Stereotypes are used to categorize a particular group of people. Individuals within the group are systematically placed in oversimplified categories.
While not all stereotypes are negative, like assuming one possesses an admirable ability to do something — that generally, not everyone can do — they just aren’t all true. The fact that these assumptions solely can come by way of seeing someone’s skin complexion is what’s problematic.
Stereotyping can occur across racial lines when there is a lack of cultural understanding, but it becomes a concern when the assumptions are made within racial groups. Specifically, Black people who hold certain expectations of other Black people and then deem them “not Black enough” if they don’t fit a mold.
Here are 10 things that people who aren’t “Black enough” understand about the diversity of Black thought and experience.
You don’t like the “Cosby Show”?
The myth: All Black people love the “Cosby Show.”
What people who aren’t “Black enough” understand: While the Huxtables were a positive representation of Black life in America, they were a very small percentage of “the norm.”
