When will we, as African-Americans, stop apologizing for our appearance? While viewing the popular 2009 movie titled, “The Soloist” something struck a nerve in me. When the character Nathaniel Ayers, played by Jamie Foxx, comes into contact with the character Steve Lopez, played by Robert Downey Jr., a remark was made by Ayers (Foxx) in the form of an apology, in reference to the way he was dressed.
I immediately wondered what was so great about Lopez (Downey) that needed to be awarded an apology from Ayers (Foxx). Why was Downey looked at as superior by Foxx?
Although this was puzzling I soon began to realize that as human beings, and especially as African-Americans, we submit to these apologies every day without even knowing it. Why?
As black women, we straighten our hair by way of relaxers. When relaxers will not straighten our hair to a satisfying length then we add hair extensions, also known as weave, to make it look “better.” Better according to what standards? What is it about the hair that we are born with that makes us determine that it is not sufficient and therefore causes us to want to conform to the European standard of beauty?
We, women and men, dress in name brands that are supposedly “cool” but the majority of the names we wear belong to white individuals who are able to sustain their fancy lifestyles, from the profits that come from hard working blacks.
We rob, steal, and in some cases even kill each other just to duplicate the so called “high-life” that we see whites living.
One method African-Americans do to get rich is play sports. It is easy for African-American athletes to suggest that they are fond of the sports that they play, which is quite possible, since, often, they have been practicing and perfecting their skills since childhood.
Blacks, most times, are guided toward being professional athletes from the time they are young, instead of cultivating skills that will withstand their physical ability and therefore improve their quality of life.
There is great money that comes from playing sports but none that compares to the profit that results from the industry that leads to capital for the white majority; yet we treat our bodies as if they are dispensable for the purposes of monetary compensation which supposedly leads to some superficial lifestyle that has been deemed superior by mainly white Americans.
The problem is not with “them,” but with “us” who constantly sacrifice ourselves to be a part of something that is unnecessary for us to be a part of. We are born the way we should be and no amount of physical adjustments will “re-determine” who we are quintessentially. Even if one is to refrain from buying into the socially constructed scheme labeled “race,” there is still a necessity to embrace what is inherited by birth and also a need to stop attempting to conform. The key to true happiness is loving the skin you’re in; it is a cliché but it would not be if it were not true.
Ebony Sowells