a kids desk with the kid in it.

But I grew up in Canada, so I never really heard racist remarks about black people. However, the racist remarks about native americans was sickeningly prolific.

srcardinal10

The one that I STILL get is, "You don't sound black." -- annoys the crap out of me. Uhm, I'm sorry that I speak clearly and have an education? The only other thing that I could probably live without are looks and comments I get when I'm out with my BFs (interracial couple). All of them have been outside of my ethnic background -- really people? Oh well. Shame on them.

Mostly everything else I just laugh at because I find their ignorance as humorous.

UsedToBeHusky

Thanks. I'm sending this to my ex-boyfriend (we're on good terms). He was the only black kid at an all-white private school growing up. He finished top of his class... out of 6. :laugh:

DandelionCupcakes

The one that I STILL get is, "You don't sound black." -- annoys the crap out of me. Uhm, I'm sorry that I speak clearly and have an education? The only other thing that I could probably live without are looks and comments I get when I'm out with my BFs (interracial couple). All of them have been outside of my ethnic background -- really people? Oh well. Shame on them.

Mostly everything else I just laugh at because I find their ignorance as humorous.

I had a friend who got that all the time

It really bummed her out. For several reasons! She hated the idea that to sound her race she was expected to speak incorrectly, and also that it was just a terrible, rude thing to say. She always said "Sorry I didn't know that colors made sounds...?"

lithezebra

I was the only American Indian kid. There was an only Black kid, who was super popular, whose dad was an attorney, and an only Mexican kid, whom everyone made fun of because her dad was a garbage collector. In the suburban hellscape in which I was raised, your dad's profession mattered a lot more than your race. My dad was a scientist, so I was off the hook.

fishgutzy

The teachers assumed I wasn't very smart and that I might be some kind of delinquent. When they realized how smart I was and that I wasn't one of the many rotating foster kids from the big city, they were taken aback.

I worked with an engineer who went to Michigan State on a football scholarship. He was hit with the double dose of low expectations prejudice and racism. Black and football player. When he got A's without the help of tutors he was accused of cheating. Even though his academic performance never wavered from dean's list level, he continued to be accused of cheating every semester. So much for enlightened academic liberals being tolerant. It seems they are only tolerant of those who live down to expectations rather than defying them.

My wife was an urban middle school teacher. Unlike many of her peers she did not settle for low performance from her students. She was tough but fair. She called parents when student misbehaved. She set high expectations. The result? Her students outperformed the rest of the city on city wide exams. So the teachers union tried (unsuccessfully) getting her bumped out. No good deed goes unpunished.

ScatteredThoughts

The one that I STILL get is, "You don't sound black." -- annoys the crap out of me. Uhm, I'm sorry that I speak clearly and have an education? The only other thing that I could probably live without are looks and comments I get when I'm out with my BFs (interracial couple). All of them have been outside of my ethnic background -- really people? Oh well. Shame on them.

Mostly everything else I just laugh at because I find their ignorance as humorous.

I can relate. I was once told "You sound like a book.".

Sorry for actually pronouncing words correctly. :grumble:

MorgueBabe

LOL I read this earlier today, hilarious.
I went to middle school where I was the only white kid or one of maybe 5, then I moved and my HS only had one black kid. Man was I an outcast.

One_Last_Time

When I was 9 I moved from a very sheltered, white community in Northern CA to a suburb of Philadelphia. Once there, the boys were generally all very nice to me, but the girls weren't so welcoming. I got teased a LOT about my accent (though I still think of it as a lack of an accent, haha!) and I got teased a lot about my "green" hair. My hair was very blond as a kid and it'd always get a green hue in the summer thanks to chlorinated swimming pools. One group of girls actually attacked me once and tore my clothes off (luckily I was close to home). Not to condone combating violence with violence, but after I retaliated by throwing a bunch of worms I'd gone and collected on them, they stopped bothering me.

HAHAHAHA I live in philly now. I think if I threw worms on someone here i'd get shot. I'm in the city not suburbs. I used to get picked on for having no butt....still have no butt. my best friend is mixed and she calls me snowball. It's kinda cute though. I call her milano.

iWaffle

The one that I STILL get is, "You don't sound black." -- annoys the crap out of me.

I lived in Kenya for a couple years and as you might know it was a British colony for years. When people speak English there by George they speak the Queen's English. The better their English is they more British the sound. These guys sounded like they could be having tea at Buckingham Palace.

lisamarie1780

Yeah people always had a problem with me as a kid because I was mixed race and had a little afro but had blue/green eyes and fair skin... they couldn't get their heads round it, it gave them a real headache

It was simple to me.... my mum was brown and my dad was white

srcardinal10

The one that I STILL get is, "You don't sound black." -- annoys the crap out of me.

These guys sounded like they could be having tea at Buckingham Palace.

LMFAO!!!!!

SF2514

People thought I was racist for a long time lol. I'm not of course. I always wore black and was very pale. Plus there were very few black kids at my school and one of them was my neighbor who started the whole racist rumor in the first place. We never got along, but not because he was black. He always made fun of me for being the fat, flat chested girl. I had plenty of white, Mexican and Asian friends though lol.

neacail

I'm horrified. I actually do one of these things to my Nigerian colleague. :embarassed:

I can't help it . . . she has the most stunning, amazing, hair.

neandermagnon

It both delighted me and upset me when it came to History class and my friends 'of color' got to go to separate rooms to learn about their ancestry and the white kids got to learn about German history or somesuch. I would have loved to know where I came from, even though my history probably wasn't as difficult as theirs.

What???!!! American schools racially segregate kids for history lessons??? woah!! *very shocked* Can't all the kids learn about each others' ancestry all in the same classroom?????? *speechless*

srcardinal10

The teachers assumed I wasn't very smart and that I might be some kind of delinquent. When they realized how smart I was and that I wasn't one of the many rotating foster kids from the big city, they were taken aback.

It always amazed my classmates more than anyone, when I was younger in elementary school, that I was intelligent. As I became older that seemed to fade away because once I was in 5th grade, I finally stayed in the same area until I graduated high school. This was then repeated when I went to college in San Diego. Not too many African-American individuals there. Most of the people who were African-American, were athletes and hung out at a particular place that I overheard MANY people refer to as "Little Africa" (cringe). My group of friends in college was quite diverse and open-minded luckily.

TeachTheGirl

It both delighted me and upset me when it came to History class and my friends 'of color' got to go to separate rooms to learn about their ancestry and the white kids got to learn about German history or somesuch. I would have loved to know where I came from, even though my history probably wasn't as difficult as theirs.

What???!!! American schools racially segregate kids for history lessons??? woah!! *very shocked* Can't all the kids learn about each others' ancestry all in the same classroom?????? *speechless*

This was in the UK. And sadly, no.

I think we spent the most time on learning about Nazi Germany and orphans in China during History...

neandermagnon

It both delighted me and upset me when it came to History class and my friends 'of color' got to go to separate rooms to learn about their ancestry and the white kids got to learn about German history or somesuch. I would have loved to know where I came from, even though my history probably wasn't as difficult as theirs.

What???!!! American schools racially segregate kids for history lessons??? woah!! *very shocked* Can't all the kids learn about each others' ancestry all in the same classroom?????? *speechless*

This was in the UK. And sadly, no.

I think we spent the most time on learning about Nazi Germany and orphans in China during History...

**** even more shocked **** In my school we learned about the holocaust and the slave trade all in one classroom. Even in English we studied a lot of books like "to kill a mockingbird" that dealt with issues of racism in the USA. Actually of all the books we studied in English, that's the one that's the most memorable. Very sad and thought provoking story.

sorry I thought you were American because you said "friends of color" even spelled the American way....

TeachTheGirl

It both delighted me and upset me when it came to History class and my friends 'of color' got to go to separate rooms to learn about their ancestry and the white kids got to learn about German history or somesuch. I would have loved to know where I came from, even though my history probably wasn't as difficult as theirs.

What???!!! American schools racially segregate kids for history lessons??? woah!! *very shocked* Can't all the kids learn about each others' ancestry all in the same classroom?????? *speechless*

This was in the UK. And sadly, no.

I think we spent the most time on learning about Nazi Germany and orphans in China during History...

**** is even more shocked **** I'm not even joking. In my school we learned about the holocaust and the slave trade

sorry I thought you were American because you said "friends of color" even spelled the American way....

I immigrated to the US 7 years ago. I've just gotten used to that way of spelling. XD (Plus autocorrect likes to tell me off when I don't use the American spelling of certain words...derp.)

dorianaldyn

When I was 9 I moved from a very sheltered, white community in Northern CA to a suburb of Philadelphia. Once there, the boys were generally all very nice to me, but the girls weren't so welcoming. I got teased a LOT about my accent (though I still think of it as a lack of an accent, haha!) and I got teased a lot about my "green" hair. My hair was very blond as a kid and it'd always get a green hue in the summer thanks to chlorinated swimming pools. One group of girls actually attacked me once and tore my clothes off (luckily I was close to home). Not to condone combating violence with violence, but after I retaliated by throwing a bunch of worms I'd gone and collected on them, they stopped bothering me.

HAHAHAHA I live in philly now. I think if I threw worms on someone here i'd get shot. I'm in the city not suburbs. I used to get picked on for having no butt....still have no butt. my best friend is mixed and she calls me snowball. It's kinda cute though. I call her milano.

I'm showing my age here, but this was circa 1983-1984 when I lived in PA. Those were the days of playing Michael Jackson on the "ghetto blaster" (such an awful term, but that's what we called them back then) and everyone would come over and listen and try to do their best moon walk.... the early days of MTV when they would announce exactly which times of the day they'd play the Thriller video. Life was definitely different back then - but yeah, the worst that happened to me was the tearing off my clothes incident. Another kid once through a big piece of cement at me that hit me in the head - but I honestly don't think he realized the magnitude of what he was doing and it couldn't have been that hard because I was fine. Oh! and for the record, I'll never get teased for not having enough butt! I may be clinging by a thread to my B-cup status in front, yet there's still plenty of padding in the back. Maybe that helped me back in my brief stint as a PA resident.