Schooling and Identity
I have always been made fun of and judged about being African in school. During the time of elementary and middle school, I felt like it was necessary for me to act a certain way in order to not be looked down upon. I felt like this for the reason that I did not want students to call me names, say stereotypical things about Africa, and to assume that I was not able to learn. In elementary school, I did not want to wear certain hairstyles and wear African clothing to school. Following my elementary school years going on to middle school, I did not want people to call me by my name, instead I wanted people to call me by my nickname. Then in high school, I became more comfortable about showing people that I was African.
Elementary School When I was younger, my mother would put my hair into Bantu knots, twist, cornrows, braids, and thread my hair. Threading is an African hairstyle that is black thread wrapped around hair. Having those hairstyles in school was not exciting. One time, my mother threaded my hair for school, and mostly all the students laughed at me. I went to class having Bantu knots and everyone was staring at my hair as if my hair was absurd. Another time, I had purple and black braids and again people were looking at me like my hair was not human. Ever since then, …show more content…
For example, some students told me things like “Africans are not smart because they are too poor to get an education”, which is very ignorant. Just like America they are areas in Africa that are wealthier verses areas that impoverished. The wealthier areas of course will have a better education, while the impoverished areas will not. Additionally, during the time when teachers try to learn students’ names, teachers would always pronounce my name wrong. It was not a problem when they did that to me, because I know how hard it can be to pronounce names
I have always been made fun of and judged about being African in school. During the time of elementary and middle school, I felt like it was necessary for me to act a certain way in order to not be looked down upon. I felt like this for the reason that I did not want students to call me names, say stereotypical things about Africa, and to assume that I was not able to learn. In elementary school, I did not want to wear certain hairstyles and wear African clothing to school. Following my elementary school years going on to middle school, I did not want people to call me by my name, instead I wanted people to call me by my nickname. Then in high school, I became more comfortable about showing people that I was African.
Elementary School When I was younger, my mother would put my hair into Bantu knots, twist, cornrows, braids, and thread my hair. Threading is an African hairstyle that is black thread wrapped around hair. Having those hairstyles in school was not exciting. One time, my mother threaded my hair for school, and mostly all the students laughed at me. I went to class having Bantu knots and everyone was staring at my hair as if my hair was absurd. Another time, I had purple and black braids and again people were looking at me like my hair was not human. Ever since then, …show more content…
For example, some students told me things like “Africans are not smart because they are too poor to get an education”, which is very ignorant. Just like America they are areas in Africa that are wealthier verses areas that impoverished. The wealthier areas of course will have a better education, while the impoverished areas will not. Additionally, during the time when teachers try to learn students’ names, teachers would always pronounce my name wrong. It was not a problem when they did that to me, because I know how hard it can be to pronounce names