<p>Not here to debate, but yes, most definitely. I love everything about being black: the heritage, culture, the good, and yes, the bad too. It's given me a totally different perspective on life that I don't think I'd have if I'd have grown up white. One that I'm quite proud of.</p>
<p>I've found that the black community is very accepting of success as long as you are self-confident and humble about it. I also believe that being black has allowed me to understand the dynamics of race in the US and the world in a way that very few non-African Americans will ever be able to understand.</p>
<p>But yes, I would choose to be black again. But oddly my sister, as a black female, isn't sure whether or not she'd choose to be black again.</p>
<p>I also would choose to be black! I love being black, it is a central part of my identity despite the disadvantages. It's like tlanton said -- it's incredible to have a culture and history like ours! And I love my caramel skin and my thick, kinky hair!</p>
<p>Princessbell, I get where you are coming from, but you must realize by now that by all outward appearances, you are identified as black by mainstream culture ne? Also, some African Americans have self-hatred, but that's because of the legacy of being oppressed in a majority-white, dominant-white country. When you've been taught all your life (unconsciously) that white is prettier, smarter, better, etc. -- it's not unexpected to find self-hatred or self-deprecation. In the same vein, whites used divide-and-conquer techniques among African Americans of different colors to promote their hold over them, and that exists until today in some form.</p>
<p>And I agree with DreamingOutLoud -- I certainly do not relaxed my hair because I am trying to be white. I'm not going to deny that the decision is partly influenced by white beauty standards, which value long, straight hair. But even when my hair is relaxed, it doesn't look anything like white people's hair -- my hair is relaxed, but I washed it at home two days ago, and today it rained and it got all frizzy and full. There's no white girl who has hair like mine.</p>
<p>One thing I don't particularly enjoy about the black community is how it boxes the individual in as people have mentioned earlier. Whereas for other races, they can be however individualistic as they want, yet with blacks it is "Okay, be successful, but don't 'sell out'" And thus there are certain stigmas behind doing certain things that aren't traditionally "black" occupations or interests. </p>
<p>My brother and I debate this topic all the time; why is it not okay to say "I'm not interested in black culture." Does black culture feel like every African-American owes something to it? That we must be "obligated" to give back to the metaphorical black pot of gold? </p>
<p>I mean, I understand the history behind the Civil Rights struggle and all, but how can one expect to be uplifted if they can't truly be themselves?</p>
<p>I'm thinking that as you get older, you won't feel boxed in. There are so many flavors to being Black, that you just define yourself.</p>
<p>As far as I can tell, as much Black pride my family has, we don't necessarily embrace certain elements of Black culture, but then again we are all different. I like country music. I like Guns and Roses. My kid liked Blink 182 (?). We play MMORPG's. My husband and daughter go to geeky gaming conventions (ultra nerdom lol). We pass on Kwanzaa.</p>
<p>And selling out? What are you selling out and to whom, if you are being true to yourself? I believe in giving back to the community, but you define whatever that community is. </p>
<p>Bottom line, be true to you. Don't let others define you.</p>
<p>Oh and yes, I love being Black, always have, but then I was a child in the 60's and embraced Eldridge Cleaver and Bobby Seale (much to the horror of my parents). Say it loud ....</p>
<p>Yes, although I don't particularly like how black culture today is being portrayed. ^^ I don't think you're being white if you relax your hair. Even though I don't have 'kinky' hair I still use a relaxer to straighten it even further. And lol, julliet my hair also used to get frizzy when it got wet,haha.</p>
<p>i don’t really care. i’m so damn good at being me there is no point in changing</p>
<p>so sure i’d be black again. it really doesn’t matter</p>
<p>edit: i’ve never understood the big deal with the hair thing. honestly hair serves absolutely no purpose and i’ve never figured out why anyone cares. i straighten my hair because i haven’t figured out how to make it cute curly. once i figure out how to manage my curls i’ll be happy to go natural.</p>
<p>Black is the epitome beautiful, I love being black.</p>
<p>^^ Agreed
<< That’s why the name is BEAUTIFULnerd219.</p>
<p>I used to relax my hair just so I could comb through it. It didn’t straighten my hair the least bit noticeably, but it made it easier to comb. It used to take me about two hours and a lot of tears to comb my hair, and a lot of knots just had to be cut out. It was awful.</p>
<p>So, two years ago I went to a salon and shaved that crap off. I’m now loving a 1" afro. But my hair is super curly, so think black Shirley Temple and not the 70s.</p>
<p>I would like to be anyone but an Asian male if I could choose.</p>
<p>I love being black! :D</p>
<p>I guess so. Sometimes i say yes. Sometimes no.</p>
<p>If I had the choice, I would be black again. Every now and then I think about how cool it would be to be Asian, but that’s really just because i’m a gaming nerd. I’m an African-American and sometimes face a lot of discrimination for acting ‘white,’ and being semi-light skinned. (I’m really only light-medium) Most black people who don’t like me are females, and that’s really because i’m stick-thin from what they’ve told me. But I figure, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. No matter what others say, out culture is one of be celebrated. I’m not sure how I feel about our modern culture, but the culture my family grew up on is one I will always celebrate. I actually volunteer at a Black History Museum just because I love to teach others about our culture, and you’d be suprised how many non-black people show up to learn about it. </p>
<p>On the topic of African (from africa) Americans being discriminated against, i’ve actually seen a lot of discrimination between both groups. I’ve been called ‘second-rate’ from an African-born person, simply because some of them see African-Americans as ‘knock-offs’ (for lack of a better term) of the real african race. I personally think both groups have a history worth sharing, and regardless, we all have contributed to the course of history. I would hate not being black. I was created as a black person for a specific purpose, and though every other race has documents of their history, that just gives me a desire to learn even more about my race and see what I can dig up personally.</p>
<p>Thats cool Mare. I guess I’ll come to terms with evrything. Just sometimes,in regards to being African I hate my parents seeing life through an outdated viewpoint of 200 years ago. Most of the time I laugh and say I’m black-I’m going tannning!
Then sometimes,i’m frustrated by racism and think being white would be easier.</p>
<p>@Nil: You’re right, sometimes I do come to the terms that my life would be easier if I was white, and to a certain degree, not female, but yeah, for both Africans and African-Americans, we need to ignore the subconscious self-hate that’s been ingrained in us, and realize that we’re all one race. If not, we’ll be just as bad as the English hating the Irish for… some reason, lol. I was never that great at world history, sad as it is. I see it in my own family: I know for a fact my father would not be as happy with my existence if I had the same skin tone as my brother. That was when I realized that I needed to celebrate my culture, and not treat it as something that needs to be hidden. It may seem hard at times, but trust me, even with all of the racism in our country, we’re making progress, and we’re all alive to see it. </p>
<p>Side-note: If you want a really shallow, terrible reason to want to be black, think of the edge you get when applying to certain colleges! (Since that’s the whole point of this website)</p>
<p>PS: I only brought up the whole African/African-American conflict as an example. I personally can’t understand discriminating against your own race, even though I suppose its actually cultural discrimination, so I hope I didn’t offend anyone.</p>
<p>Lol I love how people THINK I have a perm. It’s dumb to assume EVERY black girl gets one. My hair is naturally curly, so I’ll wash, wear, and go and people are freaked out like what did you do to it…I washed it…</p>
<p>I hated perms…they burned, itched, ugh. My hair is even straighter without a perm, and I’m chemical burn free :-)</p>
<p>Never in a million years would I choose another race.</p>
<p>Yeah, I don’t know why you would want to NOT be whatever race you are.</p>
<p>Growing up, my family was the black community in the neighborhood and at school. Today, I go to a Title I school with something like a 60% AA, Latino, or Asian population. In my experience black men are the most flexible demographic. Take basketball. Despite my background, I could walk onto a court full of people I’d never met and not have to prove myself at the game. A white person might be given a chance, an asian would be laughed off. Put me in a WoW tee and the fact I’m a tall black man would give me an advantage when negotiating alliances at a FIRST competition. And of course, APUSH is indiscriminate with regard to kicking butt.
There’s never been a better time to be a black man in the United States, hell, the world. I wasn’t old enough to vote for Obama, but I was able to share in the joy as my peers of all colors shouted his name through the hallways after he became president elect. Regardless of how “black” I really am, it was a priceless moment.</p>