by Ililli Ahmed
- We are Human
This may sound funny, and some people reading this might be thinking, “Well of course they’re human! We all are!” Here’s the thing: we may seem to be represented humanely, but once you look closely, it is easy to see that that is not always the case. Although some justify the end of slavery and mistreatment of black people as reasons that racism doesn’t exist anymore, we can still see Black people being dehumanized in the media. In the United States, according to a report issued by the Pew Research Center, 63% of Americans see us as “people who can’t get ahead” and who are “mostly responsible for their own condition”, and although Canada has a great reputation of being inclusive and nice, our race problem is just as bad as the States’.
In Ontario, Black Canadians reported the most hate-crimes with 271 incidents in one year. Additionally, an investigation conducted by The Toronto Star in 2010 revealed that Black people are three to five times more likely than their white counterparts to be stopped and questioned by the police. In 2005 The Star found Blacks earned 75.6 cents for every dollar a non-racialized worker earns, and that the unemployment rate was 73% higher for Blacks than for Whites. Try pretending like that’s NOT because of institutionalized racism. Now, how does this tie in with the media? Simple…how do you think people are getting these fabricated ideas that black people are “lazy” or “dangerous”? Without the influence of the media, through dehumanizing descriptions and portrayals, and stereotypical TV and movie characters, it becomes common belief that we’re all nothing more than jokes, despite the fact that we are the third largest visible minority in Canada. To add on to this degradation, the state of black people is mostly hidden from the public…it took more than half an hour to find those facts…they were buried that deep. So yes we are human (in case you forgot) and we are MUCH more than the stereotypes that you see.
- We are diverse
I cannot stretch how important it is to understand that there is no single “type” of black person. I mean with, such a huge amount of diversity among the black community, more effort needs to be put into properly showcasing the beautiful uniqueness among us. There’s a whole range of blackness that has yet to be properly and fully acknowledged by the public: where are the black TV show and movie characters with beautiful dark skin and natural hair? Where are the characters that have successful careers and stable lives? Or how about more black fictional characters in books? Not minor side characters who are only added just to say the occasional “yo” or “damn son” and to show that the author has fulfilled the maximum amount of one allotted black character who then disappears immediately thereafter. We need Black protagonists who are not sidekicks, but the hero of their own stories. After all, only approximately 3% of characters in books are Black. We need more representation of Black beauty, from dark skinned to light skinned, and we definitely need more representation of our various hairstyles. We are a very creative bunch… and we do love our hair. Black beauty should be celebrated, not swept under the carpet!
- We face difficult challenges, but we are successful nonetheless
Ask any black person about their experiences as a minority, and you’ll get a range of answers. You’ll hear about the unique challenges that they have individually faced, and almost all of them will tie back to one common factor; our radiant skin tone. These challenges include things such as unfair racial profiling, and the struggle we have trying to feel beautiful in a world dominated by Eurocentric beauty standards. Add them all up, and you may have a serious headache. Despite those hardships (which shouldn’t be brushed off as a part of everyday life; they should be acknowledged and addressed) Black people are successful. Our hard work is hardly shown in the media, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not there, and that doesn’t mean that it’s not absolutely amazing. We’ve become billionaires, CEO’s, ballerinas, engineers, doctors, lawyers and directors. We’ve broken down walls, crossed barriers and exposed oppression; we’ve found our voices and we are not afraid to use them, and the more people talk about race and racism, the more successful we will ALL become.
I, Ililli Ahmed, am proud to be black, and I am so grateful to be able to share my thoughts and experiences through my writing. Learning new things is a blessing and a gift, and I’m so grateful for the opportunity to do so.
About the writer
Hi, my name is Ililli Ahmed! I’m a tenth grade student who loves open-mindedness, equality and Beyoncé. In the past I’ve written articles for Radio-Canada, and have been published in Canadian anthologies. I aspire to one day become a human rights lawyer, journalist and activist. You can contact me at [email protected].