A couple days ago I was sitting in McConnell dining hall eating breakfast when I overheard a group of girls gossiping about a boy across the room. They were trying to decide whether or not the boy was cute. One of them, who was arguing that the boy wasn’t cute, used this sentence to “prove” or “ strengthen" her point: “lol, he just looks like Lil Wayne’s son or something”. Yes, some of you may wonder, “well, what if the boy really did look like Lil Wayne?” Well, I’ll answer that firstly by saying, because I was there, I was able to see that the only thing that indeed was similar between Lil Wayne and the boy was that they were both Black- other than that, they looked nothing alike. Secondly, I can address your question by telling you that, that girl, by saying “lol, he just looks like lil wayne’s son or something", was further perpetuating racial stereotyping by suggesting that most Black people look the same and can be associated with the same activities and likes: rap culture and being Black. On the most basic level, the girl suggesting that the ONLY or MOST important quality about the boy was that he was Black- this in itself is so problematic- people are more than just their skin. "Black is beautiful” as many, many people have said, but it is not the only thing that can be attributed to a person.
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