Funny little realization

People are always very surprised when they meet me because I don't represent the stereotype of black women in America.

People always ask me if I listen to rap music, (or why I don't) and don't consider me as much fun as other black people. I was thinking about a passage from Tina Fey's Bossypants, where she had to come to a realization that her gay friends weren't there solely for her entertainment. My personal opinion is that this is something America should consider. Frequently in the media there's a black female providing sassy comments that people find hilarious. America, too, needs to consider that all black women aren't the same, and aren't born and raised to make America laugh. All black women don't say "Mhm," "Lord Jesus," and "ain't nobody got time fo dat!". As funny as it might be, its unfair to expect someone to portray a stereotype for your own entertainment. As a black woman, I find myself disappointed with the expectations placed on black people in America.

Some of it I place on our perception of comedians. We feel that everything they say and do must be true. Just this morning I listened to Gabriel Iglesias' "Racist basket" joke. My mother and I listened and waited for it to get to the funny part, but we were disappointed. He and his friend Martin put Kool-Aid, fried chicken, and a halloween card with ghosts on it in this basket. He imitates a stereotypical black woman saying that he and his friend need Jesus for doing this, and then says that the woman forgets what she said when he offers her $50 to deliver the basket. After the basket is delivered, he tells how the black comedian he gave it to loved everything in the basket. Although this was just a joke, what this says to people is "See? They like it; it's not racist, it's true!"

On a separate note, I don't understand how fried chicken still represents black people, because EVERYONE likes it and EVERYONE eats it, all across the globe. I suppose I'm just frustrated that in this day and age we still classify people into categories set by stereotypes; even worse, that today we still assume that because I know one person of this race that does/likes this, all people of this race do/like this. As if people of the same race are lumped together as being the same. If you're Asian you must ___ because all Asians ___. If you're black, you must ___ because all black people ____. I just hope that as the next generations are born, they learn to be more open-minded and treat people like the human beings they, we are.