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or some unknown reason the color black is always associated with bad things: black magic, blackmail, black sheep, the list goes on. When I was a child, the most popular doll was a white Barbie doll – that was the toy everyone desired. Why? That remains a mystery. No one ever wanted to play with the black doll because the black doll was always seen as ugly. I have had numerous people tell me, “You’re actually pretty for a black girl.” Don’t give me that backhanded compliment. Why can’t I just be pretty? So apparently black girls can’t be pretty? Is it only white girls that can be seen as attractive? It is shocking that this is the society we are still living in. I once asked a white boy if he would ever date a black girl and he told me, “Black girls are too argumentative and ratchet. They are too loud!” I’m sorry, what?! You cannot generalize one person’s behavior to the entire black girl population. Anybody of any ethnicity can be loud and argumentative. As for the “ratchet” comment, I’m not even going to start on that.

The divide between the color of our skins doesn’t seem to be ending. Growing up, being black was portrayed as a bad thing. Black people are allegedly stupid and will not amount to much. The system does make it hard for us to progress up the social ladder. I feel like I must fight 10 times harder to achieve my goals. I certainly don’t receive any “white” privileges. I attend a selective school situated in a predominately white area. When I sit in my lessons and I glance around the classroom I feel singled out for being not just the only black girl, but one of the only black people. Please explain to me why everyone stares at me when we touch on the history of black people. It leaves me awkwardly staring down at my book. Just because I am black doesn’t mean I know about everything about my history.

Dear 2019, can we please change this? Can we please live in a society where people see more than just the color of your skin? We are all human. Nothing is going to change unless we all make the effort.