By nature Im an observant person.. I study my fellow people of color.. constantly trying to relate and identify with them.. but one thing that I continue to run into universally.. is the lack of love black people have for themselves. Every aspect of them from their complexion, shape, and grade of hair seemingly present a challenge.On one hand, some mask their voices to sound more like a white person... They wear certain brands of clothing more popular amongst them.. tend to drink more and party in less diverse areas.. Seemingly they seem to aspire to the idea that assimilating will make them more acceptable, and perhaps less black and threatening. Then on the other end of the spectrum, you have the blacks that lack all self esteem... these are the ones likely to have lots of tattoos and participate in risky behavior. I believe they have more deep seeded emotional issues that causes them to act in a reckless manner... its really just a cry for attention, although gone about in the wrong way. You also have your naturalistas... which claim to be so confident, but I feel secretly deal with low self esteem. They feel that modern styles are 'oppressive' and they wish to be 'natural'. Often these are the perpetually single and extremely fanciful women. They have unrealistic expectations of a mate and since they have not had any successful relationships to compare and contrast against, they are often lofty and far removed from reality. I have always wondered where the voids come from because I never saw myself that way. I always just resolved that other people must have had issues. Clearly black people are creative, beautiful, versatile, smart and unique. I never saw why they wished to be more like people that lacked all of what we have been given naturally. In my opinion, it is the 'diversity' of America that highly contributes to this phenomenon. I look at my other world-wide colored peers.. that do not also have this lack. Most popularily the African. Depending on what African nation they come from, they may be very thick, dark or otherwise what we here in the west would consider 'unnatractive', yet Africans are able to come to a new country,begin their life again, and do it with grace. Why is this? I examined them closer. Many Africans have the beauty of living in homogenous communities, in which they are able to be surrounded by other people of color. This cuts down on the pressure and need to emulate someone else. Now don't get me wrong, I know many Africans wish to migrate, but I believe that is due mostly to the economic and political issues that are ravaging African nations. I do not believe it is because they hate being amongst their own people. Some Africans that i have had the pleasure of making aquaintances with here in the states are the most ambitious and confident people I know. I attribute it to them being able to trace their roots and understanding their lineage.
