Life in the Middle Lane

My sister is attending an HBCU and she loves it– now, at least, thank goodness.  She had the hardest time when school first got started.  She had trouble (and still had trouble) getting responses from advisors, financial aid, admissions- basically everyone a student might need to get in touch with.  I remember when she was applying to colleges; she went through the ringer with HBCUs. Lost information, misinformation, no communication- lots of problems.

 I don’t remember having those problems with the schools (non-HBCUs) that I applied to, btw.  

Last weekend, my sister was home from fall break, and I asked her how things were going at school and her response was something along the lines of: I love going to an HBCU. I just have to remember that even though it is a prestigious school, they are still Black. They are going to be late, unorganized and inefficient.  Blah, blah, blah.

When she said that, I kind of looked away and didn’t say anything about it. Mostly because I didn’t know how I felt about her statement and the discussion that would have ensued had I tackled that statement was not the kind of conversation that I wanted to have with my baby over her fall break when I only had an hour of her time and attention. (I just wanted to hear about all the cool things she’s getting to see and do in the big, bad city, and at school with all the black folks.)

I’ve had some time to think now, and unfortunately I’m still torn about how I feel about her statement.  Part of me wants be offended, and say that lateness, disorganization and inefficiency shouldn’t be qualities that we want to automatically equate with Black people and black organizations. But part of me, sitting in the car with her, and even now kind of agrees with her.

This makes me cringe a little inside because 1) my friends, family and loved ones that are HBCU educated may kick my @ss for even posting this 2) I don’t want to be one of those black people that puts other black people down by pointing out flaws 3) Black people and institutions already have a hard time fighting implicit and explicit racism and discrimination and when they get caught being stereotypical it gives white people an excuse to say “See, black people really are like that.” 

And white people don’t need any more excuses to act like @ssholes.  The Republican Party, at this moment, has the market locked on white @sshole-ness. That’s enough.

 The more important problem with her statement wasn’t that she felt that her school fell into a negative racial stereotype (as bad as that was). I was more mad that that she felt that she should/could give them a pass for being less than perfect-because they were black.  She thought it was ok that her school had all those problems-and it was almost expected since they were black.

 I took it personally.  I mean, I don’t want anyone to give me a pass (during those very rare times that I do something stupid) just because I’m black or an f-ing woman or under 30 or any other reason for that matter. And I’m not giving anyone (none of ya’ll, regardless of ethnicity/color/national origin/native tongue) passes.

 Minority status doesn’t give us minorities (individuals and organizations) an excuse to be any less (in any and all areas) than majority individuals and organizations. We, as minorities, must expect quality in ourselves (and each other).  I, also, don’t want the majority to automatically expect (or condone) less from me because I’m the black chick. That is unacceptable.

  I don’t want a f*cking pass (and neither should you)! I expect per-f*cking-fection in myself and everyone else.  I don’t give a d*mn about race, sex, gender, IQ or anything else for that matter. Everyone should be held to the same standard.

 It pisses me off that organizations (like my sister’s school) get by (and charge ENORMOUS tuitions) while fulfilling the stereotype that black people are late, slow, unorganized.  What good can come of black organizations being thought of as lesser quality than majority organizations? Why would anyone want to work with minorities when they don’t expect the same quality as they would from other organizations? Can minorities expect to be treated fairly if they don’t have the same quality, and if we (minorities) don’t expect us to perform on their level?  And what does it mean when we (minorities) don’t expect quality from ourselves, when we say “it’s black people, so what more do you expect?”

 It does a disservice to all of us. 

 When minorities act like stereotypes it puts all of us at a competitive disadvantage.   We gotta be on top of our game at all times.

 Let this be a lesson to you, minorities. Get it together.

 Stop making me look bad.