RACIAL SPOTLIGHT: ANANDA RICE

Welcome readers, to the second Racial Spotlight. This month’s guest is Ananda Rice, a sophomore health sciences major from Midland. She will be sharing her experiences and thoughts (via email) on race, and how being African American has played a role in her life.

“…It was about a month into the school year, and this particular girl kept saying smart ignorant things to me; it went on for about two months and I’m the type of person not [to] feed into drama. But, that day I had enough so I said some things back and that’s when she called me the n-word. I had to call my mom cause I have never been called that, and I felt myself coming out of character and stooping to a level that I know I’m better than. It was a hurtful feeling. I don’t think people understand how degrading [that] word is to Black people.”

“You know what, [if I could make] the school could do anything, I would probably have them teach everyone, so maybe people would finally understand and realize that being a minority has been hard for years [and] generation[s]. People had to go through so much and we still have to go through a lot in 2021; we have to go through a struggle and there [are] so many people who say they understand, but they really honestly don’t. This world is hard!”

“The relationship[s] at Lincoln park is probably better only because at our school, it doesn’t matter what you look like or what race or color or  gender or anything…!”

“But, I’ve heard a few ignorant ‘reasons’ from men saying why they [choose to only date Caucasian women], which is [because] minority women don’t let things slide and they can’t walk all over them. Or, they don’t want their kids being dark or having nappy hair. I think the media has a lot to do with it because, if you turn on the TV, you see that they only show White women. They make White women the beauty standard. It’s always White skin, blue eyes, blonde hair, and [a] skinny [body]. So it’s like the media brainwashes everybody to thinking that, that’s what the perfect woman has to be and it shouldn’t be like that.”

“Now even though there is a lot that happens to a minority, I can say that one positive outcome overall is we are judged on some situations, and we always at the end prove people wrong. With any situation, no matter if it’s a job, school, or anything, and our parents always told us growing up that, ‘I can be successful and not fail and overcome any and everything.”’