Subtle Racism

Let's open up on the issue of racism within the UK, i'm going to simplify how racism exists within our own walls, and if it's not fully outlined here, it'll be attended to in a later post. Okay right, so me personally I wasn't born in the Uk so I am an immigrant of African descent, Nigerian to be exact, and for me whether it's been directly or indirectly, even though i've never been called the "N-word" by a Caucasian, I have experienced racism. Nigerians as people have been labelled all sorts, we're a second world country with the intuition of a third world one, mainly because those in charge and with wealth are top clowns, aside from that I've grown up witnessing domestic violence and people dying infront of me, and that's all i'm going to say on some of my history.

I did however want to touch on the ignorance of believing that racism doesn't exist in the UK because 'we' don't directly witness it, we really do and I'm going to explain that there is more to racism than mainstream slurs. Racism exists in all forms and can be as subtle as;

1. Imitating an African Accent 

First of all, Africa is an entire continent, the same way Europe is which means there are countries that make up this continent, if you imitate a European accent what would you say and how would you accentuate the words, and does this mean that an Italian with a strong Italian accent sounds the same as someone with a Polish accent, does a man with a Welsh accent sound the same as someone with a Swedish accent? no ofcourse not, and no I don't need to and won't because you should be smarter than the need for an explanation. The amount of times i've heard African accents and cultures being mixed up for the sake of laughter, and from ethnicities who are in no way linked to these ethnicities, makes no sense whatsoever, my brain can't come around it. 

2. Seeing a Black Guy and Labelling Him as a Roadman

God, the amount of times somebody has referred to me as a roadman, I am not a roadman, understand that to be a roadman you don't automatically qualify as a black man, and nor is it an applicable job, you can not apply to be a roadman. Being a roadman necessarily means you are part of a gang and always on road, anybody can be that, whether white, asian or black. STOP CALLING BLACK MEN ROADMEN!

3. Mr and Mrs Tan Till You're Dark Like Me

Sigh, this one here, sometimes I don't blame certain people's ignorance or lack of understanding but you've got to understand that being black is not a fashion statement, we're not accessories. ALL skin tones are beautiful, stop wearing foundation that differently proportionates the tone of your face to make you appear black or light-skinned for the sake of views or likes. The reason behind the 'tan till you're dark like me', is based off the case that alot of my caucasian friends will get a tan and then compare their skin to me, like what is the achievement, do you want to join my family, would you like to change your ethnicity? but if you ask them what ethnicity they would take on if they weren't white they would say Spanish, make it make sense. You wanna be racist but you also don't like that you're pale so you tan to be 'darker' or 'as dark as me'... 

4. Getting into Nightclubs/Pubs/Bars

Boy, if I didn't have this security badge on me, the amount of things I would not get away with. This one here is one you may not experience until it really comes down to it, but before I got this license and I gained some leverage, there was a time in Bournemouth back in 017', I tried to get into the bar Revolution as my Dance Society were hosting an awards evening, majority Caucasian girls, also majority wearing trainers as they were going to have a night out later on in the evening. I thought I could do the same, rocked up in a black puffy jacket, blue jeans and black trainers, security said no, all Caucasian, said they don't accept casual trainers, I said "okay, can I take them off and put them back on when I leave", still said no. So why was it that I was denied but my counterparts were not? I don't actually want to know but hopefully you can tell me. 

5. A Fetish Amongst Many Things

You may not see it but there are Caucasian girls who profusely go for black men because they fantasise about light-skinned babies, yet all their baby names are 'Tom' and 'Jake', please make it make sense. But if they were to say a name for a light skinned child, how much could we bet it would be stereotypical as hellllll. There are girls who actually can describe black men as a group and idolise us to have the same characteristic features and that's the reason behind their attraction, which of-course is a case of what have you seen to make these things a deciding factor for you in terms of what you're attracted to, are you saying men of other races lack these features? It's often like we're quite frequently perceived at the top of a hierarchy when it comes to (toxic) masculinity, that we act a certain way and have a certain demeanour about us, hyper-masculinity. Large topic to mull over.

6. Stereotypes or Labels, 

"Why you acting black"

"Listening to white people music" 

Do you understand what is more difficult than being a black man and feeling as if you can't do certain things because society has forced people to believe it isn't right for your 'race' to do it. 

"You're black of-course you can dance"

"Are you from (South) London" I don't even live in London, I'm from Essex and boy let me not go there.

"You play basketball init"

"I bet you're a dealer"

"You're the whitest black man"

"You Oreo"

Why is it that dating black guys also has become a slur for men to use against women within their racial communities?

Because i'm black I have to act black, what IS acting black and HOW do I act black? 

Another crazy thing about this is that black men are often hyper-sexualised, but if you flip the script, the traits you see black men being fantasised over, are used to dehumanise black women and are often considered undesirable because they're too dark. Once again, make it make sense. 

If i'm not making sense, tell me, let me know expand my mind, if it seems ignorant let me know, everyone has an opinion this is just mine, I'm attempting to read between the lines but tell me, when will you do the same?