When I think about where I have come from and where I have been, there is not much of a different. I am currently a proud, Christian student studying English licensure at USM. I used to be a student at Raleigh High School where I was sometimes outcaste because I was popular among the majority white people. I drove a nice car, stayed in a nice neighborhood, and wore expensive clothes. Is this why the white people liked me? Certainly!; Black people thought so. My very own African-American peers were the ones who made me feel like an outcaste. They would often say I was a kiss-up and wanted to be “white”. In my preparation for coming to Southern Miss, I was expecting the same thing to happen. However, it did not. Here, I find myself being accepted more and happier than ever. I am privileged in my position because those same people at Raleigh High School who did not accept me are now college dropouts and jobless. I, on the other hand, am only three semesters away from my bachelor’s degree. I do not think I am better than other people because of this. I am simply an African-American woman who is trying to live a comfortable life in this prejudice society. As educated women, we should realize that these people are simply ignorant and just because a person behaves/looks a certain way, it does not mean that they are trying to be someone they’re not. One way for people to get over this problem is to stop creating stereotypes and accept people for who they are. Each person has his/her own story to tell. People should reflect and determine what exactly caused them to stereotype that certain people. Until then, people will often question the exact reason for their social position, including myself.
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