Act Your Race?

How you dress, how you talk and how you approach work says something about you. It’s part of your identity that you formed as you grew up. But to many people, I will dare say most, it is also part of your racial identity.

Think back to the grade school lunchroom table. Did most everyone at the lunchroom table look just like you? If so, did you all pretty much act…well, the same?

Maybe it was at your little league games, your dance classes, your class field trip, your local playground or your summer camp that you realized everyone is not the same. Now that you have grown up-- whether you are flat out prejudice, a closet racist or tolerant of all people you may have heard phrases like "he is acting white" or "she is trying to act black." And here's a news flash for you, in 21st century America people can act Hispanic or act Asian too.

Just reflect on your childhood for a minute...
Did you wear your jeans baggy, loose or tight?
What slang phrases were commonplace among your friends?
Did you have a strong work ethic or were you lazy?
What profession is the prototype for your peers?

Black kids who wore real tight jeans weren’t acting black. White kids talking “ghetto” weren’t acting white. Hispanic kids who didn’t have a strong work ethnic weren’t acting Hispanic. Asian kids who didn’t want to study math and science weren’t acting Asian.

Or maybe that was just my school.

Majority Mind Questions
It may sound ridiculous but people do have these thoughts. What do you think about youth and adults acting their race? How should we act? When have you dealt with the act your race dilemma? Share your story!