My "Colored" Perspective

Counselor’s Corner My "Colored'' Perspective

Self-Esteem, is how you see yourself in society. You evaluate yourself either positively or negatively based on your perceptions. The way you see yourself plays an important role on how you interact with others. Through my paternal grandmother's eyes It helps determine how you strive and adapt to the environment and When my grandmother was a little girl, a part of her school was burned has a major role on whether or not you will be successful in the future. down, and the county wouldn’t fix it. Why didn’t the county fix it, you Research has shown that if you have higher self-esteem you tend to may ask? Because it was a school for the Colored. I was happy to hear be more grounded and happy. You are also healthy mentally and phys that this experience was a motivating factor for my grandmother’s parically unlike those that suffer from low self-esteem and tend to be depressed and unhappy. ticipation in the Civil Rights Movement. My grandmother marched for her Civil Rights and the Civil Rights of her people. Self-esteem is very important when it comes to academics. If you lacks Through the eyes of my maternal great-grandmother self-esteem, many times you may notice that you struggle academical Colorisms is prejudice or discrimination against people with a darker ly too. Think about a time you or maybe one of your friends got a poor skin tone. From what my mother told me, my great grandmother was grade in math and told yourself or your friend stated “I suck, or I’m just not good at this”. This is unhealthy and is how you develop poor self-esteem. Most people don’t even realize that they are doing what we call “negative self- talk”. There is a positive relationship between a colorist. She would always say, “marry light or white.” This phrase is an example of colorism. Once I learned about my great grandmother’s perspective, I would always wonder if she would have liked me. As a young Black man, I have never experienced colorism, but I have experienced racism. high self-esteem and being academically successful. When you are academically successful, you take pride in your work. You tend to en Through my eyes - My wonderings courage yourself, work hard and set goals. There are many ways that you can create healthy self-esteem. One way is by remaining positive During my childhood, I lived in fear. I had to have the “talk” when I was and speaking positive to yourself. It may seem weird or sound strange, but encouraging yourself- and telling yourself good things, four due to hatred towards my community. I would often ask, why am I hated because of my skin color? keeps you healthy. I often wondered why Black communities and Black schools lacked the

resources found in White communities at an early age. I wondered why

For example: The next time you are feeling down, look in the mirror some people would ask, “why do Blacks live in “bad” neighborhoods?” and tell yourself “I love you”. Here are some reasons, we have to live in “bad” areas because we have Do this every day for a week and watch how great you start to feel. fewer options or no options at all. I will admit at first it might feel strange, but the more you do it, the better you feel.

What I have learned about Black communities is that we are overpoliced. Since Black communities are overpoliced, there will be a higher statistical crime rate compared to White communities. The under policing in White communities leads to a less statistical crime rate. The over-policing of Black communities leads to more Black people in jail or prison, which leaves kids struggling to survive. Then as the kids of those incarcerated grow older, some have to go to extreme measures to survive. Some will go to college, but not all of them can pay or get accepted and may end up in jail or prison, and the cycle made for people of color continues.

Jamie, 12